Frank Miller Top 10 On His Birthday

Belated Happy Birthday To A True Comics Original

♦ Frank Miller was 61 years old yesterday and here’s Tripwire’s Top 10 of his works over the years that we recommend people should check out…

1. Wolverine
   Writer: Chris Claremont, Artists: Frank Miller and Joe Rubinstein, Marvel, 1982
   Working in tandem with X-Men writer Chris Claremont, Miller infuses this tale of Logan in Japan with such rich detail and raw power that it looked like no mutant book had ever done before. Claremont and Miller make a wonderful team.
2. Ronin
   Writer/ Artist: Frank Miller, DC, 1983
   Arguably the series which first put Frank Miller on the map, Ronin, written and drawn by the man himself, was an ambitious dystopian sci fi epic that brought in everything from Moebius to Blade Runner into its orbit. It was the first mainstream US comic series which showed what could be done with the form.
3. Daredevil: Born Again
   Writer: Frank Miller, Artist: David Mazzuchelli, Marvel, 1986
   Miller, later with Klaus Janson, created an incredible run on Marvel’s Daredevil but it was this six part story drawn by David Mazzuchelli, which really displayed his virtuosity as a comics writer. Longtime DD adversary tries to break Daredevil and Matt Murdock by going after his personal life but he proves that he is more than the man can handle. Miller wrote some of his most memorable lines of dialogue here.
4. Daredevil: Love and War
   Writer: Frank Miller, Artist: Bill Sienkiewicz, Marvel, 1986
   Returning to The Man Without Fear, Miller teamed up with master comics illustrator Bill Sienkiewicz to flesh out DD and Spider-man villain The Kingpin, who will sacrifice everything he has to save the life of his love, Vanessa. It acts as a stark counterpoint to Born Again as it is The Kingpin who is vulnerable here.
5. Elektra Assassin
   Writer: Frank Miller, Artist: Bill Sienkiewicz, Marvel, 1986
   Reteaming with artist Sienkiewicz, Miller really plays to his artist’s strengths and shows off what a talented writer he can be. Surreal and disturbing at times, Elektra: Assassin sees two exceptional comic creators operating on the same page, and it was like nothing we had seen before.
6. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
   Writer/ Artist: Frank Miller, Inker: Klaus Janson DC, 1986
   Still seen as Miller’s magnum opus, Dark Knight Returns brings together all of the skills he displayed on Daredevil but with an extra layer of drama and tension. Working again with his DD collaborator Janson, everything comes together on Dark Knight Returns and it still holds up as one of the greatest Batman stories of all time.
7. Batman: Year One
   Writer: Frank Miller, Artist: David Mazzuchelli, DC, 1987
   Yet again reuniting with artist Mazzuchelli from Daredevil: Born Again, Year One is a simple tale of the first year of Batman’s career but Miller with Mazzuchelli imbue it with power and kinetic energy. Like Born Again, it possesses some of the best lines of dialogue written in modern comics. Miller was on fire here. There is an elegant simplicity that draws the reader in.
8. Give Me Liberty
   Writer: Frank Miller, Artist: Dave Gibbons, Dark Horse, 1990
   Teaming up with Watchmen artist and co-creator Dave Gibbons, Miller turned his hand to something a little different with Give Me Liberty. A dystopian sci fi tale starring African-American female soldier Martha Washington who lives in a world that feels just a step away from our own, Miller and Gibbons work effortlessly together to create a tale that has action, human warmth and scale rarely seen in comics either before or since.
9. Sin City: The Hard Goodbye
   Writer/ Artist: Frank Miller, Dark Horse, 1991
   Moving away from Batman, Miller struck out again on his own, creating this noirish city of private dicks and fallen women, taking his cues from the likes of Chandler and Spillane. Sin City was a natural step for him to take in his career and the first story is a brilliant slab of comics noir, setting the scene and showcasing his exceptional understanding of page composition and storytelling.
10. 300
    Writer/ Artist: Frank Miller, Dark Horse, 1998
    Turned into a successful film by Zach Snyder, 300 has Miller trying his hand at historical drama of sorts. It tells the tale of the 300 spartans who held off the Persians in a fictionalised retelling of Battle of Thermopylae which took place way back in 480BC. Originally published as a miniseries and then put out a hardcover, every page was a double page spread. This use of format gave it a widescreen impact that it wouldn’t have had otherwise. 300 is a beautiful looking comic which shows Miller experimenting a little bit with his style and drawing.

Frank Miller Top 10 birthday www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk