Comments on: NY Times link #1: Frank Miller's SPIRIT

By: STWALLSKULL » Interesting Links: August 6th, 2008

STWALLSKULL » Interesting Links: August 6th, 2008 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:06:29 +0000

[...] NY Times link #1: Frank Miller’s SPIRIT from THE BEAT [...]

By: Xenos

Xenos — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:29:07 +0000

I’ve seen posters on bus stops here in the Boston area too. I don’t get it. Maybe to cash in on the summer movie season?

As for Frank Miller’s The Goddamn Spirit film, I’m.. yeah.. cynical might be a good word.

Meanwhile, I can’t wait to see Miller’s war on terror comic, even if Batman isn’t in it. Hell, even if I totally disagree with it, it still will be interesting. Actually, from what I’ve heard, most libertarians seem to be against it. I know self proclaimed Libertarian, and Miller fan himself, Paul Pope seemed against it in an interview I read. Though I could be simplifying things. (I should be careful what I say, especially because I’ve seen him post here. Heh.) Heck, if anything politically, I think I’d call myself libertarian. Though I really don’t have a black and white answer to the war. Hurm.

By: cbrown

cbrown — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:58:00 +0000

I’m not Heidi, but I do live in New York!

I haven’t seen a huge amount of publicity, but I did see those posters go up several months ago. Non-comics fan friends of mine see them and say, “huh?”

By: Cary Coatney

Cary Coatney — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:13:26 +0000

I don’t understand why there are a gazillion bus, bench, and poster kiosks going up all over Los Angeles NOW for a movie that doesn’t open up until Christmas.

Heidi, is like this in New York too?

Coat

By: Richard J. Marcej

Richard J. Marcej — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:08:25 +0000

“And what’s with the hats?”

Maybe Miller could bring back the old TV series, “The Hat Squad”.

By: slumber

slumber — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:04:45 +0000

Miller’s politics haven’t really changed much in the past 20 yrs. He’s always been more of a libertarian than anything else (by my reading). It’s the quality of his writing that’s gone steadily downhill, starting after Sin City and continuing down until now with The Spirit. His plotting is sloppy, his “characters” are now caricatures, and the dialogue reads like a parody of his style.

Maybe we hold him to a higher standard because he used to be so good. I still think his stuff from the 90’s is brilliant. But his track record since then seems to indicate he’s well past his creative prime.

By: Herr Mike

Herr Mike — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:41:20 +0000

What happened? He’s not liberal enough, apparently!

By: Richard J. Marcej

Richard J. Marcej — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:34:06 +0000

Dark Knight 2 = The Happening / Lady in the Water

Yeah, I can see that.

By: Richard Pachter

Richard Pachter — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:02:55 +0000

To say that buzz for The Spirit is “muted” is pretty, well, muted.

“Hostile or “trepidiatious” is more like it.

And what’s with the hats?

More like Spillane than Chandler, Frank.

By: rich

rich — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:43:24 +0000

“I still remember the days when nothing but hyperbolic praise would flow at the mention of Miller.”

Those were the days when his comics, on average, were very good.

By: Oscar T.

Oscar T. — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:13:50 +0000

While the “This I Believe” segment was confirmation of the man he is today and eliminated any hope of redemption, I think the actual turning point was the release of the first issue of DK2.

By: toby

toby — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:54:37 +0000

It’s official. Frank Miller has become the M. Night Shyamalan of comics.

Just the mention of his name incites nothing but vitriol from fans these days. Not that I’m any kind of Miller fan, but I can’t help feeling bad for him (and M. Night.)

When/How did this happen? What was the turning point? I still remember the days when nothing but hyperbolic praise would flow at the mention of Miller. It was that interview he did for NPR when he rambled incoherently about 9/11, wasn’t it?

By: Neo

Neo — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:22:36 +0000

Looks like Miller is giving up on Batman Versus al-Qaeda and rehashing it into something else:

“I have a bunch of drawing I want to do,” he said. One project, which began as “Holy War, Batman!,” a series with a post-9/11 context, has shifted. “As I worked on it, it became something that was no longer Batman. It’s somewhere past that, and I decided it’s going to be part of a new series that I’m starting.”

Given his incoherent thoughts on 9/11 (particularly on the pathetically weak “Martha Washington Dies”), this isn’t even worth considering.

By: Kelson @ Speed Force

Kelson @ Speed Force — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:53:16 +0000

I went out to see The Dark Knight with friends yesterday, and we saw one of the Spirit posters afterward. One of my friends asked me what differentated The Spirit from Sin City. As far as he could tell from anything he'd seen, they might as well have been the same film.