Frank Miller

Frank Miller (Olney, Maryland, January 27, 1957) is an American screenwriter, comic book artist, and filmmaker. He is known worldwide for his popular works The Dark Knight Returns , Born Again, Sin City , 300 and Rōnin. He was married until 2005 to the comic book colorist and illustrator Lynn Varley.

Biography

He did his first work for Marvel Comics in 1979 in Spectacular Spiderman, in a crossover with Daredevil. She, however, became known as a young promise in the series Daredevil , also for Marvel Comics, between the late seventies and early eighties. Shortly after, she made Ronin for DC Comics publishing house, the story of a masterless samurai in a post-apocalyptic future, a work where she showed a graphic evolution influenced by both some European artists and some Japanese comic book classics.

In 1986, he returned to the series Daredevil, scripting the Born Again saga, and this time with David Mazzucchelli in the graphic part. In this saga, Miller uses Catholic iconography as a metaphor to recount the fall and subsequent "resurrection" of the Catholic Church. of the character. On a formal level, he condenses all the experience accumulated to date, demonstrating his narrative expertise with precise control of the rhythm and timing of the story, and relying on dry, austere and accurate dialogues and prose.

Frank Miller (1982).

His most famous work is Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (The return of the Dark Knight ), again in DC Comics, in which he would present an aging Batman and retired (who would end up facing Superman, the other great icon of the publisher), showing us his vision of an ultraviolent near future dominated by the Mass Media. Later, and together with Mazzucchelli again, he would recreate Batman's first year in the four-issue saga Batman: Year One, coming closer than ever to the records of black series literature.

It is also worth mentioning his two collaborations with the cartoonist Bill Sienkiewicz: Daredevil: Love and War and, especially, Elektra: Assassin, where he would define in more detail the ninja assassin he created for the pages of Daredevil, and his tragic past, inspired by its mythological namesake (Elektra myth).

In the 90s, Miller left DC Comics and made for Epic Comics one last work about his creation Elektra, entitled Elektra Lives Again, and in which Miller, accompanied by one of the best colors of Lynn Varley wanted to say her particular goodbye to the world of Daredevil. He returned, however, in 1993, to write a miniseries of the character (accompanied by the drawing of John Romita Jr) entitled Daredevil: Man Without Fear , based a priori on a failed film script.

His most important work during the 1990s is the one he conceived at the independent publisher Dark Horse, where Miller found himself with complete creative freedom to do whatever he wanted. Thus, in 1990 he collaborated with cartoonist Geoff Darrow on Hard Boiled, an ultraviolent story that mixed satire, black genre and science fiction. This was a work with problems, because Dark Horse received protests about the content of the work. In the same year he collaborated with the cartoonist Dave Gibbons (famous for his drawings in Watchmen, to the scripts by Alan Moore) and both created the limited series "Martha Washington: Give Me Liberty", where the political satire that Miller always knew how to carry it so well (especially in The Dark Knight Returns and in Elektra: Assasin) he reached new heights in this apocalyptic, violent and futuristic story. Miller and Gibbons returned to work on the character after "Marta Washington Goes to War" (1994), "Happy Birthday, Marha Washington" (1995), "Martha Washington Stranded in Space" (1995) "Martha Washington Saves the World"(1997) and "Martha Washington Dies" (2007).

Alternate those jobs with a few more, like movie scripts, the miniseries "RoboCop Vs The Terminator" or a job with Image's famous character, Spawn in the "Batman/Spawn" crossover. But if something stands out from this period, it is his famous work of the noir and pulp genre Sin City, whose first number was made in 1991 under the name "Sin City", since Miller had no plans at first to continue writing. stories set in this city. Starting with Sin City, Miller graphically delves into an aesthetic synthesis more indebted to expressionism, with strong influences from the Argentine José Muñoz, than to the black series theme in which the stories are framed and to which it is intended to pay homage.

