Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 - A Review

On the odd chance that some of you haven't read the original The Dark Knight Returns and don't realize the significance of this particular story being adapted into an animated film, let me sum up.  Frank Miller's original mini-series redefined not only the way most comic readers viewed Batman as a character but the entire superhero genre and comic book medium.  Along with Watchmen, DKR was one of the first mainstream comic books to explore superheroes on a more mature level.  Its' success proved that illustrated literature was a viable medium for sophisticated stories and that such stories could be critical and commercial successes.  Not bad for a story that was written because of Frank Miller's mid-life crisis and his desire to write a story about a Batman who wasn't younger than him. :)



The Dark Knight Returns is set in the not-too-distant future, some ten years after the last reported sighting of The Batman.  Commissioner Gordon is days away from retirement.  Harvey Dent, recipient of some revolutionary new plastic surgery and psychiatric help, has just been released from Arkham Asylum with a clean bill of health.  A new gang called The Mutants holds Gotham City in its' thrall.  And Bruce Wayne - long retired from crime-fighting and resigned to a life of idle leisure - can no longer stand idly by doing nothing.  His return will send shockwaves through society, bringing both praise and condemnation from various media pundits and politicians as well as inspiring a new group of heroes, including Carrie Kelly - a young tween who makes her own Robin costume following her own encounter with The Dark Knight. 

The animation for this movie is top-notch.  I've rarely been disappointed by the animators Warner Brothers chooses and the studio is in fine form this time.  Wisely avoiding aping Frank Miller's grittier art-style completely, the film uses Miller's general designs while utilizing more fluid line-work in the actual construction of the characters.  This creates an effect where the main characters move like in a traditional modern anime but the background characters - usually depicted entirely in shadow, as with The Mutants who are only seen as outlines with red-lit goggles - are more stylized and less detailed, blending in with the darkness.   


Sadly, the film doesn't fare so well in the voice-acting department   Now, let me say that this movie has a lot of great voice actors rounding out it's supporting cast - Frank Welker, Tara Strong, Jim Ward, Maurice LaMarche, Paget Brewster, Grey DeLisle and Dee Bradley Baker all play minor roles and play them well.  Michael McKean does a particularly great turn as Dr. Wolper - the publicity-mad psychiatrist who declares Two Face completely sane while decrying Batman's negative influence on society.  And Maria Canals - Hawkgirl herself - does a fine job as the voice of Commissioner Yindel, Jim Gordon's incoming replacement.

No, the biggest problem with this movie lies with its' stars.  Peter Weller - who plays Batman - doesn't seem to have been given any direction other than to sound like a tired old man.  There is no energy to the portrayal.  He doesn't sound world-weary so much as he seems in desperate need of a nap.  What this role needed was a Clint Eastwood.  What we got was Wilford Brimley talking about life insurance.

Ariel Winter does somewhat better as Carrie Kelly, but only just.  Her performance has energy but far too many of her lines seem to run together without pauses between the sentences.  And not in the usual way that teenage girls sometimes speak in a rush without breathing.  I mean in the way that she says "No!  Don't Die!" as one word.  It's an odd thing, but the most effective scenes with their characters are the action sequences where there is no dialogue.

The script by Bob Goodman is another oddity.  Frank Miller's personal aesthetic is deeply routed in film noir influences and it's odd that the creative team would neglect that element in the script after going through such effort to see it brought into the animation  Goodman stages most of the relevant scenes from the original story and indeed the film opens, as the comic does, with Bruce Wayne risking his life in a high-speed car race.  While this is a cool opening, it isn't clear just how Bruce feels he has little to live for and is desperate for excitement and purpose without his internal monologue and musings on what would make for a good death.  Likewise, we miss out on what is arguably the most powerful scene of the original book -where we first get to see The Batman in action, as Bruce muses that he is nowhere near as tired or pained as he should be. 

   

Is The Dark Knight Returns, Part One worth seeing?  I'll say yes.  Despite some half-hearted voice-acting, it's decently paced and it looks great.  I'd strongly suggest reading the original books first, though.  Assuming you haven't done so already, of course.

Trailer for "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1" Released

SOURCE: 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1' Trailer

My apologies for not embedding the video here but MTV is keeping a pretty tight grip on it for now.

Visually, this looks impressive. They've captured Frank Miller's early art style and made it flow well. It looks like Miller's artwork come to life but it's not quite so sketchy or stylized. The bigger problem is the voice acting which - granting that we don't hear much dialogue here apart from the Mutant Leader - seems awfully lackluster.

Any thoughts, you all?

Two-Part 'Dark Knight Returns' Anime In The Works

 

SOURCE: Animated Dark Knight Returns Adds RoboCop's Peter Weller And Four More

 

Apparently WB's next DC Comics anime will be a two-part adaptation of the classic Frank Miller story Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.  The following cast has been announced.

 

Batman/Bruce Wayne:  Peter Weller (Robocop, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension)

Robin/Carrie Kelly: Ariel Winter (Modern Family)

Two-Face/Harvey Dent: Wade Williams (Prison Break)

Dr. Wolper: Michael McKean (This Is Spinal Tap, Clue)

 

Veteran actor David Selby (the television seriesDark Shadows and Falcon Crest) was also announced as part of the cast, but has yet to be officially tied to a role.  

 

The animation still release thus far do seem to have captured the essence of Frank Miller's style in the 1980s, while still giving everything a more stream-lined appearance typical to Anime in general and the recent Warner Brothers produced DC Comics anime in particular.




No word yet on who will be playing Commissioner Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth of The Joker but expect the fanboys to have started pestering Mark Hamill about two hours ago. :)

Sin City: Vol. 7 - Hell And Back - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Sin City, Vol. 7: Hell And Back
 
 

Insert The Standard Words Of Warning. This volume is all full of gratuitous nudity, gratuitous sensuality, gratuitous violence, and gratuitous references to other works by the same author. It is not intended for anyone under the age of 16 or people of a sensitive disposition.

 A former soldier turned artist, Wallace is that rarest of all creatures in Sin City – an honest, virtuous man. Small wonder then that he stops everything he’s doing to play hero when he sees a woman about to jump off a cliff as he’s driving home one night. Her name is Esther. She’s gorgeous. She’s nice. She’s everything Wallace ever hoped for in a woman. She even likes his paintings.

But as Shakespeare said, “The course of true love never did run smooth” and nowhere is that truer than in a Sin City love story. For Esther was on the run from some very bad people – bad people who run a criminal syndicate that kidnaps beautiful women and reshapes them into the perfect playmates for the rich and powerful. And with the police unwilling to help him, Wallace will be forced to call in every favor he can and descend like Orpheus into the underworld of Sin City in order to save the woman who may be his one shot at true love.

Hell and Back is the longest of the Sin City graphic novels. It is also, in many ways, the weakest of the series but I cannot say precisely why. Perhaps it is because – apart from reusing a few of the villainous characters from the short-stories collected in Booze, Broads, and Bullets – this particular story stands apart from the regular Sin City canon? Unlike the previous yarns, which were full of references to one another, Hell and Back doesn’t feature any of the various characters we’ve come to know as the series progressed.

Another issue may lay with our hero himself. Wallace lacks the uniqueness of the other Sin City protagonists, coming off as a generic invincible action hero. Despite the paradox inherent to the idea of a long-haired artist who was once a Navy Seal, Wallace fails to be as interesting or as well-developed as the sociopathic Marv or the conflicted Dwight McCarthy.

Esther too, fails to be developed as anything more than a prize to be won. While many of the Sin City stories have featured the female characters being taken captive by the villains, those stories gave us scenes that showed them to be anything but helpless victims. Gail fought back against her assailants. Nancy refused to be scared of The Yellow Bastard. But Esther gets no such scenes to show the steel under her silken skin. All she gets is a few scenes to show her – naked and terrified – in a dark cell where she is told there is no hope of escape or rescue. She is then forgotten for most of the story and isn’t seen again until near the end.

