Nov 17th 2011 By: Andy Khouri

Cartoonists Respond to Frank Miller's Anti-Occupy Rant [Webcomics]

Martha Washington Goes To War and Batman: Year One writer Frank Miller's controversial remarks about the Occupy movement have inspired passionate response from members of the comic book community, mostly in the resoundingly negative. So intense was initial reaction to Miller's tirade against the increasingly beleaguered protesters around the country -- he called them "louts, thieves and rapists," among other things -- that fellow comics writer Mark Millar stuck his neck out for the the legendary Sin City author despite the fact that he didn't even agree with Miller's politics.

Naturally, criticism of Miller has also come in the form of comics. Ty Templeton, Richard Pace and Curt Franklin & Chris Haley of Let's Be Friends Again are among the creators whose admiration of Miller has been severely mitigated as a consequence of his unfortunate outburst (and perhaps also because of his prejudicial, anti-Muslim remarks and graphic novel). You can read their cartoon responses to Miller after the cut.

(Click to enlarge)

Tags: chris haley - ChrisHaley - curt franklin - CurtFranklin - frank miller - FrankMiller - lets be friends again - LetsBeFriendsAgain - occupy movement - Occupy Wall Street - OccupyMovement - OccupyWallStreet - richard pace - RichardPace - ty templeton - TyTempleton

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guitstar1

sounds like most comic cartoonists are Thought Police. Slander and savage poor old Frank because he dares point out the obvious about these Soros puppets? The serious if misguided original occupiers are long gone---but I expect that comics will have to have a lefty-fascist Ministry of Truth stamp of approval soon.

August 28 2012 at 6:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Fischbyne

Frank Miller is a great example of a right-wing libertarian whose reactionary politics is often overlooked by readers. "Underground" was an outmoded term used perversely in the 1980s, to be followed by "alternative" and "independent." Maybe this generation will learn to place less faith in every young artist on the make. To be sure, truly opposing a system and being frustrated just because you're excluded are two totally different things.

November 29 2011 at 3:15 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jack Zigler

That Richard Pace one? Friggin' genius.

November 23 2011 at 5:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Oliver_C

For somebody so evidently, dementedly and self-righteously convinced about the superiority of North American civilization, isn’t it funny how, 30 years ago, Frank Miller was happy to rip off the graphic style of several Japanese manga artists, most notably Goseki Kojima, in order to make a name for himself?

And then, 20 years ago, he borrowed a lot from South American Jose Munoz for the look of 'Sin City'.

I mean, what, weren’t there any God-fearing Caucasian artists he could steal from?!

Also: the fedora. That Miller thinks wearing it automatically makes him into some noirish, James Elroy-esque badass may be the most pathetic aspect of his decline.

November 21 2011 at 11:23 AM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down Reply

Oliver_C

For somebody so evidently, dementedly and self-righteously convinced about the superiority of Western civilization, isn’t it funny how, 30 years ago, Frank Miller was happy to rip off the graphic style of several Japanese manga artists, most notably Goseki Kojima, in order to make a name for himself?

And then, 20 years ago, he ripped off the South American Jose Munoz as part of his 'Sin City' style.

I mean, what, weren’t there any God-fearing Caucasian artists he could steal from?!

Also: the fedora. That Miller thinks wearing it automatically makes him into some noirish, James Elroy-esque badass may be the most pathetic aspect of his decline.

November 21 2011 at 11:20 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

AnalogousGumdropDeco

People have compared him to Dave Sim, but I disagree. I liken him to Mel Gibson.

There's a rationale there, but I'm too tired to articulate it.

November 20 2011 at 3:44 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

Jack Edwards

The spirit of comic books is to allow for freedom of expression. Even if one agrees or doesn't with OWS, comics have always made the best (and, to me, the most impactful) forum for exploring through an issue. It's been troubling over the last couple of years that comics have been a forum for one side and not the other - going as far as almost being militant in the defense of that one side. It really doesn't need to be so.

