pmpknface Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 It's a bit out there... has a bunch of weird stuff going on... but it's got some KILLER Miller moments and a huge ending. And it's still when his art was really well done. Loose, but detailed at the same time. And the colors by Varley were integral too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTLarsen Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 It's also the most thematically mature, I'd say. It's a comment on power and fantasy and, if you look closely enough, it's about kids and the power fantasies of reading comics. Vastly underappreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adampasz Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 For me, Ronin and DKR were the artistic pinnacle of Miller's artistic career. Everything that came after did not hold my interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 So far, SYFY Channel has not moved forward on its Ronin production since 2014. But from what I have seen on that channel with Vanessa Helsing and Wynonna Earp and even The Magicians, it could really pull this off nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lou_fine Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 (edited) On 1/8/2007 at 9:14 AM, Jerkfro said: I remember it getting a lot of buzz back then but then kinda petered out "at the box office" I actually find that to be the case for a lot of the Miller story lines. His stories tend to start out so well that you can't wait for the next issue to come out, but usually not so much towards the end of his story lines. Edited February 18, 2017 by lou_fine1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTLarsen Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Disagree strongly. I think delays may have hurt at the box office, but the ending of Ronin absolutely pays off the story, improves it and makes the whole thing work. Likewise, the ending of DKR is relatively satisfying and memorable and provides a true ending. Similarly Year One and Born Again. I'm curious which ones lost you along the way. From the '80s anyway. I can certainly see this argument being made for more recent stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffro. Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 On 2/19/2017 at 9:10 AM, JTLarsen said: Disagree strongly. I think delays may have hurt at the box office, but the ending of Ronin absolutely pays off the story, improves it and makes the whole thing work. The delays certainly didn't help, that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipB2k17 Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 On 1/9/2007 at 3:24 AM, tth2 said: I thought it was absolutely fantastic. I still love the shot where he drives the sword through himself and through the monster. It was definitely a victim of too much hype. Miller was coming off his hugely successful Dark Knight series (which was initially under-ordered, creating a sense of scarcity) and the print run was massive. When the fanboys realized it wasn't a typical superhero story, and the speculators realized they couldn't make any money because everybody and their brother had a copy, it failed to live up to expectations in the primary and secondary sales markets, creating the impression that it was a huge failure. No. Ronin was Miller's first foray at DC. It came out 2 years before TDKR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTLarsen Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 On 4/25/2017 at 2:06 PM, PhilipB2k17 said: No. Ronin was Miller's first foray at DC. It came out 2 years before TDKR. Miller had done work for DC beforehand. DC Special Series 21, IIRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjum12 Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 On 2/16/2017 at 11:27 PM, DWL said: That's a cool poster. It's been a while but I seem to remember Ronin being a good read. It is underappreciated in my opinion. It's one of my favorite arcs in comics...... but oddly enough, I totally disregarded it on the stands, thought it looked gratuitous and boring, gave it a real chance years later and was glad I did... GOD BLESS... -jimbo(a friend of jesus) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 24 minutes ago, JTLarsen said: Miller had done work for DC beforehand. DC Special Series 21, IIRC. here are some more DC credits according to wiki, all pre-Ronin Weird War Tales (a): "Deliver Me from D-Day" (with Wyatt Gwyon, in #64, 1978) "The Greatest Story Never Told" (with Paul Kupperberg, in #68, 1978) "The Day After Doomsday" (with Roger McKenzie, in #68, 1978) Unknown Soldier #219: "The Edge of History" (a, with Elliot S. Maggin, 1978) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Readcomix Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 I'm underwhelmed ... Found it trite, with murky artwork and underdeveloped characters. By the "surprise" end I didn't care because none of them had been made complete enough for me to care. Lack of thought balloons hurts; it does not make comics more "adult" and "film-like." It abandons a part of the medium in a pale effort to imitate moving pictures. So much for this "classic of the genre." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTLarsen Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 23 hours ago, Readcomix said: I'm underwhelmed ... Found it trite, with murky artwork and underdeveloped characters. By the "surprise" end I didn't care because none of them had been made complete enough for me to care. Lack of thought balloons hurts; it does not make comics more "adult" and "film-like." It abandons a part of the medium in a pale effort to imitate moving pictures. So much for this "classic of the genre." Literally every criticism in here amounts to a matter of taste, unsupported by specific example. The artwork was by no means "murky." And in relation to what comic of the time were the characters underdeveloped? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Readcomix Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 29 minutes ago, JTLarsen said: Literally every criticism in here amounts to a matter of taste, unsupported by specific example. The artwork was by no means "murky." And in relation to what comic of the time were the characters underdeveloped? Yep. His art can be pretty to look at, but I often cannot tell what is going on. My eye is drawn nowhere. (Not that I can draw.) I just find his layouts disturbing. And for whatever reason thru six issues I Could not bring myself to care about any of the characters. Their personalities did not come alive for me; no connection. It's not relative to any other comic; just an absolute experience I had with this story. I realize others experience this work differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTLarsen Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 On 5/3/2017 at 11:41 PM, Readcomix said: Yep. His art can be pretty to look at, but I often cannot tell what is going on. My eye is drawn nowhere. (Not that I can draw.) I just find his layouts disturbing. And for whatever reason thru six issues I Could not bring myself to care about any of the characters. Their personalities did not come alive for me; no connection. It's not relative to any other comic; just an absolute experience I had with this story. I realize others experience this work differently. You do know he's considered an innovator in terms of comic book layouts, right? Starting with Daredevil. And into, uh, Ronin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBird Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 This might be the first time "prime" Frank Miller was described as a poor artist (or writer, for that matter). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Readcomix Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 8 hours ago, JTLarsen said: You do know he's considered an innovator in terms of comic book layouts, right? Starting with Daredevil. And into, uh, Ronin. Yes, I do. His work, with notable exceptions such as DD, is mostly not to my taste. I like his writing better than his art, generally. I'm just in the "underwhelming" camp on Ronin, and gave me reasons why. That's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okeydoke Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 Definitely underappreciated. I remember I was in junior high when it came out. I had read and loved all of the Miller DD run that I had at the time...#160's - 180's, found at a flea market for 25 cents each. I distinctly remember Ronin just being so different from his DD work. I liked it, but didn't quite "get it" at the time. The art was great, the story was weird. I also read Heavy Metal magazine at that time so I could see the European comics' influence on Miller's work. Ronin's style has always reminded me of Moebius. Reading it later, as an adult, it made more sense - but still weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr bla bla Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 On 17/2/2017 at 2:30 PM, JTLarsen said: It's also the most thematically mature, I'd say. It's a comment on power and fantasy and, if you look closely enough, it's about kids and the power fantasies of reading comics. Vastly underappreciated. +1 it ranks High, High in My World. But being a Miller acolyte im biased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTLarsen Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 1 hour ago, Grails said: Currently at around 5k. No action and shadowed by Daredevil. https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/frank-miller-ronin-1-story-page-24-original-art-dc-1983-/a/7166-92181.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515 True, but though it's a nice page, the title character doesn't appear (I think?)...so not too likely to generate a lot of heat. Nevertheless, a nice page! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