Even Miller’s artwork seems sloppy and rushed in this outing, with the visual centerpiece of the book being a full-color sequence in which Wallace – freshly injected with some kind of hallucinogen – starts to trip out in the middle of a battle. In this sequence, Miller throws out references to virtually every other comic book character or film project he’s ever worked on, with shout-outs to Dr. Seuss and Hellboy tossed in along with the kitchen sink for good measure. What could have been an interesting contrast – the unique style Miller used to create Sin City paired off against the gritty, detailed characters he draws in his more traditional work – comes off as a self-indulgent, dirty mish-mash. Amusing as it is to see Wallace momentarily fighting alongside Hagar The Horrible for one panel, it is not enough to save what is easily the weakest entry in the Sin City Saga.

Sin City, vol. 7: Hell And Back
by Frank Miller
ISBN: 1-59307-299-6
Dark Horse, 2005
Publisher Age Rating: 16

Sin City: Vol. 6 - Booze, Broads and Bullets - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Sin City, Vol. 6: Booze, Broads, & Bullets
 
 

The sixth of the Sin City graphic novels — Booze, Broads, & Bullets — is the only anthology in the series. It collects a number of short stories set in the Sin City universe, which Frank Miller wrote and drew for a number of Dark Horse special-edition comics. These are comics with titles such as “A Decade of Dark Horse,” “Lost,” “Lonely & Lethal,” and the aptly named “Sex And Violence.” That last title alone should serve as a content warning, on the off chance that you’ve never read a Sin City book before.

The stories within this volume are a mixed-bag in terms of length and content, with some so short that summarizing them is impossible as just telling what the story is about IS the story. There are also a number of stories that require some previous exposure to earlier Sin City yarns. By way of a for instance, the opening story – “Just Another Saturday Night” – details just what Marv (the protagonist of Volume 1: The Hard Goodbye) was up to during the events of Volume 4: That Yellow Bastard. A later tale, “Blue Eyes,” takes place concurrently with some of the events of Volume 2: A Dame To Kill For. This is par for the course for the series, which has always had a tightly-woven and heavily interlocked continuity.

Despite this attention to detail and my general fondness for nods like this, my favorite stories in this volume are the ones that stand on their own merits. “Silent Night,” a story centering upon Marv’s efforts to save a kidnapped girl at Christmas, stands out for several reasons. First, it is one of the few Sin City stories to have an unambiguously happy ending. Second, apart from one word balloon in the middle, the story is completely without text. This showcases not only Miller’s talent as an artist (every page of this story is poster-worthy!) but it also proves his talent as a visual storyteller.

This artistic talent is also showcased in stories like “Blue Eyes,” “Daddy’s Little Girl,” and “The Dame Wore Red,” where Miller further experiments with his neo-noir style by contrasting it against one dominant color, just as he did with the yellow-skinned Junior in That Yellow Bastard. It’s a stunning effect, which only serves to make the beautiful blue-eyed and blue-dress wearing Delia or the red-dress wearing dame Dwight McCarthy finds himself struggling to save stand out all the more in the stark world of Sin City.

Say what you will about Frank Miller as a creator but the man knows what he likes and he’s nothing if not honest. Only an honest man could come up with a title like Booze, Broads, & Bullets. As far as titles go it is alliterative, a brief summary of the book’s contents, and it’s a fair reflection of Frank Miller’s oeuvre – high action Film Noir, leggy dames, and strong men who don’t use words like oeuvre. Well, except for the erudite and loquacious goons Mr. Klump and Mr. Shlubb, of course.

Sin City, vol. 6: Booze, Broads, & Bullets
by Frank Miller
ISBN: 9781593072988
Dark Horse, 2005
Publisher Age Rating: 16

Sin City: Vol. 5 - Family Values - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Sin City, Vol. 5: Family Values
 
   

Dwight McCarthy is the sort of man who always pays back what he owes, be it money, favors or pain. But there are some debts that can never be paid off completely and that’s the sort of debt that Dwight owes his ex-girlfriend Gail and her fellow Old Town Girls. So when they need someone to check out a recent murder, Dwight doesn’t need to be told the details – just when and where to jump.

 With “Deadly Little Miho” (the Old Town Girls’ professional assassin) in tow, Dwight starts scouting the crime scene looking for clues and witnesses. What he finds could lead to an all out gang war between the syndicate of a powerful crime boss who likes playing politics and Sin City’s local Mafia. As always, Dwight will be in the middle of it but his stake in the coming conflict will remain a mystery to everyone (including the reader!) until the very end.

The only one of the Sin City “yarns” originally written and published as a graphic novel (the previous trade paperbacks collected mini-series originally published as comic books) Family Values is also unique in that – while presented as a fairly straight-forward murder mystery– the real mystery lies not in the murder being investigated but in precisely why Dwight is investigating the murder in the first place! At first glance there’s no reason why The Old Town Girls would be interested in the murder of one conservative politician. But as the story unfolds and layers upon layers of seemingly unrelated secrets are revealed, we slowly reach a conclusion that explains everything. I shan’t spoil anything, save to say that the title of this volume is a hint to the ultimate secret.

Those who have read previous Sin City volumes will know what to expect from Frank Miller’s artwork… with one exception. For some reason, Miho is drawn in a completely different style than the other characters in this story. Whereas every other character is rendered using the unique mixture of heavy blacks and light whites that have defined the Sin City look, Miho is drawn in pure white with think black lines defining her features, looking something like a scribble compared to the other, more defined and more heavily inked characters. Whether Miller meant to make Miho seem more ethereal – a ghost who cannot be touched yet delivers death with her touch – or whether this was meant to make her look faster and leaner in comparison to the bigger, blocker figures I cannot say. The difference is effective, whatever the reason.

As always, I will note that this volume – and the Sin City series in general – is not intended for younger audiences and should be firmly placed in the adult fiction collection of any library. This particular volume features a goodly bit of ultra-violence, including one man having his head kicked off. There’s also quite a lot of racist and misogynistic language and some brief, gratuitous nudity at one point when we see that Miho doesn’t wear a sports bra under her kimono.

Sin City, vol. 5: Family Values
by Frank Miller
ISBN: 59307297X
Dark Horse, 2005
Publisher Age Rating: 16

Sin City: Vol. 4 - That Yellow Bastard - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Sin City, vol. 4: That Yellow Bastard
 
   

John Hartigan is a good cop with a bad heart, just days away from retirement. Hot on the trail of a murderous pedophile, Hartigan arrives just in time to stop 11-year old Nancy Callahan from becoming a statistic. In a better world the story would end there – a hero cop saves a little girl and the bad guy is crippled for life and brought to justice.

But this isn’t a better world – it’s Sin City. Where there is no room for hero cops and the bad guy in question is part of the powerful Roark family. Framed for Roark Junior’s crimes, Hartigan is quickly convicted, sentenced to life in prison and abandoned by everyone who ever cared about him… except for little Nancy Callahan. Nancy’s weekly letters (sent under a false name) and the knowledge that Nancy is safe are the only things that keep Hartigan going.

So it goes until one day eight years later when the letters stop and a foul-smelling, yellow-skinned man delivers Hartigan a young woman’s finger in an envelope. Fearing that Nancy is in danger, assuming The Roarks haven’t tracked her down already and that really is her finger, Hartigan makes a confession and is granted parole. Little does he know that this is all part of a grander plan – one that will allow Roark Junior to finally finish what he started eight years earlier…

That Yellow Bastard is perhaps the most melodramatic of Frank Miller’s Sin City stories. It is also, in many ways, his best. In this outing, Miller abandons the ambiguity of Film Noir to give us his take on the simplest tale there is – the brave knight ridding to save the fair maiden from the wicked villain. Okay, the fair maiden may be stripping to put herself through college, but the principle is the same!

Despite being famous for his bombastic art-style and his high-action stories, Frank Miller can be a subtle storyteller. Until this volume, all of the Sin City stories centered upon flawed heroes with serious personal issues and deep internal conflicts. We may have laughed at Marv’s antics or sympathized with Dwight’s romantic issues but neither of them would be considered heroic in the classical sense. John Hartigan, by contrast, is as pure and noble hero as you could hope for.

As John Hartigan is the most heroic figure in the Sin City chronicles, Roark Junior is by far the most villainous villain – no small feat given the competition! A monster at heart, his first clash with Hartigan leaves him crippled and the efforts to heal him give him a hideous visage to match his dark soul. Roark Junior’s jaundiced form is easily one of the most terrifying creations to spring from Miller’s pens. His appearance is all the more horrifying for its’ coloration – the only color in the stark black and white artwork. And here is where we see how subtle Frank Miller can be, emphasizing how Roark has been set apart from society with one simple choice of coloration.

Attention must also be paid to Nancy Callahan, who is one of Miller’s better female protagonists. While Miller has taken some well-deserved heat for how he portrays women in his stories, Nancy breaks the standard damsel-in-distress mold. She is shown to be smart and willful even as a young girl and she is strong enough to bear up under torture. The fact that she works as a stripper is completely incidentally to her role in the story and her personality.

It should, perhaps, go without saying at this point that the Sin City series is full of violence, sex, nudity and near countless examples of man’s inhumanity to man. It is not fit for children. Doubtlessly there are many who would argue it is not fit for adults. This author is unwilling to make such judgments but will advise you that this book was rated 16 by the publisher and inspired an R-rated film. Make of that what you will.

Sin City, vol. 4: That Yellow Bastard
by Frank Miller
ISBN: 1593072961
Dark Horse, 2005
Publisher Age Rating: 16

Sin City: Vol. 3 - The Big Fat Kill - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Sin City, vol. 3: The Big Fat Kill
 
   

Following the events of A Dame To Kill For, Dwight McCarthy has a new face, a new attitude and a new girlfriend named Shellie. Time once was that Dwight would have left well enough alone and been content with scaring off Shellie’s abusive ex “Jackie-Boy” after he came a-calling and was sent packing. But Dwight can’t defeat his heroic instincts so easily and pursues Jackie-Boy and his friends to make sure no other innocents get hurt.

Dwight follows Jackie-Boy and his gang into Old Town – a Sin City neighborhood where the ladies of the evening are free to administer their own rough justice to anyone foolish enough to raise a hand against one of their own. They’re also free to kill any pimp, drug-pusher or mobster who dares to enter their turf. The cops are content to leave the women of Old Town to do as they please, so long as the bribes are paid regularly and any cop who crosses the line with an Old Town lady is allowed to live.

Such is the nature of The Truce – beat them or bloody them, steal their pants or send them home in a dress. Just don’t ever kill a cop. Unfortunately, Jackie-Boy is an undercover cop – a fact that isn’t discovered until the ladies start looting his corpse. And with The Truce endangered and The Mob ready to move in and enslave every lady in Old Town, Dwight will find himself playing Knight Errant once again for the sake of the women who once saved his life.

The ladies of Old Town have had a role to play in every volume of Sin City thus far, so it’s only fitting that they should get a story all their own. Too bad this story – despite being firmly focused upon them – is pretty much a direct sequel to A Dame To Kill For and is really about how awesome Dwight McCarthy is. Don’t get me wrong – Dwight McCarthy is my favorite character out of the whole Sin City saga. It’s just that with this volume, we realize just how shallow Frank Miller’s female protagonists are.

We’re told how tough and independent the Old Town ladies are and yet they’re almost entirely dependent on one man coming up with a plan to save them. Most of the women of Old Town aren’t identified by name and with one exception, all the women who do have names are related to Dwight in some way, either having saved his life (Dallas), been saved by him (Miho) or being his ex-girlfriend (Gail). And the less I think about how Gail is apparently turned on by Dwight slapping her in the face after the two start arguing, the better.

Perhaps it’s foolish for me to raise this point in a book that is a tribute to a genre where the heroes routinely slapped women in the middle of arguments, but it seems unusually out of character for Dwight given his previously stated opinions on men who hurt women. Still, this is a world of flawed heroes and Miller – as per usual – paints a disturbing picture, both literally and figuratively. Miller’s artwork is rendered entirely in black and white but do not mistake this for a manga. Miller’s style is all his own, presenting us with images that are vivid in their simplicity.

It should, perhaps, go without saying at this point that the Sin City series is not for children and should be firmly filed in the Older Teen or Adult section of your graphic novel collection. This particular volume features full nudity, generous amounts of violence and numerous disturbing scenes involving a severed head.
Sin City, vol. 3: The Big Fat Kill

by Frank Miller
ISBN: 1593072953
Dark Horse, 2005
Publisher Age Rating: 16

Sin City: Vol. 2 - A Dame To Kill For - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Sin City, vol. 2: A Dame To Kill For
 
   

Dwight McCarthy used to be somebody – a photographer and Pulitzer Prize-contender, working for the local newspaper. But hard drinking and harder living cost Dwight everything. Now, he’s been reduced to working as a leg-man for a sleazy detective and he lives a largely monastic existence – shaving his head, staying off the booze and staying away from women for fear of letting out “The Monster”.

Then one night “she” calls. Ava. The one that got away. The one that broke his heart. The one that left him four years ago for a richer man. Despite his anger and better judgment, Dwight agrees to meet her. She spins a story of abuse and torture at the hands of both her rich husband Damien Lord and his mountainous manservant Manute – a story that Dwight finds hard to ignore after Manute shows up to “escort” Ava home. When his investigations seem to confirm Ava’s story and earn him a beating at Manute’s hands, Dwight will call in every favor he can and let out “The Monster” to save Ava. But is Ava really a dame to kill for? Or is she playing on Dwight’s chivalric side once again?

Attention must be paid to how effortlessly Frank Miller has blended the continuity of two stories shamelessly. Parts of this story take place at the same time as Sin City, vol. 1: The Hard Goodbye and one can see scenes from that story play out in the background of this one. Marv, the protagonist of the first volume, even plays a supporting role as Dwight’s back-up when he storms Damien Lord’s estate for the second time!

This is one of the more novel touches as one continues to read the Sin City series. Characters we saw in the background of one story are brought to the foreground of another and it’s not unheard of for us to see the death of one character before finding out their full story in a later work. This attention to detail serves to make Sin City seem more like a real place as we slowly see how everything is interconnected.

Dwight McCarthy stands out as one of the most interesting characters to populate Sin City. Unlike Marv, Dwight is not a psychopathic man-child, despite his “monster”. Marv knows that some things are just wrong, but lacks the mental capacity and emotional maturity to appreciate precisely why those things are wrong. By contrast, Dwight has morals enough to feel disgusted by his sleazy job snapping pictures of adulterers for divorce cases and guilty for fast-talking Marv into helping him invade Damien Lord’s estate. Dwight is not a hero yet he has heroic impulses, risking his life to save the life of a strange woman in the opening chapter. Ironically, when he lets “The Monster” out, Dwight begins to act like a more traditionally heroic figure, being brave and bold even as he is devoting himself entirely towards becoming an angel of vengeance.

As always, Miller’s art perfectly conveys the world as he means to portray it. As a location, Sin City is not pretty but it has a certain style. The same can be said of Frank Miller’s artwork, which seems to be rough and crude before surprising you with an image of stark, simple beauty, such as nearly every scene where we get a look at Ava.

Speaking of getting a look at Ava, I should mention that we get to see quite a lot of her in this book. Nearly everything, in fact. Indeed, I should mention that this book is chock full of nudity and ultraviolence. This should not be a shock to anyone who knows anything of Frank Miller’s recent writings in general or the Sin City series in particular. Regardless, you have been warned.

