Frank Miller facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Frank Miller |
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Miller at SXSW 2018
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| Born | January 27, 1957 Olney, Maryland, U.S. |
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Notable works
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| frankmillerink.com | |
Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is a famous American comic book artist, writer, and film director. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on popular comic characters like Daredevil and Batman. He also created original stories such as Sin City, Ronin, and 300.
Miller's art style often mixes elements from old detective movies (called film noir) and Japanese comics (called manga). He once said he wanted to combine the best parts of American and Japanese comics. Frank Miller has won many top awards in the comic book world. In 2015, he was added to the Eisner Award Hall of Fame.
Besides comics, Miller has worked on movies. He wrote scripts for RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3. He also helped direct the movies Sin City and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For with Robert Rodriguez. He was a producer for the movie 300 and directed The Spirit.
Contents
Early Life and First Steps in Comics
Miller was born in Olney, Maryland, on January 27, 1957. He grew up in Montpelier, Vermont, as one of seven children. His family was Irish Catholic.
Frank Miller loved comics from a young age. His first published work was for Gold Key Comics. He got this chance thanks to advice from another comic artist, Neal Adams. Miller then started working for DC Comics and later Marvel Comics. His first work for Marvel was drawing a story in John Carter, Warlord of Mars #18 in 1978.
Becoming a Star: Daredevil and Early Success
At Marvel, Miller became a regular artist. He drew Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27–28, which featured Daredevil. Miller saw great potential in Daredevil, a blind hero in a visual world. He asked to work on the Daredevil comic series.
In 1981, Miller became both the writer and artist for Daredevil. Sales of the comic quickly went up. He brought a new, darker style to the character. Miller introduced popular new characters like the ninja Elektra, who later got her own movie. He also added martial arts to Daredevil's fighting style. Miller finished his Daredevil run in 1983, having made the character much more popular.
During this time, Miller also worked on other projects. He drew a Batman Christmas story for DC Comics. He also co-created the Wolverine miniseries with writer Chris Claremont. This series helped make Wolverine a very popular character.
The Dark Knight Returns and Redefining Heroes
In 1986, DC Comics released Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. This four-issue series showed a much older, tougher Batman who comes out of retirement. It was printed on special paper, making it feel more like a book. This comic, along with Watchmen, changed how people saw comic books. It showed that comics could tell serious, adult stories. The Dark Knight Returns made Batman even more famous and influenced many future comic stories.
Miller also returned to Daredevil with the story "Daredevil: Born Again" in 1986. This story showed Daredevil's life being completely destroyed and then rebuilt. It explored his Catholic background and his fight against the villain Kingpin.
He also created Elektra: Assassin and Daredevil: Love and War. These stories further explored the characters he had helped make famous.
In 1987, Miller wrote Batman: Year One, which told Batman's origin story in a new way. This comic was also very popular and is still considered a classic.
The 1990s: Sin City and 300
In the 1990s, Frank Miller decided to work mainly with Dark Horse Comics, an independent publisher. He wanted more control over his creations.
In 1991, Miller began his Sin City stories. These comics were drawn in stark black and white, giving them a strong film noir look. Sin City became a huge success and helped bring back interest in crime comics. Miller created many stories set in this dark city.
He also wrote the comic book 300 in 1998. This series retold the ancient Battle of Thermopylae from the perspective of the Spartan king Leonidas. Miller was inspired by a 1962 movie about the battle.
During this time, Miller also wrote scripts for the movies RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3. He later wrote a comic series called RoboCop Versus The Terminator.
Later Works and Film Adaptations (2000s-Present)
In the 2000s, Miller continued to work on his famous characters. He wrote Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, a sequel to his earlier Batman story. He also wrote All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder. These later Batman comics received mixed reviews from fans and critics.
Miller's work gained new attention through movie adaptations. In 2005, he co-directed the movie Sin City with Robert Rodriguez. The film used Miller's original comic art as storyboards. This movie was very successful. In 2006, the movie 300, based on his comic, was also a big hit. A sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, was released in 2014, again co-directed by Miller.
In 2015, Miller was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame, a major honor in comics. From 2015 to 2017, he co-wrote The Dark Knight III: The Master Race, another sequel in his Dark Knight universe. He also wrote Superman: Year One in 2019.
In 2019, Miller and author Tom Wheeler released a young adult novel called Cursed. It retells the King Arthur legend from the point of view of the Lady of the Lake. In 2020, Netflix released a TV series based on Cursed, with Miller and Wheeler as creators.
In 2022, Frank Miller announced he was starting his own comic book publishing company called Frank Miller Presents (FMP). He plans to release new comics, including sequels to Sin City and Ronin. A documentary film about his life, Frank Miller: American Genius, premiered in 2024.
Personal Life
Frank Miller was married to colorist Lynn Varley from 1986 to 2005. She colored many of his most famous works, including Ronin and 300.
Miller has described himself as a libertarian. This means he believes in a lot of personal freedom and limited government.
