While Frank Miller’s first reference in Batman history is The Dark Knight Returns, the paths of the author and the Dark Knight first crossed for a Christmas event.
One of the most acclaimed authors in the Batman mythology is Frank Miller, whose vision of a utopian future, or his version of the early days of the Dark Knight have become a benchmark.
But if you thought that those were the artist’s first approaches to the history of Batman, we regret to tell you that you are wrong, since the first time Frank Miller drew Batman dates back to Christmas 1979.
The first time that Frank Miller and Batman crossed paths occurred in the pages of DC Special Series #21 (with a publication date of 1980), thanks to Miller’s insistence on Neal Adams, as the same author tells it in a text taken from Batman Odyssey (2010).
“The first thing Master Adams did was back up and walk away, cocking his head as I opened my folder too quickly, almost cutting off his nose. Then he looked at my precious samples of comic work and, with a smile and a few well-chosen words, he sent my soul screaming to hell.”.
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“‘I shouldn’t draw,’ he said, his words as short as they were brilliant in tone. ‘…Get lost. Go back to Vermont… You’ll never make it in the comics. You’re not very good.’ This and worse things Neal Adams told me, over and over again, but I kept pestering him with new samples, always hopeful… But I learned, very quickly, never to feel sorry for myself”.
Christmas miracle for Batman and Miller
Before a Man Without Fear put him on the map, Miller was in charge of the lines of the one shot titled “Santa Wanted: Dead or Alive”.
Writer Denny O’Neil, who died in 2020, scripted the story, with Frank Miller and Steve Mitchell serving as pencils. In the plot, Batman discovers that an old thief named Boomer Katz would have planned a robbery and had already planned to escape on a boat that his former cellmate Matt Lansko rented.
Using his chameleon-like ability, Batman discovers that Boomer got a job as Santa Claus at the store he’s looking to rob. The thug is moved by the December dates, so he decides not to do the robbery, but the rest of the gang decides to carry out the robbery against Boomer’s will.
When the gang led by Fats Morgan shoots up the store, Batman shows up to stop several of the robbers, but one escapes with Boomer as a hostage.
The store owner and Batman search for Boomer and his captors who are dazzled by the light of a star.
Source: CBR
The Dark Knight Saga, a classic that SMASH and DC Comics Mexico have for you
This masterpiece of modern comic book storytelling brings a dark world and an even darker man powerfully to life. Along with inker Klaus Janson and colorist Lynn Varley, writer/artist Frank Miller completely reinvented the Batman legend in his saga of a Gotham City gone rotten in the near future, 10 years after the Dark Knight retired. .
SMASH and DC Comics Mexico have for you DC Deluxe: Batman: The Dark Knight Saga, a volume that compiles the first two works of the Dark Knight saga that you must have in your collection.
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