Sin City, vol. 2: A Dame To Kill For
by Frank Miller
ISBN: 1593072945
Dark Horse, 2005
Publisher Age Rating: 16

Sin City: Vol. 1 - The Hard Goodbye - A No Flying No Tights Review

SOURCE: Sin City, Vol. 1: The Hard Goodbye

 

It starts, as it usually does, with a gorgeous dame.

Marv’s not the sharpest knife in the back but even he’s smart enough to know there’s no way a woman like that would take a guy like him back to her room unless she wanted something. The smart bets are on “Protection” or “A Patsy”. But with those angelic looks Marv doesn’t much care as long as “Goldie” is willing to deliver the pleasures she promises.

A few hours later, Marv wakes up to the sound of sirens…next to the stone-cold body of his golden goddess. With the town’s corrupt cops on his heels, Marv goes on the run only to find that there are professional hit-men gunning for him too. And then there’s the matter of a woman who is the spitting image of Goldie trying to kill him. Driven by equal parts rage and a crude honor that demands Goldie’s death be avenged since he failed to keep her alive, Marv’s search for answers will take him all across the town they call Sin City – from the darkest alleyways to the private estate of one of the city’s most prominent families.

It would be easy to call Sin City Frank Miller’s tribute to the Film Noir genre. Certainly Miller’s art in this volume is heavily dependent on the same stylistic considerations as the old movies, where black contrasted heavily against pure white backgrounds. And as in those movies, the stark black-and-white visuals depict a world full of moral gray areas. It is a place where dark shadows conceal darker motivations and the only heroes are flawed men who cling to what slim scraps of their souls they can manage to grasp.

But this beast defies such easy classification and this series owes as much to the Exploitation genre as it does Film Noir. Sin City is packed full of beautiful babes, rough-featured men and more over-the-top cartoon violence than a Tom & Jerry marathon. It is not deep. It is not subtle. But, to those with the right mind set to enjoy this sort of thing, it is not without its’ charms.

A large part of this charm is due to Marv – a unique character who defies many of the conventions of the Film Noir hero. By way of a for instance, while Marv does possess the same rude charisma and rough ethics of Sam Spade, Marv is no detective. When he needs an answer, he’ll beat it out of whatever unfortunate soul gets in his way. Marv’s methods are crude but efficient and it’s hard not to laugh a little bit at his antics as he begins “questioning” suspects.

I think it would be fair to call Sin City a high-quality guilty-pleasure book. It’s not great art by most definitions but it is well-crafted for what it is – a kick-ass action movie on paper. Miller’s art and writing is an acquired taste, but he’s never been in better form.

On the off chance that there is someone reading this review that is unfamiliar with Frank Miller’s writing in general, the Sin City series in specific, or the 2005 Robert Rodriguez film which was based upon this series, let me say this clearly: This book is very much an adult graphic novel in every sense of the phrase. With numerous scenes of bloody violence, detailed nudity and multiple affronts to basic human decency, this book earns its 16+ rating.

Sin City, vol. 1: The Hard Goodbye
by Frank Miller
ISBN: 1593072937
Dark Horse Comics, 2005
Publisher Age Rating: 16+

Small Ironies - Frank Miller and Occupy Wall Street.

SOURCE: FrankMillerInk.com - Anarchy

Now, I personally find the assertion that anti-American terrorists would take joy out of American citizens expressing their Constitutional right to free speech to be ludicrously ill-informed. Particularly as the main target of their protests is the corporate interests whose actions made The World Trade Center a target for those terrorists in the first place. But last I checked, this is a free country and Frank Miller is just as free to speak his mind as the Occupiers.

But I am free to speak my mind as well. As are all of my friends.

Friends like W. J. Walton of The Escapist.com, who noted the irony of a man who made his living in the comic book industry playing the "parent's basement' card.

Friends like Roy Buckingham of Sassycast, who noted the irony of a man who became famous writing stories about idealistic outsiders trying to fight the systematic corruption of government, big business and the military is now telling idealists to shut up, get a job or put on a uniform.

Mr. Miller, incidentally, has never served in any branch of the American Armed Forces.

And me? Well, I find it ironic that the character who Frank Miller is most famous for writing - when you get right down to it - lives in his momma's basement, doesn't have a real job and... well, I think I'll let Mr. Miller's work speak for itself.

Irony

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Chris Sims wrote an entire article complaining about how Kevin Smith has besmirched the proud legacy of Frank Miller...

... by writing a Batman story filled with sexual references and crude humor?

Just a thought.

Only 6 Hints? Well, we're trying to be nice...

SOURCE: 6 Hints That Frank Miller Might Have Issues With Women

Not a very full list (All The Women In The Spirit and All The Women In Sin City are two of the entries) but if you were to name every individual female character Frank Miller created who had disturbing connotations, you could easily go to 60.

You want a real challenge? Name a female character in a Frank Miller story who isn't a whore, a stripper or a teenage girl. I can only think of one - The Queen in 300. And what they did to her in the film adaptation (even though I don't think Frank had a hand in the writing on that) kinda negates that. All she did in the comic was deliver that line about "Come back with your shield or on it."

EDIT: Okay. I just remembered Elektra. That's two. But how sad is it that I forgot what is probably the best character, male or female, that Frank Miller ever created in the wake of all the crap?

Also, Queen Gorgo doesn't count since she was sorta based on a historical character, so she wasn't really created... which brings us back to one.

Looking To The Stars: 300 - A Review

A long-awaited film inspired by the works of Frank Miller, it has opened to international controversy. With numerous detractors and defenders across a wide spectrum of the population, few can deny the impact it has had upon American culture.

No, I’m not talking about the new Ninja Turtles movie! It hasn’t come out yet.

I’m actually talking about 300 – a film based on Frank Miller’s graphic-novel -which is itself based off of Miller’s favorite movie as a child, The 300 Spartans - which was in itself based on the legends of the Battle of Thermopylae – which are based primarily off of the Histories of Herodotus – the accuracy of which are still debated by historians to this day.

This amuses me greatly, for historians are among one of the many, many groups who have gotten offended about the content of 300 for one-reason or another. I delayed reviewing this movie for a while hoping that I might be able to see it with a clear head and judge the film on its’ own merits. But since the controversy seems to be growing only larger as the movie becomes more popular, I feel it necessary to discuss some of these viewpoints along with the film itself.

So now, as usual, a key to the aspects of the film that we will examine.


PLOT: The big SPOILERS BEWARE part. A basic summation of the story.

INFLUENCE: A measure of how closely the film follows any direct original source material.

CHARACTERS: Are the characters written well and true to the form presented in the original printed page?

ACTING: Separate from Characters, this is a measure of how skilled the acting is regardless of how “true” it is to the comic book personality of the character.

ARTFULNESS: Nice touches and beautiful artistic shots in the cinematography.

FX: The flashy whiz-bang material and how it looks.

COMPLAINTS: A new section unique to this review – I will outline, in brief, the grievances of the various people about the film’s content and the pros and cons of their various cases.

COMIC BOOK GUY QUOTIENT: Another big SPOILERS BEWARE section. Nit-picking over anything relating to “how it SHOULD have been done” and general Monday Morning Quarterbacking.

UNINTENTIONAL HUMOR: Another new section unique to this review – anything likely to make you laugh that probably shouldn’t.

OVERALL: The broad summary of how I felt about the movie in general.

PLOT: King Leonidas of Sparta, blunted by corrupt priests and politicians at home, leads the 300 men of his personal guard to join with other Grecian forces to stand against the invading armies of Persia. Meanwhile, his wife Queen Gorgo uses her influence at home to try and persuade the Spartan nobles to raise the armies to aid her husband.

