Ronin

UNKLE's Rōnin II mixtape, featuring the brand new singles The Way Back Home (Rōnin / Original) and Instability: Closer Than You Will Ever Be (Rōnin / Original), as well as 8 brand new UNKLE remixes.

An overlooked classic from Frank Miller. Like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Garth Ennis; when you hear the name Frank Miller the entire list of classic comic book tales comes to mind. From Daredevil, to Batman, down to Sin City and in the thick of the battle of 300; Miller has crafted classics with what seems like relative ease. Ronin is not only a change of pace for fans of Miller's more notable works, but it is also one of his finest. A disgraced and masterless samurai, a ronin, finds himself reborn in the lawless and oppressive world of 21st century New York, which has become a technological jungle. Also reborn is the demon Agat; whom the Ronin died fighting in an effort to avenge the death of his master. I don't want to say any more for fear of spoiling the story, but I will go as far as to say that Ronin packs in all the pulpy dialogue, conflicts, action, and artwork that anyone remotely familiar with Frank Miller would come to expect. If there's any real negative to Ronin, than it's the ending, which may leave some scratching their heads, and others wondering just what Miller was trying to really get across here. That aside, Ronin is an overlooked classic from the great Frank Miller, and if you're a fan who has never given this book a chance, you should definitely pick this up.

Ronin is the Japanese word used for Samurai without a master. In this case, the Ronin are outcast specialists of every kind, whose services are available to everyone - for money. Dierdre (undoubtedly from Ireland) hires several Ronin to form a team in order to retrieve an important suitcase from a man who is about to sell it to the Russians. After the mission has been completed successfully, the suitcase immediately gets switched by a member of the team who seems to work into his own pocket. The complex net of everyone tricking everyone begins to surface slowly, and deadly…

During the feudal period in Japan (1185-1868), a Ronin was a samurai (knight) with no lord or master. A samurai could become masterless from the death or political fall of his master, or simply by the loss of his master's favor. Ronin amassed during periods of long peace when their warrior training was not needed. Some Lords released samurai for strictly financial reasons during these periods. By law a Samurai was forbidden to have a job, so many fell into poverty and lives of crime to feed themselves and their families. Others, simply disgraced committed suicide.