Now this was a comic I read over and over. Some of the best choreographed fights in comics I had seen at the time. And, unless I’m forgetting something, they were only bested by Miller’s own future works.
So, what is up with all the Miller nostalgia? Well, the last post was written simply to capitalize on the fact that I had just read the “Daredevil: Man Without Fear” miniseries. I have a hard time reviewing anything because I feel my memory is not fresh and accurate enough, unless I have just finished something. Even then, I doubt my conclusions and feel I need to take another look. I read so many positive reviews of “Man Without Fear” online after panning it that I felt like I needed to read it again just to be fair to my childhood hero. Haven’t been able to bring myself to do it again. I don’t like the art and I don’t like the writing. Hard to give it a second chance.
Since writing that post I have meditated on just how much Frank Miller dominated my adolescent imagination. Over and over his works raised the bar for just how awesome comics could be for a male adolescent. I have been so disinterested in his work for so long that I had lost touch with how much Miller dominated my budding imagination. I was having memories of how just the sketches of his then forthcoming “Batman: Dark Knight Returns” caused me to create a dozen rip-offs at the time. 
His artwork struck me as so powerful and iconic and perfect. In fact I just now went and ordered online an old issue of Amazing Heroes that featured these sketches along with work from “Elektra: Lives Again.” Realizing just how influential he was to me I felt unfair about writing a post trashing him for a perceived drop in quaility. It has made me want to go back and pick up series I had blown off to see if I was missing anything. Yeah, just like I did with “Man Without Fear.” No matter how disappointing that was I am still seeking out other overlooked works. I read “DK2.” Not sure if I had ever gotten all the way through before. I know initially I never bothered to even buy the last issue. Amazon is filled with hateful reviews but I feel like I am more sympathetic than most even if the impact of the series on me was negligible. I also just read “300” seeing how there is a movie coming out and all. My first Miller post has initiated a massive bout of reflection on the man, his work, and its influence on me. I have been so disinterested in his work for 15 years now that I had to remember just how central the man was to my creative consciousness throughout the ’80s. No one’s creative work so impacted me again and again for such a stretch of years. Until Grant Morrison . . .
IK