Drawing Impossible Dreams: The Impact of Frank Miller's Ronin, part two

"Just remember, if this is your first comic book in a while, that comics is a form for telling stories, as versatile and full of promise as any other"(Frank Miller, from the collected Wolverine, 1987).

Ronin is not just a representation of where the makeup of comics were about to go in the last part of the twentieth century, but it also needs to be acknowledged as the the evolution of an artist who, when given an opportunity to express his self, truly embraced the chance to put his own stamp on storytelling in a medium that was ready for new avenues to be explored.

The Past is Prologue (stylistically)
Frank Miller could have just been satisfied as the in-house wunderkind at Marvel that put life into the second tier character Daredevil. The popularity of Miller is easy to see in his early work, as his storytelling, pacing, and style popped with movement and electricity, even though bound by the house styles and editing of the early 1980's (Fig. 1).

Fig.1

However, in less than a year (literally 11 months later) The infamous Daredevil #181 will seem to come from a completely different artist. In the figures 2 and 3, originally published as a two-page left to right sequence, notice how the action pops, but now with a dynamism that allows for a greater reader immersion--from the sequential pacing to the use of sound effects.

Fig. 2

Fig.3

But for all of Miller's bravado in action sequences, he exhibits quiet control in instances ( the multiple pages of Elektra moving to die in Matt Murdock's arms) or, as in figure 4, the use of playing with negative space and the breaking down of formal structure.

Fig. 4

Miller's evolution culminating in the death of Elektra issue is a clear indication of someone who is ready to take a step into the void of the medium that was begging for someone in the mainstream to put forth something striking, provocative, and entertaining. His use of widescreen cinematic panels, sound effects, and high paced energy would be refined through a more expressionist lens.

Re-imagining your own style
Daredevil #181, the death of Elektra, can be seen as a primer for the way that Miller is working out most of the style that he is moving towards. Just as Jenette Kahn (2008) lets the reader know in her introduction to the Absolute edition of the book,  Miller's art for Ronin, from his pencils and inks (which he handled himself) to exploring color usage (with constant companion Lynn Varley), this story is one that is in an expressionist vein.

Ronin as an expressionist work makes sense, as expressionistic art is "an embodiment of the artist's inward feelings and images into an objective, outward, "expressive"[author emphasis], form" (Barone, 2001, p.22), looking to "distort [the art] radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas", as the artist(s) attempts to "express meaning or emotional experience rather than physical reality" (Thompson; Baldick; Tejera; Oxford Illustrated Dictionary; as cited on wikipedia entry on expressionism).  By looking at this work through an expressionist lens, the ideas presented by Miller unify and coalesce nicely (and it can be argued by people much smarter than me that in essence the entire comics medium is legitimately an expressionist form of art).

Ronin as a story is a fever dream, the best type of science fiction in the vein of post-modern and anti-utopian visions that was at its peak, especially cinematically in the late 70's and early 80's in films such as Ridley Scott's Alien and Blade Runner, or John Carpenter's Escape from New York. While it is unfortunate that this is a story telling template that Miller (and others) will continue to apply as he rips through Batman in The Dark Knight Returns, to return to the point where he first really pieced it all together is still very exciting and refreshing almost thirty years later.

The expressionist style for Miller is in expanding upon what he had already developed in mastering the panel and page driven style of the comics medium. While Ronin truly has more examples than could possible be listed here ( it truly requires a book, one that I hope someone will write someday), I want to isolate three; two of which are an expansion of his previous style.

First, an example of how Miller handles action/violence. If you go back and look at the example above from Daredevil (fig. 2,3) we see the use of the horizontal, widescreen cinematic presentation of action while utilizing onomatopoeia. This evolves in many ways in Ronin as Miller compacts, yet expands the same idea, as seen below in figure 5.

Fig. 5

Here he relies on sound as a transitional barrier and action, sitting it up vertically rather than on the side-- therefore communicating the cutting quick motion of the sword going up and down in a way to transmit a greater impact upon the reader.

Second, Miller's use of negative space grows to want to allow the reader to step back from the page(s) and let the eye find the sequence. Again, in comparison with early work (see fig. 4), look at figures 6 and 7. (I apologize for breaking up the page, but the Absolute edition demanded it!).

Fig. 6

Fig.7

The third, and most revelatory, is Miller using full page spreads as actual transitions. Cinema has of course long used this technique ( e.g. panoramic shots of city-scapes), and Miller openly does it, but more so as an integral piece of information for the reader in regards to the narrative of the sentient computer Virgo gone haywire (fig 8, 9).

Fig. 8

Fig. 9

So what did it all mean?
Comics had to change. While in the 21st century many artists and creators have reverted back to looking at the gold and silver age of comic styles and story telling genres to refine sensibilities (Darwyn Cooke's The New Frontier; Wednesday Comics), the decade of the 80's was and remains a very intense time for the medium. What works such as Ronin or even Watchmen opened the doors to was more creator input driven and/or owned work in a market place that had for too long been dominated by just the big boy homes of ideas and flights/tights sets. While the unfortunate drawback of this work was mass imitation via the "gritty-realistic" hero narratives that we still feel the lingering effects of today, Miller's expressionistic dream on paper still stands out historically as a point where the next wave in comics began, and the medium as a whole is better for it.

All images and words from Absolute: Ronin is copyrighted 2008, Frank Miller, Inc. and DC Comics; All images and words from Daredevil and Wolverine is copyrighted Marvel. All work represented here was purchased by the author, and is intended for scholarly use and debate for those who wish to engage in it.