Frank Miller free essay sample

Miller was born in Olney, Maryland, and raised in Montpelier, Vermont. He was the fifth of seven children. His mother was a nurse and his father was a carpenter and electrician. His family was Irish Catholic. Miller was formerly married to colorist Lynn Varley, who colored many of his noted works from Ronin through 300 and the backgrounds to the movie 300. Miller and Varley divorced in 2005. He has since been romantically linked to New York-based Shakespearean scholar Kimberly Halliburton Cox, who had a cameo in The Spirit. Living in New York influenced Millers material in the 1980s. Miller lived in Los Angeles, California in the 1990s, which influenced Sin City. Miller moved back to Hells Kitchen by 2001 and started creating Batman. Miller is an American writer, artist, and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories such as Batman The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil Born Again, Batman The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, and 300. We will write a custom essay sample on Frank Miller or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He also directed the film version of The Spirit, shared directing duties with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and produced the film 300. When he first showed up in New York Miller showed up with a bunch of comics and samples of guys in trench coats by old cars and such. Comic editors said, Where are the guys in tights? He had to learn how to do it. But as soon as a title came along Daredevil signature artist Gene Colan left Daredevil, he realized it was his calling to do crime comics with a superhero in them. And so he applied for the title and got it. Millers debut on the title Daredevil, was the finale of an ongoing story written by Roger McKenzie and inked by Klaus Janson. Although still conforming to traditional comic book styles, Miller infused this first issue with his own film noir style. Miller became one of Marvels rising stars. Miller sketched 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. Daredevils New York, became darker and more dangerous than the Spider-Man New York he’d seemingly lived in before. New York City itself, particularly Daredevils Hells Kitchen neighborhood, became as much a character as the shadowy crimefighter. The stories often took place on the rooftop level, with water towers, pipes and chimneys jutting out to create a skyline reminiscent of German Expressionisms dramatic edges and shadows. However, sales on Daredevil did not improve, Marvels management continued to discuss cancellation, and Miller himself asked to be taken off the series because he disliked McKenzies scripts. Millers fortunes changed with the arrival of Denny ONeil as editor. Realizing Millers unhappiness with the series, and impressed by a backup story he had written, ONeil fired McKenzie so that Miller could try writing the series himself. Miller took over full duties as writer and artist. Sales rose so swiftly that Marvel once again began publishing Daredevil monthly rather than bimonthly just three issues after Miller came on as writer. The first appearance of the ninja mercenary Elektra, who despite being Daredevils love interest would become an assassin-for-hire. Millers work on Daredevil was characterized by darker themes and stories. This peaked when he had the assassin Bullseye kill Elektra, and Daredevil subsequently attempt to kill him. Miller and artist Bill Sienkiewicz produced the graphic novel in 1986. Featuring the character of the Kingpin, it indirectly bridges Millers first run on Daredevil and Born Again by explaining the change in the Kingpins attitude toward Daredevil. Miller and Sienkiewicz also produced the eight-issue miniseries Elektra. Set outside regular Marvel continuity, it featured a wild tale of cyborgs and ninjas, while expanding further on Elektras background. Both of these projects were well received critically. Elektra was praised for its bold storytelling, but neither it nor Daredevil had the influence or reached as many readers as Dark Knight Returns or Born Again. Miller finished his Daredevil career by this time he had transformed a down falling character into one of Marvels most popular. His first creator-owned title was DC Comics six-issue miniseries Ronin . This series shows some of the strongest influences on Millers style, both in the artwork and narrative style. In the early 1980s, Miller and Steve Gerber made a proposal to revamp DCs three biggest characters Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, under a line called Metropolis and comics titled Man of Steel or The Man of Steel, Dark Knight and Amazon. However, this proposal was not accepted. In 1985, DC Comics named Miller as one of the honorees in the companys 50th-anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great. In 1986, DC Comics released Millers Batman The Dark Knight Returns, a four-issue miniseries. The story tells how Batman retired after the death of the second Robin, and at age 55 returns to fight crime in a dark and violent future. Miller created a tough, gritty portrayal of Batman, who was often referred to as the Darknight Detective. Released the same year as Alan Moores and Dave Gibbons DC miniseries Watchmen, it showcased a new form of more adult-oriented storytelling to both comics fans and a crossover mainstream audience. The Dark Knight Returns influenced the comic-book industry by heralding a new wave of darker characters. The trade paperback collection proved to be a big seller for DC and remains in print 25 years after first being published. In November 2011, Miller posted incendiary remarks pertaining to the Occupy Wall Street movement in his personal blog. Miller found the movement to be morally suspect and ignorant of Islamicism. Miller’s comments proved controversial, sparking criticism, including that from fellow comic creators including Alan Moore. In October 2012, Joanna