The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man [Hardcover]

Frank Miller (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics (May 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785108998
• ISBN-13: 978-0785108993
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #605,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frank Miller is one of the seminal creative talents who sparked the current gigantic sub-industry of motion pictures featuring comic book- initiated product. A sub-industry which had become a super-industry. This most profitable aspect of this millennium's film production, now producing an annual flow of box office profits in the Billions of dollars, was launched when Frank Miller's graphic novel re-take on the classic comic book hero, Batman, resulted in an entertainment industry-wide reconsideration of the genre in the deeper and darker vision Miller brought to it.

Miller re-defined the presentation of comic book characters and heroic fiction with his grand-daddy of graphic novels, "The Dark Knight." This revolutionary work
not only kicked off the series of Batman films based on his redefinition, but a craze for such material that has thrown dozens of such heroes into multiple film franchise heaven. Certainly chief among these has been Miller's uniquely classical take on superheroic narrative, "300," and his "Sin City" books, each of which entered motion pictures with historic successes, and each now in Miller's creative phase of achieving its highly-anticipated sequel. Miller's co-direction of "Sin City" has made him one of the hottest
directors... as well as a guiding creative force...for the new genre. Or one might say "super genre."

Miller's latest graphic novel, Holy Terror, is his first original graphic novel in ten years. Join The Fixer, a brand new, hard-edged hero as he battles terror in the inaugural release from Legendary Comics.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Stuff From Miller's Early Days, October 15, 2002

By 

Daniel V. Reilly (Upstate New York, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man (Hardcover)

First off: This is NOT The Dark Knight Returns starring Spider-Man. A lot of people semm to be expecting a huge new Frank Miller Spidey tale, and are bummed out over getting some really old reprints from Miller's early days, before his style was fully formed. For those that know what they're getting, The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man is a fun trip down memory lane. The stories, with one exception, aren't written by Miller, and the one he wrote was drawn by Herb Trimpe; You won't be getting the Miller writing/art combo that made him famous, but the stories are fun, if somewhat standard. The production values for the book are great- It's a really beautiful package, and the colors look awesome. In addition to the reprinted stories (Guest starring The Punisher, Moon Knight, Power Man & Iron Fist, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and Doctor Doom, among others), there is also an extensive cover gallery, featuring ALL the Spider-Man covers Miller ever did, and the dust-jacket features a brand-new Miller illustration. For a long-time fan of both Spidey AND Miller, like me, this was money well-spent. Loads of fun!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for Frank Miller enthusiasts, July 5, 2002

By 

Todd Grotenhuis "tgrotenhuis" (Grand Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man (Hardcover)

These are not the stories that made Frank Miller famous, and if his creative output over his career had been limited to what is countained here, he never would have become famous. These are some very early stories in the career of a man who would eventually (elsewhere) come to redefine the comic book medium. Thus these stories are not the timeless classics on the level of (or even close to) "Dark Knight Returns," "Batman Year One," "Sin City," or "300." In fact, in one case, you don't even get to read the entire story. The first story arc in this compilation only gives you 2 parts of what appears to be a 4- or 5-part story, because Miller only drew 2 of the issues. Also, Miller's artwork here is much more conventional that one might expect, as he hadn't yet fully developed the unusual style which characterizes his later works. (I thought the art was similar to that of the 1982 "Wolverine" miniseries which he penciled)
Furthermore, the one issue which he writes does not bear the gritty, realistic quality which made the above-mentioned works so good.

On the positive side, you do get to see here all the work that Frank Miller ever did for Spider-Man, which includes 5 issues as penciller, one as writer, and 22 comic book covers. Also included are 2 more recent pictures which do appear more "Milleresque" (one of which is the cover to the book, so you can see it on this website, the other a beautiful shadow-portrait of Spider-Man and Daredevil).

The stories themselves are entertaining, as long as you aren't expecting "classics" which redefined Spider-Man's character. The issue written by Chris Claremont has a well-developed villain/anti-hero (as is typical for Claremont's writing), and the final story, written by Denny O'Neil, also is quite a good read. In addition, astute Miller fans will notice some of the qualities that would become even more prominent in his later art -- particularly the large, well-defined eyes and lips, and the creative use of shadow. And you get to see Miller's early artistic take on such characters as the Punisher, Dr. Doom, and Daredevil (before he began penciling DD's monthly titles).

In short, if you are a Frank Miller fan (like me), you will undoubtably find something to enjoy in this book and you'll be glad you bought it. But if you are just looking for some good Spider-Man back issues, and don't have a particular appeciation for Frank Miller himself, then you should look elsewhere. You can find other, better stories at a cheaper price. This book was published because Frank Miller's name was on it, and it is probably best suited for his fans.

22 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This is Miller in name only I'm afraid..., May 8, 2002

By 

Matt Greer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man (Hardcover)

One thing I think this industry takes for granted is if someone walks into a comic book shop, then they are knowledgable on the subject at hand. I don't fit that description, as although I enjoy comics, only on a casual level.

Dark Knight Returns made me an instant Frank Miller fan, and following up with Frank Miller's Daredevil kept my respect for him high. So surely Frank Miller's Spider-Man would be a sure bet?

Er, no. These Spidey stories, although not at all bad, are from Miller's early days. To make matters worse, he didn't even write several of them, only penciled them. Truth be told, these really are just standard issue pulp comic stories. Nowhere near the level of Dark Knight, not even up to par with his Daredevil work.

What irritates me is how Marvel packaged and designed this book. It was shrink wrapped so peaking at its contents was not possible (or else I'd never have bought it), and the cover features a drawing of Spider-Man done by Miller in his "Dark Knightish" style. As if Marvel's saying "you liked Dark Knight eh? Well imagine something like that done with Spidey..." Too bad the book doesn't deliver on such a promise.

Although this may be Miller in name, it's nowhere near what he's famous for. This really is just some standard Spidey stories bound into a book, there are better things to spend your money on (if you haven't already bought Dark Knight Returns then that's an absolute must!)