In 1995, Miller worked again with Darrow on Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, which features an animated series translated as "Big Guy and Robotin". Big Guy met some popularity in Dark Horse and this resulted in some crossovers with other characters from the publisher's fictional universe (but never confirmed as such), getting to join Mike Allred's Madman or Martha Washington in the adventure titled &# 34;Martha Washington Stranded in Space".

In 1998 he made "300", a small graphic novel that recounts the battle of Thermopylae from the Spartan point of view. It is a comic that drew attention above all for its excellent color and Miller's decision to edit it in landscape format.

Miller recently returned to DC Comics for a sequel to the hit The Dark Knight Returns. Thus, between November 2001 and July 2002, DC Comics published a three-issue miniseries titled The Dark Knight Strikes Again (The Dark Knight Strikes Back, or The Dark Knight Strikes Again). Lord of the Night Strikes Again), also known by the acronym DK2. This is a controversial story as it has strongly divided the opinions of fans. If in recent years, and mainly in his work Sin City, certain sectors of the public began to doubt that Miller's creative quality would continue to be such, with this DK2 the sentiment grew as many fans felt cheated. In total opposition to these fans, the other half tends to defend that it is a very good comic.

From 2005 to 2008 he worked with cartoonist Jim Lee on the series All Star: Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder. Initially received with much anticipation, All Star: Batman was met with a negative reception from critics, this was mainly due to Miller's script, more specifically its lack of traditional representation of the main character. In the series, Batman was represented in a violent, cruel and even childish way at times; One can mention, for example, the verbal and physical abuse towards Dick Grayson in an attempt to prevent him from crying over the death of his parents.

From 2015 to 2017, DC released a nine-part sequel to The Dark Knight Strikes Again, titled The Dark Knight III: The Master Race. Miller co-writes with Brian Azzarello, and Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson are the artists. It was the best-selling comic of November in 2015, selling an estimated 440,234 copies.

On July 10, 2015, during San Diego Comic-Con, Miller was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame.

Since 2017, Miller has been working with John Romita, Jr. on the graphic novel Superman: Year One.

Miller has become known in the film industry for the film adaptations of two of his works, his popular series Sin City, directed in 2005 by Robert Rodríguez (with Miller himself as co-director), a sequel to which was released on August 22, 2014; is based on the second series of Sin City by Frank Miller. Subsequently, the graphic novel 300 was brought to the big screen in 2007 by Zack Snyder; however, Miller had already taken his first steps in the cinema. His most outstanding work in this regard was, in the 90s, that of the screenwriter of the second and third parts of Robocop. However, he was very dissatisfied with these works, mainly because he felt creatively cut off. It is in this decade where Miller also writes the lyrics of "Ninja Rap" ppr Vanilla Ice, for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 movie.

Awards

• 1987 Haxtur Award for "Best Guion" for "The Return of the Dark Knight" in the International Comic Hall of the Principality of Asturias
• 1987 Haxtur Award for "Best Long History" for "The Return of the Dark Knight"
• 1993 Nomination of the Haxtur Award for "Best Guion" for "Sin City/Cimoc 134/148
• 1993 Nomination of the Haxtur Award for "Best Long History" for "Sin City/Cimoc 134/148"
• 1994 Nomination of the Haxtur Award for the "Best Cover" for "Without City/Moriria for her#3"

Work (in Spain)

