Frank Miller (comics)

Frank Miller
FrankMillerSanDiego.jpg
Miller at the 2008 Comic-Con
Born January 27, 1957 (1957-01-27) (age 52)
Olney, Maryland, U.S.
Nationality American
Area(s) Writer
Penciller
Inker
Film director
Screenwriter
Actor
Notable works Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Batman: Year One
Sin City
Daredevil: Born Again
300
Ronin
Give Me Liberty
Not to be confused with Frank Miller (newspaper cartoonist) (creator of Barney Baxter), or other people named Frank Miller

Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American writer, artist and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories.

Contents

Life and career

Early career

Miller spent his childhood in Montpelier, Vermont. Setting out to become an artist, he eventually received his first published work in Gold Key Comics' The Twilight Zone #84 (September 1978). This was followed by various pencilling jobs for anthology titles from DC Comics and his first work at Marvel Comics in Barsoom John Carter: Warlord of Mars #18.

It was at Marvel that Miller would settle in as a regular fill-in and cover artist, working on a variety of titles. One of these jobs was drawing Spectacular Spider-Man #27 and 28. These issues featured Daredevil as a supporting character. At this time Daredevil was a minor character with his own poor selling title; however, Miller saw something in the character he liked and asked then Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter if he could work on Daredevil's regular title. Shooter agreed and made Miller the new penciller on the title.

Daredevil and the early 1980s

Miller's first issue of Daredevil (#158) was the last part of an ongoing story written by Roger McKenzie. Although still conforming to traditional comic book styles, Miller infused this first issue with his own film noir style, which proved to be a success. After this issue Miller became one of Marvel's fastest rising stars and also started plotting additional stories with McKenzie. Miller's art was highly detailed but still retained his noir style as his run progressed. Learning from Neal Adams, Miller would sit for hours sketching the roofs of New York in an attempt to give his Daredevil art an authentic feel not commonly seen in superhero comics at the time. Miller was so successful with the title that Marvel began publishing the Daredevil comic monthly (as opposed to its previous bi-monthly publication period). From issue 168 in 1981, Miller took over full duties as writer and penciller, with Klaus Janson providing inks in the issues. Issue #168 saw the first appearance of Elektra.

With his creation of Elektra, Miller's work on Daredevil became characterized by darker themes and stories. This peaked when in issue 181 he had the assassin Bullseye kill Elektra. Although deaths of supporting characters were commonplace in comics at the time, the death of a major character like Elektra was not. Miller made it clear with the next few issues that he intended Elektra to remain dead, but nonetheless she was revived during his time as writer. Miller finished his Daredevil run with issue 191; in his time he had transformed a secondary character into one of the most popular and best-selling characters Marvel published. Due to Daredevil's popularity, Miller became one of the most sought-after artists in the industry.

During this time, Miller also found time in 1980 to draw a short Batman Christmas story for a DC Comics Christmas special. This was his first encounter with a character with which, like Daredevil, he would later become closely associated. In 1981 he wrote and drew an Elektra story in Bizarre Adventures #28. Miller and writer Chris Claremont produced a four-part Wolverine mini series in 1982, spinning off from the popular X-Men title. Miller used this title to expand on Wolverine's character while featuring more of his manga-influenced art. The series was a critical success and further cemented Miller's place as a major artist.

His first creator-owned title, Ronin, was a six-issue mini-series first published from 1983 to 1984 by DC Comics. With Ronin, Miller not only refined his own art and storytelling techniques, but also helped change how creator rights were viewed, and proved that comics in new formats could be commercially viable. After Ronin, Miller was relatively reclusive in 1985; his only published work was a single issue of Daredevil (issue 219), inspired by the film High Plains Drifter.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and the late 1980s

In 1986 DC Comics released the first issue of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (commonly shortened to DKR), a four-issue mini-series printed in the new prestige format, and written and drawn by Miller, with colors by Lynn Varley and inks by Klaus Janson.

