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Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book creator, screenwriter, and director known for his comic book stories and such as his run on Daredevil, for which he created the character Elektra, and subsequent , The Dark Knight Returns, , Sin City, Ronin, and 300.
Miller is noted for combining film noir and manga influences in his comic art creations. He said: "I realized when I started Sin City that I found American and English comics to be too wordy, too constipated, and Japanese comics to be too empty. So I was attempting to do a hybrid." Miller has received every major comic book industry award, and in 2015 he was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.
Miller's feature film work includes writing the scripts for the 1990s science fiction films RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, sharing directing duties with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and , producing the film 300, and directing the film adaptation of The Spirit. Sin City earned a Palme d'Or nomination.
Former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter recalled Miller going to DC Comics after having broken in with "a small job from Western Publishing, I think. Thus emboldened, he went to DC, and after getting savaged by Joe Orlando, got in to see art director Vince Colletta, who recognized talent and arranged for him to get a one-page war-comic job." The Grand Comics Database does not list this job; there may have been a one-page DC story, or Shooter may have misremembered the page count or have been referring to the two-page story, by writer Roger McKenzie, as "Slowly, painfully, you dig your way from the cold, choking debris" in Weird War Tales #68 (October 1978). Weird War Tales #68 (Oct. 1978) at the Grand Comics Database Other fledgling work at DC included the six-page "The Greatest Story Never Told", by writer Paul Kupperberg, in that same issue, and the five-page "The Edge of History", written by Elliot S. Maggin, in Unknown Soldier #219 (September 1978). His first work for Marvel Comics was penciling the 17-page story "The Master Assassin of Mars, Part 3" in John Carter, Warlord of Mars #18 (November 1978). Frank Miller at the Grand Comics Database. NOTE: A different artist named Frank Miller was active in the 1940s. He died December 3, 1949.
At Marvel, Miller settled in as a regular fill-in and cover artist, working on a variety of titles. One of these jobs was drawing Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27–28 (February–March 1979), which guest-starred Daredevil. At the time, sales of the Daredevil title were poor but Miller saw potential in "a blind protagonist in a purely visual medium", as he recalled in 2000. Miller went to writer and staffer Jo Duffy (a mentor-figure whom he called his "guardian angel" at Marvel) and she passed on his interest to editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to get Miller work on Daredevil's regular title. Shooter agreed and made Miller the new penciller on the title. As Miller recalled in 2008:
Issue #168 saw the first full appearance of the ninja mercenary Elektra—who became a popular character and star in a 2005 motion picture—although her first cover appearance was four months earlier on Miller's cover of The Comics Journal #58.Tom DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 201: "Matt Murdock's college sweetheart first appeared in this issue #168 by writer/artist Frank Miller." Miller later wrote and drew a solo Elektra story in Bizarre Adventures #28 (Oct. 1981). He added a martial arts aspect to Daredevil's fighting skills, and introduced previously unseen characters who had played a major part in the character's youth: Stick, leader of the ninja clan the Chaste, who had been Murdock's sensei after he was blindedDeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 202: "Possibly modeled after Nantembo, a Zen master who reputedly disciplined his students by striking them with his nantin staff, Stick first appeared in this issue #176 by Frank Miller." and a rival clan called the Hand.DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 202: The Hand was a league of ninja assassins who employed dark magic...Introduced in Daredevil #174 by writer/artist Frank Miller, this group of deadly warriors had been hired by the Kingpin of Crime to exterminate Matt Murdock." Unable to handle both writing and penciling Daredevil on the new monthly schedule, Miller began increasingly relying on Janson for the artwork, sending him looser and looser pencils beginning with #173. By issue #185, Miller had virtually relinquished his role as Daredevil's artist, and he was providing only rough layouts for Janson to both pencil and ink, allowing Miller to focus on the writing.
Miller's work on Daredevil was characterized by darker themes and stories. This peaked when in #181 (April 1982) he had the assassination Bullseye kill Elektra,DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 207: "Frank Miller did the unthinkable when he killed off the popular Elektra in Daredevil #181." and Daredevil subsequently attempt to kill him. Miller finished his Daredevil run with issue #191 (February 1983), which he cited in a winter 1983 interview as the issue he is most proud of; by this time, he had transformed a second-tier character into one of Marvel's most popular. Additionally, Miller drew a short Batman Christmas story, "Wanted: Santa Claus – Dead or Alive", written by Dennis O'Neil for DC Special Series #21 (Spring 1980). This was his first professional experience with a character with which, like Daredevil, he became closely associated. At Marvel, O'Neil and Miller collaborated on two issues of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual. The 1980 Annual featured a team-up with Doctor Strange while the 1981 Annual showcased a meeting with the Punisher.Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 120: "Writer Denny O'Neil teamed with artist Frank Miller to concoct a Spider-Man annual that played to both their strengths. Miller and O'Neil seemed to flourish in the gritty world of street crime so tackling a Spider/Punisher fight was a natural choice."
As penciller and co-plotter, Miller, together with writer Chris Claremont, produced the miniseries Wolverine #1–4 (Sept.-Dec. 1982),DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 208: "The most popular member of the X-Men was finally featured in his first solo title, a four-issue limited series by writer Chris Claremont and writer/artist Frank Miller." inked by Josef Rubinstein and spinning off from the popular X-Men title. Miller used this miniseries to expand on Wolverine's character. The series was a critical success and further cemented Miller's place as an industry star. His first creator-owned title was DC Comics' six-issue miniseries Ronin (1983–1984). In 1985, DC Comics named Miller as one of the honorees in the company's 50th-anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great.
Miller was involved in a few unpublished projects in the early 1980s. A house advertisement for Doctor Strange appeared in Marvel Comics cover-dated February 1981. It stated "Watch for the new adventures of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme—as mystically conjured by Roger Stern and Frank Miller!". Miller's only contribution to the series was the cover for Doctor Strange #46 (April 1981). Other commitments prevented him from working on the series. Miller and Steve Gerber made a proposal to revamp DC's three biggest characters: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, under a line called "Metropolis" and comics titled "Man of Steel" or "The Man of Steel", "Dark Knight" and "Amazon". However, this proposal was not accepted.
By this time, Miller had returned as the writer of Daredevil. Following his self-contained story "Badlands", penciled by John Buscema, in #219 (June 1985), he co-wrote #226 (Jan. 1986) with departing writer Dennis O'Neil. Then, with artist David Mazzucchelli, he crafted a seven-issue story arc that, like The Dark Knight Returns, similarly redefined and reinvigorated its main character. The storyline, "", in #227–233 (February–August 1986)DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 226: "'Born Again' was a seven-issue story arc that appeared in Daredevil from issue #227 to #233 (Feb.–Aug. 1986) by writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli." chronicled the hero's Catholic background and the destruction and rebirth of his real-life identity, Manhattan attorney Matt Murdock, at the hands of Daredevil's nemesis, the crime lord Wilson Fisk, also known as the Kingpin. After completing the "Born Again" arc, Frank Miller intended to produce a two-part story with artist Walt Simonson but it was never completed and remains unpublished.
Miller and artist Bill Sienkiewicz produced the graphic novel Daredevil: Love and War in 1986. Featuring the character of the Kingpin, it indirectly bridges Miller's first run on Daredevil and Born Again by explaining the change in the Kingpin's attitude toward Daredevil. Miller and Sienkiewicz also produced the eight-issue miniseries for Epic Comics.DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 228: "Produced by Frank Miller and illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz, Elektra: Assassin was an eight-issue limited series. Because its mature content was inappropriate for children, it was published by Marvel's Epic Comics imprint." Set outside regular Marvel continuity, it featured a wild tale of and , while expanding further on Elektra's background. Both of these projects were critically well received. Elektra: Assassin was praised for its bold storytelling, but neither it nor Daredevil: Love and War had the influence or reached as many readers as Dark Knight Returns or Born Again.
Miller's final major story in this period was in Batman issues 404–407 in 1987, another collaboration with Mazzucchelli. Titled , this was Miller's version of the origin of Batman in which he retconned many details and adapted the story to fit his Dark Knight continuity. Proving to be hugely popular,Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 227 "Melding Miller's noir sensibilities, realistic characterization, and gritty action with Mazzucchelli's brilliant iconic imagery, "Year One" thrilled readers and critics alike...as well as being one of the influences for the 2005 film Batman Begins. this was as influential as Miller's previous work. A trade paperback released in 1988 remains in print, and is one of DC's best selling books. The story was adapted as an in 2011.
Miller illustrated the covers for the first twelve issues of First Comics' English-language reprints of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's Lone Wolf and Cub. This helped bring Japanese manga to a wider Western audience. During this time, Miller (along with Marv Wolfman, Alan Moore, and Howard Chaykin) had been in dispute with DC Comics over a proposed ratings system for comics. Disagreeing with what he saw as censorship, Miller refused to do any further work for DC, and he took his future projects to the independent publisher Dark Horse Comics. From then on Miller was a major supporter of creator rights and became a major voice against censorship in comics.
1990 saw Miller and artist Geof Darrow start work on Hard Boiled, a three-issue miniseries. The title, a mix of violence and satire, was praised for Darrow's highly detailed art and Miller's writing. At the same time, Miller and artist Dave Gibbons produced Give Me Liberty, a four-issue miniseries for Dark Horse. Give Me Liberty was followed by sequel miniseries and specials expanding on the story of protagonist Martha Washington, an African-American woman in modern and near-future North America, all of which were written by Miller and drawn by Gibbons.
Miller wrote the scripts for the science fiction films RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, about a police cyborg. Neither was critically well received. In 2007, Miller stated that "There was a lot of interference in the writing process. It wasn't ideal. After working on the two Robocop movies, I really thought that was it for me in the business of film." Miller came into contact with the fictional cyborg once more, writing the comic-book miniseries RoboCop Versus The Terminator, with art by Walter Simonson. In 2003, Miller's screenplay for RoboCop 2 was adapted by Steven Grant for Avatar Press's Pulsaar imprint. Illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp, the series is called Frank Miller's RoboCop and contains plot elements that were divided between RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3.
In 1991, Miller started work on his first Sin City story. Serialized in Dark Horse Presents #51–62, it proved to be another success, and the story was released in a trade paperback. This first Sin City "yarn" was rereleased in 1995 under the name The Hard Goodbye. Sin City proved to be Miller's main project for much of the remainder of the decade, as Miller told more Sin City stories within this noir world of his creation, in the process helping to revitalize the crime comics genre. Sin City proved artistically auspicious for Miller and again brought his work to a wider audience without comics. Miller lived in Los Angeles, California in the 1990s, which influenced Sin City. He later lived in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, which was also an influence.
was a five issue miniseries published by Marvel Comics in 1993. In this story, Miller and artist John Romita Jr. told Daredevil's origins differently from in the previous comics, and they provided additional detail to his beginnings.Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 264: "Comic legends Frank Miller and John Romita, Jr. united to tell a new version of Daredevil's origin in this carefully crafted five-issue miniseries." Miller also returned to superheroes by writing issue #11 of Todd McFarlane's Spawn, as well as the Spawn/Batman crossover for Image Comics.Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 267: "This prestige one-shot marked Frank Miller's return to Batman and was labeled as a companion piece to his classic 1986 work Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. The issue was drawn by Todd McFarlane, one of the most popular artists in comic book history."
In 1994, Miller became one of the founding members of the comic imprint Legend, under which many of his Sin City works were released via Dark Horse Comics. In 1995, Miller and Darrow collaborated again on Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, published as a two-part miniseries by Dark Horse. In 1999, it became an animated series on Fox Kids.
Written and illustrated by Miller with painted colors by Varley, 300 was a 1998 comic-book miniseries, released as a hardcover collection in 1999, retelling the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it from the perspective of Leonidas of Sparta. 300 was particularly inspired by the 1962 film The 300 Spartans, a movie that Miller watched as a young boy.
Miller's previous attitude towards movie adaptations was to change after Robert Rodriguez made a short film based on a story from Miller's Sin City entitled "The Customer is Always Right". Miller was pleased with the result, leading to him and Rodriguez directing a full-length film, Sin City using Miller's original comics panels as storyboards. The film was released in the U.S. on April 1, 2005. The film's success brought renewed attention to Miller's Sin City projects. Similarly, a 2006 film adaptation of 300, directed by Zack Snyder, brought new attention to Miller's original comic book work. A sequel to the film, , based on Miller's second Sin City series and co-directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez, was released in theaters on August 22, 2014.
In July 2011, while at San Diego Comic-Con promoting his upcoming graphic novel Holy Terror, in which the protagonist hero fights Al-Qaeda terrorists, Miller made a remark about Islamic terrorism and Islam, saying, "I was raised Catholic and I could tell you a lot about the Spanish Inquisition, but the mysteries of the Catholic Church elude me. And I could tell you a lot about Al-Qaeda, but the mysteries of Islam elude me too."
In November 2011, Miller posted remarks pertaining to the Occupy Wall Street movement on his blog, calling it "nothing but a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness." He said of the movement, "Wake up, pond scum. America is at war against a ruthless enemy. Maybe, between bouts of self-pity and all the other tasty tidbits of narcissism you've been served up in your sheltered, comfy little worlds, you've heard terms like al-Qaeda and Islamism." Miller's statement was criticised by fellow comic writer Alan Moore. In a 2018 interview, Miller backed away from his comments saying that he "wasn't thinking clearly" when he made them and alluded to a very dark time in his life during which they were made.
On July 10, 2015, at San Diego Comic-Con, Miller was inducted into the Hall of Fame. From 2015 to 2017, DC released a nine-issue, bimonthly sequel to The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again, titled . Miller co-wrote it with Brian Azzarello, and Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson were the artists. Issue one was the top-selling comic of November 2015, moving an estimated 440,234 copies. In 2016, Miller and Azzarello also co-wrote the graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade with art by John Romita Jr. and Peter Steigerwald. From April to August 2018, Dark Horse Comics published monthly Miller's five-issue miniseries sequel to 300, , which marked his first work as both writer and artist comics creation since Holy Terror.
