Frank Miller’s cover to Kamandi Challenge #12
There’s something weirdly mythic to Miller’s post-2000 work to me. He distort and flattens bodies in a way that I’m not totally sure is intentional, but adds to this digital shamanism he’s been tapping into since DK2, for better or worse. Mostly better, I’d say. The gorilla peep in the back is like Ursus’ nightmare cousin and Kamandi himself is this Iggy Pop Tarzan figure who’s completely divorced from the material inside this issue but also a fascinating hypothetical evolution of Kamandi.
It’s weird because so much of Miller’s work is the most mainstream comics imaginable. Like, you can’t swing a copy of Watchmen around a college party without six drunk fratboys wanting to talk about Dark Knight Returns with you, but there’s this weirdly subversive, angry queer aspect that I really love. Bodies are this nightmare space of pain and violence that we can never truly escape, but we can transcend through love. Metaphorically in DKR and literally in Ronin. Samurai Jack was a huge Ronin love letter, but abandons the actual themes of that book for pure aesthetic, which ends up more in line with early career Mignola anyway.
I digress: Miller is dope, he’s making another Xerxes comic, I’m gay, bye
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