Style and Influence
Frank Miller's art style is unique. He brought a film noir feel to his early Daredevil comics. He drew the rooftops of New York to make his art feel real.
His comic Ronin shows strong influences from Japanese manga and European comics. Sin City was drawn in black and white to highlight its film noir roots. Miller believes that superheroes work best as big, exciting fantasies. He doesn't think they need to look perfectly realistic.
Miller has been influenced by the Argentinian comic artist Alberto Breccia. Miller's use of strong black and white in Sin City is similar to Breccia's style.
Praise and Criticism
Many of Miller's comics, like Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, and Batman: Year One, are considered classics. They changed the comic book world and influenced many artists who came after him. His works like Ronin, 300, and Sin City were also very successful. They helped make him a legend in comics.
However, some of his later works, such as Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again and All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, received mixed or negative reviews. Some critics felt these works showed a decline in his creative quality.
In terms of his film career, the movie The Spirit, which he directed, received mostly negative reviews. But his film adaptation of Sin City was very well received by both audiences and critics.
Selected Awards and Nominations
Inkpot Awards
- Received an Inkpot Award – 1981
Kirby Awards
- Best Single Issue –
- 1986 Daredevil #227 "Apocalypse" (Marvel)
- 1987 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 "The Dark Knight Returns" (DC)
- Best Writer/Artist (single or team) – 1986 Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, for Daredevil: Born Again (Marvel)
- Best Graphic Album, 1987 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (DC)
- Best Art Team – 1987 Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley, for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (DC)
- Best Writer/Artist —
- 1991 for Elektra Lives Again (Marvel)
- 1993 for Sin City (Dark Horse)
- 1999 for 300 (Dark Horse)
- Best Graphic Album: New – 1991 Elektra Lives Again (Marvel)
- Best Finite Series/Limited Series —
- 1991 Give Me Liberty (Dark Horse)
- 1995 Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (Dark Horse/Legend)
- 1996 Sin City: The Big Fat Kill (Dark Horse/Legend)
- 1999 300 (Dark Horse)
- Best Graphic Album: Reprint —
- 1993 Sin City (Dark Horse)
- Best Artist/Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team – 1993 for Sin City (Dark Horse)
- Best Short Story – 1995 "The Babe Wore Red", in Sin City: The Babe Wore Red and Other Stories (Dark Horse/Legend)
- Eisner Awards Hall Of Fame, 2015
Harvey Awards
- Best Continuing or Limited Series –
- 1996 Sin City (Dark Horse)
- 1999 300 (Dark Horse)
- Best Graphic Album of Original Work – 1998 Sin City: Family Values (Dark Horse)
- Best Domestic Reprint Project – 1997 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, 10th Anniversary Edition (DC)
Eagle Awards
- Favourite Comicbook Pencil Artist — 1983
- Favourite Comicbook Writer: U.S. — 1986
- Roll of Honour — 1987
- Favourite Comicbook Pencil Artist — 1987
- Favourite Comic Album: U.S. — 1987 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (DC)
- Favourite Cover: U.S. — 1987 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 (DC)
- Favourite Comic Album: US — 1988 Daredevil: Love and War (DC)
- Favourite Black & White Comicbook — 2000 Hell and Back (A Sin City Love Story) (Dark Horse)
- Favourite Comics Writer/Artist — 2002
- Favourite Comics-Related Book — 2006 Eisner/Miller (Dark Horse)
- Favourite Comics Writer/Artist — 2012
UK Comic Art Award
- Best Original Graphic Novel/One-Shot — 1991 Elektra Lives Again (Epic Comics)
- Best Writer/Artist — 1992
- Best Writer/Artist — 1993
- Best Graphic Novel Collection — 1993 Sin City
- Best Writer/Artist — 1994
- Palme d'Or – 2005 (nominated) Sin City (Dimension Films)
Scream Awards
- The Comic-Con Icon Award – 2006
Filmography
Films
| Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Executive Producer | Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | RoboCop 2 | No | Yes | No | Uncredited | Frank, the Chemist | |
| 1993 | RoboCop 3 | No | Yes | No | No | N/A | |
| 1994 | Jugular Wine: A Vampire Odyssey | No | No | No | Yes | Frank Miller | |
| 2003 | Daredevil | No | No | No | Yes | Man with Pen in Head | Also inspired by his graphic novels |
| 2005 | Sin City | Yes | Uncredited | No | Yes | The Priest | Also based on his graphic novel Co-directed with Robert Rodriguez |
| 2006 | 300 | No | No | Yes | No | N/A | Also based on his graphic novels |
| 2008 | The Spirit | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Liebowitz | |
| 2014 | 300: Rise of an Empire | No | No | Yes | No | N/A | Also based on his graphic novels |
| Sin City: A Dame to Kill For | Yes | Yes | Yes | Uncredited | Sam | Also based on his graphic novels Co-directed with Robert Rodriguez |
Television
| Year | Title | Creator | Executive Producer | Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Cursed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Brother Horde | Based on his novel |
See also
In Spanish: Frank Miller para niños
