Happy Sunday Folks!

Today I am going to spotlight one of the legends in the mainstream comic book industry: Frank Miller. While his more recent works have been less than stellar (I will touch on that later), there is no denying that he has been a major force in the comic book landscape for the better part of the last three decades as both an artist and a writer.

Frank Miller began his comic book career with a host of fill-in issues for any company that would hire him. His first printed work was back in 1978 with Gold Key Comics’ THE TWILIGHT ZONE #84. Eventually he would end up at Marvel doing fill-in issues and covers, but it wasn’t until he took over as the artist on DAREDEVIL in 1979 that people began to stand up and take notice. When Miller began writing DAREDEVIL as well as illustrating the book, the title became wildly popular, and Miller became a name to watch. While at Marvel, Frank also illustrated (and co-plotted) the hugely successful WOLVERINE mini-series with writer Chris Claremont.

Eventually, Miller would move over to DC where he did his own creator-owned series, the aforementioned RONIN, as well as some of his most famous work on Batman, including THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and BATMAN: YEAR ONE. In between his bat-opuses, he went back over for one of the greatest DAREDEVIL runs of all time, Born Again, with artist Dave Mazzucchelli (his cohort on YEAR ONE).

Eventually, Miller would split from the big publishers due to creator rights and censorship issues, taking his star to Dark Horse Comics. Once at Dark Horse, Miller launched a slew of new series, including HARD BOILED (with Geoff Darrow, the guy who storyboarded The Matrix), GIVE ME LIBERTY (with Dave Gibbons, the guy who drew WATCHMEN), 300, and, perhaps the work that he is best known for, SIN CITY.

Frank Miller went into the 21st century on a roll, but the latest millennium has not been good for him. Miller returned to DC for a sequel to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN, which was not well received. Miller also began writing a new Bat-centric series named ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER, which is almost universally thought of to be tripe (despite beautiful Jim Lee artwork). He also Directed a film version of WIll Eisner’s THE SPIRIT, which did not go well for him. On a bright note for Miller, the 00’s did see two of his stories, 300 and SIN CITY made into successful films, both with sequels on the way.

As an artist, Frank Miller has evolved tremendously over his career. When he broke into the business he tried to insert his noir-ish sensibilities into superhero books, but he still had to soften his work to make it fit the mainstream mold. As Miller got more successful, he was able to take more risks, not only with his pencilling style but, his story-telling methods. If you compare early 1980’s Miller to late 1990’s Miller the change in style is obvious. Even looking at early Daredevil art compared to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, you can see that Miller was constantly allowing his style to evolve. The turning point seemed to really occur first on RONIN, with his line work becoming looser, and the shading and tone work becoming a more active story-telling tool. By the time Miller began SIN CITY, his lines were exceptionally loose, with heavy blacks and negative space playing as the primary visual devices. Miller’s paneling has also become more risque, moving farther away from the traditional multi panel lay-outs, and moving more and more towards telling stories with series’ of single images.

From a writing standpoint, Miller has always had a knack for telling great crime stories. Be it DAREDEVIL, BATMAN or SIN CITY, there is perhaps no one better at making the dirt of a situation evident to the readers. This is not to say that MIller’s non-crime books don’t also stand out. 300, RONIN, and HARD BOILED are all excellent, and very well written. As Frank has gotten older, however, it seems that he has grown less in touch with the gritty situations he once wrote so well. In his prime, Miller’s dialogue was a strength, making conversations pop. In the last decade though, the line he is most famous for is “I’m the Godd@mned Batman”.

On a personal level, I am a huge fan of just about all of Frank Miller’s early mainstream work. Both of his DAREDEVIL runs are spectacular, and his BATMAN work is a beautiful example of how excellent 1980’s comics could be. Several mini-series that I have mentioned throughout this piece, RONIN, WOLVERINE and 300, should be read by anyone who wants to like comics. That being said, I have always preferred Miller’s writing to his artistic style. While some of my favorite stories have come from the ben of Frank Miller, some of my least favorite art has come from his pencil. Some of Miller’s art I love, I can’t imagine THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS looking better unless Neal Adams himself drew the thing, and the same goes for RONIN. While this artwork fits wonderfully with many of his stories, (SIN CITY being a prime example of this) sometimes his loose lines just look sloppy and rushed. I could barely make it through THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES BACK, and any time I see a variant cover by Miller, I make a little sad noise.

Frank Miller is an integral part of the comic book industry. Without him, creator rights and comic book censorship in comics would not be where they are today. In his prime he was one of the greats, and even if he is fading from his greatest creative years (I’m not saying he is, he could just be in a slump), his older works still hold up beautifully today. If you are trying to get a friend into comics, give them something by Frank MIller . Just make sure it’s not something recent.