Its Miller Time 0

[MetalPSI]

I wonder if he influenced Kieth as well. I always loved his ability to blend art and storytelling

[VintageComics]

I wonder if he influenced Kieth as well. I always loved his ability to blend art and storytelling

 

That whole 'light / dark' style of story telling and the 'sketchy art' that became Janson's trademark all came out of that 30+ issue run of DD books. Everything after that until the early 90's just seemed like it was trying to emulate Miller and Janson.

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

 

 

Frank Miller is *probably* the greatest layout artist and storyteller of the second half of the 20th century.

 

And no, I'm not kidding.

 

While people "oooh!' and "ahhh!" over linework, linework doesn't tell the story. Layout tells the story.

 

The art of the cinematographer is to be invisible. You have to feel like you're part of the film, that you're not watching a movie.

 

The same thing is true of comics. The greatest storytellers are, essentially, invisible. You don't realize they're there, UNTIL you step back and analyze the work from a storytelling perspective. Then, you see his mastery of flow and panel work, how every panel, every page inexorably draws you to the next, panel by panel, page by page. And, of course, there's the sheer dynamism of his figure work, his anatomy, his perspective, all of it. It's breathtaking.

 

And then you realize what an absolute genius Frank Miller is.

 

Few greater. Eisner, certainly, but Miller is at or near the very top.

 

[SquareChaos]

I never realized how much of a badass bullseye was

 

I remember realizing the run was going to be something different when I found myself reading a story where Bullseye (suffering from a brain tumor), sees every single person in the street as Daredevil, and goes on a killing spree. If I recall that was pretty early in the run, so it sort of set the stage for the darkness to come.

[musicmeta]

Ah ok. I suppose I'm not with the program in saying I think Miller's art isn't all that great either

 

Did you never ever read his early DD stuff?

 

How old are you?

 

I read it as it was coming out and it was considered awesome as it was coming out.

 

Yes it was awesome when it came out..Just love those Miller Daredevil's.

[wormboy]

Ah ok. I suppose I'm not with the program in saying I think Miller's art isn't all that great either

 

Did you never ever read his early DD stuff?

 

How old are you?

 

I read it as it was coming out and it was considered awesome as it was coming out.

 

Big ol 39 today.

 

No I haven't seen much of his early stuff, most of his later stuff, so my opinion is completely not on mark, as Ben has stated.

 

I never liked DD

DD was my favorite..., until Miller ruined him.

 

[oakman29]

Sin City was pretty good, I thought.

 

I'll have to check what stuff of his I've actually read. I'm a 90's collector, just getting into the 80's through X titles. Really liking Claremont and Silvestri so far

 

Some people may not like Miller but he was heavily responsible for changing comic book story telling and art in comics in the 1980's. After his early run on Daredevil artists and story tellers spent a lot of effort trying to mimic Miller afterward.

 

Much of the mid to late 80's art was very much trying to emulate Miller's success.

 

 

 

 

Yes! Sin City was a game changer in comics. I will always cherish my complete set of Sin City floppies.

[Unca Ben]

Miller was a master at storytelling, yet I didn't always like the story he told.

Making Karen Page a heroin addict & porno actress was a low point in my opinion.

[Broke as a Joke]

I enjoyed his original run on Daredevil (158 - 191) but that was really the only thing that I admired. Dark Knight Returns was not a game changer to me even though I know how many hold it in high regard.

[Aweandlorder]

I worry that people that just get into FM work today will not understand what Miller was to mainstream comics in the 80s.

I remember being big into titles like Batman, Superboy & LOSH, Hulk & Defenders as a kid and then all of a sudden I just saw those FM DD covers. That's it. That's all it took to get me to wonder what was inside the book. Those covers just looked DIFFERENT than anything ive ever seen in comics. Dark, avant garde, emotional. This didn't look like a superhero comic book to me anymore.

Up until then no one really reinvented a superhero. With the exception of probably Neal Adams short stint on GL.

