Frank Miller's Independent Interview

The Independent spoke to comics legend, Frank Miller, on his new career as a director, and though some mainstreamers are predicting it will be his last foray into motion pictures, I beg to differ.

While there isn't much meat in this interview, it sufficiently covers the bases we fans already know - how Miller worked on the Robocop sequels and disliked the process so much that he vowed never to work in Hollow-wood again, until Robert Rodriguez convinced him otherwise. Now Miller loves his seat in the director's chair.

While The Spirit may not be faring so well at the box office, I'm sure it will recoup its expenses throughout its release. And though the critics have fairly soundly panned the flick, I believe everyone has to have their first - and few of us recall our first anything in terms like pleasurable, memorable, or... just plain good.

I have yet to see The Spirit, but I know that its creator, Will Eisner, spoke disdainfully of those who get into the sequential art business as a launching pad to Hollywood, so he may be somewhat pleased that Miller's adaptation of his time-honored classic turned out so poorly. Miller is not one of these, though; he was born to do comics and he blew the doors off the industry once he did.

But Miller's creative direction has deterred from its earlier thrust; increasingly throughout the years, Miller has dropped the pretenses and focused on images. Even I admit it has been to the detriment of his work, but all art is a process and Frank Miller has always had his tongue planted firmly in cheek, regardless of the project. I have the feeling he may have become blinded by his own bullshit somewhat, though; I'm not completely certain he knows where the line is drawn anymore: he seems to be approaching the superhero genre satirically, yet with a barely reserved reverence - it's confusing to the viewer, possibly because the creator himself is confused as to where he is going, what he wants to say, and why.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008