There are many great names that have worked and/or continue to work in the comic book industry today but there are few that can be considered royalty. Right up there among the greatest names to ever put a pencil to page to create a comic, Frank Miller certainly belongs there.
Architect of a great industry revival in the 1980’s based on his work on Batman for DC and Daredevil for Marvel, Miller has also had a pantheon of great works apart from big publishers including Ronin, 300, and of course, Sin City. Recently the website Collider sat down with him to have him look back on some of his greatest works as well update fans on his new projects. You can see the interview down below where he talks about his most famous works as well some very exciting projects he’s got in the pipeline:
In the interview, Miller talks about how the genesis of The Dark Knight Returns came out of a desire to write a Batman that was older than he was at the time (30 years old). He made Batman 50 years old and made him very rough around the edges and gave him a bulkier build in contrast to a very young and healthy Batman that most people had come to know at the time. Originally the story was supposed to be very simple with Batman fighting criminals here and there and then dying in a hail of gunfire.
However, the story was supposed to be simple but took on a life of it’s own as more and more elements were added and became what many consider one of the greatest graphic novels ever created. The addition and portrayal of Superman as a “government stooge” really gave Miller some great ideas and took off with the eventual iconic showdown between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel.
Miller also talked a little bit about the more recent Dark Knight III, in which Miller (alongside Brian Azzarello) revisits The Dark Knight world for another run of great comics. Miller admits that the characters were just too good to be left alone and admits that one should never say never when it comes to revisiting a timeless classic in order to create new stories.
We are sure glad he didn’t.
Images courtesy of collider.com
