is frank miller a better artist or writer ?

[desertdogg]

i really loved franks art on the daredevil run and the ronin stuff.

i saw sin city. and up until i saw batman begins thought that was the best comic movie i have seen. ok ok spidy 2 was right up there ';]

 

but i prefer to see frank miller draw than write. the pre dark knight art was his best. what do you guys think.

 

larry

[rob_react]

To me, Sin City is his best work as an artist. I eat that stuff up.

[chrisco37]

Hard call, Larry. He's done some great work writing and drawing as well as dogs in both.

 

I loved his Daredevil and DKR writing and art. Maybe leaning more towards the writing on both.

 

DKSA was bad on so many levels. The new All-Star Batman/Robin sucks.

 

Agree with Rob that his art on Sin City is his best stuff. The writing on that was pretty good, but after you read one or two of the arcs, you've got the rest figured out.

[chrisco37]

But just to follow up, as a writer he will never come close to matching the great one, Alan Moore!

[desertdogg]

chrisco37. so do you think if frank drew all -star batman & robin would it had been a better book ? larry just looking for an excuse to see new miller art ;]

[supapimp]

chrisco37. so do you think if frank drew all -star batman & robin would it had been a better book ? larry just looking for an excuse to see new miller art ;]

 

i wish frank penciled the book rather than jim lee, BTW you can't leave out his art on wolvie mini series or elektra lives again.

[Alberto1975]

A couple of years ago, I would have said he was definitely a better writer than artist...

But lately I am not impressed by his latest writing, and I have revisited his Daredevil and Wolverine issues, and I think his art is much better than I remembered....

Tough choice

[Solar]

Artist. DKR is a masterpiece on both fronts, but IMHO his art is generally more distinctive than his writing.

[delekkerste]

i wish frank penciled the book rather than jim lee, BTW you can't leave out his art on wolvie mini series or elektra lives again.

 

IMO, FM's art never looked better than in the Wolverine Mini-Series. Although, Josef Rubinstein said on the ComicArt-L list that Miller just gave him rough pencils and he did more than the usual finishing work.

[rob_react]

i wish frank penciled the book rather than jim lee, BTW you can't leave out his art on wolvie mini series or elektra lives again.

 

IMO, FM's art never looked better than in the Wolverine Mini-Series. Although, Josef Rubinstein said on the ComicArt-L list that Miller just gave him rough pencils and he did more than the usual finishing work.

 

I like the Wolverine art, but it doesn't have the energy that his (to me) really great work does. It's a lot more "standard" than even his Daredevil work and is barely related to his primal work on Sin City or Elektra Lives Again.

[desertdogg]

yes.i read that rubinstien did his fair share of work on the wolvie series. as well as doing extra work over golden on the micronants. that why i say the early dd run and ronin was frank at his best. larry

[*paull*]

DKSA was not only a huge disappointment, but a complete disaster. I promptly sold my set for whatever I could get for it.

 

That said, I think TDKR and Daredevil: Born Again are his best work.

 

He used to be a better writer than artist, but unfortunately, neither of those skills have been firing on all cylinders for years.

[chrisco37]

chrisco37. so do you think if frank drew all -star batman & robin would it had been a better book ? larry just looking for an excuse to see new miller art ;]

 

Doubtful. It was just a terrible book. I'm not the biggest Jim Lee fan in the world, but I'd say his art was the only redeeming quality of the book (and it certainly wasn't his best stuff). Maybe I had too high an expectation. I was expecting "Robin: Year One". Instead we got "Ultimate Batman".

 

Have you checked out the series "300"? It's a great Miller book on both the art and writing front. Probably the best stuff I've seen him do since the early Sin City stuff.

[desertdogg]

chrisco37. sorry never read or heard of 300. is that a new on going book or is it already in trade paperback. larry

[rob_react]

Amazingly, it's seven years old already

[desertdogg]

7 years old. wow. i guess i will have to look for the trade then. looks like we are over due for some new art by frank. ;] larry

[The Brain]

Amazingly, it's seven years old already

 

And is being adapted into a movie.

[dem1138]

In the case of Rubenstein claiming to do more than his usual share of the inking duties on the Wolverine Mini-Series - it may be more of a case of wanting more noteriety for the most successful series that he worked on. If you look at the art in that book, it is clearly inked beautifully but it is even more clear that the art is distinctly Miller.

I think Miller reached his apex in the 80s and whatever drive he had to excel in comics has waned since then. Sin City was fantastic but the art carried the mood and the story much more strongly than the dialogue which I think leans more towards his true abilities as an artist over his writing abilities. I think this is more evident in DKSA because the art was so poor that it exposed more of his weakness as a writer - which is even more profound in All-Star B&R. I also fault DC for pairing the two because Miller and Lee are not a good team. Lee's art does not compliment Miller's writing style in any beneficial way. Think of Bendis' work on Alias or Daredevil - perfect pairing of artist and writer - then think of Bendis' writing with the other artists he's worked with to clarify my point. I think a great pairing would've been Miller and Michael Lark. Azzarello is phenomenal with Risso, but didn't work well with Lee on Superman either...

[*paull*]

I think Miller's current DC projects are simply cash-ins. Can anyone honestly be excited about the new Batman graphic novel that he's working on after DKSA? That series was so bad, I don't see myself reading anything that Miller puts on the market.

 

Nothing can take away from TDKR and Daredevil: Born Again, but those days are over.

[delekkerste]

In the case of Rubenstein claiming to do more than his usual share of the inking duties on the Wolverine Mini-Series - it may be more of a case of wanting more noteriety for the most successful series that he worked on. If you look at the art in that book, it is clearly inked beautifully but it is even more clear that the art is distinctly Miller.

 

I disagree. Nowhere else can you find Miller's art looking as crisp and sharp than in that series. Attributing more credit to Rubenstein makes perfect sense based on the empirical evidence that nowhere else in Miller's oeuvre of "realistic" art (as opposed to the stylized art he's employed over the past couple of decades) does his work look anywhere even close to as good as in the Wolverine Mini-Series. I know that it may upset owners of original artwork from the Wolvie mini-series to attribute most of the credit to Rubenstein, but let's give credit where credit is due.

 

 

I think a great pairing would've been Miller and Michael Lark.

 

I haven't seen much of Lark's art, but if his recent work in Captain America is any indicataion, I imagine that Miller & Lark would have looked very much like Miller & Mazzuchelli circa "Born Again".