Frank Miller And The Comic Book Adaptation Scene

This Thursday sees the release of the much anticipated Batman Begins movie. It’s reported to be better than Tim Burton’s attempt at the Dark Knight and closer in style to the Frank Miller comic Batman: Year One.

Expect a darker, more emotionally charged film that shows the caped crusader as a disturbed and confused individual. With the release of Frank Miller’s Sin City two weeks back, Fantastic Four on the way and the future holding such delights as The Watchmen and V For Vendetta (the reason Natalie Portman cut her hair off), the comic book adaptation scene couldn’t be stronger.

Now, while Hollywood will ply just about anything to keep it’s
executives from having to work for a living, it’s time that the comic
book form as high art was re-addressed.

Those responsible for it’s
elevation are manifold, but the two men who are primarily to thank are
Alan Moore (Books) and Frank Miller (Books). There are others, but these two remain the most well known and specifically their graphic novels, Watchman and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

The latter was written by Frank Miller - it’s shaping up to be
quite a year for him, and it’s about time he got the recognition he
deserves. Not just from the comic fans, but also the general cinema-going public.

Frank Miller’s writing is visceral, unrepentant, dark, humorous and succinct with the
art to match. His superheroes aren’t drawn with perfect rippling
muscles and bulging biceps but his artwork takes on a more brutal and
bruised tone to reflect the fractured nature of his
characters.

His Batman is old and retired - out
of shape and looking almost fat. His Superman is morally perplexed,
lost, fighting for a government he doesn’t quite believe in.
The characters in Basin City are flawed, trying to do the best in a bad
situation, when sometimes doing what’s best means people dying.

They’re brutal stories, raw, poignant, desperate; we can feel the
character’s pain, see it in the shades and contours of Miller’s skewed
and bulbous art. It’s time to salute a great writer and artist, a
master of his field and drag him kicking and screaming up onto the
platform of the highest art.

[story by Kevin Holmes]