Comic book writer and screenwriter Frank Miller – whose work includes “300,” “Sin City” and “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” – returned this week to Lucca Comics and Games, an event that spans the gamut of geek culture and pop entertainment. As well as speaking at the event, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” Miller also introduced “Frank Miller – American Genius,” Silenn Thomas’ documentary about his impact on popular culture. Variety spoke to Miller about politics, art and why he’s relieved there are fewer comic book movies this year.
Would you agree that there has been a slight dip in the comic book to movie pipeline?I would hope so. It had really gotten so out of control that comics had started losing much of their own identity. I have been arguing vehemently for comics to start asserting their own purpose again and asserting their own identity as a literary form.
Do you think there were too many comic book artists and writers aiming for movie and TV deals?Oh, without question. Just because the appeal of not just the money, but the fame, respect and glory of working in the most powerful medium in history is undeniable, but I think that it was a little too heady a wine, in that comics were really in danger of losing their souls in the process. It very much seemed to be superhero movies in particular.Oh, that was all it was.
It was partly because the technology caught up with us. So the one thing comics could do that nobody else could do was the ridiculous pyrotechnics and everything, right? But if you think of it, the die was cast back in the 1970s with the movie slogan “You’ll believe a man can fly” where they actually made Superman’s flight convincing, and now they can do, you know, virtually anything that can be imagined.
Some of your finest work has been inspired by cinema, but has not necessarily involved superheroes: “Sin City” and “300” for instance.Well, yes, my entire oeuvre has been dedicated to defining and redefining the hero, and sometimes making him as ugly as possible, as in Marv and “Sin City,” and other times torturing the hero: as with Hartigan in the “Sin City: That Yellow Bastard” story. The exploration of the hero is just infinitely fascinating. Once you let go of the idea of the hero being society’s voice, it becomes more an examination of the human spirit.
As well as the heroes, you create astonishing, extreme worlds. But it seems that we live in a world which is almost impossible to exaggerate.I often have remarked that doing the next “Martha Washington” would be difficult because the first one happened. And my parody of Ronald Reagan is now in the White House, right?
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