Give it 10 for 10 for not being half-assed. The Battle of Thermopylae is one of the more inspiring stories in history and 300 sticks very closely to the ideals of the epic legends that inspired it.


INFLUENCES: The dialogue is taken word for word from Miller’s text and the scenes are presented in almost the same chronological order. Every effort has been made to make every frame of the film look like a Frank Miller drawing and every single bit of the original 300 book is included in the film. Like Sin City before it, there is very little that has been left out. 10 for 10 here, as well.


CHARACTERS: This being based on a Frank Miller story, there’s not a lot of characterization. There’s tough guys, weak guys, bad guys and gorgeous dames. Indeed, the film gives a lot more definition and character to the background characters than Frank Miller’s background art (or lack thereof) ever did.

Let’s call this one a no-scorer. The only character whom had any true characterization in the original book is Leonidas himself.


ACTING: In truth, despite the efforts to make some of the background characters more memorable, there are only two characters worth noting.

Gerard Butler as Leonidas – the star of the show and our fearless leader, he finds the perfect note with which to play Leonidas, easily pulling off all of the tough-guy action speeches as well as the more brooding, tormented moments where he must stare into space while pondering the battles ahead.

Lena Headey as Gorgo – stuck with the most thankless role in the film, she bears the brunt of all the original material involving the corrupt politician subplot as well as being the token female Point Of Interest. Thankfully, Headey gives the material an intensity it scarcely deserves.

Let’s call this a 5. Most of the characters aren’t really given a chance at development. Most of them aren’t even given names. But what few characters are developed are memorable.


ARTFULNESS: This film has artfulness in spades. What a shame that it’s such ugly art. Still, the grey, washed-out look of the film – where there are no bright colors save golds and reds – does match the original colorization of Miller’s artwork. And the character design mimics Miller’s to a degree that almost equals the attention to detail paid to Sin City. Indeed, in some points – particularly the battle scenes – more detail is given to individual soldiers than was ever given in Miller’s silhouette-based crowd scenes.

Give this a 6. The film captures the essence of Miller’s style, but it goes too far at points in trying to make a living comic instead of a film.


FX: It could have been a lot better. The bullet-time effects of The Matrix are old-hat at this point and they do not work nearly as well with spears and shields as they do with guns. The scene where Leonidas leads a charge and takes down several Persians single-handed plays like a severely lagged raid-battle in World of Warcraft. Move a little – slow down – and attack. Move a little more – slow down and kill. And the blood which sprays forth from wounds does so in a way that reminds one fully that they are watching a movie.

Give this one a 4. The colorization and slow-mo effects give the whole movie a distinctive look but the blood effects are just plain awful.


COMIC BOOK GUY QUOTIENT: Quite honestly, Miller purists won’t have a thing to complain about regarding things being left out of the movie. I suspect that some might complain about material that was specially put into the movie to round out minor characters and turn the movie into something other than a two-hour long battle.

I’m referring specifically to the subplot with Queen Gorgo that has no effect on the ending of the film as well as the additional scenes with Leonidas’ captain mourning the loss of his son. Still, I believe these scenes did attempt to add something to the film, so I won’t deduct points for their trying to establish a feminine presence or “appropriate” manly feeling. 10 for 10.


COMPLAINTS:

NEO-CON PROPAGANDA - The movie is an endorsement of George W. Bush’s presidency and his attempts to start a war with Iran. Metaphorically, Leonidas is Bush, leading a small but determined group of the best soldiers in the world to a glorious victory against what is basically the rest of the world in an effort to secure democracy for future generations.

PRO: The neo-con catch-phrase “freedom isn’t free” is used in the scenes based on original material. Also added is a scene is added in where Leonidas and his men discover a destroyed city and one beautiful (and coincidentally golden-haired and fair-skinned) child who lives just long enough to look cute and die in the king’s arms. All the bad-guys are weird, ugly foreigners or corrupt politicians and clergymen bribed by weird, ugly foreigners. See also, MILITARISTIC

CON: Comparing Bush to Leonidas is a stretch by any decent standard, seeing as how Bush never saw combat during his time in the National Guard. Also, the metaphor doesn’t work given that the American forces entered another country rather than directly defending their own lands.


ANTI-BUSH PROPAGANDA - The movie is a thinly-veiled attack of George W. Bush’s presidency and his attempts to start a war with Iran. Metaphorically, Bush is Xerxes – leader of a decadent, multi-cultural society that is conquering what parts of the world it can’t buy outright.

PRO: Xerxes method of conquest does mirror American Cultural Imperialism – declare war on whoever we can’t bribe. Like Xeres, Bush is thought to have started a military conflict to conquer the enemy his father could not (Iraq = Greece).

CON: Bush has no piercings and does not own a golden chainmail codpiece in so far as anyone can determine, nor has he claimed outright godhood.


ANTI-GAY/HOMOPHOBIC - The movie is a thinly veiled attack on homosexuality.

PRO: There are several insulting references to the Athenians being boy-lovers. The corrupt politician who rapes the Queen does so from behind. The only lesbians in the movie are weird Persian harem girls.

CON: If this movie really wanted to take cheap-shots in this area instead of strictly adapting Miller’s work, the corrupt priests would have been molesting the prettiest boys in Sparta instead of the most beautiful girls.


RACISM - The movie is subtly racist toward non-Caucasians.

PRO: Most of the military leaders on the Persian side that we see ARE black guys with a lot of gold bling. There’s also Mongols, African tribesmen and some very freaky looking samurai types among Xerxes’ soldiers.

CON: There’s a lot of ugly white guys fighting on the Persian side as well and with the exception of Leonidas and the Spartans, nobody in this movie is made to look good. You might just as well argue that the movie is anti-Athenian.


SEXISM - The movie has a very strong anti-Feminist subtext.

PRO: There is no female presence for 90% of the movie and what little presence the film has is made up entirely of women in a position of weakness – harem girls and the molested Oracle. Queen Gorgo is the only female character mentioned by name. A gratuitous sex scene not in the original book is added into the movie as is a copious amount of female nudity that – amazingly – wasn’t in the original book. Also, the new material meant to turn Queen Gorgo into a stronger character depicts her being ready to sleep with an enemy to help her husband and ends with her getting raped. Not exactly a big pro-women thing.

CON: The only women in the original book were Gorgo, The Oracle and two unidentified harem girls in the background of one panel so it’s not like there was a huge amount for the adapters to work with without adding in a lot more new material. Also, it’s based on a Frank Miller story. Was anyone expecting it NOT to be offensive to women?


MILITARISTIC - The movie is a propaganda piece for the idea that only soldiers should have a position of power in a free society.

PRO: The opening scenes showing how the Spartan methods of child-rearing breed REAL men. Intellectuals (i.e. Athenian philosophers) and The Athenian volunteer-based army (shades of the National Guard) are mocked by the “real” soldiers of Sparta. And of course the soldiers are the only ones willing to fight to protect what they have when the wolf is at the door...

CON: Anyone who knows anything about history can pick apart the idea of the Spartans as the vanguard in the fight to protect freedom in about five minutes.


HISTORICAL - Historians hold that this movie is the worst historical epic in recent memory.

PRO: The Spartan gay-bashing will bring a laugh to anyone who knows anything about the true Spartan culture. The weapons and armor do not match the period. Also, the movie severely undercuts the efforts of the 6,700 other Greek soldiers who fought alongside the 300 Spartans. Also, even the most liberal of historians do not think Xerxes forces literally numbered in the millions.

CON: It may not be historically accurate, but the comic the film is based on was never meant to be a historical or educational piece. Miller freely admits that he did almost no research and that he just drew what he thought would look cool in regards to the armor and weapons.


HOMOEROTIC - This movie is the greatest piece of soft-core porn for gay males disguised as an action movie since Top Gun.

