Frank Miller

Wolverine is, as the saying goes, the best there is at what he does. And what James "Logan" Howlett does best is make Marvel a ton of money. Since his first appearance fighting the Hulk in a comic by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe in 1974, to joining the X-Men, to making Hugh Jackman a box office draw, all the way to his recent death, Wolverine is one of the House of Idea's true superstars. But the unspoken truth is that very few Wolverine stories are out-and-out great. Sure, there's a ton of great Wolvie moments out there --- "Now it's my turn!," that bit in his Civil War tie-ins where he survives being burned to atoms, "Tell Cyclops I made him a convertible" and so on --- but very few Wolverine-centered comics are classics. One exception to that rule is the original 1982 Wolverine mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller.

Frank Miller is unarguably a legend in the comics industry, and in his own way was responsible for changing the direction of American superhero comics in the mid-'80s with his work on classic characters like Daredevil and Batman. However, Miller's recent output has been met with derision and outright mockery by some fans who see him as well past his prime. James Harvey of Masterplasty and Bartkira sees things differently, and claims that Miller is as good as he ever was; DC just doesn't know how to color his art to get the most out of it. In a blog post last week, Harvey shared some examples of what he would do if he were Miller's colorist.

On this day in 1940, DC Comics published Batman #1, which, as well as being the first appearance of The Joker, also featured the first appearance of the character we would come to know as Catwoman. Selina Kyle has been one of the most versatile characters in not only Batman’s canon, but the whole DC Universe. She’s been a hero, a villain, an ally, a lover, and for over twenty years she has been a leading lady in her own right.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics. This week the bats are out of the belfry as we look at five of Batman’s greatest team-ups!

Dave Gibbons, born on this day in 1949, has spent over forty-five years in the comics industry and crafted a career without equal. Known for his masterful layouts and exceptional character acting, Gibbons has been an ambassador for the UK comics scene around the world, and is truly a living legend in the industry.

The movie 300, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller, cemented Zack Snyder’s aesthetic and visual style, and although he’s moved on to other projects (like a little movie called Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), the director hasn’t let go of the action epic that helped put him on the map. A few weeks ago, Snyder talked about possibly making a George Washington / Revolutionary War movie in the style of 300, but it looks like he has a few other potential applications for that particular concept.

We're less than a week away from the return of Netflix's Daredevil series, and this time, The Punisher and Elektra are coming along for the ride. To celebrate this, Comixology has a fortnight long sale on some of the best Daredevil, Punisher and Elektra stories in recent memory so you can catch up on the comics before the new series begins. The sale includes the first volumes of classic Daredevil runs, including Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's legendary character defining work with the character from the eighties. Also by Miller and David Mazzucchelli is the seminal Daredevil: Born Again which was a major influence on the first season of the television series.

Of all the movies-that-could-have-been, Darren Aronofsky’s Wolverine and Batman movies are two of the more curious unmade projects. Before Christopher Nolan rebooted the Batman franchise and inspired a slew of gritty comic book adaptations, Aronofsky was briefly attached to helm a Dark Knight movie based on Frank Miller’s Year One. Much has been written about the project, and in a rare new interview, Miller himself explains what it might have been and why it was never made.

Legends of Tomorrow has already confirmed we’d visit a future Star City with Green Arrow successor Connor Hawke, as well that a unique version of Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen would show up, and the combined truth will delight fans. Not only will a future Oliver appear in Legends’ sixth episode, but Amell will sport both the famous comic goatee, and a major nod to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.

Though his work has been divisive over the past decade or more, it's hard to deny just how big a name Frank Miller is in the world of comics. He's one of just a handful of comics creators you might consider a household name, in part because so many of his comics have become cultural landmarks, and in part because of his influence and participation in the film industry. Like him or not, Frank the Tank, born on this day in 1957, is an institution.