Frank Miller- Comic book genius

One of the most important figures in modern comics is Frank Miller. He’s some sort of comic book genius that can both write and draw great comics. He’s even directing movies about comic books now! Let’s look at his most important works.

In the early 80’s Daredevil wasn’t that popular of a Marvel character. But then Frank Miller took over the title and that all changed. The stories started to get darker and grittier. Daredevil started fighting organized crime. Elektra the assassin is introduced. Ninjas kept popping up. The best place to start is Daredevil Visionaries- Frank Miller Volume 1 (Marvel Comics, 2002).

In 1986 Frank Miller started the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (DC Comics, 1987). If you read only one graphic novel, this is the one to read. The story- Gotham city is overrun with crime and an older Batman needs to return from retirement. Then the Joker shows up, crazier then ever. And then old Batman has to fight old Superman. Plus Robin is a girl now. At the time, this graphic novel blew everyone away because it was so violent in comparison to other comics of the time. It also heavily influenced Tim Burton’s Batman movie and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.

In the early 90’s, Miller started the series of Sin City graphic novels (Dark Horse Comics, 2005). The series was set in the seediest city imaginable and featured all sorts of despicable characters. The stories had a film-noir style to them and were mostly in black and white. In 2005, a film was made which featured stories from several of the graphic novels.

Frank Miller’s 300 (Dark Horse Comics, 1998) won the Eisner award for best limited series. Maybe you’ve heard of it because it was made into a movie last year. If you haven’t, 300 tells the story of the King Leonidas and 300 Spartans trying to fight off the entire Persian army.

So if you enjoy these, you can also look for Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again (DC Comics, 2001), Ronin (DC Comics, 1983) and Elektra Lives Again (Marvel Comics, 1990). Frank Miller is also directing the upcoming film The Spirit.