LITTLE RED RONIN #1, from Source Point Press on July 20th, 2022, begins the tale of Red, a girl who is the only person in Poletown to believe her grandmother saw the Great Wolf, and she won’t stop searching until she proves it.
The Details
- Written by: Garrett Gunn
- Art by: Kit Wallis
- Colors by: Kit Wallis
- Letters by: Dave Lentz
- Cover art by: Kit Wallis (cover A)
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: July 20, 2022
Is It Good?
LITTLE RED RONIN #1 is a solid mystery about a cable young girl’s determination to prove her grandmother’s story about a dangerous beast is real; against the wishes of her father, a bully, and the entire town. “Is it real or isn’t it?” stories, when done right, are tailor-made for generating tons of curiosity. LITTLE RED RONIN #1 is done right, and there’s a lot to like in this first issue.
The bright spot in this first issue is the plucky, determined, capable main character, Red. Red has a genuine love and loyalty for her Basaan (grandmother), and the passion Red exudes in searching out the truth to prove her Basaan right instantly puts you on Red’s side. Gunn creates a conflict that benefits the story by creating a scenario where the reader fights against their instincts. In no way would anyone WANT a giant, man-eating wolf to be real, but you want it to be real so that you can see Red succeed. Gunn almost immediately creates a main character you can root for.
The down point, which may not be a down point depending on your tastes, is a strange narrative flip at the midpoint. Through the first half of the issue, readers see Red’s journey play out in the third-person narrative. Suddenly, Red turns and breaks the fourth wall to address the reader directly for the rest of the issue. The execution of the switch is fine, but it’s a jarring twist that somehow lessens the tension of Red’s journey because she acknowledges she’s a player in a story. In a plot centered around the determination of a character to figure out what is and isn’t real, shifting to an acknowledgment that Red is in fiction feels off.
Gunn and Wallis are the creative team behind one of our favorite titles – Good Boy – so we knew what to expect going on. That said, Wallis’s art style is perfect for this very different type of story. The cute, cuddly Red is anything but when she faces off against the local bully, and the scenes depicting the legendary Great Wolf make excellent use of silhouettes to emphasize the dark nature of the beast.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with the voice of Red’s rather questioning her about where she’s been. As their conversation continues, we see a flashback to Red’s Basaan (grandmother) about the day she saw the Great Wolf in the woods. Red’s father is adamant that he won’t let his mother’s delusions poison the minds of his daughter and son. Red storms off into the snow.
Later, Red enters the main section of Poletown, where she runs into the local bully, Marcus, who taunts Red about her mother’s stories. When Red pushes back against Marcus’s taunts, a brawl breaks out, but we see Red is more than able to handle a bully three times her size.
Later, Red searches the woods as she has so many times before. Suddenly, she turns to the reader for an introduction. We conclude the issue with a poem, a snapping twig, and a sneak attack.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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LITTLE RED RONIN #1 is a very strong start to a fable about a girl’s loyalty to her grandmother and how that loyalty drives her to seek the truth against all opposition. Gunn almost instantly creates a plucky underdog you can root for, and Wallis’s art style uses action and tension to subvert your expectations (in a good way) about how impressive a woodland creature can be.
Related Information
What is a ronin?
The word ‘Ronin’ originates in feudal Japanese culture. The word is a label or title given to a samurai who is without a master to serve. In modern language, the same individual could be referred to as a ‘wanderer’ or ‘drifter.’ The word ‘Ronin’ is unique in that it refers to a person’s present state of aimlessness as well as the profession they occupied before becoming aimless.
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