PRO:Nearly every male character in this movie is a buff guy in a leather loincloth and there’s nary a woman to be seen for 90% of the movie.

CON: Too many guys with leather and piercings for this to truly be an enjoyable work for ALL gay men. Also see ANTI GAY/HOMOPHOBIC



UNINTENTIONAL HUMOR: Four things that made me laugh-out-loud in the theater while I was viewing this film.

1. The scene with the Oracle. Originally five panels across two pages in 300 with no nudity at all, the oracle here writhes in a manner suggestive of a pole dancer performing her first set of the evening. Her toga, moved about by a mysterious CGI wind, parts in ways that reveal that not only did the ancient Spartans apparently invent the bikini wax; they also kept their temples at a most cool and – dare I say - nippy temperature.

2. The scene in the second battle – not in the original comic – where a large, burly troll-like beast of a man is cut from his chains and set loose upon the Spartans. Not only is this creature an comical exaggeration of how Frank Miller bad-guys look to say nothing of a textbook marriage of bad make-up and bad acting – it also inspires thoughts that, at some point while Xerxes met with his generals, somebody said “Why don’t we give him to Mongo?”

And with all the characters taking moments to stare meaningfully at the camera, I half expected this monster to look at the screen and say “Mongo only pawn in game of Life.”

3. The first appearance of Xerxes in his fabulous golden chainmail and piercings fetish outfit and the resulting scene where he rubs Leoniads’ shoulders. Scarily enough, this scene IS in the original comic and it’s even weirder on screen.

4. The ironic realization that all of these conflicting groups of people are being offended over what is, at the core, an action movie too stupid to make coherent political arguments and how all of these people are trying to assign subtext to a movie that had no deeper thoughts go into its’ creation than “this would be cool!”



OVERALL: Despite some downright goofy moments and the logical part of my brain looking for deeper meanings that I ultimately realized were not there, I did enjoy this movie. I do not believe it to be a propaganda piece for anything, save the idea that Frank Miller can tell a good story.

Having read 300, I think Miller succeeded since his only goal was to create something that looks good and to retell a legend. And writer/director Zack Snyder was successful in adapting the work to the big screen. Sadly, he didn’t stick to just adapting the work as Robert Rodriguez did with Sin City and his additions only served to make the movie suffer.

While I do think that some people are stretching a bit to attach a political subtext to the movie, I do think Snyder made a mistake in trying to strengthen the role of the Queen in the manner that he did. Because as a general rule, I think it’s a bad idea to add in a rape scene when you’re attempting to expand a female character under the pretense of giving women in the audience someone to sympathize with. As such, I do think that feminists have a number of legitimate complaints about this film –they have more to do with direction and less to do with Frank Miller’s writing.

Is this a great movie? Hardly. But it is a good story and that counts for something. And it looks amazing which counts for something as well. Overall, I’d say that 300 is an enjoyable experience so long as you don’t take it too seriously and don’t look for meaning where there is none.

I give 300 a solid 7 out of 10. It’s not a great film, but it is good for what it is – a solid action flick.



Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

Looking To The Stars: EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN #3

The following pages were sent to us by a source who would identify themselves only as “Nancy”. If accurate, the text that follows are pages taken from the upcoming All-Star Batman and Robin #3. We are very excited to bring this exclusive preview to you, our beloved readers, and hope you will enjoy what we present here.

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Episode 3

FROM: Miller, F
TO Lee, J

Hey Jim

Let me say once again what a pleasure it is to be working with an artist of your caliber. I know it may be empty prose and many a critic has said, but I really do think we’re going to be the true Dynamic Duo on this book.

As I write this, we just got the projected sales figures on the Sin City DVD, so I’m feeling pretty hyped right now. Despite all the energy I have right now, what I’ve written here is a little bit more sedate. But even though this a little more low-energy than the first two, but I think you’ll be able to pull this off magnificently.

As always, call if you have any questions or thoughts. I think my notes are vague enough to allow you some creativity, but specific enough to explain the pictures in my head. I’ve limited the panel numbers when possible, but have indicated which pages are splashes and which aren’t.

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PAGE ONE

BIG SPLASH. BATMAN WALKING DOWN A DIRTY ALLEY.

Batman (V/O): Walk down the right back alley in Gotham City, and you can find anything…

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PAGE THREE TO FOUR

BATMAN LAYS IN A BED, WEARING ONLY HIS COWL AND A BED SHEET

Batman (V/O): The night’s as hot as hell. It’s a lousy room in a lousy part of a lousy town – I’m staring at a goddess. She’s telling me she wants me. I’m not going to waste one more minute wondering how I’ve gotten this lucky. She smells like catnip and squeaky toys, the perfect woman… the Goddess. Selina. She says her name is Selina.

LONG SHOT OF SELINA IN DOORWAY FROM BEHIND, SHOWING HER WEARING NOTHING BUT A PURPLE THONG WITH A CAT TAIL COMING OFF THE TOP. THINK WHAT THOSE CATGIRLS AT THE CONS WEAR.

Selina: Rough night?

Batman: I had to fight some cops.

Selina: Oh, that’s lovely. You didn’t happen to kill any of them, did you?

Batman: Nah, I don’t think so, but they know they been in a fight, that’s for sure.

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PAGES EIGHT TO NINE

BATMAN ENTERS THE ICEBURG LOUNGE, AND GRABS A WAITRESS

Batman: I’m looking for Barbara Gordon?

Waitress: Eyes to the stage, pilgrim. She’s just warming up.

SEVERAL BIG PANELS OF A GORGEOUS REDHEAD GODDESS WEARING NOT MUCH GRIDING AWAY ON A STAGE

Batman (V/O): Skinny Barbara Gordon. She grew up. She filled out.

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PAGE THIRTEEN

BATMAN IS HOLDING DICK GRAYSON UP WITH ONE HAND, LOOKING HIM RIGHT IN THE EYES

Batman: It’s time to prove that you’re worth a damn. Sometimes that means dying, sometimes it means killing a whole lot of people.

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PAGE FIFTEEN

BATMAN PLOWS THE BATMOBILE OVER A WHOLE LINE OF POLICE CARS

Batman (V/O): I love corrupt cops. No matter what you do to them, you don’t feel bad.

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PAGE SEVENTEEN

BIG SPLASH. ROB GETS A RAZOR SHARP BATARANG THROUGH THE CHEST

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PAGE EIGHTEEN

ROB: See, Don? It’s right through me.. Nuke me radical! Is Nasty!

DON: Hope Rob don’t say balls nasty.

ROB: Balls nasty!

DON: Eye it, leader! Something wrapped around it. Some kind of pipe.

HARVEY: Give it to me.

ROB: Don, this nuked me radical! Just look at it. It’s right through me, Don!

HARVEY: [reading the note] Batman, you fool.

ROB: Don, maybe somebody get pipe to medic for me or something? Can’t close the lines on this one, Don!

HARVEY: Out back. Everyone. Bring the women.

ROB: Don?

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PAGE TWENTY-FOUR

BIG SPLASH OF BATMAN LOOKING DOWN ON THE CITY LIKE A PAGAN GOD.

Batman (V/O): What if I’m wrong? I’ve got a condition. I get confused sometimes. What if I’ve imagined all this? What if I’ve finally turned into what they’ve always said I would turn into? A maniac. A psycho killer.

EDITOR’S BOX

NEXT TIME; THAT WHITE BASTARD

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Looking To The Stars is a critique/satire published by 411mania.com, and is not intended maliciously. 411mania.com has invented all names, words and situations in its stories, except in cases when public figures and fictional works are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental, or used as a fictional depiction or personality parody (permitted under Hustler Magazine v. Fallwell, 485 US 46, 108 S.Ct 876, 99 L.Ed.2d 41 (1988)). 411mania.com makes no representation as to the truth or accuracy of the preceding information.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

Looking To The Stars: Sin City - A Review

First of all, a clarification. Last weeks Looking To The Stars WAS an April Fools Day joke. To my amusement, most of the readers seemed to realize this but the Nexus staffers didn’t. I got a number of e-mails and private messages (which out of grace to those who were fooled I won’t print) about the column and it looks like my little social experiment in seeing if common sense can be overridden by “fanboy rage” was a smashing success.

