Long time ago, as a wee comic fan of around nine years I would buy random comic books with Spider-Man or X-Men on the cover. But I had a soft spot for the Batman. I watched the old Adam West TV series, loved the Tim Burton movie, and was awaiting the new cartoon series. One special year my Uncle Mike hooked me up with two Batman books...
Frank Millers The Dark Knight Returns(DKR for short) and
Batman: Year One. For a nine year old-these books totally took me by surprise. They were darker, heaver in tone, and more violent than anything I had ever read-and up to that point seen on TV and movies.
Though, honestly, DKR isn't exactly a favorite book of mine it is visceral. The style and craft of Frank Miller is really hard to describe. The man just knows how to go about his artwork in a way where you see why he's such an icon. The story is fine, but the artwork always intrigued me more. That's why Batman: Year One is my favorite Batman comic of all time. I admit, I prefer my superheroes a little sunnier but Frank and artist
David Mazzachulli's famed update of Batman(and Jim Gordon's) first year in Gotham City still puts other superhero titles to shame. Mazzachulli's beautiful art and Frank's writing just go together. You have to understand, as a young kid, I was handed the classics and most everything paled in comparison. Some of the books I loved when I was young no longer hold weight in my eyes but DKR and Year One continue to be examples of comics as literature.
Now as I got older I didn't exactly become a hardcore collector because, well, I didn't have much money and between other interests I got comics when I could and followed titles if able. During a time in which I was part of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club I started buying trades like Preacher and Death but one time out I noticed they were selling a book called
Ronin by Frank Miller. So I picked it up. I don't follow comic creators but this was the legend so I had to see what this was about and damn did Ronin kick some serious ass. The series was done after his
stint on Daredevil and before DKR. Frank Millers story set in a decaying futuristic Manhattan about a reborn Samurai looking to finally defeat the demon Agat. This book looks so different than anything else I've ever read and a story so dark, menacing with so many thrilling moments I find it hard to believe some people never mention Ronin when talking about Franks great works.
Frank Miller has gone on to of course do works like
Sin City and
300 which are both seminal comic works and have(or soon to) receive movie adaptations. I picked up the Sin City books after seeing the movie. Both those titles are stunning in their artwork. 300 specifically for its wide page formatting making everything more grand. Over recent years though he has been criticize for his work on
All Star Batman & Robin with
Jim Lee but I find myself greatly amused at the title. I look at it as camp and whether or not its terrible, I find it more shocking and gripping then most "good" comics. I mean, he just makes "bad" so fun to follow. Now I haven't the biggest Miller collection. I hope that titles like
Martha Washington and
Hard Boiled amongst others to get some reprints. I'm going to actually pawn an organ to get the Daredevil Omnibus.
The point to all this is pretty much say "Hey, Frank Miller is an icon, love him or hate him." Millers artwork stood out because it wasn't "superhero" art because he brought a real cinematic edge to his work and stole from the greats. His stories are written for a more mature audience. But most importantly, he's not afraid to piss people off with his work because he can do that, because he is Frank Miller. I salute him. He introduced me to mature comics and showed me books that are more timeless then 90% of comics being released today or even tomorrow. Plus he is total gangsta. Looking forward to the movies for 300 and Sin City 2.