FM changed the rules of mainstream comics before it was cool to do so. The real question is.. Was he aware of it?

 

 

 

 

[500Club]

I tend to like comic book artists who understand that comic art is about storytelling and is a sequential art form, and is not solely dependent on the ability to draw neat looking pictures.

Thirty some years later, these pages are still burned into my brain.

 

+1

 

This was the first Miller DD I'd bought. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

[Artboy99]

I tend to like comic book artists who understand that comic art is about storytelling and is a sequential art form, and is not solely dependent on the ability to draw neat looking pictures.

Thirty some years later, these pages are still burned into my brain.

 

+1

 

This was the first Miller DD I'd bought. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

 

I still think it is the best comic I have ever read.

 

[500Club]

I never realized how much of a badass bullseye was

 

I remember realizing the run was going to be something different when I found myself reading a story where Bullseye (suffering from a brain tumor), sees every single person in the street as Daredevil, and goes on a killing spree. If I recall that was pretty early in the run, so it sort of set the stage for the darkness to come.

Issue 169; Miller was finding his voice after being freed from co-plotting with Roger McKenzie.

[lou_fine]

Ah ok. I suppose I'm not with the program in saying I think Miller's art isn't all that great either

 

I don't care for some of Miller's later stuff. His earlier stuff was groundbreaking, in my opinion, especially in terms of storytelling.

 

I tend to like comic book artists who understand that comic art is about storytelling and is a sequential art form, and is not solely dependent on the ability to draw neat looking pictures.

 

+1

 

Yes, from my point of view, it was his storytelling and sequential art that took him to the top of the comics world.

 

Absolutely loved his first story writing in DD 168 and thought that nothing could top his Born Again story line.

[followtheleader]

Damn, hoping it was Von Miller to my donkeys.

 

Patrick

[RockMyAmadeus]

Miller was a master at storytelling, yet I didn't always like the story he told.

Making Karen Page a heroin addict & porno actress was a low point in my opinion.

 

 

I didn't like that it was Karen Page, but Miller did turn her into an incredibly compelling character. Karen was a typical supporting female role for nearly 20 years, but Miller made her someone who, while a bit of a stretch for the character, was nevertheless ultimately believable, when you consider the arc of her story.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

I tend to like comic book artists who understand that comic art is about storytelling and is a sequential art form, and is not solely dependent on the ability to draw neat looking pictures.

Thirty some years later, these pages are still burned into my brain.

 

+1

 

This was the first Miller DD I'd bought. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

 

I still think it is the best comic I have ever read.

 

 

 

 

Look at those panels, and tell me you don't see the action come alive in your mind, that you can hear the "fwish-THOK" of the card, the soft thud as Elektra stumbles and falls to the ground, the scrape and shuffle as she drags herself back up.

 

That's what storytelling is all about.

 

[Ogami]

You can't discuss Miller without discussing [Eisner and] Koike and Goseki.

 

There is no Daredevil as we know it, Ronin, Wolverine Limited Series, or TMNT [inspired from an inspiration] without Koike and Goseki.

 

I recommend anyone who loves Miller find the Dark Horse published conversations between Eisner and Miller, and do their best to find press articles of the day to see Miller's self described debt to Koike and Goseki's Lone Wolf and Cub.

[romanheart]

Well I love much of his work. DD run, Sin City, All-Star B&R. Not so much DKR.

 

The only knocks I'd give on his work is that his art has become very abstract where I just appreciated it as it was in the DD or even Sin City.

 

And the other issue is that he always too dark with his stories and never lightened it up. I always thought you needed both.

[Logan510]

I tend to like comic book artists who understand that comic art is about storytelling and is a sequential art form, and is not solely dependent on the ability to draw neat looking pictures.

Thirty some years later, these pages are still burned into my brain.

 

+1

 

This was the first Miller DD I'd bought. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

 

I still think it is the best comic I have ever read.

 

One of my favorite single issues.