For the record, here were my real beliefs going into the column.

1. While generally wary of the increasing darkness of the DC Comics Universe, I did find Countdown to be well-written if somewhat rushed and lacking in personality. Much the same as Identity Crisis and Emerald Twilight before them, it is a story dictated by editors to bring about another story. I will be giving each of these stories a shot and judging them on their own merits rather than giving up the fight now.
2. I do find that certain creators (you know who) are having their past works treated rather badly and that it is DC Comics loss in having driven such talented wordsmiths away. Nevertheless, this does not hurt my love for their work one iota. Randy Millholland wrote a pretty good rebuttal to the idea fans have to blindly agree with everything a writer or a company does in his brilliant web-comic Something Positive. While the storyline was about the scandal involving Orson Scott Card and his political beliefs, the same principal applies to the current situation with DC. If you are totally unable to enjoy anything by the company now, rejoice in what happiness their books brought you and move on. If you can, join me in reading the titles you still do enjoy and ignore the rest.
3. Much as it saddens me to have to explain this, I do NOT really think that Frank Miller having a hand in the direction of the Sin City movie is a bad thing. Honestly… the line about Hollywood being more concerned with quality than the comic book writing professionals? If that were true, than Catwoman wouldn’t have won the most Razzies this year.

In point of fact, I was there at my local cinema stadium at Friday morning, April 1st in order to catch the first showing of Sin City. And as promised last week (the one serious thing I did say), I do have some thoughts upon it for you all this week.

It is good. Oh, good LORD it is good!

It is completely unfair to call Sin City an adaptation of the comic book. The word “adaptation” implies changes. Having just read The Hard Goodbye, The Big Fat Kill, and That Yellow Bastard, I can safely say that nothing noticeable has been changed in taking the books and putting them on the silver screen. Call it a Comic Book Translation, then. For this movie has been transcribed from one media to another, as if Frank Miller himself had painted each individual cell of the film.

It is pointless to try and describe the plot of the movie; there are several plots, each more complex than that of your typical Hollywood movie. The characters also defy easy description. A whole book could be written upon the characters and the relationships between them and I only have so much space. Suffice to say, the movie is well-named as it is just as much about the city and the climate of it than the people within it. Like the San Francisco in the Sam Spade stories, the City itself is a rich character and like everyone who lives in it, Sin City is a maze in which the unexpected can be found.

By way of an example, let’s take Marv- the protagonist of the first third of the movie. I use the word protagonist because “hero” is an ill-fitting word for Marv. Marv is, as one of his fellow barflies puts it, unfortunate enough to have been born into the wrong century. Marv is a big, hulking ugly bruiser who is at his best when he is in a fight. He would have been a good gladiator or a good medieval warlord. But today, he is a thug.

He is violent. He is a little bit crazy. He is a stone-cold killer. And yet, he is not without his good points. He’s befriended a lot of people because he watches out for the people around him and has issues with any man who hurts women. And he’s good to his mother, too. For all the bad things Marv does, he does have a strong sense of chivalry.

It is this sense of chivalry and a fair amount of lust that leads him into spending the night with a woman who he knows on some level only wants him for protection. Protection from what, he doesn’t know. But with her having gorgeous blond hair and a smell “like how angels want to smell”, Marv doesn’t much care. Not until he wakes up hungover a few hours later, with the woman dead (“She called herself Goldie”), the cops at the door and a frame-up apparent even to a slow-on-the-uptake guy like Marv.

The movie goes full-tilt from there through two other stories, which I shan’t say a word about. I’ve spoiled enough of the plot already. The ensemble is perfect, with not a weak performance in the bunch. The action sequences are amazing and the visuals… well, this is the first digitally created movie I’ve ever seen where the lack of realism actually enhanced the movie rather than distracted from it. Because unlike other such effects-driven films (The last two Star Wars and Sky Captain come to mind), the characters ground the movie in reality, making the unreality of the world behind them seem totally natural.

Suffice to say that there is little in this movie to complain about. And if you’re complaining, then this movie is probably not for you. If you’re a fan of good action flicks, you’ll like it. If you’re a fan of the original comics, you’ll love it. If you’re the kinda person who likes movies about men who are men, women who are women and a world where there’s raining even when its sunny, you’ll like Sin City.

Me? I love it. I love it so much, I’m giving it a perfect 10.

And once again, I’m sorry I scared so many of you with the April Fools Day joke.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

Daredevil: Born Again TPB - A Review

Written by: Frank Miller
Penciled by: David Mazzucchelli.
Inked by: David Mazzucchelli
Colored by: Christie Scheele & Richmond Lewis
Lettered by: Joe Rosen
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Publisher: Marvel Comics

How many single issues have there been that completely changed a comic book?

This may sound like a loaded question, but think about it; even before today’s multi-part, maxi-series “the story that will change Captain X and Random-Man forever!” driven story-arcs, it was rare to have a major change take place in just one issue. Gwen Stacy’s death and the aftermath was a two-part story. The death of Barry Allen took several issues to build up to. And it took three issues for X-Men: Phoenix to lower the standards of what Marvel will publish to make a quick buck. Good drama, like good cooking, needs time to heat up and boil.

In fact, I can think of only two single comics in everything I have read where one issue really changed everything. The first is the Green Lantern/Green Arrow issue where Speedy is revealed to be a heroine addict. The other is the first part of this, Frank Miller’s last regular writing job on the monthly Daredevil title.

Right from the very beginning, we know something is different. We see a woman, later identified as Karen Page, who has fallen on hard times. Leaving the series to become an actress years before, Frank Miller brings her back, writing that she fell into drugs, a different kind of movie and is now so desperate for a fix that she is willing to sell away a sacred trust: the secret identity of Daredevil. This information makes its way up the ladder to Wilson Fisk (The Kingpin), who is all too happy to turn this information to his advantage and orders the deaths of Page and everyone else who passed the information up to him.

In the turn of a few short pages, Matt Murdock is beset by disaster after disaster in one morning. Newly released from a law firm and looking for a new job, he gets a Dear John tape (no letter for the blind man, of course) from his girlfriend Gloria. He also receives a subpoena regarding charges of corruption by one of the few honest cops left in New York, a letter from the bank saying he is behind on his mortgage payments and his assets have been frozen pending an IRS audit.

Things go from bad to worse as the power and phone at his apartment are turned off and Matt finds out the next day that his girlfriend is now shacked up with his best friend and lawyer in the pending corruption charges against him, Foggy Nelson. Franklin manages to save Matt from doing jail time, but is unable to keep Matt from loosing his law license. Unable to access his savings and distrustful of everyone around him, the final touch comes as Matt’s brownstone is blown up before him. In that moment, Matt has the revelation that Kingpin must be responsible for all his sudden misfortune and decides to take the fight to Fisk.

One issue. That is all it took for Matt Murdock to go from a respected lawyer looking for a job to a disgraced pariah with nothing. No money. No home. No love. No friends. And very quickly, no sanity and no hope.

Miller would further break down Matt Murdock and build up one of the most amazing stories to ever grace a spinner rack over the next six issues. He effortlessly follows multiple subplots; the Kingpin’s life as he watches Matt self-destruct, Matt’s actions as he falls further into madness, Foggy and Gloria as they get to know each other better, Ben Urich as he tries to locate Matt and Karen as she desperately tries to make her way to New York. This all builds towards an exciting climax in which Hell’s Kitchen is set ablaze, guest stars aplenty appear and old grudges are avenged.

