After my last post I want to reiterate that I always welcome well-thought-out responses to my various topics. After all I am more than willing to participate in the debate/discussion and I never want to give the impression that I do not value the opinion of others as much as I value my own. A lot of our contemporary problems could be solved if people were more willing to hear out the other side and try to understand that not everyone has the same upbring/values/experiences/views/environment/socioeconomic background/etc. I am as guilty as anyone else at being stubborn about opinions that I hold, but I always try to at least hear what the other side has to say.
With the impending release of "Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" I thought it might be fun to look at my favorite Frank Miller stories that I have read.
So on to the column.....Let's be Frank....
1. The Dark Knight Returns - This novel was a watershed moment for comics in that it showed publishers that there was in fact an adult audience. Published on gloss paper and released in maxi-series format "TDKR" was a turning point in the marketing in comics (along with "Watchmen" and other comics of the time). "TDKR" features an older Batman that returns to action after a long absence to rid Gotham of the new scourge of the mutants. He also has one last fatal tussle with the Joker, and beats the ever-loving hell out of the big blue boy scout. I've written at length about how much I love this book before so it goes without saying this is my unquestioned number one.
2. Born Again - What is the secret identity of a superhero worth? If you are a junkie/prostitute/ex-girlfriend of Matt Murdock it's worth an arm full of heroin. When the Kingpin gets his hands on the information all hell breaks loose. With a premise like that "Born Again" is one of the more fantastic Daredevil books. Truth be told "Daredevil" is not even in the book until the 3rd act, but this story sets in motion the "I'm not Daredevil" narrative that was the cornerstone of hornhead storytelling for decades. The events of "Born Again" also laid the groundwork for Kevin Smith's stellar "Guardian Devil" story several years later.
3. Wolverine......When Marvel comics decided to give Wolverine his own title there were a lot of options for writers, but they chose Frank Miller. Frank introduced a lot of new concepts for the character including placing him in Japan, his catchphrase "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice", and introduced characters like Yuriko, Mariko, and the Silver Samurai. This story was picked from with some liberty taken to craft the narrative for "The Wolverine" film that hit theaters last year.
4. That Yellow Bastard.....My favorite of the "Sin City" stories features Detective Hartigan fighting to protect the innocence of a young girl in a city filled with Sin. This was an integral part of the original "Sin City" film with Bruce Willis playing the aforementioned Hartigan.
5. The Hard Goodbye....Another story from the "Sin City" feature film this one features Marv avenging the death of a prostitute "Goldie". Equal parts Rasputin and hard boiled storytelling this is one of the better narratives in the "Sin City" universe. In truth I became more of a fan of this story after Mickey Rourke brought it to life on screen. Bonus points for the fact that Frank Miller played a tainted priest in the live action adaptation.
6. Batman: Year One.....The follow up to "TDKR" this story showed Bruce Wayne's first adventure as Batman, and gave a full blown origin to the caped crusader and Jim Gordon. I have mixed emotions about this book, because I like that it is the set up for the dark and brooding tone featured in "TDKR". My issue with it is the pacing, which is extremely slow and frustrating. It still makes the list though because of what it means to the origin of Batman and Gordon as I mentioned before.
7. Daredevil Comics.....As a more general entry I own two trade paperback collections of Miller's first run with hornhead. While it starts out kind of rough you can tell while reading when Miller got more creative control. The stories take a darker turn, and he introduces characters like Electra and Bullseye to the story. Once again Miller built the framework for how Daredevil stories would be presented for future decades with this run.
In full disclosure I have not read "Ronin", "Man without Fear", and I refuse to read ignorant bile like "Holy Terror". I do; however, intend to read the first two at some point in the near future.
In a related story the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (which were created to quasi-parody Ronin and Daredevil stories from Frank Miller) movie won two weeks in a row at the box office. While "Guardians of the Galaxy" continues to rake in the cash (now over $200 million) it somehow has not beat the mixed reviewed turtle flick.
That's all for today!
See you next time at The Comic Shop!
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