Of all the things expected from 21st century entertainment, comic books from latter half of the 20th century ruling over all avenues of culture was not one of them for sure. As it turns out, comic books that were dubbed as ‘amusement for children’ have dominantly taken over the first two decades of mainstream entertainment of the 2000s. The most profitable feature film franchise is Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) based on Marvel comics - HBO’s Watchmen based on the Watchmen comics was the most nominated show with 11 nominations at last year’s Emmy awards, Amazon Prime’s Boys based on the Boys comic books is the current favourite of fans and critics all over the world.
And a few special creators can be credited for creating these colourful stories on paper that have stood the test of time and changed entertainment. Birthday boy Frank Miller is one of those few people. Miller started as a sketch artist for Marvel’s Daredevil in 1979, a blind superhero comic that was on the verge of cancellation. Frank started spinning his magic with his pencil and within a couple of years, he ended up being the writer and sole charge of Daredevil comics that were extremely popular.
Miller followed the success of Daredevil with a solo comic series on Wolverine, and then, The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One in the 80s. As a matter of fact, he remains one of the very few people who are loved by both Marvel Comics and DC Comic fandoms. Frank’s dark approach to the characters and noir themed sketching that has become his trademark, was a fresh approach to pictorial storytelling. He found a formula and built an audience, but Miller did not stop innovating. In the 90s, he created the now iconic Sin City comic series and 300, which is based on Greek mythology.
Most of Frank Miller’s works have been made into successful feature films or critically acclaimed animated films. With the times, Frank evolved as an artist and donned the hat of script writer and film director for cinematic recreations of some of his comic books. In 2015, Miller was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame for his lifetime of contributions to the comic book industry. An honour Frank earned through a career that breathed life in papers and imagination of generations of fans all over the world.
Here are Askmen India's top 5 picks from the works of Frank Miller:The
Dark Knight Returns
The Dark Knight Returns is a four-part comic book series on an aging Batman, which has made Frank Miller Immortal in pop culture. The characteristics of ‘dark’, ‘grim’ and ‘brooding’ that we naturally associate with Batman now, come from this comic series. The Dark Knight Return became a fan favourite upon its publication in 1986 and its climax of a smart and calculative, but physically weak Batman facing a reluctant Superman has inspired a generation of DC universe follow-ups - follow ups such as the multimillion budget films such as Dawn of Justice and Justice League.
300
Frank Miller aced the crime and superhero genre in his works and by the '90s, he was looking for something fresh. This desire took him to ancient Greece, which resulted in 300. This story is based on the real-life Battle of Thermopylae. The story about 300 Spartans (the greatest warrior tribe that ever lived) facing 10 million invaders in battle has been immortalised by the bold use of colour and language in this limited comic book series. 300 was made in to a successful feature film in 2007, starring Gerard Butler.
Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil is where the world got to witness a different kind of Frank Miller genius for the first time. Frank created an original story Born Again for the blind lawyer vigilante to give the character a fresh start, and it worked like magic. Born Again has been called one of the greatest superhero stories to ever be written, for its structure, emotional journey and resolution. As a result, Daredevil made a place for himself in hearts of fans and has been made into a critically acclaimed show on Netflix in 2016.
Wolverine
The superhero that has become identical with Hugh Jackman, the Australian actor who played him onscreen for a multiple times, was not the prominent character that he is now. Wolverine was just a part of the X-Men universe, which was led by other characters. That is until Frank Miller started a spin off on Wolverine in 1982 called Wolverine #1.
Frank created a hero to root for, from the character that was previously used to fill the frame, by taking the reader through his pain and desires. As a result, Wolverine has become the most popular hero from the X-Men franchise and the only one to have two spin off films, too.
Sin City
No comic book in this list has Frank Miller’s signature style as much as Sin City. Frank created the fictional city of Basin City, a shadowy cesspool of crime and corruption. The story's lead Marv, a hulking brute is driven to avenge the murder of Goldie, a prostitute who showed him some tenderness and humanity.
Sin City is raw and unapologetic in its portrayal of crime, but it stands out from other comics for its appearance. The sketching and colour work of is focused on the interplay between light and shadow that creates a stark, noir atmosphere, giving more feel to gut-wrenching dark plot lines. Sin City has been made into a successful and well received feature film in 2005 and Frank Miller himself turned co-director for the venture.
Here’s AskMen India wishing the artist a happy birthday, in hopes of seeing more of his brilliant work on paper as well as on screens in future.
Cover artwork by Dhaval Punatar/AskMen India