American comics are simultaneously experiencing a wave of unparalleled popularity and abysmal sales. To combat this slump, Marvel and DC have thrown every gimmick they can think of to engage fans. In some cases, they catch lightning in a bottle, but they're left limping to the stables in other instances. — Read the rest

Alan Moore and Frank Miller are perhaps two of the best known comic book creators—or at least, two with the most notable personalities. They've both had their properties—creator-owned, and otherwise—adapted into hit movies (for better, and for worse). And they've both been known for expressing, erm, shall we say, unpleasantries and other controversial opinions. — Read the rest

Comics's most awesome bearded wizard, Alan Moore, responds to Frank Miller's bizarre Occupy rant, in which the Sin City/300 creator tells off protesters for taking to the streets to protest banksterism and corporatism when they should be joining his fight against Islam. — Read the rest

The Onion's AV Club does quite a good job examining the weird world of Frank "Dark Knight" Miller's view on the Occupy movement:

Comic book crank Frank Milller's political philosophy has become as angry—and jagged, and messy—as his drawing style pretty much since 9/11, when Miller first began turning his grim, nihilistic viewpoint into an all-out war against terrorism, then put his money where his mouth was and boldly joined the front lines by drawing superheroes punching Muslims right in the face.

Heritage Auctions estimates that the art for page 10 from issue #3 of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's The Dark Knight Returns (1986) will fetch at least $(removed),000 when it goes on the block on May 5.

Prior to the four-issue series of The Dark Knight Returns, Batman had lost his perch among the superhero elite.

Dark Horse just sent me a review copy of The Life And Times Of Martha Washington In The Twenty-First Century, a gigantic, slipcased hardcover containing the full run of the Give Me Liberty comics and associated titles.

I have Frank Miller's Give Me Liberty graphic novels to thank for getting me interested in graphic novels as a literary form. — Read the rest

Frank Miller discusses his new Dark Knight book with The Onion.

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In a new collaboration between The Folio Society and DC, an unparalleled tribute to Gotham's guardian is now available to comic book fans and book enthusiasts. DC: Batman ($100) marks the 85th anniversary of the Dark Knight's first appearance in the shadows of Detective Comics #27. — Read the rest

Can we be frank? You pin a large portion of DC's woes in the film world on the pisspoor job that Zack Snyder did while helming the franchise. Say what you want about James Gunn and the direction he's heading with the DCU, but one thing is crystal clear: James Gunn loves comics.  — Read the rest

This is a Cartoonist Kayfabe I've been waiting for, where Ed and Jim talk about their all-time fave cyberpunk-themed comics.

In it, they look at Akira (natch), The Long Tomorrow (they better!), Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed (of course), Shatter (have to admit I've never read it), and finally, Frank Miller's Hard Boiled. — Read the rest

Spawn ruled the world of comics in the 90s. Using his immense popularity to help create Image Comic, Spawn's creator Todd McFarlane turned his undead character into a superhero that rivaled icons such as Superman and Batman. In short order, Spawn became the focal point of an animated series and live-action movie well before older characters like Green Lantern and Thor could garner one.  — Read the rest

We all acknowledge that we're on the precipice of at least one dystopian future scenario, right? The hack correlation that most people draw is to George Orwell's 1984, and while it is an uninspired observation, it's still a salient one. — Read the rest

Heritage Auction's upcoming auction of Harlan Ellison's estate contains a wealth of memorabilia, including a photo of young Harlan flanked by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner in full character costume. Nimoy inscribed the photo with, "Harlan, Love you & your great credits," and Shatner wrote, "Who's the kid in the middle." — Read the rest

See You at San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture (released next week by Fantagraphics Books) is a fantastic, exhaustive look at the rise of geek fandom and culture over the past century through the lens of San Diego Comic-Con. — Read the rest

From the "who didn't see that coming?" files is the sale of SPICE DAO's copy of Jodorowsky's Dune. They bought the tome intending to reproduce and distribute it without the permission of the actual rights holders to Dune, The Herbert Limited Partnership, or anyone associated with Jodorowsky whose notebook it is a copy of. — Read the rest

Pulp Power: The Shadow, Doc Savage, and the Art of the Street & Smith Universe [Amazon] is an absolutely stunning new coffee table book celebrating the art of old pulp heroes like The Shadow and Doc Savage. And if you really want to sit at the coffee table (and hold. — Read the rest

For those of us who regularly frequent the world of comics, the death of Neal Adams was one of the most heartbreaking pieces of news from last week. Adams wasn't just a master penciler, but he was a staunch advocate of creator's rights long before artists like Todd MacFarlane and Rob Liefeld turned their stance on the issue into a publishing company. — Read the rest

One of the best aspects of superhero comics is watching artists use their unique styles to interpret a character. Every superhero worth their salt has an iconic design and aesthetic that transcends the artist illustrating them, but I love seeing how those concrete design elements respond to artistic license. — Read the rest

Batman's obsession with justice has been the butt of many a joke throughout the character's prolific history. Before Frank Miller turned him into a snarling and violent crime smasher, Adam West's interpretation of the character was unreasonably, and comedically, fixated on law and order. — Read the rest

I've been craving a movie like The Batman for as long as I could form complete sentences. Batman's film catalog is an embarrassment of riches compared to most comic characters. It's pretty hard, at least in the 21st century, to mess up Batman on the silver screen. — Read the rest