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Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz dig into Dark Knight Returns creator's career and upcoming projects at SDCC '22

Frank Miller has a long career to talk about, but he's not done yet!

Bill Sienkiewicz & Frank Miller
Image credit: Kat Calamia (Popverse)

Frank Miller is many things - for some he's known for his seminal work on Batman, for others its his crime noir series Sin City. He co-directed the first Sin City film adaptation, and solo directed an adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit. But for Frank Miller, his main job remains as being a cartoonist.

At Comic-Con International: San Diego, Frank Miller will be taking part in a rare hour-long interview panel - hosted by none other than his Elektra: Assassin partner, Bill Sienkiewicz. The duo have a lot to talk about anytime they're together, but here inw in 2022 even more - as Miller and Dan DiDio are working together on the recently-announced Frank Miller Presents publishing company, which will feature Miller working with other creatures on new volumes of his creator-owned work, as well as new projects entirely.

And yes, dear reader, Popverse is there to document it all. Follow along as we do a live play-by-play of Miller and Sienkiewicz's conversation. Follow along live, or come back later to read it all.

To follow along with Popverse's coverage throughout San Diego Comic Con, check out our roundup of SDCC coverage.

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

Waiting for the Frank Miller Panel to start
The panel has begun
There's no agenda for the panel. It's just 2 comic industry titans having a conversation.
They will also discuss Frank's new imprint - Frank Miller presents
There's a documentary in the film circuit about Frank Miller
An announcement will come soon about the doc
They start their panel with paying respect for Neil Adams
Neil Adams was a bridge between generations and transformed how publishers do business.
Frank Miller came to Neil Adams with a cardboard portfolio and he said, "You think that's a face." He had geuiling comments
He asked Frank where are you from. Frank said, "Vermont". Neil said, "Then go back." But Frank was persistent and Neil was always open to look at his stuff and eventually help him get a job.
Neil could be brutal
But he asked how much do you really want to be in this industry, and you had to prove yourself
Publishing is a tough industry and Neil didn't want you to come in with any illusions.
"Neils pencils were very desceptive" - Bill Sienkiewicz says as an inker.
Elektra was even more rewarding than Daredevil for Frank
It was planned as a 4 issue series and they ended up getting double. They drove Marvel crazy
They hid the pages of the bottom drawer because they didn't think editorial would allow them to do their thing.
Bill and Frank don't half ass anything as they worked on a Elektra maxi and graphic novel at the same time.
They took the grimmest character that Marvel had with Elektra and made a comedy with her
Frank and Bill were the generation who loved and respected the medium as they were breaking in
There was a headline about their work that said we must protect our children from this and Bill was so satisfied to piss people off because it was a level of challenge.
Comics should never try not to offend people. Art should rock the boat. Frank adds, Manga means comics in Japanese. It's translated as irresponsible pictures.
This is the thesis statement for Frank Miller's newest imprint.
Creators like Neil Adams seem like they will be forever until they pass away.
They are showing pages from Frank's new imprint
Emma Kurburt will be working on Pandora about a girl on a magical adventure
Blood & Dust will be Frnak's new Sin City Western
Frank is looking for the most indivudual styles out there. Voices that will argue with each other.
Frank thinks that comics are too much like each other. Too much like comics when he was a little kid.
Frank doesn't believe Batman and Superman should be friends.
Frank doesn't care about shared universes
Once you get so successful with the movies they have a lot of higher ups now who don't want to rock the boat.
Bill believes in inclusion, but he wants those voices to be ugly and raw - ART!
Art shouldn't be corporate
Frank wants to see dozens of little comic companies instead of these giants.
Make your own things!
Don't come to corporate terms. Make them come to you.
Frank wants to come up with new things.
Bill loves creativity and doesn't want to offend anyone with his words.
He just wants to see smaller companies and indivual voices.
Thanks for reading!

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About the Author
Kat Calamia avatar

Kat Calamia

Contributing writer

Kat Calamia is the co-writer and co-creator of the queer WEBTOON, Slice of Life, and the editor/creator of Bi Visibility: A Bisexual Comic Book Anthology. She's been a comic book critic and journalist for over a decade with weekly reviews on her YouTube channel, Comic Uno, and bylines from Newsarama, IGN, DC Comics, Fandom and TV Guide. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Communications with a minor in Journalism through Marymount Manhattan College and a MFA in Writing and Producing Television from LIU Brooklyn.