• Published by Planeta Deagostini:
  • Graphic Novels Marvel Vo2 No4: Elektra Lives Again (V/1991), with color of Lynn Varley. This graphic novel includes the material Elektra Lives Again (1991).
  • Graphic Novels Marvel Vo2 No8: Daredevil: Love And War (II/1992), with drawings of Bill Sienkiewicz. This graphic novel includes the material Daredevil: Love And War (1986).
  • Teachers No1: Daredevil, Born Again (IX/1991), with drawings by David Mazzucchelli (#227-233 USA 1986).
  • Masterpieces No12: Daredevil, Marked by Death (III/1994), with a script by Roger McKenzie; continued by Klaus Jason and Joe Rubinstein (#159-161, 163-164 USA 1979-1980). In the USA it was edited in volume in 1990, this edition did not include a page of No. 159.
  • One-Shot No5 Collection: Daredevil, The Man Without Fear (V/1994), with drawings by John Romita Jr. (#1-5 USA).
  • Masterpieces No15: Daredevil, Elektra (III/1995), with a script by Roger Mckenzie, David Micheline and Frank Miller himself; intinct by Klaus Jason (#165-168 USA 1980-1981).
  • Teacher Works No19: Daredevil, Band War (III/1996), continued by Klaus Jason (#169-173 USA 1981). In the United States it was edited in volume including the number 180 USA and dispensing from 173 USA.
  • Masterpieces No24: Daredevil, Hunters (III/1997), continued by Klaus jason (#174-179 USA 1981-1982).
  • Teacher Works No31: Daredevil, Condemned (XII/1998), intinted by Klaus Jason (from number 185 USA Frank miller makes sketches and Klaus Jason draws and entints him), (#180-185 USA 1982).
  • Wolverine: Honor (V/1999), with screenplay by Chris Claremont (miniserie of 4 numbers published by Marvel Comics in 1982).
  • Masterpieces No35: Daredevil, Finish (XII/1999), sketches by Frank miller and Klaus Jason draws it and entints it (number 191 USA draws it Frank Miller and Terry Austin is the last number of the first), (#186-191 USA 1982-1983).
  • Elektra Asesina (XI/2001), with drawings of Bill Sienkiewicz. This book includes the material of the limited series Elektra Assasain n.os1-8 (1986-1987).
  • Ronin (V/2007), with color of Lynn Varley. This book includes the material of the limited series Ronin 1-6 (1984).
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Return, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (VI/2007), entinted by Klaus Jason and Lynn Varley's color. This book includes the material of the limited series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns n.os1-4 (1986).
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Counterattack (V/2008). This book includes the material of the limited series Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Back n.os1-3 (2001).
  • Batman: year one (2008), with drawings by David Mazzucchelli. This book includes the material of the regular series Batman n.os404-407 (1986).
• Published by Norma Editorial:
  • Ronin (2002), with color of Lynn Varley, (miniserie of 6 numbers published by DC Comics in 1983-1984).
  • Batman: The Return of the Lord of the Night, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2001; 1986).
  • Hard boiled (1990), with drawings by Geoff Darrow.
  • Give me Liberty (1990), drawing Dave Gibbons.
  • Sin City (1991-2000).
  • Martha Washington goes to War (1994), drawing Dave Gibbons.
  • The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot (1995), with drawings by Geoff Darrow.
  • Bad boy (1997), with drawings by Simon Bisley.
  • 300 (1998).
  • Martha Washington Saves the World (1999), drawing Dave Gibbons.
  • Batman: The Lord of the Night Counterattack (2001).
• Posted by Panini Comics:
  • Daredevil: Marked by Death (2008), with a script by Roger McKenzie; continued by Klaus Jason and Joe Rubinstein (#158-161, 163-164 published by Marvel Comics in 1979 and 1980).
  • Daredevil: Elektra (2008), with the script of Roger Mckenzie, David Micheline and Frank Miller himself; intinted by Klaus Jason (#165-169).
  • Wolverine: Honor (2008), with script by Chris Claremont, (miniserie of 4 numbers published by Marvel Comics in 1982).
  • Daredevil: Man without Fear (1993), with drawings by John Romita Jr., (#1-5 USA).
• Published by Aleta Editions:
  • Frank Miller's Robocop (2008), story of Frank miller, adapted by Steven Grant and drawn by Juan José RYP, (miniserie of 9 issues published by Avatar Prees in 2003). In the volume edition all original covers are included.