Frank Miller

:This article is about Frank Miller, the comic book writer and artist. For other people with this name, see Frank Miller (disambiguation).

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Frank Miller (born 27 January 1957 in Olney, Maryland) is an American writer and artist best known for his film noir-style comic book stories.

Related Topics:
27 January - 1957 - Olney - Maryland - American - Writer - Artist - Film noir - Comic book

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Raised in Montpelier, Vermont, Miller became a professional comic artist and worked for a number of major publishers including Gold Key, DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He gained attention for a two issue story for Marvel's The Spectacular Spider-Man. He was soon made the regular penciller on Daredevil and quickly took on the writing chores on the title as well. In collaboration with inker Klaus Janson, Miller attracted a growing number of fans, critical acclaim and the respect of industry peers. During this run on Daredevil, Miller created the female ninja assassin character Elektra, one of the characters with which he is most strongly associated. He also broke a comic industry rule by killing off a major character. Since then, his take on Daredevil has remained the dominant one; the 2003 film adaptation, for example, used many elements of Miller's stories, as did its 2005 spinoff Elektra. In 1982, Miller teamed with legendary comic book writer Chris Claremont for a four-part mini-series devoted to the X-Men character Wolverine. The mini-series transformed Wolverine from just a virtually indestructible brawler to a character with a level of emotional depth and honor very rarely seen in comics. Miller and Claremont had transformed the character into a deeply flawed hero in search of his own past, honor, and happiness. The mini-series was a critical and commercial success, transforming Wolverine into a major character for Marvel Comics.

Related Topics:
Montpelier, Vermont - Gold Key - DC Comics - Marvel Comics - Spider-Man - Daredevil - Klaus Janson - Ninja - Assassin - Elektra - 2003 - Film adaptation - 2005 - Spinoff - Elektra

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Miller was influential in exposing many American comics readers to Japanese manga for the first time; he wrote introductions and illustrated the covers to Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's Lone Wolf and Cub when it was first printed in English by First Publishing (1990).

Related Topics:
Japan - Manga - Kazuo Koike - Goseki Kojima - Lone Wolf and Cub - First Publishing - 1990

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During his years making comics for hire, Miller became an increasingly vocal proponent of the creators' rights movement. As a result, starting in the 1980s Miller increasingly devoted himself to his own creator-owned works. Ronin, a science fiction samurai story for DC, was his first of many collaborations with his wife Lynn Varley. Miller has alternated between handling (and redefining) well-known company icons such as Batman and Daredevil and creating his own works such as Give Me Liberty with Dave Gibbons and Hard Boiled with Geof Darrow. Sin City was his first completely solo venture, a series of stark black-and-white crime stories published by Dark Horse Comics. Varley has colored much of his work, including The Dark Knight Returns and 1998's 300.

Related Topics:
Creators' rights movement - 1980s - Ronin - Science fiction - Samurai - Lynn Varley - Batman - Daredevil - Give Me Liberty - Dave Gibbons - Hard Boiled - Geof Darrow - Sin City - Dark Horse Comics - 1998 - 300

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Miller's most well-known work, both inside and outside of the comic book industry, is probably still The Dark Knight Returns, a dark tale of an older Batman set in the near future. It depicted Batman as a violent, somewhat unhinged vigilante, poles apart from the campy do-gooder of the 1960s TV series. Miller's interpretation has dominated the character for nearly two decades since, informing Tim Burton's 1989 film version, and graphic novels such as Alan Moore's ' and Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum.

Related Topics:
The Dark Knight Returns - Batman - Future - Vigilante - Camp - 1960s TV series - Tim Burton - 1989 - Film version - Graphic novel - Alan Moore - Grant Morrison - Arkham Asylum

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Miller has also written a number of screenplays, most notably those for RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3. After RoboCop 3, Miller stated that he would never allow Hollywood to make movie adaptations of his comics, being disgusted with the constant studio interference with his scriptwriting. Later, Miller's screenplay for RoboCop 2 was adapted by Steven Grant for Avatar Press's Pulsaar imprint, which now owns the rights to create comics based on RoboCop. Illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp, the series is called Frank Miller's RoboCop and contains plot elements that were divided between RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3.

Related Topics:
RoboCop - Hollywood - RoboCop 2 - Steven Grant - Avatar Press - Juan Jose Ryp - Frank Miller's RoboCop - RoboCop 3

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Miller's stance to movie adaptations changed after Robert Rodriguez made a short film from one of Miller's Sin City short stories without Miller's knowledge and then showed it to him. Miller was so pleased with the result that he greenlighted a full-length film, Sin City. The movie was released in the US on April 1, 2005, using Miller's original comics panels as storyboards. Miller and Rodriguez are credited as co-directors, which Rodriguez insisted upon. The Director's Guild of America would not permit Miller's being credited in this fashion and as a result Rodriguez decided to resign from the Guild. The film's success has brought renewed attention to Miller and to Sin City.

Related Topics:
Robert Rodriguez - Short film - Sin City - Short stories - Sin City - April 1, 2005 - Storyboard - Directors - Director's Guild of America

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As of 2005, Frank Miller has returned to the Batman creative team taking on the writing duties of All Star Batman and Robin, a series ouside of the normal DC continuity. The series is illustrated by Jim Lee.

Related Topics:
All Star Batman and Robin - Jim Lee

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