In 2017 Miller announced he was writing a Superman: Year One project with artwork by John Romita Jr. The three-issue series was released by DC Black Label from June to October 2019 and received mixed reviews. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing published his and author Tom Wheeler's young-adult novel Cursed, about the King Arthur legend from the point of view of the Lady of the Lake in October 2019. In December 2019, DC released Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child, the fifth series in The Dark Knight Returns universe to mixed reviews. It is written by Miller with artwork by Rafael Grampa.
In July 2020, producer Stephen L'Heureux, who worked on Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, filed a $25 million defamation and economic interference lawsuit against Miller and fellow producer Silenn Thomas. L'Heureux alleged the pair had repeatedly made, "false, misleading and defamatory statements" about L'Heureux's ownership of the developmental rights of Sin City and Hard Boiled to Skydance Media CEO David Ellison and other Skydance executives and prevented the creation of a film adaptation of Hard Boiled and a TV series based on Sin City. Miller's attorney Allen Grodsky denied the allegation stating, "The claims asserted in Mr. L'Heureux's lawsuit are baseless, and we will be aggressively defending this lawsuit."
In response to claims that his comics are conservative, Miller said, "I'm not a conservative. I'm a libertarian."
Miller is a recovering alcoholic and states that he used alcohol heavily in his early career to free him from inhibitions and increase his creative output.
Miller has described himself as an atheist.
Ronin shows some of the strongest influences of manga and bande dessinée on Miller's style, both in the artwork and narrative style.Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 202: The comic was an unusual blend of the influences on Miller by French cartoonist Moebius and Japanese Manga comic books. Sin City was drawn in black and white to emphasize its film noir origins. Miller has said he opposes naturalism in comic art: "People are attempting to bring a superficial reality to superheroes which is rather stupid. They work best as the flamboyant fantasies they are. I mean, these are characters that are broad and big. I don't need to see sweat patches under Superman's arms. I want to see him fly."
Miller considers the Argentinian comic book artist Alberto Breccia as one of his personal mentors, Frank Miller, the greatest comic book legend, arrives at Rosario's Crack Bang Boom, by Federico Fahsbender 10-12-2017, Infobae even declaring that (regarding modernity in comics), "It all started with Breccia". Breccia, again recovered Article by Juan Sasturain. Published on 10-31-2011, Página/12 In that same regard, Miller's work in Sin City has been analyzed by writers and artists –as well as European critics like Yexus Alberto Breccia, the master who sought new paths for comics, by Jesús Jiménez 08-11-2020, RTVE – as being based or inspired in Breccia's groundbreaking style, The lights and shadows of Eduardo Risso Article by Beatriz Vignoli. Published on 08-19-2014, Página/12 "Interviews: Eduardo Risso", in Comiqueando #22, by Andrés Accorsi. Comiqueando Press, Buenos Aires (VII-1996) Tebeosfera.com especially regarding the latter's and strong use of stark black-and-white technique. Juan Sasturain remembers Alberto Breccia, the irreplaceable cartoonist 04-14-2020, Cultura.gob.ar
Fellow comic book writer Alan Moore has described Miller's work from Sin City-onward as homophobic and misogynistic, despite praising his early Batman and Daredevil material. Moore previously penned a flattering introduction to an early collected edition of The Dark Knight Returns, and the two have remained friends. Moore has praised Miller's realistic use of minimal dialogue in fight scenes, which "move very fast, flowing from image to image with the speed of a real-life conflict, unimpeded by the reader having to stop to read a lot of accompanying text".
Miller's graphic novel Holy Terror was accused of being Islamophobia. Miller later said that he regretted Holy Terror, saying, "I don't want to wipe out chapters of my own biography. But I'm not capable of that book again."
Miller's film adaptation of Sin City was well received by audiences and critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 77% based on 254 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Visually groundbreaking and terrifically violent, Sin City brings the dark world of Frank Miller's graphic novel to vivid life." His 2008 adaptation of The Spirit received generally negative reviews.
Eagle Awards
UK Comic Art Award
Cannes Film Festival
| 1990 | RoboCop 2 | Frank, the Chemist | |||||
| 1993 | RoboCop 3 | ||||||
| 1994 | Jugular Wine: A Vampire Odyssey | Frank Miller | |||||
| 2003 | Daredevil | Man with Pen in Head | Also inspired by his graphic novels | ||||
| 2005 | Sin City | The Priest | Also based on his graphic novel Co-directed with Robert Rodriguez | ||||
| 2006 | 300 | Also based on his graphic novels | |||||
| 2008 | The Spirit | Liebowitz | |||||
| 2014 | Also based on his graphic novels | ||||||
| Sam | Also based on his graphic novels Co-directed with Robert Rodriguez |
| 2020 | Cursed | Brother Horde | Based on his novel | |||
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