'[The Frank Miller Hero]'s somebody who is defined by his virtue. He might be tortured, might hate himself, but he always does the right thing. “It goes back to when I was a little kid in my mother’s kitchen,” Frank continues. “I had gone to the movies and seen these 300 Spartans. I was sitting with my brother two rows ahead of my parents, because that was cool. I said to my brother ‘Steve, are they going to die?’ “And he said ‘I don’t know.’ “I went back to my parents and asked ‘Are the good guys going to die?’” Frank pauses, and deepens his voice, impersonating his late father: “‘I’m afraid so, son.’ “From then on, my entire concept of a hero was someone who does something because it’s right, and not because they were going to get a medal.”
...
To Frank Miller, getting rewards for heroism almost negates the initial act. “Luke Skywalker getting his medal at the end of Star Wars, to me, is a rather hollow moment,” Frank conjectures. Then we start talking about Star Wars, and Luke’s losing a hand in Empire Strikes Back is the beginning of his trajectory into true herodom. “The great moment for Luke Skywalker is in the third movie, Return of the Jedi, when he walks in with total authority and says ‘You’re going to die,’” Frank points out. He recalls the scene in slow, thoughtful sentences, and I realize his storyteller switch has been cut on. “Then he just does this incredible and astonishing thing where R2-D2 tosses him his lightsaber. He’s completely on his game. Even when Leia strangles Jabba the Hutt, the entire thing has me going ‘I’m a fan!’”'

From this recent interview: http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2010 ... ights.html

Now you've got one.

You always make me think of the class I took from my Italian professor (in English) on Thomas Mann, James Joyce and others.
I miss listening to him confound my every answer as we discussed Pirandello. Always "Yes...But...!" and "not exactly..." It was new to me.

Doing the right thing without expectation of an award defines heroes to me, too. It's precisely what makes politics such shaky business; renumeration of one's office is always a consideration.

I was trying to think of the first expression of this notion of heroism by Miller. I'm thinking it's the reason he was attracted to Matt Murdock whose reward for saving an old man crossing the road in front of a truck was to be blinded. When you look at it baldly, it could be the origin of a villain: you do a good deed, and that's how you're rewarded? But, no, Matt was not rewarded for his good deed, nor was he embittered by the unfortunate outcome. Why? Because doing the right thing was the only thing to do. That's his character; that's why he's a hero; and that's one reason why and how Miller wrote him.

Then there's the Dark Knight.

Ta!

On Dictionary.com:

1.
a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2.
a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
3.
the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.

Frank's idea is much more complex, even at odds semantically.
Not that the above is wrong, but it's probably best not to expect any positive reward. I'd take it a step further and say when you know the consequences may not be good for you materially, it is even more heroic. That is why, as my friend Johann says, Risk is a part of the game if you want to live life to the fullest.

So where does this all fit in with All Star Batman?

I love hearing what Frank thinks about this kinda shit... you have the Comic Journal Library's book of Miller interviews?

REALLY interesting read. The Kirby one is amazing as well.

I have the last issue of the Comics Journal that he gave a major interview to. I know about the collected edition of all his interviews, but I don't have it; I really want to get my hands on it, yeah.

It's interesting to learn what the author or, in Miller's case, auteur thinks he's doing; it doesn't mean he's the final authority on what the work means. And so we've room for discussion and disagreement. But, yes, it's informative to learn what he thinks he's shooting for.

That Batman definitely isn't looking for a medal.

Elektra Nachios, Casey McKenna, Carrie Kelly, Martha Washington and (Deadly Little) Miho: all major female characters created by Miller, and none of them prostitutes.

I think Miller's conception of the hero being defined by his virtue, of doing what is right even if it's difficult or unpopular is, first and foremost, a stoic conception of the good and virtuous man. The stoics argued that the virtuous man was utterly different from everyone else who was to be considered vicious. It's quite an elitist view of heroism. Whether it's right or wrong, though, is open to discussion.

Right, even though AS Batman is nutty, his behavior doesn't contradict anything Miller prescribes to his thinking on heroes.

Miho was a prostitute. She also happened to be a ninja.

And Elektra died, which was the "or" in the strip.

A creative person having recurrent themes throughout their work? It's unheard of.

I like him. Well, I like him up until a point where his art no longer appealed to me and his writing became one note. I own the DD Omnibuses, and the complete Frank Miller Batman (which is everything up to but not including DKSA). None of that makes the strip less funny though.

The fact that people give Miller no credit for Martha Washington, one of the best and most well-rounded female comic characters of all time bugs me to no end. Ronin, Give Me Liberty and Dark Knight Returns speak for themselves.

She was not a prostitute. Where do you find evidence from the Sin City comics to support your claim?

Huh? The shadowy guy in the fedora says, 'and you leave here alive'. Did you misread that as, 'and you leave her alive'?

Absolutely! More people need to read the Martha Washington comics and recognise that Martha is the embodiment of Miller's conception of not merely a female hero but a hero full stop. People should read them, of course, because they're damn fine and entertaining comics too!