Frank Miller was born January 27, 1957 in Olney, Maryland though he grew up in Montpelier, Vermont. You'd think that last bit would be something I knew before but I didn't. He went to U-32 High School. I've been there!
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| via Wikipedia |
Daredevil was Miller's breakthrough, though it was a later title for DC that would cement his status as a god of the industry: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, often pitted against Watchmen for bragging rights as the greatest comic book series ever. In the 1990s, his Sin City and 300 series would become major film projects on which Miller would work as co-director (for Sin City) and producer (for 300). Artistically, Miller is credited with bringing both film noir and Japanese manga sensibilities to mainstream American comic books.
He has won... a lot of awards!
My Recent Reads
Daredevil #167
Originally Published November 1, 1980
Writer: David Michelinie
Artist: Frank Miller
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| via Marvel Database |
- Villain: Mauler
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| via Wikipedia |
- The Mauler is out to get his former boss, Edwin Cord of Cordco, Incorporated.
Daredevil #168
January 1, 1981
Writer and Artist: Frank Miller
- Note: this is the first issue for which Miller served as both writer and artist.
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| via Wikipedia |
- Elektra is introduced!
- Elektra is Matt Murdock's long lost love from before he became Daredevil. Now, she's a professional assassin.
Daredevil #169
March 1, 1981
Frank Miller
- Bullseye has a brain tumor which causes him to see everyone as Daredevil. He starts killing them all.
Daredevil #170
May 1, 1981
Frank Miller
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| via Marvel Database |
- Wilson Fisk is living in Japan, retired from his life as Kingpin, a New York crime boss.
- He sends his wife Vanessa back to New York to hire Nelson and Murdock. He wants to turn state's evidence against his formal rivals.
- Instead, Vanessa is kidnapped.
- In his efforts to save her, Daredevil has a confrontation with Bullseye.
Daredevil #171
June 1, 1981 (now monthly)
Frank Miller
- Murdock goes undercover to join Kingpin's gang. His cover gets blown pretty quickly and Kingpin pummels him good.
- During the exchange between Kingpin and his wife's kidnappers, Vanessa is apparently killed.
Miller also wrote some (or all... wait, let me just go look...
ReplyDeleteMiller also wrote RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, both of which were... less than good. One of them (I don't remember which) was a red hot mess.
Also, his follow up series to The Dark Knight was kind of a catastrophe.
Not that I don't give Miller credit; he can be brilliant.
Just not always.
Well, nobody's perfect...
DeleteRight!
DeleteHe's just one of those "icons" in comics whom everyone treats as if he shits gold, which annoys me, because they've only ever read Dark Knight. Or whatever.
Not saying you were doing that, but it's almost always what comes up for me when Miller (or Moore) start being discussed. It's always good to have some perspective, I guess.
Point taken.
DeleteAnd Moore's certainly an interesting case along those lines, too. I thought the world of him as I explored Watchmen, Extraordinary Gents, Top 10... Then I got to From Hell. Yuck.
And Moore's even more erratic than Miller, I think. I'm not a fan of the way he ended Watchmen. First 11 issues are genius; issue was a WTF moment. The adaptations have handled that better than he did, I think. Personally, I think V for Vendetta was his best work.
DeleteOh goodness, yes! I knew I forgot one and what a one to forget. IMO, V4V is the best English-language comic there is. I saw the movie and I liked it a lot more than I was expecting to. Then the book was so much more!
DeleteMy college friend Zander Cannon worked on Top 10. Based on things he's said, I get the impression Moore was quite a control freak.
He's... I'm not sure "control freak" really covers it. His name isn't attached to any of the movies. etc because he believes no one can adapt his work. No one has the genius(?) to do it adequately. He has a lot of other... quirks, too.
DeleteRight.
DeleteBill Willingham, on the other hand, is apparently easy to work with.
I'm not overly familiar with his work.
DeleteI like Fables quite a lot.
DeleteI'm pretty sure I have the first few issues of that tucked away somewhere, but that started up just around the time I was backing out of comics.
DeleteI have the first three trades. All are excellent.
DeleteDaredevil sounds brilliant! Great illustrations.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fun series - earthier than most of the others. He doesn't get as much love as some in the MCU because he doesn't figure much with the Avengers. Supposedly the TV series is good, though I haven't watched it.
DeleteThe TV series is great. It's a really good adaptation.
DeleteExcept for the Kingpin. He's overly whiny. The Kingpin doesn't whine.
Daughter and I are binging Agent Carter at the moment. I'm sure we'll get to others soon.
DeleteI think the death of her father turned Elektra into a cold blooded assassin but she is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteCorrect on both!
DeleteThe Art Work is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteMost of what I use is what's most easily available. I should do a more explicit feature on Miller's work. Perhaps this next week...
DeleteI'm two weeks older than he is :)
ReplyDeleteYou'll be playing a Beatles song for your next birthday...
Delete