Frank Miller (1) (1957–)

I have a soft spot for Sin City in all of its violent, gory glory. It was one of the first films I saw that scratched every itch I had. It was artistic nearly to a fault, so beautifully noir and gracefully violent. It was every detective novel I devoured, every old Humphrey Bogart film I wanted transported to the modern age. Just sheer perfection.

The books, of course, are just as good.

[book: The Hard Goodbye] opens with Marv waking up in bed with a dead woman, police on the way. He's been show more framed, he knows it, and anyone willing to hurt this angel of a woman is going to pay. Goldie, of course, was the one good thing in this guy's life and now she's dead, dead and gone. Marv is tough as nails and undeniably crazy. He gets confused without his medication, see. Even Marv knows that you can't kill a man unless you're sure he's the bastard who's done the crime, though, so over the course of the book he kills his way up the chain until he gets the answers that he needs.

[book: The Hard Goodbye] is a fantastic introduction to the messy world of Sin City. Marv, in spite of the bloodshed, is a lovable lug and a fascinating unreliable narrator. This book is pure [author: Frank Miller]. There's cannibals and prostitutes, crooked cops and vigilantes... but unlike, say, [book: Batman: Year One] everyone fits into the role they're cast in since this is purely Miller's world. It's the man at his best, and time hasn't dulled my love of it one bit. show less

[book: A Dame To Kill For] is where [author: Frank Miller]'s Sin City begins to show its true brilliance. It is here that the focus shifts to the other characters and we begin to see the myriad of ways that Sin City connects the various threads. There are call-backs to the first comic, things seen in the background now the main plot, Marv going about his business elsewhere. Everything is happening at once, nearly, and I shudder to think just what a time-line for all of these volumes might show more look like...

[book: A Dame to Kill For] is a natural noir film. Here we have Dwight, now living relatively clean, pulled back into his old life and ways by nothing but a woman. Here we have Ava, his ex-lover, trapped in a marriage with a man who hurts her - or does he? What is truly going on? Dwight finds himself in over his head, giving in to the beast within. Ava might be a dame to kill for, but is she a dame to die for? Or is she after something more than anyone suspects?

Ava is a beautiful femme fetale, and Dwight one of my favorite Sin City characters. Here we're introduced more fully to the women of Old Town and their own style of justice. Here we meet deadly little Miho, and get a better look at Marv and his relationship of sorts with Nancy. It's a beautiful, deadly, twisted universe that only expands with each volume. It's good to be back in it, you just can't stay too long. show less

This book was originally recommended to me by a friend after the first season of Netflix's Daredevil came out. While the show did draw heavily from the comic, the comic is very much its own entity and in some ways becomes even darker than the show manages to be. The character of Karen is notably different in the comic as well, and while she suffers from some of the typical [author: Frank Miller] writing stereotypes, she in no way is as caricatured as, say, Catwoman in [book: Batman Year One] show more or the girls of [book: Sin City]. This is long before [author: Frank Miller] became pretty much a stereotype of himself.

The comic is the story of Kingpin's destruction of everything Matt Murdock holds dear. Matt is beaten, his ex having sold his identity for a hit of heroin, and one by one everything that made Matt Matt is taken from him. His job, his money, his house, his friends. Matthew becomes a pariah, all that is left to him his senses and Daredevil... until even the identity of Daredevil is no longer his own. How does one become born again when they are beaten so low?

This book is a character study as much as it is a story. We see Matt at his worst, and in many ways how his worst is what makes him the stalwart fighter that he is. Matt needs people to save, he needs the costume, he needs the identity of Daredevil to function - but how can that be gotten again when no one will stand up to the Kingpin? Men like Ben are needed, too. Like Foggy says in the extra comic, added for completions sake at the end of Born Again, we've got to keep believing in the good in other people. Otherwise, what are we doing? We all could use a little grace. show less

I have hated everything else I've ever read by Frank Miller, but this issue is a delight nearly from start to finish soley because of "Guts" Nelson. I say nearly because there's a bit where Matt tries to convince his girlfriend to quit her job so that she can instead marry him and be a stay-at-home, and, well, Miller's gonna Miller. But "Guts" Nelson is great and should show up in other issues. Foggy's narration, and especially his narration juxtaposed to the actual action? Great. Matt show more secretly helping Foggy pull off his mobster persona? Great. Foggy just rolling with a bunch of dudes who are now passed out for no reason he should know about? Great. Foggy confronting the Kingpin and not only walking away from the experience intact but the winner? Absolutely great. Love "Guts" Nelson, and so this is the only thing I've read by Frank Miller that I've actually enjoyed. show less