While Frank Miller’s output isn’t what it once was, the comic book legend continues to draw and write, as well as endorsing up-and-coming talent on a variety of projects. That includes a sequel to his classic work “Ronin,” “Ronin Rising,” with Miller utilizing the modern style that his work has evolved into. The original story was samurai cyberpunk, featuring a time-traveling ronin continuing his battle in a futuristic setting.
Miller has always been known for unconventional artwork, with his work becoming more stylized over the years. The original series was published in 1983 and 1984, while Miller began to work with artists Phillip Tan and Daniel Henriques to bring this sequel to life over the past couple of years, continuing his exploration of the futuristic ninja world he created. Miller himself illustrates two of the six issues that make up this collection.
Also showing Miller remaining plugged in after more than four decades creating comic books, the new story features a sentient AI as a manipulative force behind the scenes. Fitting for the project, it’s being released in both hardcover and a manga-styled edition. That also seems appropriate to the evolution in Miller’s art, which seems to include an additional level of Eastern influence to what’s been seen in his earlier work.
As Miller’s fellow legendary comic creator, Jim Lee — artist and now DC Comics’ top exec — describes the original, the story is “a visionary masterpiece that dared to challenge convention and ignite the imaginations of readers worldwide.” As Lee describes it, “Ronin” was “A fever dream that at its core is a tale of redemption and rebirth, a timeless saga that traverses the boundaries of time and space.”
Now comes a “Ronin” for a new generation.
Miller also co-created new book “Pandora,” part of his Frank Miller Presents line, with artist Emma Kubert and writers Chris Silvestri and Anthony Maranville. Kubert is the third generation of comic creators in her family, with her father Andy and uncle Adam Kubert notable creators in their own right, with all of them descended from the legendary Joe Kubert.
It’s an unusual effort for Miller, telling the story of a 15-year-old girl who develops the power to shift reality — using it to accomplish that quite teen goal of escaping a frustrating home life. But the effects of those changes may hold within them some of Miller’s trademark darkness.
While the book’s writers have done work in the Star Trek universe, including writing on “Star Trek: Discovery,” they also have a dark side. Silvestri in particular was a writer on NBC’s “Hannibal,” for starters.
Frank Miller’s “Ronin Rising” is out now, as is Book 1 of “Pandora.”
See exclusive art from both of these books below. From “Ronin Rising”:
And from “Pandora”:
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