Frank made massive inroads in the early 1980's on Daredevil. He was without a doubt one of the premiere American talents working in the field, along with John Byrne, Chris Claremont and assorted others. He began his work under the editoral regime of Jim Shooter. Shooter was known for pushing writer and artists alike. He was not a well liked Editor-in-chief at Marvel but he was known for giving these same people the creative freedom they demanded. But more often than not he gave in to the higher ups when it came to brand names like Spider-Man, who was the biggest superhero at the time. Frank pushed the limits of what comics had done, he was a vibrant artist who could actually tell a story through pictures alone. You can look back at his early work and later work and notice this strong thread. Comics are a visual medium, without good art the writing has the potential to lose interest. Frank Miller's art does just that, it tells a story. You don't even have to read the word balloons to understand what is going on. This is a trait that alot of the artists of the 1990's didn't have. They were filling the page with "pretty" art but not telling a story, they were just drawing what they wanted to. So it is with strong contrast to the Image Comics crowd that Miller did Sin City. He was telling hard-boiled crime stories. But he was telling stories through the art instead of just putting a heroic pose , that told no story, on the page. And he was doing this in vibrant black and white.
After Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Frank had no reason to change. He was huge. He was a success. He could have done a hundred different sequels to the story and not once change his art and it would have sold. But Frank Miller has always been about pushing the medium. Whether it was fighting for creator's rights or re-inventing how he told these "funny book" stories. Frank is the one constant in the industry that has constently evolved, while venting his frustration that the medium he loves tries to hold on to the past. Disappointment was rampant when he did The Dark Knight Strikes Back, the much awaited sequel to DKR. But the Frank who was doing this story in 2001 was different from the one who did the original in 1986 and this is a constant cause of frustration for those of us who enjoyed what Frank was doing. Yes, DK2, was not the expected sequel to DKR. It had a different slant to it. It was simple. It was straight forward. But it was still critical of the world outside Frank's window. He poked fun at the talking heads of Sunday political programming. He talked about a world where terrorism had reached new heights. After all, Frank has been a longtime NY resident. He watched as 3000 of his neighbors were murdered. How else was he going to react? This led to his ongoing writing gig on Allstar Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder. Many have been critical. This is a Batman they believe spits in the face of Frank's Old Batman. What they forget is that if you read this title along with The Dark Knight Returns, you begin to see how things got to the point in with DKR begins. He is setting it up for that. He is showing the complex relationship between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, that would finally be resolved in DK2. The three books really flow into each other, and are part of the same universe, just told out of order.
Frank has also been criticized by Alan Moore for apparent homophobia in 300. Moore stated, as many other critics did, that the Spartans were notorious for their man/boy love notions. Frank's response is that he was adding depth by showing that the Spartans were human, that they were hypocritcal. That they held a different view of themselves. This is not so uncommon a notion, hypocrisy runs rampant throughout human history. Open a history book on Catholocism and see hypocrisy in all its glory. He was also criticized for how historically "inaccurate" the story was. But I believe this criticism is off the mark. Frank is telling a story, in mythical proportions. His story of the 300 Spartans is outlandish and is not meant to be read as an historical retelling. It is meant to be read as an heroic battle of the little man vs. the big man. Trying to add more to it would way the story down.
The simple fact of the matter is that Frank Miller is one of comic-dons true mavericks. He is a guy who can shrug off the criticism as long as he is getting to produce the type of comics that he wants to read. He has often stated himself that everything he does, from comics to film, is done for selfish reasons. He wants to create the kind of stories that he would be interested in. Again, nothing more, nothing less. We are lucky to have him as a part of not just the comics community but as an artist in any medium
"I'm the Goddamn Batman!" best line ever.
David Kostelecky
