Exclusive Frank Miller Panel from Boston Comic Con 2016

Image Credit: DC Comics

Image Credit: DC Comics

One of the major highlights of Boston Comic Con this year was the exclusive Frank Miller Panel. Frank Miller, the creator of the famous mini-series The Dark Knight Returns, was accompanied by DC writer Brian Azzarello, who helped Miller with the third installment of the Dark Knight Returns story arc.

Miller and Azzarello discuss how they began working for DC Comics. “The first thing I pitched to DC was the Phantom Stranger.” Brian begins, “At the time, I was working with Lou Stathis of DC Comic’s Vertigo line. The Phantom Stranger had all of the elements that Lou hated, but he would tell me that somehow I made it shine. So we pitched this idea and everything looked as if it was going to go through until suddenly at the last minute, DC killed it. With no track record, they didn’t want to give me that chance. I was a Nobody.”

Frank weighs in, “You have to understand that I was able to get into comics because I could draw. Back then, DC was always looking for good artists, but it was a much harder field for writers to break into. The first thing we actually worked on for DC were stories that appeared in Weird War Tales, a far reach from The Dark Knight Returns.”

The Dark Knight Returns takes place 10 years after the death of Jason Todd. At this time Bruce Wane had long retired the cape and cowl when he has a breakdown over the mayhem and violence that continues to happen to the good citizens of Gotham. Once more Bruce reprises his role of Gotham’s Dark Knight this time swearing an oath to never give it up again. This 55-year-old Batman isn’t as fit as he used to be, and needs to call upon the help from other heroes to protect the city he loves. This popular tale is renowned for its intense fight scene between Batman and Superman, and has even been made into an animated motion picture.

Credit: Tim Trier

Credit: Tim Trier

I remember being asked to work on Batman.” Frank Miller says when asked about the Dark Knight Returns story arch, “At the time Batman was losing money. No one wanted to read about him. DC was looking for a new way to treat him, so they eventually asked me.”

At the time, a list of the most popular comics were released. Batman was number 49 on that list, selling less copies than Marvels US 1.

I finally decided that the only way I could make Batman work, is if I make the readers really really mad. So I began to play around with a scene.” Miller continues, “In Gotham City, a prostitute steps into a taxi cab where her pimp is waiting for her. You can’t really see what is going on inside this cab, but it is clear that the pimp is mutilating her. All of a sudden a thump is heard from the roof of the cab. It’s the Batman, and he does terrible things to the pimp. But we never see it actually happen, and that’s what made it so interesting.

Miller goes on to say, “So I took a step back and look over this scene I had just created and I realize that I had hit on something that went beyond the context that had already existed. I began to bring in similar contexts, only a little bit and very steadily. I wanted to build upon that sorrow, upon Bruce’s torment from helplessly watching as his parents were murdered. I wanted to rebuild it from the ground up, as if there had never been an earlier version of Batman, treating it as if no one had ever read a Batman comic before.

Credit: Tim Trier

Credit: Tim Trier

Frank then offers some advice to up and coming artists/writers. “If you want to get started as a writer or an artist, look for a loser.” Frank jokes, “I was given this loser called Batman. Look for something that nobody wants to read about turn it around, make it shine. That is how you build up a reputation.

Finally, when a fan asks Miller about the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie, mentioning it is based off of his work from the Dark Knight Returns, Frank replies, “Oh is that what you think? Did I like anything at all about it……. I liked Wonder Woman.





from Nerd Reactor

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