A samurai revenge epic in a sci-fi setting. In the 13th century feudal Japan, the demon Agat kills Lord Ozaki. The nameless Samurai, now a masterless Ronin, fights and nearly kills the demon, but is trapped, along with the demon in an enchanted sword….
… until they are both released in 21st century New York City, a lawless wasteland run by bike groups and thugs. An oasis of sanity is Aquarius, a biotech company run by corrupt oligarchs. When released, the Samurai inhabits the body of a limbless mutant with telekinetic powers, a ward of Aquarius corporation, and Agat now possesses the chief of Aquarius.
The complex storyline continues as Billy/Ronin takes out the chiefs of the local gang of thugs, the corrupt heads of Aquarius, Virgo — the AI running Aquarius — and finally Agat himself, levelling most of NYC in the process.
Frank Miller’s complex storyline incorporates speculative science fiction, post-apolcalyptic horror, supernatural forces and samurai action. The artwork is heavily influenced by both Manga as well as the French/Belgian bandes desinees styles. A true mash-up in every sense of the term, Miller writes, pencils, and inks the six-issues that were released in 1983 along with colors by Lynn Varley. There were all these weird little occurances and subtle nuances in the art that made it totally engrossing and mesmerizing.
There have been several aborted attempts to make this into a movie or tv series, or even an animation show of some sort, but nothing has taken shape in the 40 years since this came out. The animated TV show Samurai Jack borrows heavily from this, with a nearly identical setup of a Samurai fighting a demon in a post-apocalyptic future. Animation director Genndy Tartakovsky has stated that Ronin was one of the major influences.
Definitely worth reading.