Frank Miller - Brief Thoughts

The Dallas Comic-con (technically, i think they're legally obligated to call it "Fan Expo Dallas" because SDCC has gotten so big for their britches, i think they've trademarked the phrase 'comic con', which is lame) puts on three conventions a year.

February, May/June, and October.

The Feb. and Oct. ones are usually smaller affairs, in a smaller venue but they're also usually pretty fun, with cool guests and lots of vendors. But the summer con...that's the big enchilada.

This year, they've managed to get some really amazing celebrities to come out and greet the fans, and I'm super excited to meet (my picks) Hayley Atwell, Lena Headey, John and Joan Cusack, Mike Colter, and my ultimate TV character crush, Fred Burkle herself, Amy Acker. Comic guests also include Brian Azzarello, Klaus Janson, and Andy Kubert. As well arguably one of the greatest writers of all time, Frank Miller.

They offered a special ticket package for Frank Miller, and I was lucky enough to get one, and it made me think for a moment about my feelings regarding Frank Miller.

'The Dark Knight Returns' is probably my favorite graphic novel of all time, and my second is probably 'Batman: Year One'. I love the first few chapters of the Sin City series, '300', 'Ronin', and his work on Daredevil and Wolverine was outstanding. There was a time when I'd say he was my favorite writer working in comics. But 'The Dark Knight Strikes Again' was...odd. And then I heard he was going to do Batman with Jim Lee in a series called 'All-Star Batman and Robin' set in the same world as TDKR and Year One.

'All-Star Batman and Robin' is the single worst comic I've ever read. Not the worst Batman book. Not the worst Frank Miller story. The single worst comic I've ever read. I thought to myself "Frank Miller lost his goddamn mind, and no one bothered to tell him." It was sick, demented, exploitative, fascist and completely incongruous with the rest of the world he'd established (this story took place between Year one and TDKR) and while I'd typically just say "well, it's not my cup of tea" I was really bothered by the way he'd changed the canon he'd created.

So when, several years later, I'd read that Miller was returning to the DK series one more time, I was like "nuh unh". But then I'd heard that he was being reigned in a bit by DC. He'd have help from Brian Azzarello and Andy Kubert, two amazing writers. Lo and behold, three issues in, I absolutely love DKIII. It still has Miller's quirky penchant for writing in "street dialect" (seriously, wtf does "licken chegs, chicken legs" and "love chunks" even mean, Frank???), but it is a compelling story with visually arresting artwork. And I can't wait to see how it pans out.

So despite my fluctuating feelings for Frank Miller's writing, I cannot deny the man his place in the pantheon. I cannot deny that he's shaped the way I read comics, especially Batman, and I can't deny, if DKIII is his last hurrah with the dark knight, it's a helluva way to go out.

Happy to meet you, Frank*

*and Brian Azzarello. I can't promise I won't give him a back breaking bear hug because of the utterly amazing work he did on Wonder Woman.