The story tells how Batman retired after the death of the second Robin, and at age 55 returns to fight crime in a future where crime and violence have taken over. Meant as a possible finale for Batman, Miller created a tough, gritty portrayal of the Dark Knight. Released the same year as Watchmen, it showed a new form of more 'adult-oriented' storytelling to a mainstream audience, as well as diehard comics fans. Receiving massive amounts of media publicity, Miller found that he had not only redefined Batman in comics, but had managed to remove the campy image many had of the character from the 1960s television series.

DKR influenced the comic book industry by heralding a new wave of darker, more 'realistic' characters in comics, and along with Batman: The Killing Joke, it was also a major influence on Tim Burton's Batman in 1989. The trade paperback proved to be a huge seller for DC and remains in print 20 years after first being published. In addition, this comic helped to finally sever the formerly benign relationship between DC's two most recognizable superheroes, Batman and Superman.

1986 also saw Miller return as writer to Daredevil with artist David Mazzucchelli, creating a story arc that, like DKR, redefined and reinvigorated its main character. In Daredevil: Born Again, we learn about the Daredevil's Catholic background, and witness the destruction (and "rebirth") of alter-ego Matt Murdock at the hands of archnemesis the Kingpin. (The Daredevil run actually precedes DKR by several months, and, in fact, began in late-1985.)

Miller and artist Bill Sienkiewicz produced the graphic novel Daredevil: Love and War in 1986. Featuring the character of the Kingpin, it indirectly bridges Miller's first run on Daredevil and Born Again by explaining the change in the Kingpin's attitude toward Daredevil. Miller and Sienkiewicz also produced the eight-issue miniseries Elektra: Assassin for Epic Comics. Set outside regular Marvel continuity, it featured a wild tale of cyborgs and ninjas, while expanding further on Elektra's background. Both of these projects were well-received critically. Elektra: Assassin was praised for its bold storytelling, but neither it nor Daredevil: Love and War had the influence or reached as many readers as Dark Knight Returns or Born Again.

Miller's final major story in this period was in Batman issues 404-407 in 1987, another collaboration with Mazzuchelli. Titled Batman: Year One, this was Miller's version of the origin of Batman in which he retconned many details and adapted the story to fit his Dark Knight continuity. Proving to be hugely popular, this was as influential as Miller's previous work and a trade paperback released in 1988 remains in print and is one of DC's best selling books.

Miller had also drawn the covers for the first twelve issues of First Comics English language reprints of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's Lone Wolf and Cub. This helped bring Japanese manga to a wider Western audience.

During this time, Miller (along with Marv Wolfman, Alan Moore and Howard Chaykin) had been in dispute with DC Comics over a proposed ratings system for comics. Disagreeing with what he saw as censorship, Miller refused to do any further work for DC, and he would take his future projects to the independent publisher Dark Horse Comics. From then on Miller would be a major supporter of creator rights and be a major voice against censorship in comics.

Sin City and the 1990s

After leaving DC, Miller intended to only release his work via Dark Horse, however he had one final project for Epic Comics. Elektra Lives Again was a fully-painted graphic novel written and drawn by Miller and colored by longtime partner Varley. Telling the story of the resurrection of Elektra from the dead and Daredevil's quest to find her, it was the first example of a new style in Miller's art, as well as showing Miller's willingness to experiment with new storytelling techniques.

1990 saw Miller and artist Geof Darrow start work on Hard Boiled, a three-issue mini-series which suffered from long delays between issues. That aside, the title was a mix of violence and satire which was praised for Darrow's highly detailed art and Miller's writing. At the same time Miller and artist Dave Gibbons produced Give Me Liberty, a four-issue mini-series for Dark Horse. Another mixture of action and political satire, the title sold well and firmly cemented Miller's reputation as a writer of more 'adult' comic books. Give Me Liberty was followed by several follow-up series and specials expanding on the story of the main character Martha Washington, all of which were written by Miller and drawn by Gibbons.

