graphic novels, comics and mangas

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From amazon:
"And I -- I have shown him... that a man without hope is a man without fear." The definitive Daredevil tale! Karen Page, Matt Murdock's former lover, has traded away the Man Without Fear's secret identity for a drug fix. Now, Daredevil must find strength as the Kingpin of Crime wastes no time taking him down as low as a human can get. Collects Daredevil #226-233

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From amazon:
A fire burns deep within Matt Murdock. He was raised by a single father, an over-the-hill prizefighter with one last chance to make it good - a chance that cost him his life! Taunted and tormented by children while growing up, Matt's life was irrevocably altered after he was blinded by radioactive materials while saving the life of an old man. The payoff? An unbreakable will and a keen intelligence, helping focus the super-senses he was blessed with during the accident. His story is one of love, pain, disappointment, and strength. Witness the tour-de-force origin of the Man Without Fear by industry legends Frank Miller and John Romita Jr. Collects Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #1-5.

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From amazon:
In the Town Without Pity, good men are hard to find. Enter Wallace, a man of mystery. He's a nice guy who's very good at killing people. Out for an evening drive along the beach, he meets the woman of his dreams - and she's trying to kill herself. Why? And who are the shadowy cabal of power brokers who wrench her from his arms? When will all hell break loose?

Comics legend Frank Miller, creator of the groundbreaking Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, pounds out his longest Sin City graphic novel to date - a bare-knuckle barrage of brutal action, dark secrets, and heroic sacrifice. What the hell - it's a love story! The most recent story in Miller's gritty crime saga, Hell and Back includes color sections and pinups by a who's who of comics luminaries.

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From amazon:
The most diverse volume of Sin City material available, Booze, Broads, & Bullets, showcases Frank Miller's vignettes and color experiments from throughout the years of his groundbreaking crime series, and includes art created especially for the original collection. A good entry point for new readers wondering what Sin City is all about - or longtime readers who can't get enough - Miller has painted a gritty, decadent, and gloriously dirty portrait. Have a taste of the city ... just one little taste. Just one.

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From amazon:
Marking a departure for Miller from an entire career of serialized stories, this 128-page epic spilled out of him all at once... and you can't help but read it the same way! Family Values is a milestone among Miller's work, allowing him enough room to tell this classic story of grit and revenge exactly the way he wanted to. With deadly Miho running on roller-blades, Dwight running on adrenaline, and the Sin City mob on clean-up detail, this yarn from the Town Without Pity is not to be missed.

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From amazon:
In a Sin City short story, "The Babe Wore Red," Frank Miller deviated from his stark black-and-white artwork by adding tiny bits of color throughout the story. The girl's dress was red, her lips were red--you get the picture. In That Yellow Bastard, the fourth Sin City graphic novel, Miller's experiment with yellow ink is also a tremendous success. The setup is simple. On the last day before he retires, Hartigan, an old cop, gets a call about an 11-year-old girl who has been kidnapped by a lunatic. Hartigan has got just one more thing to do before he retires: save the girl. Saving her is the easy part, because Hartigan has uncovered something really bad that is not going to stop until it catches up with him. That Yellow Bastard is nerve-racking to the very end.

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From amazon:
With The Big Fat Kill Frank Miller is at it again with another comics packed with guns, lovers, losers, and surprises. In Sin City's Old Town, the prostitutes run the show. "The cops stay out. That leaves the girls free to keep the pimps and the mob out." Sounds like an OK place, right? It is until a pushy, loud-mouthed guy who has had one too many drinks comes into Old Town and gets himself killed by the ladies. When they find out who he is, they realize that "it'll be war. The streets will run red with blood. Women's blood."

