Millers work added new darkness and gravitas to superheroes that have since become de rigueur for comic book storytelling.
Unlike fellow 80s comic book legendAlan Moore, however, Miller has not renounced superheroes.
After all these years, what keeps you coming back to Batman?
Credit: Jim Spellman/WireImage; DC Comics
FRANK MILLER:Batmans just a terrific character, open to wildly different interpretations.
If you look at the animated version withBruce Timmand Paul Dini, that works.
The old Adam West show works.
The Denny ONeill/Neal Adams run was remarkable.
Hes kind of like a diamond.
Every interpretation seems to work.
When I was a kid, I bought it and loved it.
you’re able to do it badly, but you cant really do it wrong.
What do you think it is about Batman that allows for these different interpretations?
Is there something elemental about him?
The most simple, obvious appeal is that he looks great.
Beyond that, theres an emotional appeal thats iconic.
Its simple, simpler than Superman.
Superman is wonderfully simple: Exploding planet, superpowers, good guy.
What was it like revisiting the specificDark Knight Returnsversion of him withDark Knight III?
Its been an adventure revisiting all these characters in different ways with Brian.
There cant be aDark Knightstory where Batman does not humiliate Superman in some way.
My feeling has always been, since the firstDark Knight, that the secret lead character is Carrie Kelly.
In fact, the wholeDark Knightsaga, the leads are the daughters of the iconic heroes.
Any future story I would do with it would more pointedly focus on Carrie and Lara.
Laras one of the most fascinating parts ofDark Knight III.
Well I havent watched the Netflix show, so I dont know anything about it.
Its probably better I dont see it, because I just dont like anybody touching Elektra.
Im just so protective of those characters and dont want anybody else to touch them.
Its an honest trade between someone like me and the publisher.
So we work together.
How have you seen recognition of individual comics creators change over the course of your career?
How has that changed?
Kirby wasnt even getting his original artwork back.
He had a shop in Manhattan that was like a halfway house for comic book artists.
He changed the way we thought.
We oughta be like that.
And rates were high enough that you could do work that was memorable.
You didnt have to draw two books a month for get by.
It was more equitable.
We got royalties first called incentives, and then became actual royalties.
The books got better, and the sales got better.
I have a copy of the new giant-sized edition ofSin Cityat my office.
Its so fun to read, and also so unlike anything else.
What do you like about reissuing them in that size?
Well for one thing, its just plain fun.
All of a sudden you were a five-year-old reading a comic book because it was that big.
I like anything that changes format, anything that changes the rules.
With DC Im talking over every conceivable permutation of project that could be done.
We could start taking wild chances and discovering new things.
Anything specific you have in mind?
But its time to have fun.
Why not bring back the flipbook?
Comic books cant really work as an online product, because theyre competing with animation.
But there is an intimacy and portability to comic books that is unlike anything else.
Im sure youre used to being compared to Alan Moore throughout your career.
He hasrepeatedly sworn off superheroes and comic books.
In contrast, what keeps you interested in them?
Its really a strange comparison.
Were friends, but were not like each other.
Its just because of timing.
Alan and I have different views of the universe.
I love heroes, I believe in heroism.
I also adore fantasy, and so Im drawn back to these superheroes.
Their mythology is open to infinite expansion, and the basic myth is irresistible.