Miller also wrote the scripts for the films RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3. Neither were critically well-received. After RoboCop 3, Miller stated that he would never allow Hollywood to make movie adaptations of his comics, being disgusted with the constant studio interference with his scriptwriting. Miller would come into contact with the fictional cyborg once more, however, writing the critically acclaimed, best-selling limited series, RoboCop vs. The Terminator, with art by Walter Simonson. In 2003, Miller's screenplay for RoboCop 2 was eventually adapted by Steven Grant for Avatar Press's Pulsaar imprint, which now owns the rights to create comics based on RoboCop. Illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp, the series is called Frank Miller's RoboCop and contains plot elements that were divided between RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3.

In 1991 Miller started work on his first Sin City story. Serialised in Dark Horse Presents issues 51 to 62, this was Miller's first completely solo work, as he wrote and drew the story in black and white to emphasize its film noir origins. Proving to be another success, the story was released in a trade paperback. This first Sin City "yarn" was re-released in 2005 under the name The Hard Goodbye. Sin City proved to be Miller's main project for much of the remainder of the decade, as Miller told more Sin City stories within this noir world of his creation, in the process helping to revitalize the crime comics genre. Sin City proved artistically auspicious for Miller and again brought his work to a wider audience outside of comics.

Daredevil: Man Without Fear was a mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 1993 based on an earlier film script. In this Miller and artist John Romita Jr. told Daredevil's origins differently than in the comics. Miller also returned to superheroes by writing issue #11 of Todd McFarlane's Spawn, as well as the Spawn/Batman crossover for Image Comics.

In 1995, Miller and Darrow collaborated again on Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot — an homage to Godzilla movies, Astro Boy and patriotic American films from World War II. The series was published as a two-part mini-series from Dark Horse Comics. In 1999 it became an animated series on Fox Kids. During this period, Miller became one of the founding members of the comic imprint Legend, under which many of his Sin City works were released, via Dark Horse. Also, it was during the 1990s that Miller did cover art for many titles in the Comics Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes line.

Written and illustrated by Frank Miller with painted colors by Lynn Varley, 300 was a 1998 graphic novel series (later collected into a single hardcover issue), a retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it from the perspective of Leonidas of Sparta. 300 was particularly inspired by the 1962 film The 300 Spartans, a movie that Miller watched as a young boy. In 2007, 300 was adapted by director Zack Snyder into a highly successful film.

2000 onwards

Miller started the new millennium off with the long awaited sequel to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns for DC Comics after Miller had put aside past differences with DC. Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again was initially released as a three issue series. Miller has also returned to writing Batman in 2005, taking on the writing duties of All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, a series set outside of the normal DC continuity and drawn by Jim Lee. Miller has been vocally opposed to recent comic art attempting to give the cosmetic appearance of what some say is more realism. In an interview on the documentary Legends of the Dark Knight: The History of Batman, Miller said, "People are attempting to bring a superficial reality to superheroes which is rather stupid. They work best as the flamboyant fantasies they are. I mean, these are characters that are broad and big. I don't need to see sweat patches under Superman's arms. I want to see him fly."

Miller's stance against movie adaptations was to change after Robert Rodriguez made a short film from one of Miller's Sin City short stories. Rodriguez showed this short film to Miller, who was so pleased with the result that he approved a full-length film, Sin City. This would be Miller's second experience with the movie world, after becoming disenchanted years earlier with his experiences with RoboCop 2 and 3. The movie was released in the US on April 1, 2005, using Miller's original comics panels as storyboards. Miller and Rodriguez are credited as co-directors, which Rodriguez insisted upon (and had allegedly promised to Miller). Directors Guild of America rules permit only one person or "legitimate" directorial team (such as the Coen brothers) being listed as the director of a film. As a result, Rodriguez elected to resign from the Guild. The film's success brought renewed attention to Miller and to Sin City. And the 300 film did the same for 300.