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From amazon:
This is Frank Miller's second Sin City story. While it doesn't quite match The Hard Goodbye, it's a damn fine example of comics noir in it's own right. The lead character this time around is Dwight, but fans of Marv will be pleased to know that he shows up here in a supporting role. This story takes place prior to, and concurrently with, "The Hard Goodbye". In fact, you can see Marv enacting some scenes from "The Hard Goodbye" in the background of panels here. Anyway, the story is about how Dwight's ex-girlfriend Ava comes and asks him for help. I don't want to give away the story, but it may seem a bit familiar to fans of film noir. Despite what may seem like a predictable storyline, I loved it because it is so well told and the art is beautiful. This is not one of the stories that is being adapted for the Sin City motion picture, but the sequel to this book, The Big Fat Kill is in the movie.

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From amazon:
Legendary artist Frank Miller opened a noir opus in Sin City. This critically-acclaimed triumph-honored by both an Eisner Award and the prestigious National Cartoonists' Award-combines the pulp intensity of writers like Spillane and Cain with the gritty graphic storytelling that only Miller can deliver.

Sin City is the place-tough as leather and dry as tinder. Love is the fuel, and the now-infamous character Marv has the match ... not to mention a "condition." He's gunning after Goldie's killer, so it's time to watch this town burn! Frank Miller is one of modern comic's first talents to publish a comic book that he created, crafted, and owned. That book is Sin City, which grew from the wellspring of Miller's passionate desire to create a comic book with two distinct qualities - it wouldn't be a superhero comic, and it had to be a crime comic. Enter Marv and Goldie. And a psychotic killer. And a crime-drenched town. And a corrupted diocese.

Sin City is a town like no other, but most places resemble it in one way or another. In real life, thugs live everywhere and women sell their bodies all the time, but if everyday life is a storm, Sin City exists in the eye of a hurricane.

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From wikipedia:
300 is a historically-inspired 1998 comic book limited series written and illustrated by Frank Miller with painted colors by Lynn Varley.

The comic is a fictional retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it from the perspective of Leonidas of Sparta. 300 was particularly inspired by the 1962 film The 300 Spartans, a movie that Miller watched as a young boy. The work was adapted in 2007 to a film of the same name.

From amazon:
The armies of Persia--a vast horde greater than any the world has ever known--are poised to crush Greece, an island of reason and freedom in a sea of madness and tyranny. Standing between Greece and this tidal wave of destruction are a tiny detachment of but three hundred warriors. Frank Miller`s epic retelling of history`s supreme moment of battlefield valor is finally collected in a glorious hardcover volume in its intended format-- each two-page spread from the original comics is presented as a single undivided page.

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From wikipedia:
Hard Boiled is a three-issue comic book mini-series written by Frank Miller and drawn by Geof Darrow. Its first issue was published by Dark Horse Comics in 1990. In it, Carl Seltz, an insurance investigator, discovers he is also a homicidal cyborg tax collector who happens to be the last hope of an enslaved robot race.

From amazon's customer review:
Haven't bought a comic in a while. Hollywood, having finally admited to running out of ideas has turned to the great and ultra-cool comics (Hellboy, Sin City, V for Vendetta, etc) in order to make some dough, has once again sparked my interest in graphic novels. I bought this one based soley on the art and was not dissapointed.

The ultra-violence can get a bit tedious (If you like tons of bloody naked people getting mauled by flaming vehicles....then prepare for your boat to float), but overall its not a bad read.

The story is ok. Not amazing but interesting never-the-less.

The cool thing about this book is the illustration. Which, is a virtual "Where's Waldo" of advertising icons, naked people, drug parephanilia, blood, and robots. Folks who say you can reread this a few times just to look at the amazing detail are telling it to you straight.

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From wikipedia:
Bad Boy a one-shot comic book by Frank Miller and Simon Bisley and published by Oni Press. It follows the story of Jason, a young boy who comes to realize that the couple he thinks are his parents aren't his parents at all, and his world isn't what it seems to be.