Gallardo-Mills, who began working for Miller as an executive coordinator in November 2008, filed suit against Miller in Manhattan for discrimination and mental anguish, stating that Millers girlfriend and previous actress Kimberly Cox, created a hostile work environment for Gallardo-Mills in Miller and Coxs work space. According to the lawsuit, Cox smeared Gallardo-Millss work area with feces, destroyed her printer with a hammer, threw phones at her, left a used feminine hygiene pad by her desk, and made comments to her such as, I cant understand your funky accent. Speak fucking English. Gallardo-Mills says she was ultimately fired in September 2012 for complaining about Coxs behavior. Marvel editor in chief Jim Shooter recalled Miller going to DC Comics after being noticed with a small job from Western Publishing. He went to DC, and after getting let down by a man named Joe Orlando. He got in to see art director Vinnie Colletta who recognized talent and arranged for him to get a comic job. Millers first listed work is the six-page Deliver Me From D-Day, by writer Wyatt Gwyon. At Marvel, Miller would settle in as a regular fill-in and cover artist, working on a variety of titles. One of these jobs was drawing Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, which guest-starred Daredevil. At the time, sales of the Daredevil title were poor but Miller saw something in the character he liked and asked editor-in-chief Jim Shooter if he could work on Daredevils regular title. Shooter agreed and made Miller the new artist on the title. 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. Fellow comic book writer Alan Moore has described Millers work from Sin City-onwards as homophobic and misogynistic, despite praising his early Batman and Daredevil work. Moore previously penned a flattering introduction to an early collected edition of The Dark Knight Returns. Batman The Dark Knight Strikes Again, a sequel to The Dark Knight Returns, received mixed reviews, while All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder in particular consistently received harsh criticism and was hailed as a sign of Millers creative decline. In addition, some of Millers works have been accused of lacking humanity, particularly in regard to the abundance of prostitutes portrayed in Sin City. In terms of his film work, Millers scripts for Robocop 2 and 3 were unsuccessful, while his 2008 film adaptation of Will Eisners The Spirit met with largely negative reviews After announcing he intended to release his work only via the independent publisher Dark Horse Comics, Miller completed one final project for Epic Comics, the mature-audience imprint of Marvel Comics. Elektra Lives Again was a fully painted graphic novel written and drawn by Miller and colored by longtime partner Lynn Varley. Telling the story of the resurrection of Elektra from the dead and Daredevils quest to find her, as well as showing Millers will to experiment with new story-telling techniques. The title, a mix of violence and satire, was praised for highly detailed art and Millers writing. At the same time Miller and artist Dave Gibbons produced Give Me Liberty, a four-issue miniseries for Dark Horse. Give Me Liberty was followed by sequel miniseries and specials expanding on the story of protagonist Martha Washington, an African-American woman in modern and near-future southern North America, all of which were written and drawn by Miller. In 1991, Miller started work on his first Sin City story. Miller 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 rereleased in 1995. Sin City proved to be Millers 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 without comics. Written and illustrated by Frank Miller, 300 was a 1998 comic book miniseries, released as a hardcover collection in 1999, retelling the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it from the perspective of Leonidas of Sparta. 00 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 successful film Miller started the new millennium off with the long awaited sequel to Batman The Dark Knight Returns for DC Comics after Miller had put past differences with DC aside. Batman The Dark Knight Strikes Again was initially released as a three issue se ries, and though it sold well, it received a mixed to negative reception. Miller also returned to writing Batman in 2005, taking on the writing duties of All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, a series set inside of what Miller describes as the Dark Knight Universe. and drawn by Jim Lee. Miller has said he opposes naturalism in comic art. In an interview on the documentary Legends of the Dark Knight The History of Batman, he 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 dont need to see sweat patches under Supermans arms. I want to see him fly. In 1991, Miller started work on his first Sin City story. Miller 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 rereleased in 1995. Sin City proved to be Millers 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 without comics. Millers previous attitude towards movie adaptations was to change after Robert Rodriguez made a short film based on a story from Millers Sin City entitled The Customer is Always Right. Miller was pleased with the result, leading to him and Rodriguez directing a full length film, Sin City using Millers original comics panels as storyboards. The film was released in the U. S. on April 1, 2005. The films success brought renewed attention to Millers Sin City projects. Similarly, a film adaptation of 300, directed solely by Zack Snyder, brought new attention and controversy to Millers original comic book work. A sequel to the film, based around Millers second Sin City series, A Dame to Kill For, is in development Daredevil Born Again and The Dark Knight Returns were both critical successes and influential on a new generation of creators. Batman Year One was met with even greater praise for its gritty style.