It’s no secret that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but one iconic work in particular cast a large shadow over Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It may not be as well-known as The Dark Knight Returns and Sin City, but Miller’s Ronin has been just as influential throughout the years, particularly on the Turtles.

Released between 1983 and 1984 by DC Comics, Ronin was a six-issue series by Miller and Lynn Varley. The story took place in a dystopian future New York, where a ronin from feudal Japan is seemingly reincarnated to fight an ancient demon that has taken control of the city.

Speaking with The Comics Journal in 1998, Eastman talks about how much of an influence Miller was on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1:

We pretty much blatantly ripped off the cover and its style, the jagged balloons, the Miller style. The roughness of the drawing…I was without a doubt an absolutely huge Frank Miller fan and I don’t think Frank’s ever forgiven me for that.

Frank Miller's Ronin Was a Major Influence on the Style of the Original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series

Separated at Birth...

Much has been made about how Miller's Daredevil influenced TMNT’s creation, to the point where both Matt Murdock and the Turtles even unofficially share an origin. Yet Ronin is perhaps an even greater inspiration, as Miller’s design of the Ronin covers provided the template for Eastman and Laird’s now iconic cover to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1. Comparing the TMNT cover to Miller’s Ronin: Book One makes it obvious – everything from the creator credits to the title treatment to the heavily cross-hatched, expressionistic drawing style is present. The two covers even share a similar coloring scheme, both popping with monochromatic red.

The influence of Ronin on Turtles was pretty instantaneous, considering that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 came out on May 1st, 1984, a mere eight days before the last issue of Ronin hit stores on May 8th. Eastman explains how he kept up with Miller’s work throughout the years, iring the writer/artist’s willingness to push himself with each new project:

Miller always experiments and tries different things and really is one of those people that moves the comics industry along, pushes the limits, and creates new heights that it should rise to, with Ronin, and Dark Knight, and even Sin City.

Ronin was much hyped at the time of its release, being that it was the first original work that Miller produced following his game-changing run on Daredevil. While not a sales success at the time, Ronin has been more warmly received in recent decades as a true classic.

Another franchise that was similarly influenced by Ronin was Samurai Jack, a Cartoon Network original show that told a similar story of a samurai sent to the distant future to fight a powerful demon.

While many have been influenced by Miller, it’s important to highlight some of the work that influenced the writer/artist for his own work. Ronin is perhaps the work where Miller’s influences are most apparent. Chief among them is the work of artist Goseki Kojima, whose blistering samurai action in Lone Wolf and Cub can be felt on every page of Ronin. Miller was also looking to European comics for his portrayal of the futuristic, sci-fi world. The intricate and grimy settings most recall the work of French comics legend Moebius.

Ronin Is Frank Miller’s Underrated Masterpiece

TMNT May Not Exist Without Ronin

What’s truly remarkable about Ronin is the growth that Miller displays as both an artist and a storyteller across all six issues. It’s almost as if the writer/artist reinvents himself every fifteen pages or so, learning new tricks as he pushes himself with each new page. Miller’s growth as an artist also inspired Eastman, who cites his work on Daredevil as a prime example:

The coolest thing even today when I look back at the growth period of Frank Miller between #158 and #191 or #192, his last issue on Daredevil, it’s pretty phenomenal. He was, I think, very Kirby-esque in that he had a very dynamic style of storytelling. I was very inspired.

Ronin was overshadowed by Miller’s later work on The Dark Knight Returns, which helped to change the entire industry when DC released the first issue in 1986. But the techniques shown in The Dark Knight Returns that have influenced generations of comic book creators were refined during Miller’s time working on Ronin, where he was given unprecedented levels of freedom by DC to create comics how he saw fit.

Interestingly enough, while Eastman was a huge fan of Ronin, he its that his TMNT co-creator, Laird, wasn’t as enamored. “Pete’s never really liked Ronin that much,” Eastman its, confessing that the Miller aesthetic came more from his side of their collaboration: “The roughness of the drawing, I probably pushed that on Pete." It’s important to note that TMNT #1 was dedicated to both Miller and Jack Kirby, and it’s clear that Kirby was the bigger influence on Laird, given his contributions to the early TMNT issues.

The influence of Ronin on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shows that nothing is created in a vacuum. Miller was influenced by the likes of Kojima and Moebius in creating Ronin, and he wound up influencing Eastman and Laird when they revolutionized the industry with their little indie, black-and-white comic. Miller continues to influence the TMNT franchise to this day, most notably with the hidden connection between The Last Ronin and The Dark Knight Returns. But it all started with Frank Miller’s Ronin, whose striking cover design inspired Eastman and Laird to create their own iconic image with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1.

Source: The Comics Journal