From amazon:
Dynamite Entertainment proudly presents a brand-new hardcover production of Bad Boy by Frank Miller and Simon Bisley! Bad Boy features Jason, a little boy who comes to realize his parents aren't his parents, and that he's part of a sterile experimental community. Originally produced as a strip for the British Edition of GQ, Bad Boy is now a powerful piece of graphic fiction as only Miller and Bisley can produce!

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Ronin is a comic book limited series published between 1983 and 1984,
by DC Comics. The series was written and drawn by Frank Miller with
artwork painted by Lynn Varley. It takes place in a dystopic near-future
New York in which a ronin is reincarnated. The six-issue work shows some
of the strongest influences of manga on Miller's style, both in the artwork
and narrative style.

From amazon's customer review:
Probably the most unappreciated of Miller's work, "Ronin" is nevertheless one of his greatest achievements. It was originally shunned by many because of its wild combination of art styles and overall departure from Miller's typical work, but it is this uniqueness that makes it so memorable. Miller creates a convincing, if unrelentingly brutal, vision of the future, and fills it with strong characters you'll never forget. The story unravels in a fascinating way, as the reader realizes that nothing in the story is what it appears to be. I won't spoil it for you--just read the thing. You don't even have to be a Miller buff to enjoy it--any fan of good science fiction will find this one hard to put down.

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From amazon's customer review:
I got several Batman graphic novels recently and get one out when I have a block of uninterrupted time for it. I thought that given the short-story format, that I'd leave this in the car and read one or two stories when I had a few minutes to kill. Sure - that's what I say when I get a box of candy too - just one or two at a time - make the box last for a month. LOL - I got going and finished the whole book in one sitting. The short stories are not all great, but even the weakest is worth at least three stars. Some of the others are wonderful. The most unexpected were the best: "A Black and White World" a Neil Gaiman story which features Batman and Joker in a way you've never seen them before, and "A Slaying Song Tonight" a Batman Christmas story.... who'd ever think of that?

The art is varied - which is the point isn't it. Some I liked a great deal and others didn't move me, but each reader will have different tastes. I learned about some artists with which I wasn't familiar. I'm new to comics and graphic novels, so this was a great way to gain some exposure to some legends.

A previous reviewer seemed to feel the black and white art limited the artists. I thought the short story format and the black and white art boiled the work down to it's most powerful essence. The stories didn't waste a word. The art didn't hide behind color. It was like each story was stripped down to the bare essentials.

And no comic character is more natural for a black and white treatment than the Bat. It was like a film noir movie marathon!

Volume One at the very least is a must-own part of any Batman collection. Highest recommendation!

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From Publishers Weekly
Miller, the man who kicked off the grim and gritty era of superhero comics with the 1986 Batman tale The Dark Knight Returns, returns to write the iconic character once again in a series that takes the tropes of superhero excess and explodes them into satire. Miller casts Batman as an obsessive lunatic who enlists traumatized children into his war on crime, calls himself the goddamn Batman and is prone to cackling maniacally. Sex and violence are constant preoccupations, but even during sex scenes, Miller can hardly keep a straight face.

After a shared rampage against corrupt cops that includes the interjection, Eat glass, lawman! Batman and heroine Black Canary celebrate with an intimate encounter on a burning pier during a lightning storm. Although the bombastic, repetitive narration and decompressed storytelling (two and a half issues pass before Batman and Robin leave the Batmobile) often borders on hilarious, Miller aims for more obvious jokes later in the series. It's an over the top in-joke for the superhero crowd, though its irreverence may not have the most zealous and serious superhero fans laughing. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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From amazon:
The Dark Knight Strikes Again is Frank Miller's follow-up to his hugely successful Batman: the Dark Knight Returns, one of the few comics that is widely recognized as not only reinventing the genre but also bringing it to a wider audience. Set three years after the events of The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Again follows a similar structure: once again, Batman hauls himself out of his self-imposed retirement in order to set things right.

