418 MILLER, FRANK
(2004), Ultimate Fantastic Four (2004, 2005 – 6), Civil War (2006) a Marvel summer
crossover that garnered exceptional sales, and 1985 (2008). His current work for
Marvel includes Wolverine and Fantastic Four.
Millarworld, his creator-owned line, was launched in 2004, and is published by
multiple, competing companies including Avatar, Top Cow, Image Comics , and Dark
Horse. Titles published to date include Wa n t e d , Chosen , Th e Unfunnies , Kick-Ass and
War Heroes. Chosen is expected to continue publication under Image Comics as part of
Millar’s proposed trilogy American Jesus. A fi lm version of Wa n t e d was released in 2008,
and Kick-Ass is currently being fi lmed by Matthew Vaughn, although Millar has said he
has no interest in moving into the fi lm industry.
Julia Round
MILLER, FRANK (1957–). Born in Maryland, Frank Miller is a comics writer/artist
and fi lm director whose signifi cant publications include Daredevil , Ronin , Batman : Th e
Dark Knight Returns , Sin City , and 300. He has won multiple Eisner Awards , Kirby
Awards, and Harvey Awards. His work is characterized by realism and brutal themes,
although he has come under attack for his patriotic politics, and has been accused of
misogyny, exploitative violence, and homophobia.
Miller’s fi rst publication was Th e Twilight Zone #84 for Gold Key Comics in
September 1978. He followed this with penciling jobs for both DC and Marvel
comics. Th ese included Weird War Tales #64 and #68 and Unknown Soldier #219 for
DC Comics, and Warlord of Mars #18, Spectacular Spiderman #27–28, and multiple
Marvel Spotlight and Team-Up titles for Marvel comics. He became best known for
his work on the series Daredevil , which he began illustrating with #158 in 1979. His
realistic and evocative depictions of New York brought new attention to the title,
which moved from bi-monthly to monthly publication. Miller took over as writer and
penciler with #168 in 1981, which also featured the fi rst appearance of his popular
character creation, Elektra.
Miller continued to write various Daredevil issues for Marvel in the 1980s and also
published various works for DC, including the futuristic samurai six-part series Ronin
(1983) and the four-part miniseries Batman: Th e Dark Knight Returns (1986), to great
critical acclaim. Th e Dark Knight Returns was felt by many fans to be a reclamation of
the character’s original dark roots and was key in developing the trend for grim and
gritty superhero comics at this time. Miller also published the origin story Batman:
Ye a r O n e ( Batman #404 –7) for DC in 1987.
In the late 1980s, Miller left DC due to a dispute over the proposed comics rat-
ings system and distributed his work via Epic Comics ( Elektra Lives Again ) and Dark
Horse (including Hard Boiled , Give me Liberty ). His fi rst completely solo work, the
fi lm noir-infl ected series Sin City , was published by Dark Horse in 1991. Later in this
decade Miller became one of the founding members of Dark Horse’s Legend imprint,
which would release the majority of Sin City. During this time Miller also published
various Daredevil and Elektra comics with Marvel (including Elektra: Assassin (1986)