This is all gloriously illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, who manages the thankless task of working with one of the undisputed masters of the craft and having to keep up with him. But keep up with Miller he does and does well, as do the rest of the art team who maintain a dark, noir feel to everything… even the battles in broad daylight and brightly-lit offices.

Born Again was recently reprinted as part of the Daredevil: Legends series and is a must-have for all comics fans and not just fans of The Man Without Fear. True, Miller’s gotten more attention for his work with Elektra during his original run on the series or his redefinition of the characters in his “Man Without Fear” mini-series (also available as a Legends TPB). But I’ll be damned if this isn’t the best thing he wrote with Daredevil.

The Mount - Beginnings And Endings

Another year has come upon us and the times... they is a'changing.

The start of a new year is a good time to reflect upon beginnings and endings and changes. Changes like those which Fanzing is about to undergo. We'll be showing off more of these changes in the coming months. There will be a lot of new things... and I think most of them will be good. But don't worry, Mount-ies... "The Mount" isn't going to change... much. It'll still be the place you can be guaranteed to get some of my unique perspective on life, the universe and various comic stories.

The most notable change will be how I'm going to go about writing The Mount. One of the biggest problems I have had is that I would often set out to review something but then forget about the story in the rush to work on something else. Or worse yet, have the review drag out over the course of months in the case of multi-part stories that were delayed for weeks... sometimes months.

To that end, I have decided to do this: In the case of all miniseries and multiseries, I will state my opinion of the first issue when it comes out and ramble about where I think the story is going, how it will end and so on. When the series is over, I will review the story as a whole and compare my feelings at the end to my projected feelings at the beginning.

With that in mind, let's start off with a little series close to my heart that recently came to the end of its' first major story arc. You know what I'm talking about... I'm talking about Kevin Smith's Quiver (Green Arrow #1-10). There's some potential vague story spoilers, so skip down to the big line of capital letters to avoid it. If you can't find the issues, the whole story will be released in a hardcover TPB in a few months which will probably cost less than trying to track down the first 3-4 individual issues.

STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS

I have to admit, no spoilers given, that I was a little disappointed in the ending of the story. Granted, we've got back the good ol' Ollie Queen we've always known and loved but I question how well the ends justified the means. Bringing Ollie back was undoubtedly going to require some kind of mystical link and I think that the story turned out about as well as any story involving Oliver Queen and mystic stuff could. Still, the story seemed needless dark at points, even for a Green Arrow story. And while I appreciate a good obscure comic reference like anyone else, I really have to wonder about tying "Stanley and His Monsters" into the Green Arrow mythos.

I did enjoy the story though. Smith has a great grasp of character, dialogue and humor and he's able to write story that is funny and thrilling at the same time. Still, I can't help but feel that it could have been better... especially since there are some plot ends that are left unfinished. Perhaps these will be addressed in the later issues of Smith's run, but I have the feeling that with the crunching of the Quiver storyline into 10 issues from the full dozen planned may have forced Smith to change some parts of the story's pacing that would have been covered better. Still... it's well worth picking up the forthcoming trade paperback if you haven't had the fortune to read it yet.

YOU MAY CONTINUE READING NOW

That was the best story of the last year I had read. Lots of the old coming back and appearing in a new form. Lots of old things are coming back... like the story, which is (so far) the best story I have read this year.

Perhaps the most anticipated story of the last year, Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Strikes Back" has proven to be worthy of interest, if not acclaim. With the story only 1/3 told, I don't think I can review the whole thing here... but so far, I think it will be a worthy successor to Miller's Legacy.

And speaking of Batman and ongoing stories, the Batbooks will be doing a multi-part crossover for the next few months called "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?"

When I first heard of this story, I anticipated the typical Batman crossover: a story stretched over too-many books as an attempt to get people to buy some of the lesser-selling titles in the Bat-Family.

I think said books are going to be made up mostly of tangents into the main plot of the individual book, with little emphasis upon the connecting crossover story. There will however be just enough happening in each book that I'll have to buy the entire series to have some idea of what is going on.

There's not going to be any long last change and likely there will be some big Deus Ex Machina that solves everything at the last minute. Also, I'm betting that Ra's Al Ghul is involved somehow.

I wrote the above words some two days before I got the first four issues of the story the other day (after a month-long absence from my regular comic store). Here now, with some minor spoilers, are my thoughts upon the story so far...

Prologue: Batman: The Ten Cent Adventure.

This issue was created with two purposes in mind; introduce the modern Batman to new readers and set up the "Bruce Wayne: Murdered" storyline.

It succeeds on both counts. And despite the fears of many a fanboy explains who Sasha is, what she does (bodyguard and new vigilantee) and the significance of the person who is killed. That's about all it does though, so there's really no reason to bother if you've been a regular reader of Detective Comics for the past few months. Then again, the price is right... and ten cents is a pretty good deal to tell you something you already know.

Part One: Detective Comics #766

Bruce and Sasha are arrested and detectives start combing over Wayne Manor, discussing theories and interrogating the suspects. It's all about the police here and, like as per usual, it's good to see the cops of Gotham being pushed to the forefront here. It's like NYPD Blue: The Comics.

My one complaint is that after the easy-expository feeling of the Ten Cent adventure, there's way too much assumption in this issue. It is just assumed that the reader will know who Detective Montoya is and why she wouldn't want to see Bruce Wayne arrested after some vaguely described incident involving flowers. Still, the story is building interest.

Part Two: Batgirl #24

Two words: This Stinks. After such a good intro, things go downhill fast in this issue. I have to admit a little bit of bias here. I've never liked the new Batgirl. I suspect I never will and that Barbara Gordon will always be the one true Batgirl in my heart.

This issue gives us a lot of Barbara and we see her reaction as she hears the call that summons the police to Wayne Manor. This is a great moment that is totally dashed as she starts to think about whom in the vigilante community she can send to investigate a Wayne Manner disturbance. She is about to send Robin, but she recoils, thinking it unwise to send a 15 year old boy into a situation with an armed intruder. Instead, she sends a 17 year old girl with less training as a vigilante than the 15 year old boy.

I'm still scratching my head about that too... especially since Tim has handled most of the Major members of the Rogues Gallery unaided. Perhaps Babs remembered whose book she was in?

There's also some unintentional humor in Batgirl's sneaking into Wayne Manor as half the GCPD is wandering around the place. I know this is meant to make Cassandra look extremely stealthy and professional... but all it really does is make the detectives look like total idiots. And since they are going to be a major focus of the story (and were, in fact, the main focus one part back), this is a bad thing.

Aside from one very minor point, this issue doesn't really touch directly upon the murder and is more about some personal issues Cassandra has with Batman. This one can easily be skipped.

Part Three: Nightwing #65

They literally have to contrive a reason to get Dick involved in the crossover, with Dick bribing a police dispatcher to change his schedule so he can go Gotham and talk to Bruce for a few panels. Aside from this and he and Babs agreeing to investigate the murders on their own, not much happens crossoverwise... although it does give Dick an excuse to be out of town when something Wingnuts everywhere have been waiting for a year to happen happens.

Like Batgirl, the writer ignores the crossover as much as possible while continuing to develop the past plotlines. On the one hand, this is a plus for the regular fan who doesn't want to see their favorite book sidelined for a crossover. On the other hand, this makes things confusing as all get out for the people who are new to the book and aren't familiar with the many cops and criminals of Bludhaven. This totally defeats the point of having a crossover in the first place.

All in all, this is shaping up about how I thought it would. So far, there hasn't been much in the way of evidence to allow the readers to figure out who really dun' it, but it is just week one of the crossover. Hopefully things will pick up.

And hopefully you'll be here to pick up where we left off next month, when I review the latest series of "The Sandman Presents" miniseries. Until then... may your clerks be helpful and your new comics unbent.