In 2006, Miller announced that his next Batman book would be called Holy Terror, Batman!. In the story, Batman defends Gotham City against attacks by real-life terrorist group Al-Qaeda. However, in a 2008 New York Times interview, Miller mentioned that the story was evolving: "As I worked on it, it became something that was no longer Batman. It’s somewhere past that, and I decided it’s going to be part of a new series that I’m starting.”[1]

At the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Miller would direct a film version of Will Eisner's The Spirit.[2] A sequel to the Sin City film is in progress, provisionally entitled Sin City 2.

Political stance

Miller at The X-Files: I Want to Believe premiere

On January 24th, 2007, in an interview with American radio network National Public Radio, Frank Miller talked about his political views.[3][4] On the issue of the second Iraq war, he said : "Mostly I hear people say, 'Why did we attack Iraq?' for instance. Well, we're taking on an idea. Nobody questions why we, after Pearl Harbor, attacked Nazi Germany. It was because we were taking on a form of global fascism, we're doing the same thing now." In his view, America lacks firmness against its enemies: "It seems to me quite obvious that our country and the entire Western World is up against an existential foe that knows exactly what it wants... and we're behaving like a collapsing empire. Mighty cultures are almost never conquered, they crumble from within. And frankly, I think that a lot of Americans are acting like spoiled brats." About those being fought against, Miller said "For some reason, nobody seems to be talking about who we’re up against, and the sixth century barbarism that they actually represent. These people saw people’s heads off. They enslave women, they genitally mutilate their daughters, they do not behave by any cultural norms that are sensible to us. I’m speaking into a microphone that never could have been a product of their culture, and I’m living in a city where three thousand of my neighbors were killed by thieves of airplanes they never could have built." Miller also opines that Iraq declared war on the U.S.

Critical reactions

Frank Miller has received much praise for his work on icons Daredevil and Batman as well as some of his own works, such as 300 and Sin City.

Alan Moore praised Miller's Daredevil in the article "The Art of Being Frank" in The Daredevils #1, but spoofed him in #8 ("Grit!"). Moore criticized Miller's 300, calling it "racist, homophobic, and sublimely stupid."[5]

The Dark Knight Returns received much praise, although Miller himself has stated that when he did the book, he got calls from many comic creators telling him that he had ruined their character.

In recent years, much of Miller's work, particularly regarding Batman, has been the subject of controversy. Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again was received with much less critical acclaim than its predecessor. The upcoming Holy Terror, Batman!, which Miller has described as "a piece of propaganda"[6], has been criticized by Grant Morrison, who said that "cheering on a fictional character battling fictionalized terrorists seems like a decadent indulgence" and suggested that Miller join the army and actually fight.[7]

All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder in particular has been met with harsh criticism. William Gatevackes of PopMatters said that "All Star Batman and Robin should be avoided at all costs."[8] Comics journalist Cliff Biggers of Comic Shop News called the series "one of the biggest train wrecks in comics history."[9] Iann Robinson called All Star Batman and Robin "a comic series that just spirals deeper and deeper into the abyss of unreadable", saying that "Miller has erased all the good he did for Batman with The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One."[10]

Miller's RoboCop comic was criticized by Entertainment Weekly for its "tired story" and lack of "interesting action."[11]

Some of Miller's works have been accused of lacking humanity,[12] particularly in regard to the overabundance of prostitutes portrayed in Sin City.[13]

Influences

His cartoonist influences include Alex Toth, Frank Frazetta, Joe Kubert, Dick Sprang, Jack Kirby, Jordi Bernet, Jim Steranko, Johnny Craig, Milton Caniff, Wally Wood, Hugo Pratt, Frank Robbins, Will Eisner, William Gaines, and James Kochalka.

Miller has stated that his influences include the writings of James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson

Outside of the comic and political circuit, his influences include art historian Kenneth Clark, and the animations by Fleischer Studios.

Cameo appearances

Frank Miller has appeared in four films in small roles, dying in every one.

Frank Miller also appeared in an episode of the television series Moonlighting as a customer at a box office.

