Review: “Sin City” – Frank Miller

PODCAST:

S4E6B – Sin City (graphic novels)*

SHOW NOTES:

Wherein we discuss the prolific career and unarguable influence of this storied and stylistic comic book creator. I am joined by former co-host, David Wilkinson a/k/a Wilk, and his friend comic book aficionado, Rob Lloyd II.

Much of our exploration considered the gray morality dogging the vast ensemble of characters, which was in contrast to the majority of stark black and white artwork. We also talked about the amazing myriad of interweaving plots and detailed, but focused world-building that develops and unfolds as the neo-noir ethos of Sin City.

Everyone was in complete agreement that the Sin City yarns we discussed were impressive in both their content and artistic style as well as their ability to distinguish characters. While Ryan found that the dialog grew laborious at times while reading the stories straight through, he didn’t think he wanted anything else from the series. Rob and Wilk both felt that the stories were excellent and enjoyable, but were just shy of considering the work paramount for the simple fact that they enjoyed the author’s Batman work slightly more.

Lastly, Rob and Wilk describe their sordid gripping life on the road finding creepy motels to stay at near Ryan, as well as their secret-agenda-quest / real reason for coming to Chicago: to watch grunge rockers “Pearl Jam” live at Wrigley Field.

-Ryan

 

WRITTEN BOOK REVIEWS:

“Sin City” by Frank Miller (select graphic novels)

 

 

 

 

 

• “The Hard Goodbye (April 1991 – May 1992)” (V1)
• “A Dame to Kill For (November 1993 – May 1994)” (V2)
• “The Big Fat Kill (November 1994 – March 1995)” (V3)
• “That Yellow Bastard (February 1996 – July 1996)” (V4)
• “Booze, Broads, and Bullets (1998)” (V6)

*** * ***

Ryan: 5 Stars “…Imagine getting punched in the gut by some rogue lunatic underworld gladiator who promptly collapses into your kitchen chair and chomps down on a bowl of cheerios with his oversized mitts as you crouch on the floor stunned and drooling blood…there’s a knock on the door and you pick up your corpse of a body to stare through the peephole at a knife-wielding leather-clad dame grimacing while rare classic cars skid onto the scene followed by screaming cop sirens tolling in debauchery and corruption…then the color drops out and real nice like everything goes noir…”

Wilk: 4 Stars “…a juxtaposition of provocation with expectation…vice was not rewarded, but it was celebrated at the same time…”

Rob: 4 Stars “…I think there’s some seminal works that rank above this that are five star works, but it’s right there on the cusp…it’s awesome. I really enjoyed it…”

(Click the links to read full written reviews on Goodreads.com)

 

FUN FACTOIDS:

Frank Miller is a legend in the comic world. As mentioned in the episode, he inspired many other artists including the creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Here is an article called “The fascinating origin story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” by Andrew Farago for The Week on that origin story with early sketch work: https://theweek.com/captured/446321/fascinating-origin-story-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles.

The Guardian article referenced in the episode about Frank Miller’s past troubles was an interview by Sam Theilman and called “Frank Miller: ‘I wasn’t thinking clearly when I said those things'” and it can be read here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/27/frank-miller-xerxes-cursed-sin-city-the-dark-knight-returns.

On the podcast Wilk mentioned the all-things-horror themed Facebook page “Major Horror” run by his wife and past show guest, Laura Valle, which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/welovescary/. The Michigan comic book store mentioned by Rob and Wilk during our recording is called “Vault of Midnight” and it can be found online here: https://www.vaultofmidnight.com/.

Lastly, much was made of Wilk and Rob’s true purpose behind their journey to visit Ryan–that being a concert at Wrigley Stadium by the famous grunge rock group Pearl Jam! The duo had a blast joining other friends (including former co-host Beam)! After the concert they joined Ryan at Dole’s abode for more fun before finally settling in to a new hotel (one less worrisome). Below is some pics (taken by Rob, Beam or Dave A) and promo images of the concert they attended:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.