However, where DKR was about him cleaning up his home city, Gotham, DKSA has him casting his net much wider: he's out to save the world.The thing is, most of the world doesn't realize that it needs to be saved--least of all Superman and Wonder Woman, who have become little more than superpowered enforcers of the status quo. So, the notoriously solitary Batman is forced to recruit some different superpowered allies. He also has his ever-present trusty sidekick, Robin, except that he is a she, and she is calling herself Catwoman. Together, these super-friends uncover a vast and far-reaching conspiracy that leads to the President of the United States (Lex Luthor) and beyond.

The Dark Knight Strikes Again is largely an entertaining comic, but much of what made The Dark Knight Returns so good just doesn't work here. Miller's gritty, untidy artwork was perfect for DKR's grim depiction of the dark and seedy Gotham City, but it jars a bit for DKSA, which is meant to depict an ultra-glossy, futuristic technocracy. Lynn Varley's garish coloring attempts to add a slicker sheen, but the artwork is ultimately let down by that which worked so well for DKR--this time around, it just feels sloppy and rushed. The same is true of the book's denouement, which happens so quickly that it leaves the reader reeling and looking for more of an explanation.

Moreover, DKSA is packed full of characters who will mean little to those unfamiliar with the DC Comics universe (e.g., the Atom, the Elongated Man, the Question).Perhaps the book's biggest failing is that where The Dark Knight Returns gave comic book fans a base from which to evangelize to theuninitiated, The Dark Knight Strikes Again is just preaching to the converted. Comic book superhero fans will find much to enjoy here, but others would be better off sticking with the original. --Robert Burrow

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From amazon:
If any comic has a claim to have truly reinvigorated the genre, then The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (known also for his excellent Sin City series and his superb rendering of the blind superhero Daredevil) is probably the top contender. Batman represented all that was wrong in comics and Miller set himself a tough task taking on the camp crusader and turning this laughable, innocuous children's cartoon character into a hero for our times. The great Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, the arguably peerless Watchmen) argued that only someone of Miller's stature could have done this.

Batman is a character known well beyond the confines of the comic world (as are his retinue) and so reinventing him, while keeping his limiting core essentials intact, was a huge task. Miller went far beyond the call of duty. The Dark Knight is a success on every level. Firstly it does keep the core elements of the Batman myth intact, with Robin, Alfred the butler, Commissioner Gordon, and the old roster of villains, present yet brilliantly subverted. Secondly the artwork is fantastic--detailed, sometimes claustrophobic, psychotic. Lastly it's a great story: Gotham City is a hell on earth, street gangs roam but there are no heroes. Decay is ubiquitous. Where is a hero to save Gotham?

It is 10 years since the last recorded sighting of the Batman. And things have got worse than ever. Bruce Wayne is close to being a broken man but something is keeping him sane: the need to see change and the belief that he can orchestrate some of that change. Batman is back. The Dark Knight has returned. Awesome. --Mark Thwaite

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From amazon's customer review:
It's January 4th, and Gotham City witness two arrivals: the arrival of Lieutenant James Gordan, and the return of millionaire Bruce Wayne. Wayne and Gordon both see that Gotham needs to be cleaned up, but each has his own ideas of how it should be done. While Gordon begins his cleaning under the eyes of the press, Bruce Wayne assumes the identity of a bat and begins cleaning up the city under the cover of darkness. But, with the two working from such very different angles, confrontation is inevitable, and out of the confrontation comes...friendship?

This book was published in 1988, containing BATMAN #404-407 (1987). The quality of the illustrations is a bit lower than one has come to expect from more recent graphic novels, but the fact is that the story is excellent and makes the whole book a great buy! As with the stories of the Golden Age comic books, this story pits Batman against an array of regular bad guys, rather than super-powerful super-villains (although the genesis of Catwoman is included!), which I rather enjoyed! Overall, I found this to be a great introduction to Batman, one that keeps up the excellent tradition. I highly recommend this book!

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