Semi-related question that I've been wondering about for nearly 2 years... I'm pretty sure ManBat could probably answer this easily...
Which script did Miller write first- AllStar 1-6 or the Spirit film? I know he worked on them semi-simultaneously, but there is so much repetition in ideas between the two scripts, and I'm curious as to which came first. I'm absolutely not trying to knock Miller... I obviously care enough that I'm familiar with both scripts.
What I'm talking about are scenarios like:
The Spirit is running across rooftops, talking to himself about how much he is in love with his city and stops to save a woman from being mugged in an alley. Tells her to call her shrink if she has one.
The G-D Batman is running across rooftops, talking to himself about how much he is in love with his city and stops to save a woman from being mugged in an alley. Tells her to call her shrink if she has one.
The Spirit ends up in a near love making scene after a major battle, and is told "Keep your mask on. Something tells me it will be better that way".
The G-D Batman has a love making scene after a major battle, and narrates the idea "We keep our masks on. It's better that way".
Those are two of multiple echoes between both scripts, and I know Miller likes to repeat themes. I'm simply curious as to which he worked on first.
There are similarities with those two Spirit and Batman scenes but there are also big differences in those two scenes, reflecting the differences between the nice, gentlemanly, clumsy, tongue-in-cheek Spirit and the creepy, brutal, vicious, terror striking Batman. Frank Miller wants Batman to creep you out.
MILLER: Oh, that was deliberate. Yeah. Because I long ago determined that a character like Batman can only be defined as a terrorist if his motto is striking terror. I didnt want to dodge it and also, I wanted Batman to creep you out. That I wanted from the start. I dont want you to like this guy.
TCJ: Hes also the hero. How do you reconcile those two the terrorist being the hero?
MILLER: He is a hero, but heroes dont have to be likable. I mean, if you really look at Sean Connerys James Bond, hes charming, hes brilliant, but hes really a dick.
TCJ: Yeah. You wouldnt like him if you met him.
MILLER: Yeah. My feeling about Batman is that hes similar in that youd want him to be there when youre being mugged, but you wouldnt want to have dinner with him.
http://www.4thletter.net/2009/04/sons-of-dkr-frank-miller-x-tcj/
BARBARA BOGAEV: You know, as a kid, when you read about this guy who dresses like a bat, you just really swallow it whole. You think, oh sure, he gets to be a superhero and dress up, cool. But, when you think about it, what kind of guy would dress up like a bat? You've gotta be a weirdo.
FRANK MILLER: What you just said, Barbara, is a lot of where I come from. When I handle these superheroes, I like to step back and take a look at them and go, what kind of a person would really do this? What kind of a person would dress up like a bat and throw people through windows? And, I looked at what they'd done with the character and he's spent so much time being deputized and being this nice guy and, god forbid, a role-model for kids, and I realized, no, this would be a very, very strange man. And I don't think he'd be a particularly nice person to be around. So he'd be the guy you'd want to have around when your threatened by a criminal, but you probably wouldn't want to have dinner with him.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=841850
The Spirit saves a damsel in distress from being mugged by two muggers and humorously throws one of them into a garbage can. The Spirit was stabbed with one of the muggers knifes and humorously didn't notice. Batman saves a woman from being raped by two rapists and breaks one of the men's arms with a compound fracture that Batman viciously taunts "will never heal" and brutally beats the other rapist into a bloody pulp.
That was in All-Star Batman & Robin #5 and wasn't released until May 16, 2007 because of Jim Lee's long art delays.
The Spirit has a romantic scene with his girlfriend, the love of his life, Ellen Dolan in her office, while Batman has creepy sleazy sex with Black Canary outside in the rain.
That was in All-Star Batman & Robin #7 and wasn't released until September 24, 2007 because of Jim Lee's long delays with the art. Frank Miller began writing the Batman scripts for the series in 2004 and the series was announced by DC in January 2005. All-Star Batman & Robin #1 was released on July 13, 2005.
The Spirit The Movie Visual Companion book by Mark Cotta Vaz explains that Frank Miller worked on the Spirit script over a six-month period in 2006 and by January of 2007 had the final script completed.
She instantly became the most mindless superhero in existence.
