Customer Reviews

300

5 star:		(145)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

Unfortunately, most of the negative reviews for Frank Miller's "300" seem to stem from an outrage to the historical inaccuracy within the book. While certain aspects such as specific quotes, names and the basic story arc are in fact true; many details of the historical account have been changed to allow the author the ability to tell this `legend' in a gritty modern pulp manner. The end result is a highly stylized, gripping, fun, and compelling version of this tale - redesigned and told through the mind's eye of one of today's undeniable leaders in the field of graphic story telling. If you want to learn more about the actual event, read a history book! What Miller has done here is simply to have retold the incredible story of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan soldiers starring down certain death to defend their home against absolutely impossible odds in a manner that people of our current time and culture can easily understand and become enveloped in. Historical accuracy is not the objective; good story telling is. The artwork is stark and bare and perfectly fits this legendary tale where hope of survival was bleak. It is a quick read, but highly enjoyable... providing that you aren't a pseudo-historian liable of being thrown into a fit because Miller choose to modernize the mythos of ancient Sparta for the benefit of reaching his contemporary audience. Legends evolve as they are passed down through the years so that their lessons may stay relevant. I both applaud Frank Miller's creative adaptation and highly recommend this book to all who can handle a gritty, blood and guts retelling of perhaps the greatest battle man has ever fought.

The story of the battle at the Hot Gates of Thermopylae was always a favorite of mine growing up. King Leonidas and his personal guard of 300 Spartans personified courage and individual strength, as they held off the more than 100,000 strong Persian army, lead by Xerxes the Great King. Think about those numbers. 300 against more than 100,000.

For three days, the Spartans stood against Xerxes until a betrayal lead to their downfall. This is manly, hot-blooded stuff here. I cannot think of any other artist who could do it justice.

Frank Miller was made for manly, hot-blooded stuff. His art style, used to perfection in "300," is all about strength and weight. The Spartans are carved from the rocky terrain of Greece. Heavy outlines and squared corners add to the effect. The costume designs are symbolic rather than historic, and each heavy cape and bronze sword is used to full effect. Lynn Varley's colors are at the top of her game.

This is a work of art, but it isn't pretty.

Story wise, Miller has done a clever job of adapting this historical event into a reasonably short comic. Along with the necessary bravado and familiar Spartan quotations ("Return with your shields, or on them!"), he has breathed life and an certain sensitivity into Leonidas and Xerxes. This mix of story and art is all that is good about comics.

This edition, in particular, showcases Miller's art and story. The oversized hardcover with high print quality puts the pages in your face. Varley's colors are vibrant. A very worthy purchase.

Although it is a dramatic retelling of this real battle, you can still tell Mr. Miller did his research,little details in the art and such. The art is dramatic and well done the story is solid and fast paced. This is the type of book that makes you go out to find out more about the subject,which is a positive thing in my opinion.

When you've conquered the comics medium with gritty, film noirish tales as Frank Miller has done time and time again, what project could you undertake which would simultaneously shock and thrill your audience?

How about a Classics Illustrated-style retelling of a little-known episode in ancient history?

In retrospect, using the comic form to tell the story of Leonidas and his 300 Spartan's stand against Xerxes and his Persian hordes is an absolutely brilliant idea, but for the life of me I do not know how Miller managed to pitch this to the corporate suits and get them to put it out in an oversized hardcover edition to boot. Anyone want a coffee table book filled with blood and gore? Put your hand down, Hannibal Lecter.

"300" is an absolutely stunning recounting of the heroism of the ancient Spartans as they stood and fell before the might of the largest armed force on the planet. Fans of Xenophon and Thucydides will instantly recognize the ancient Greece depicted herein; the furious discipline of the bristling phalanx, the oppressive heat of the campaign, the rhythmic thud of the marching battalions. Leonidas gleams like the hero-kings of old always do in our imagination, noble and cruel. This simple tale of how one man refused to allow the glory of Greece to fade before a barbarous horde is punctuated by breathtaking battle scenes, glorious heroism, and base treachery. This is truly the power of the comic book medium, a power well-remembered by those of us who dropped the melodrama and tissue paper plots of the X-clones long ago.

Bravo, Mr. Miller, and thanks for recalling us to a nobler, bolder, though hardly more savage age. Get this book now, and your coffee table be damned.

First of all ,let me tell you that I am a Greek.The implication of my nationality is that I tend to be extremely prejudiced,against "foreigners" (that is not a racist remark,ok? :D) writing about my history,and extremely ruthless as a reviewer .
But THIS!! This is absolutely a work of art AND it does justice on the actual facts that took place then .The battle of Thermopylae (Hot Gates) is one of the most glorious moments of greek history and should be handled with great respect (which,I am loathe to admit,but I have to be honest ,is not a treat of modern greeks towards their heritage) .And Frank Miller did it .This comic is one of the best I ve ever read ,the images vivid,violent,crystal clear and in-your-face .. I cried at the end..I really did .And I never believed that some "foreigner" could make me cry while describing parts of my history .This is a masterpiece .The only thing I am slightly opposed to is the depiction of Efialtes as a mishappen ,crippled being ,but since I dont really know if this was so or not,I cant say anything more.
My sincere congratulations and deep respect for publishing this work .You took the light of the Spartans example and lighted the souls of every one who read this .Thank you again.