Bibliography

As artist only

As writer/artist

Miller at the 1982 Comic-Con

Marvel Comics

DC Comics

Dark Horse Comics

Sin City:

Other:

As writer only

Marvel Comics

DC Comics

Dark Horse Comics

Martha Washington (art by co-creator Dave Gibbons):

All are due for collection in an Omnibus.

Other:

Other Publishers

For film

300 was adapted shot for shot into a feature film in 2007. The 2003 film version of Daredevil predominantly use the tone and stories written and established by Frank Miller. Miller did not have any direct creative input into either of these films.

Cover artist

Collections

Awards

Eisner Awards

Best Short Story - 1995

Best Finite Series/Limited Series - 1991, 1995, 1996, 1999

Best Graphic Album: New - 1991

Best Graphic Album: Reprint - 1993, 1998

Best Writer/Artist - 1991, 1993, 1999

Best Artist/Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team - 1993

Kirby Awards

Best Single Issue - 1986, 1987

Best Graphic Album, 1987

Best Writer/Artist (single or team) - 1986

Best Art Team - 1987

Harvey Awards

Best Continuing or Limited Series - 1996, 1999

Best Graphic Album of Original Work - 1998

Best Domestic Reprint Project - 1997

References

  1. ↑ Webster, Andy; "Artist-Director Seeks the Spirit of ‘The Spirit’ "; nytimes.com; July 20, 2008; Page 2 of 2
  2. ↑ "Spirit" comic comes to life on big screen yahoo.com, 2006-07-19
  3. ↑ "Writers, Artists Describe State of the Union". NPR's Talk of the Nation. January 24, 2007.
  4. ↑ Zader, Joshua. "NPR Interview with 300’s Frank Miller". The Atlasphere. March 10, 2007.
  5. ↑ Gopalan, Nisha (2008-07-16). "Alan Moore Still Knows the Score!". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc). http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20213067_20213068_20213004,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-07-22. 
  6. ↑ Harry Mount (February 15, 2006). "Holy propaganda! Batman is tackling Osama bin Laden", Daily Telegraph. 
  7. ↑ "Morrison in the Cave: Grant Morrison Talks Batman". Newsarama (2006-08-23). Archived from the original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
  8. ↑ ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN #1-3 William Gatevackes, PopMatters 2006-02-10
  9. ↑ Comic Shop News #1064 November 7, 2007
  10. ↑ Review by Iann Robinson, Crave Online
  11. ↑ Review by Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly, September 5, 2003
  12. ↑ Scott, A. O. "The Unreal Road From Toontown to 'Sin City'". New York Times. April 24, 2005.
  13. ↑ Dargis, Manohla. "A Savage and Sexy City of Pulp Fiction Regulars". New York Times. April 1, 2005.
  14. ↑ Amazon.com: Gravity's Rainbow (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition): Thomas Pynchon, Frank Miller: Books

External links

Preceded by
Jim Shooter		 Daredevil writer
1980
(with Roger McKenzie)		 Succeeded by
N/A
Preceded by
Roger McKenzie		 Daredevil writer
1981–1983		 Succeeded by
Dennis O'Neil
Preceded by
Gene Colan		 Daredevil artist
1979–1982		 Succeeded by
Klaus Janson
Preceded by
Dennis O'Neil		 Daredevil writer
1986		 Succeeded by
Ann Nocenti
Frank Miller
Batman comics
All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns • Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again • Batman: Year One • Holy Terror, Batman! 
Other comics (written)
Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot • Daredevil • Daredevil: Born Again • Elektra: Assassin • Give Me Liberty • Hard Boiled • RoboCop • RoboCop versus The Terminator • The Twilight Zone • Wolverine 
Other comics (written and drawn)
300 • Ronin • Sin City
Film
300  • RoboCop 2  • RoboCop 3  • Ronin  • Sin City  • Sin City 2  • The Spirit
Persondata
NAME Miller, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION American writer, artist, film director
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Olney, Maryland, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH