Sin City

Rating:
Summary: Complex, But Yet Simple
Review: Frank Miller is one of the greatest in the comic industry. He brought out a darker Batman and a darker Gotham in The Return of the Dark Knight. This is the first book in the award-winning Sin City series, a modern/contemporary crime comic. The book is innovative in many ways. The black and white panels are very interesting. The characters are very complex, and the story is quite... 'different.' Although, it is very simple. Too simple. This is a 'must have' for any comics fan. It has good story, complex characters, and very powerful art. But, if you read mainstream comics, don't buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: It just doesn't get better than this
Review: Frank Miller is the beatles! Being a teenager in the eighties was fairly devoid of revoultionary inspiration, especially in the artistic realms. Then i read the dark knight returns, i can only imagine it was a similar experience for those teenagers in the sixties hearing revolver for the first time. A quantum leap in expectation and experience happened, suddenly a whole new world of possibilites became tangable. Miller's genius is palpable. Someone said "talent is making what others find hard to do easy and genius is making what talent finds hard to do easy." Millers writing is effortless in it's dance with the forms, i.e. they are inseperable.
But it is the art work! To put it as best i can it brings tears to my eyes every time and makes my heart open. His love of what he's doing is plainly obvious, he loves these characters and they're beauty is shining through. He is accomplishing what all artists strive for: To capture the soul.
Sin City is a rough place, the collective content of the darker aspects of our humanity boiled up in a steaming stew. And for people who don't want to see they find only violence and the expressions of their own fears. But the human spirit shines brightest in the worst depths, the creative spirit is unstopable, just look at rap music. The politics of the situation doesn't detract from the heroism, Marv is a gritty, Johnny Cash hero.
As Bill Hicks says all it takes is the right bar and the wrong woman, and who knows where we'll land. This book touches spots.

Rating:
Summary: Awsome !!!!
Review: Frank Miller once again shows his talent at creating a dark, gritty atmosphere that draws you into the story from the first page. At first, I considered not reading it because it is strictly in black and white. However, once you're deep into Marv's world(about four or five pages), you don't even notice the lack of vibrant colors. Again, this is a very dark and gritty story with dark and gritty art. I can't over-emphasize that aspect of this graphic novel. Marv is a hardcore brawler and killer with a heart of gold, and his quest for vengeance takes him through the ugliest of circumstances. This book is NOT for the faint of heart!

But, all things considered, you can't help but root for this psychotic thug as he pummels and tortures his way to the truth. His very dark sense of humor allows a minor reprieve from the violence, and the lack of humor dampens the graphic fight scenes. And at the tragic end, you'll almost want to cry as everything winds down, wishing the story, and Marv, could live on. But the loose ends are wrapped up nicely, and this installment of the Sin City series closes gracefully. A must read for fans of Miller's work.


Rating:
Summary: Sinfully Delicious
Review: Frank Miller sure knows how to both write and draw an awesome book. In a town practically owned by prostitutes Marv, a real nasty customer, is framed for the murder of a prostitute and he decides to find out who did it. As Marv unravels the mystery he must face a seemingly emotionless serial killer, Various thugs and some prostitutes whose leader looks awfully familiar. Is there anyway Marv can survive this city. The answer might shock you.
Frank Miller refuses to pull punches with his first tale of the the city that sin built and by my opinion it's my favourite. The characters are likable SOBs, or in the villains' case unlikable SOBs. The use of shadows and light is very effective and engaing, while giving the comic a very special feel that would be ruined by using a rainbow of colors. Hell, I wonder is Basin City ever gets rainbows. Though it doesn't have the feel of an epic poem that "the Dark Knight Returns had, it is definately a very solid and exciting tale of revenge.

Rating:
Summary: Frank Miller proves that his best work is yet to come.
Review: Frank Miller, the man who masterminded The Dark Knight Returns, Ronin, and Elektra, once again shocks audiences with Sin City. Marv, a guy who couldn't afford a hooker with all the money in the world because he's so ugly, gets one amazing night with his dream girl. When he wakes up the next day to find her dead, Marv vows to get back in a big way on the people that did in the only person who was ever nice to him. The artwork is phenomenal, and it creates a perfect atmosphere for the setting Miller creates. Marv is as close to real as a fictitious character can get. With excellent narrative, Miller combines great art and a great story together and creates some of his best work yet.

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING.
Review: Get dark. Get bloody dark.

This tale of twisted love and satisfying vengeance breaks the mold of comic art and plot.

Sin City comes at you with pummeling force. In pure Film Noir tradtion, the characters are gritty and tough. The females aren't women but dames. The Scenes are rendered in pure black and white that adds to the clear distinction between good and evil set by the story.

You wont find subleties here. The plot is straightforward, just like the dialogue. The action is quick and inventive. The violence gruesome (barbed wire laced with razor-blades to begin with).

The true subtlety of this book is its very existence. Nothing is quite like it. No one will even dare. Except maybe Frank Miller.

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING.
Review: Get dark. Get bloody dark.

This tale of twisted love and satisfying vengeance breaks the mold of comic art and plot.

Sin City comes at you with pummeling force. In pure Film Noir tradtion, the characters are gritty and tough. The females aren't women but dames. The Scenes are rendered in pure black and white that adds to the clear distinction between good and evil set by the story.

You wont find subleties here. The plot is straightforward, just like the dialogue. The action is quick and inventive. The violence gruesome (barbed wire laced with razor-blades to begin with).

The true subtlety of this book is its very existence. Nothing is quite like it. No one will even dare. Except maybe Frank Miller.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the only comics I still read
Review: I could never understand what the rave about Frank Miller's work was until I read Sin City. I read the entire book in one sitting, and reread it again and again the the same fashion. Miller has placed well used crime story formulas in comic books and made them fun again. It is great to look on the shelf and see someone who looks like someone I know, and not just another Superman clone dressed in cheap spandex and corporate marketing. He has given me inspriation to try new things in my own comic book Metro City's Finest. Thanks Frank!

Rating:
Summary: Noir Perfected
Review: I don't mean to categorize Frank Miller's "Sin City" by saying it is "noir perfected," but I feel that what this book does, it does perfectly. It's a dark, gritty, intense drama about a crime through the eyes of a murderer who is not guilty of the murder he is accused of. In real life, Marv, Goldie, Nancy, and the rest of Miller's "Sin City" cast would be the individuals most of us tend to stay away from. They live in the grossest most beaten down parts of a town that is famed for its gross beaten down borroughs. Yet, the cast of characters Miller assembles around Marv make his character, and more importantly this story, one of the most oddly likable in comics.

Marv is not an antihero. He's not a recluse like Spawn who is locked in some eternal denial of his reality yet constantly wants to change it. Marv loves and accepts the fact that he lives outside the lines, 'caise afterall, doesn't somebody always?

This late in the "Sin City" game, I can only guess that those of you who pick this up are interested because of the Robert Rodriguez film that comes out April 1, 2005. For those of you, I highly recommend this book, because while the "Sin City" movie contains more "Sin City" story than this TPB alone, you can instantly realize how well adapted this movie will be when you read the first 20 pages and then watch the preview. Rodriguez was wise to allow Miller to co-direct the "Sin City" film because it appears as though it will be the truest comic book film of all time. If you think the movie looks intriguing, please read this book first because it'll not only give you a deeper idea on the character of Marv, but'll change the way a lot of you look at comics simply because of how Frank Miller works.



Rating:
Summary: Brings noir to the present in style
Review: I found Miller's technique in this first Sin City novel flawless. There's some criticisms below about the story, but I disagree. Miller's tale is dead-on for what he was trying to do: carve a fast-paced tale in a style similar to Hammett, Chandler, Spillane, etc. while retaining his own mannerisms and dark humor. I loved this roller-coaster.