Normally when people think of Frank Miller, they think of his groundbreaking work on characters like Batman and Daredevil in dark tales that broke these characters down and left only the vital core of each's meaning behind. Miller has a penchant for exploring the grim and gritty aspects of a character and the world that character inhabits, and in fact he is equally well known and respected for creating such a world himself in his Sin City.

Miller applied these same skills a mere five years ago to a type of fiction that seemed ill-suited for such a marriage of genres when he fused his noir style to historical drama in his momentous work 300. Published originally in the summer months of 1998 by Dark Horse as a five-issue miniseries, this story is set in ancient Greece and dramatizes the Battle of Thermopylae, a monumental conflict in which King Leonidas of Sparta led 300 of his personal guards into a mountain pass to defend his country from the invading Persian empire led by Xerxes. Leonidas knew this skirmish would be certain death for himself and his men, yet still he fought on, in the end inspiring the divided nation of Greece with his sacrifice to unite against this common foe and march on to victory.

Pacifists reading this review might have tuned out already, but anyone thinking of reading this book should be reassured that it is not pro-war. Nor is 300 anti-war really. The case Miller seems to make here is that sometimes, in defense of everything a person holds dear, that person must make difficult choices. Despite my personal feelings against war, I still could see that Leonidas had no other choice but defend his country from invaders, entering into a war that even the staunchest of peaceniks must see as just.

I also couldn't help but admire his noble sacrifice in the end, and really that's what this story is about, these brave men who were willing to die to save their country. It is a story tinged with tragedy because along the way you learn a great deal about these characters, from Leonidas the king down to Delios the storyteller. Delios is ordered by the king to leave the army before their final stand, so that he might spread word of this event to everyone and inspire them to fight back. As he leaves, the sadness he feels is evident in his beautifully crafted posture and expession, but it is a sadness we feel along with him because of the skill with which Miller has presented this character to us.

Leonidas too is brilliantly fleshed out. He is a character as hard and tough as Marv or the Dark Knight ever dreamed of being. Yet he also has within him an emotional center we see more than we did in those other aforementioned Miller protagonists. In part we reach out to Leonidas because his personal narration guides us through the story but also we feel for him because we see the emotions that he normally keeps close to his chest in his every word. We learn after some time to read those feelings he keeps hidden behind his Spartan façade, and thereafter every glance he sends out to his men seems tinged with tragic loss.

The art on 300 is what stands out above all else, however. Even if you disapprove of the themes or find historical inaccuracy in the tale, you cannot help but admire the craftsmanship that went into producing this work of art. Originally the book was published as five monthly issues in which every paired grouping of pages was a two-page spread. Now the book is available only as an oversized hardcover that lays these pages out end to end so that you can fully bask in the glory of the art as you read. The book might seem thin for its price tag, a mere 88 pages for [$$], but its sheer beauty is worth every penny, even if there had been no words in the book at all.

These splash pages would be nothing without the vibrant colors of Lynn Varley, and it is clear to see why Miller uses her as colorist on every one of his projects. Beyond being his wife and keeping the work in the family, her hues and tones just happen to be radiant in the truest sense of the word. It transcends beyond simple favoritism. Miller appears to have gotten the best colorist around to paint the shades of this world and thus breathe life into it; it just so happens he didn't have to look very far to find her.

As for the historical accuracy of the work, no it's no Age of Bronze, meticulously researched and documented. But it doesn't have to be; it never claims to be anything beyond a work of historical drama. Sometimes for the sake of that drama, changes must be made. However, it is also evident that Miller feels strongly about this story and took great pains to make it as true as it can be while still being a piece of fiction.

Many might approach the genre of historical fiction a bit warily, but 300 is a far cry from the stuffy and boring world history texts you tried to avoid reading in high school. It is high art and high drama all rolled into one package which, despite having a high price, is high in magnitude as well.

Although not totally accurate, Frank Miller does an excellent job of telling the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, a momentous battle made all the more legendary by the fact that as few as 300 Spartan warriors (some estimates range as high as 1,000)managed to hold off an army that numbered in the hundreds of thousands for three days.

Xerxes, the ruler of Persia, had amassed an army that may have numbered as high as a million, which was moving across the Middle East and into Greece with the intent of conquering the known world. Many of the Greek city-states were prepared to simply submit. But two things occurred after the 300 Spartans held Xerxes's army off for three days. One, it allowed time for Greek naval forces to move into position to challenge Xerxes. Two, as word spread of the battle, it inspired other Greeks to choose to battle Xerxes. Xerxes's forces also were probably somewhat demoralized by the battle as Xerxes probably lost thousands of men as he sent wave after wave of soldiers at the Spartans.

The Spartans eventually fell, but their sacrifice resulted in victory and Xerxes and his army were eventually turned back.

Miller takes a few literary licenses with the story, to good effect, and presents a fairly accurate and engrossing retelling of the battle. Highly recommended.

I first read Frank Miller's 300 prior to the film's release...and then I re read it after the film. It was amazing to see the pure intensity of the film, but it also shows the depth of the novel. Comparing the two side-by-side you notice most of the contents of the novel are in the film. The film really only adds to the subplots of the book...and expands upon the scenes. The art direction is brilliant. Frank Miller has reached the summit of the graphic novel using incredibly detailed art to emphasis his bold story telling. The book does a good job retelling the Battle of Thermopylae. I say good because there is more than a hint of fiction scattered amongst the nonfiction, but that makes the story come alive. Well done Frank Miller, well done indeed.......I would also recommend Clarence Cage's novel Ashes Divide: Ashes Divide (Epic sequel to 300) it expands upon Frank Miller's 300 and the Battle of Thermopylae. Another book I'd recommend is Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle by Steven Pressfield: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae Both these novels are epic and both expand the story of 300.

Too often, a writer will peak so early in his career that all later works pale by comparison, as he labors in mediocrity for the remainder of his life. That's what I used to think was happening to Frank Miller. After producing some of the finest comic literature ever written in the 1980's (his early work on Daredevil, Batman Year One, and Dark Knight Returns), he had in the 1990's put out some okay material (Sin City, Elektra Returns, that "Spawn vs. Batman" thing, to name a few) but nothing that approached the greatness of his early work.

The wait is over. "300" is nothing short of amazing. Here Frank Miller does for historical drama (is that a category of comics?) what he earlier did for superhero comics. The pacing, characterization, dialogue, storyline, drama, and action of "300" are perfect, and there's even a touch of romance as well. I can't believe Miller has written a comic with such depth in only 88 pages. And the story is (by and large) a true one. Did I mention the art? It blew me away. Frank Miller's usual gritty style tells the story beautifully apart from any captions or world balloons. (Even if I have not appreciated his writing as much in the early '90s, his artwork has never suffered, and it is as good here as it's ever been).

This is one of the best comics I've ever read. It will stand in my collection alongside the "Dark Knight Returns" and Alan Moore's "Watchmen" as one of the greatest comic achievements ever. "300" does for comics what "Gladiator" did for movies -- although I think "300" is a little bit better. This book cements Frank Miller's already well-stablished place as one of the greatest comic writers of all time.

As I write this review, I notice that there are no copies in stock at Amazon.com. All I can say is, keep logging on to see if any become available. Check Amazon Marketplace Sellers, Auctions, zShops, and ebay if you have to. If you are a comic collector (and especially if you've read any of Frank Miller's works in the past) do whatever you can to GET THIS BOOK!

As a collection of the original comics, 300 is much better read in one sitting than reading the individual comics on a monthly schedule (which is what I did eight years ago). This book first achieved phenomenal success after its release as a single graphic novel (or hardcover trade, or whatever, I'm not going to argue terminology here) simply because after one issue you become so restless you just have to read the next one. That's why I enjoyed it much more in its current format; collecting the issues was a chore because Miller makes it so compulsively readable and the interim between issues killed me. The art is breathtaking, the writing appropriate, and the coloring by Liz Varley is brilliantly done. A lot of criticism has been directed toward this hardcover, chief among these being the fact that it is not historically accurate and that it is an excercise in racism while simultaneously objectifying women. Since I loved this comic, I respectfully disagree with all these arguments. Just look at the characterization of the Spartan Queen, done in only a handful of panels, which show that Miller did devote time and thought to what kind of people Spartan women were to survive in such a warlike society. This book is about soldiers, above all else, and during that time soldiers were men who protected their families at the cost of their own lives. The slave-oracle of the Ephors is a device Miller uses to highlight the lecherous and corrupt natures of these so-called holy men, but it is not intended to objectify women (and I meant no offense by calling the girl a 'device.') Miller definitely did not plan to espouse any racist views either; he simply conceived a cosmopolitan Persian army consisting of dozens of conquered nations and hundreds of tribes as a disorganized force unable to match the dicipline of the Spartans who received identical training in war. Authorial intent is what we must consider when reading 300 which uses Greece in 480 B.C as its setting, so it is not meant to comment on current issues in society, but issues that, according to historical speculation, were common at the time. I enjoyed this book because I was looking for a beautifully-drawn, action packed read, and this is exactly what I found. Recommended to all Frank Miller fans and artists starting out in the comics medium.