From SDCC 2014, Frank Miller.
I'm fairly certain that most of you are familiar with Frank Miller. He made a huge impact in the comics field when he came on the scene in the late 70's and early 80's, with a very unique style that combined manga with film noir. Reading a comic that was written and drawn by Frank Miller was like watching a Martin Scorsese movie that had guys in costumes. It was gangsters with superheroes. Needless to say it was different than what readers were used to and it came at a time when comics really needed something different.
Frank grew up a comics fan and it was his dream to become an artist. His first job was at Gold Key doing Twilight Zone short stories, then he did a couple of shorts for DC's war books. In 1978 he got a job at Marvel as a regular fill-in and cover artist. One of these jobs was drawing Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27-28, which guest starred Daredevil. When Gene Colan left Daredevil's book, Frank lobbied to get the job as the Man Without Fear's regular penciler. Frank's first issue was DD #158 in 1979, and the rest is pretty much history. He stayed on the book until late in 1982 and in that span of time he transformed Daredevil into one of Marvel's best selling and most popular characters. It was in this historic run that Miller created Elektra, who has herself become something of an icon. The Elektra Saga in one of the most enduring stories Marvel has ever published. In the summer of 1982, Frank teamed up with writer Chris Claremont for a critically acclaimed four issue Wolverine mini-series.
In 1983 Frank briefly left Marvel for DC where he did his first creator owned series, Ronin. And then in 1986, Mr. Miller wrote and drew a four issue prestige format mini series for DC called The Dark Knight Returns, a landmark and iconic tale that many consider to be the best Batman story ever told. It was a major turning point in comics history.
1986 was a watershed year for comics. It was the pinnacle of a creative renaissance, unprecedented in any medium, that started with the rise of direct market comic book shops and culminated in positive, mainstream media attention for comics projects that were diverse, creator driven and have all since gone on to be regarded as among the greatest the industry has ever produced. Besides The Dark Knight Returns, 1986 also gave us Watchmen, by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman, and Miller also returned to Marvel for Daredevil Born Again as well as writing a four part Batman Year One story for DC. Watchmen remains the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award, and Maus won a Pulitzer Prize. In the space of that single year, the comic book industry took a giant leap forward in terms of respectability and acceptance by mainstream media.
But oh, Frank was not done. In the 1990's he did Sin City and 300 for Dark Horse. He teamed up with artist Dave Gibbons for Give Me Liberty and co-created the character of Martha Washington. He got in the movie business and wrote the screenplays for Robocop 2 and 3, and he wrote and directed a big screen adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit for Lionsgate Films.
And that's a partial resume. It is safe to say that Frank Miller has cemented himself as one of the most popular and impactful creators in comics history.
Here's some pretty covers for you to look at:
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