Spiegelman's Maus was important as a story and as a brutally critical remark on totalitarianism - not with a hammer to the skull, but with a pen. The XMen has always been the examplar of paralleling racism and bigotry. Both done skillfully, by being inclusive instead of this contemporary tinge of elitism.

Miller has been a force in comics for a long time: now we write him off because he has a system of beliefs that differ from yours? When we quiet voices in comics, it will be the medium's demise.

November 19 2011 at 12:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to Jack Edwards's comment

dl316bh

Calling Frank Miller on his bull**** is not silencing his voice. To be blunt, I doubt what we say really matters to him or will change a thing. He's going to keep holding those opinions, probably going to keep talking about them at some point and he may even continue with more racist propaganda.

You can say that yeah, comics are a forum for one side over the others. It's true. That's because the vast majority of people into the arts are on the left. But the problem is NOT that Frank is a conservative. It's that he is insulting, painting an entire movement with broad strokes and expressing vulgar views that, naturally, people are going to take offense with.

There are conservatives in comics. Chuck Dixon for one. Ethan Van Sciver for another. They seem to be well liked among the creator community and by most fans (I like about half of Dixons work and I like Van Scivers art, while their politics factor into none of it). The difference is they haven't slung around their views in an insulting, deplorable way.

November 20 2011 at 2:44 AM Report abuse Permalink +4 rate up rate down Reply

AnalogousGumdropDeco

With the exception of country music, I'd say comics is the area of art/entertainment that is the mostly friendly to conservative creators and conservative views.

In addition to Miller, Dixon, and Van Sciver, there are also Dave Sim, Bill Willingham, Steve Ditko, and John Byrne who spring instantly to mind.

Even a lot of the supposedly liberal ideas that are expressed in comics are sort of... how shall we say this... behind the times. Not including underground comix, it wasn't until the British Invasion of the 1980s that liberal political commentary even entered into mainstream comics. If you look back to the big comics of the 1960s and early 1970s the Vietnam War controversy and the radical left were barely touched upon at all, unlike in other media where political commentary was rampant. Usually if you did see protesting college students in those old books, they were portrayed as trouble-making hooligans. Many modern liberal comic writers/artists still tell stories with paternalistic messages and have trouble depicting women respectfully. These are not conservative traits in and of themselves, but they are certainly traits that are associated with social conservatism's reluctance to relinquish the status quo. Feminism certainly was part of the left. Comics are not as overflowing with liberal ideology as they are being made out to be by a lot of the conservatives out there in the land of Fandom, where the inclusion of gay characters in a book is often perceived as pandering to the political left.

In my opinion, the problem is more that comics creators (or publishers???) seem to be too timid about politics (liberal OR conservative) or social commentary. I guess that's one thing you can say about Frank Miller... He's not afraid to put himself out there with all of his views on display for the world to scrutinize and evaluate. Even though I have no desire to purchase or read Holy Terror, I can appreciate his abilities as an illustrator and his boldness in expressing himself. I can also still dig Ronin.

And Cerebus is my favorite comic. Whatevs.

November 20 2011 at 3:39 AM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down Reply

John Trumbull

That Richard Pace one is brilliant.

November 18 2011 at 4:18 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down Reply

maxharmful

Hoorray, we`ve got us a brand new charlton heston to hate. Miller, you really are a rich spoiled brat.
Oh, and for god`s sake, please at least TRY to be good at your profession, again, ok? It`s been, what? a decade since you brought out somthing decent and i`m not even getting startet on that THE SPIRIT vomit.
OCCUPY FRANK MILLER!!

November 18 2011 at 2:55 AM Report abuse Permalink +5 rate up rate down Reply

maxharmful

Hoorray, we`ve got us a brand new charlton heston to hate....**** You, Miller. Yust F.U.C.K Y.O.U. You really are truly a rich spoiled brat.
Oh, and for god`s sake, please at least TRY to be good at your profession, again, ok? It`s been, what? a decade since you brought out somthing decent and i`m not even getting startet on that THE SPIRIT vomit.
OCCUPY FRANK ******* MILLER!!

November 18 2011 at 2:35 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply