Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book creator, screenwriter, and director known for his comic book stories and graphic novels. He wrote Daredevil from 1979 to 1983, and again in 1986, with the Daredevil: Born Again arc. For Daredevil, he created the femme fatale Elektra and the ninja villains the Hand. Subsequently, he wrote influential Batman stories: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Batman: Year One (1987). He also wrote creator-owned series outside the major superhero franchises: Ronin (1983-1984), Sin City (1991-1992), and 300 (1998).
Miller is noted for combining film noir and manga influences in his comic art creations. He said: "I realized when I started Sin City that I found American and English comics to be too wordy, too constipated, and Japanese comics to be too empty. So I was attempting to do a hybrid." Miller has received every major comic book industry award, and in 2015 he was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.
Miller's feature film work includes writing the scripts for the 1990s science fiction films RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, sharing directing duties with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, producing the film 300, and directing the film adaptation of The Spirit.
In 2026, an autobiography titled "Push the Wall: My Life, Writing, Drawing, and the Art of Storytelling" was published by Simon & Schuster described as "part memoir, part master class for budding artists and writers."
Early life Miller was born in Olney, Maryland, on January 27, 1957, and raised in Montpelier, Vermont, the fifth of seven children of a nurse mother and a carpenter/electrician father. His family was Irish Catholic.
Career Miller grew up a comics fan; a letter he wrote to Marvel Comics was published in The Claws of the Cat #3 (April 1973). His first published work was at Western Publishing's Gold Key Comics imprint, received at the recommendation of comics artist Neal Adams, to whom a fledgling Miller, after moving to New York City, had shown samples and received much critique and occasional informal lessons. Though no published credits appear, he is tentatively credited with the three-page story "Royal Feast" in the licensed TV series comic book The Twilight Zone #84 (June 1978), by an unknown writer,"Royal Feast", The Twilight Zone #84 (June 1978) at the Grand Comics Database. and is credited with the five-page "Endless Cloud", also by an unknown writer, in the following issue (July 1978)."Endless Cloud", The Twilight Zone #85 (July 1978) at the Grand Comics Database. By the time of the latter, Miller had his first confirmed credit in writer Wyatt Gwyon's six-page "Deliver Me From D-Day", inked by Danny Bulanadi, in Weird War Tales #64 (June 1978)."Deliver Me From D-Day", Weird War Tales #64 (June 1978) at the Grand Comics Database
Former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter recalled Miller going to DC Comics after having broken in with "a small job from Western Publishing, I think. Thus emboldened, he went to DC, and after getting savaged by Joe Orlando, got in to see art director Vinnie Colletta, who recognized talent and arranged for him to get a one-page war-comic job." The Grand Comics Database does not list this job; there may have been a one-page DC story, or Shooter may have misremembered the page count or have been referring to the two-page story, by writer Roger McKenzie, as "Slowly, painfully, you dig your way from the cold, choking debris" in Weird War Tales #68 (October 1978).Weird War Tales #68 (Oct. 1978) at the Grand Comics Database Other fledgling work at DC included the six-page "The Greatest Story Never Told", by writer Paul Kupperberg, in that same issue, and the five-page "The Edge of History", written by Elliot S. Maggin, in Unknown Soldier #219 (September 1978). His first work for Marvel Comics was penciling the 17-page story "The Master Assassin of Mars, Part 3" in John Carter, Warlord of Mars #18 (November 1978).Frank Miller at the Grand Comics Database. NOTE: A different artist named Frank Miller was active in the 1940s. He died December 3, 1949.
At Marvel, Miller settled in as a regular fill-in and cover artist, working on a variety of titles. One of these jobs was drawing Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27–28 (February–March 1979), which guest-starred Daredevil. At the time, sales of the Daredevil title were poor but Miller saw potential in "a blind protagonist in a purely visual medium", as he recalled in 2000. Miller went to writer and staffer Jo Duffy (a mentor-figure whom he called his "guardian angel" at Marvel) and she passed on his interest to editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to get Miller work on Daredevil's regular title. Shooter agreed and made Miller the new penciller on the title. As Miller recalled in 2008:
Daredevil and the early 1980s
Daredevil #158 (May 1979), Miller's debut on that title, was the finale of an ongoing story written by Roger McKenzie and inked by Klaus Janson. After this issue, Miller became one of Marvel's rising stars. However, sales on Daredevil did not improve, Marvel's management continued to discuss cancellation, and Miller himself almost quit the series, as he disliked McKenzie's scripts. Miller's fortunes changed with the arrival of Denny O'Neil as editor. Realizing Miller's unhappiness with the series, and impressed by a backup story Miller had written, O'Neil moved McKenzie to another project so that Miller could try writing the series himself. Miller and O'Neil maintained a friendly working relationship throughout his run on the series. With issue #168 (Jan. 1981), Miller took over full duties as writer and penciller. Sales rose so swiftly that Marvel once again began publishing Daredevil monthly rather than bimonthly just three issues after Miller became its writer.
Issue #168 saw the first full appearance of the ninja mercenary Elektra—who became a popular character and star in a 2005 motion picture—although her first cover appearance was four months earlier on Miller's cover of The Comics Journal #58.DeFalco, Tom "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 201: "Matt Murdock's college sweetheart first appeared in this issue [#168] by writer/artist Frank Miller." Miller later wrote and drew a solo Elektra story in Bizarre Adventures #28 (Oct. 1981). He added a martial arts aspect to Daredevil's fighting skills, and introduced previously unseen characters who had played a major part in the character's youth: Stick, leader of the ninja clan the Chaste, who had been Murdock's sensei after he was blindedDeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 202: "Possibly modeled after Nantembo, a Zen master who reputedly disciplined his students by striking them with his nantin staff, Stick first appeared in this issue [#176] by Frank Miller." and a rival clan called the Hand.DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 202: The Hand was a league of ninja assassins who employed dark magic...Introduced in Daredevil #174 by writer/artist Frank Miller, this group of deadly warriors had been hired by the Kingpin of Crime to exterminate Matt Murdock."
Unable to handle both writing and penciling Daredevil on the new monthly schedule, Miller began increasingly relying on Janson for the artwork, sending him looser and looser pencils beginning with #173. By issue #185, Miller had virtually relinquished his role as Daredevil's artist, and he was providing only rough layouts for Janson to both pencil and ink, allowing Miller to focus on the writing.
Miller's work on Daredevil was characterized by darker themes and stories. This peaked when in #181 (April 1982) he had the assassin Bullseye kill Elektra,DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 207: "Frank Miller did the unthinkable when he killed off the popular Elektra in Daredevil #181." and Daredevil subsequently attempt to kill him. Miller finished his Daredevil run with issue #191 (February 1983), which he cited in a winter 1983 interview as the issue he is most proud of; by this time, he had transformed a second-tier character into one of Marvel's most popular. Additionally, Miller drew a short Batman Christmas story, "Wanted: Santa Claus – Dead or Alive", written by Dennis O'Neil for DC Special Series #21 (Spring 1980). This was his first professional experience with a character with which, like Daredevil, he became closely associated. At Marvel, O'Neil and Miller collaborated on two issues of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual. The 1980 Annual featured a team-up with Doctor Strange while the 1981 Annual showcased a meeting with the Punisher.Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 120: "Writer Denny O'Neil teamed with artist Frank Miller to concoct a Spider-Man annual that played to both their strengths. Miller and O'Neil seemed to flourish in the gritty world of street crime so tackling a Spider/Punisher fight was a natural choice."
As penciller and co-plotter, Miller, together with writer Chris Claremont, produced the miniseries Wolverine #1–4 (Sept.-Dec. 1982),DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 208: "The most popular member of the X-Men was finally featured in his first solo title, a four-issue limited series by writer Chris Claremont and writer/artist Frank Miller." inked by Josef Rubinstein and spinning off from the popular X-Men title. Miller used this miniseries to expand on Wolverine's character. The series was a critical success and further cemented Miller's place as an industry star. His first creator-owned title was DC Comics' six-issue miniseries Ronin (1983–1984). In 1985, DC Comics named Miller as one of the honorees in the company's 50th-anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great.
Miller was involved in a few unpublished projects in the early 1980s. A house advertisement for Doctor Strange appeared in Marvel Comics cover-dated February 1981. It stated "Watch for the new adventures of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme—as mystically conjured by Roger Stern and Frank Miller!". Miller's only contribution to the series was the cover for Doctor Strange #46 (April 1981). Other commitments prevented him from working on the series. Miller and Steve Gerber made a proposal to revamp DC's three biggest characters: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, under a line called "Metropolis" and comics titled "Man of Steel" or "The Man of Steel", "Dark Knight" and "Amazon". However, this proposal was not accepted.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and the late 1980s In 1986, DC Comics released the writer–penciller Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, a four-issue miniseries printed in what the publisher called "prestige format"—squarebound, rather than stapled; on heavy-stock paper rather than newsprint, and with cardstock rather than glossy-paper covers. It was inked by Klaus Janson and colored by Lynn Varley. The story tells how Batman retired after the death of the second Robin (Jason Todd) and, at age 55, returns to fight crime in a dark and violent future. Miller created a tough, gritty Batman, referring to him as "The Dark Knight" based upon his being called the "Darknight Detective" in some 1970s portrayals, although the nickname "Dark Knight" for Batman dates back to 1940.The term appears on page seven of the story "The Joker" from Batman No. 1 (1940), which is reprinted in the book Batman Chronicles, Volume One (2005). In the lower right panel, Batman is shown swimming in the water after having been knocked off a bridge by the Joker, and the caption reads "THE SHOCK OF COLD WATER QUICKLY REVIVES THE DARK KNIGHT!" Released the same year as Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons' DC miniseries Watchmen, it showcased a new form of more adult-oriented storytelling to both comics fans and a crossover mainstream audience. The Dark Knight Returns influenced the comic-book industry by heralding a new wave of darker characters. The trade paperback collection proved to be a big seller for DC and remains in print.