Comics / European Comics

Young Ronins Tome 1: Rentrée des classes

By Hervé St-Louis
July 7, 2006 - 09:40

The French are obsessed with American names and archetypes. That’s what Young Ronins is. It’s the story of Nicole and Kenji, who just moved to Tower City with their father, the head of a large company. The real goal of their father is to stop the monster syndicate that is slowing overtaking the city. Trained as martial artists, it’s up to the kids to defend the city. But their training is not over yet and their enemies, fearsome.

Young Ronins reads like an American adventure comic book with the introduction pitting the heroes in a fight within minutes. The characterisation of the characters are crisp and the brother and sister team has a cool dynamic. This series is all action and intrigue, with the teen angst segues pitting them against rivals at school. Although entertaining, the Santos follows a formula that older comic book readers have seen much too often. Let’s hope he can escape from that in the next volume.

Imagine Mike Zeck with a touch of Darwyn Cooke from The New Frontier. This is how Santos feels. Soleil is trying to attract younger readers with comics that look more Japanese or American and Santos seems like the perfect choice. He’s not. Don’t get me wrong. Santos is a fabulous artist and storyteller. However, his style is usually seen in more mature comics, like Broken Frontier or period pieces. Yet, his action is kinetic as if he had been personally trained by Jack Kirby.

7/10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12