Mark Millar, known for Kick-Ass and Kingsmen: The Secret Service; he’s also responsible for a lot of controversies like Civil War. But did you know that there’s more to this entrepreneur than meets the eye? Welcome to Creative Highlights, which covers the careers and beliefs of comic makers.
Mark Millar: Trials and Error
Millar is for lack of a better term, the runt of a litter. Born in Coatbridge, Scotland to older parents and siblings with a decade or two in age gaps, he learned to read through comics. His first exposure is actually the end of the Silver Age with the Spider-Man issue The Death of Gwen Stacy. However to balance that bleakness spearheading in Marvel, Millar also takes up his interest with DC’s Superman. These characters prove to be so notable, that they quite literally cover his First Communion.
His family meanwhile are less enthused about all of this growing up. His parents discouraged his “childish” pursuits in part of their old fashioned beliefs. Yet it’s safe to say that interest in superheroes is what pushed Millar to study advanced sciences. He even wanted to save lives for a while by becoming a doctor, but things didn’t work out. Heck, he had to drop out of college after his parents died and couldn’t afford the tuition. So he went to his “Mum and Dad” (“Alan Moore” and Frank Miller) to advice.
The Chance Encounter
With the Bronze Age masterpieces of these two legendary writers, Millar began work in a fanzine. If my job at Monkeys Fighting Robots is an indication, he probably didn’t receive much payment. But he did get the ultimate payment in the form of an encounter with Grant Morrison. Morrison urges the struggling creator to focus on one characteristic in comics. For Millar that’s writing and with a portfolio ready, Millar begins his career in 2000 AD.
Millar and Morrison would work on a lot of early projects together starting with The Summer Offensive. Millar’s project was Maniac 5, the story of a man inside a robot body seeking vengeance on the authorities who wronged him. Millar and Morrison then collaborate for Big Dave, a wacky series about a muscleman and his random adventures. In essence, this is the pair trying to combine the Silver Age of comics with the real world politics of the Bronze Age. Unfortunately, this is also what comes to separate the pair later on.
Mark Millar: Opposing Sides
When Millar and Morrison’s exploits reach the states, they work together for a couple of runs in DC. Evidently, there was a lot of friction between the two. After Morrison‘s run with Animal Man, he wanted to do little with the grim and gritty. For Morrison, this was just the company’s excuse to have more cynical stories. Millar meanwhile wanted to embrace the trend after seeing how Morrison wanted to subvert Moore’s Swamp Thing. While the pair manage to do a decent run with The Flash, after their series Aztek they part ways.
Millar tries to send a lot of pitches but without Morrison’s recommendations, they are rejected. Eventually, DC puts Millar together with The Authority after Warren Ellis departs. This title is where Millar begins his descent into cynicism with The Authority changing its directives. In opposition of Ellis’ message of hope even in the bleakest of times, Millar has the team be more authoritarian. But that’s just the cake batter, the rest tastes more bitter.
Ultimate Pessimism
The icing to that cake comes in the form of the Ultimate Marvel Universe. With Brian Michael Bendis, Millar created a new continuity without a reboot. This allowed for new readers to jump into the Marvel Universe more easily. Unfortunately, while Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man reintroduces a light-hearted coming of age hero; Millar’s work brings out a needlessly dark undertone. The Ultimates (Ultimate Marvel’s Avengers) have a decent start but it eventually turns into a complete mockery of the source material. Characters like Captain America and Giant-Man, are much less heroic and more like exaggerated monstrosities.
Ultimate X-Men did not fare much better. Everything starts off interesting but afterwards, the series tears apart what makes it notable. For the X-Men, their main appeal is how their villains display the different sides of representation opposition. Magneto however acts more like a maniacal overlord than someone with fair enough points. This viewpoint becomes so notable, that it starts to effect the main Marvel line.
Heroes Are All Losers
Despite the controversies, Millar still brings in the sales. So to keep hype going, Marvel allows Millar to bring his topics into the main Marvel line. Beginning with Wolverine, Millar shows Logan at his most fierce in years after his brainwashing by the Hand. Enemy of the State is essentially an action movie that can very well serve as Logan’s introduction to the MCU. The reason is mainly because it shows Logan at his meanest but also his most vulnerable. Logan is still very much haunted by his years of brainwashing; as if Millar is trying to tell to Marvel not to rely on Wolverine too much.
A similar message came in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man. The story plays out like a half-baked conspiracy theory that never gets a resolution. Spider-Man is told that everything in his life is played out like a theater. But that’s never confirmed or denied thanks to a brainwashed Dr. Octopus. Millar seems to channeling one of his influences, Garth Ennis here.
The Movie Material
Other Ennis influences leads to the creation of Old Man Logan. This post-apocalyptic western shows the former Wolverine filled with guilt and trauma. The world meanwhile has been taken over by supervillains thanks to their superior numbers. At the end, Logan loses everything again including his family; but there is still hope for him in the form of a baby Hulk. If only that hope could come out in the main Marvel lines.
The main Marvel series features Civil War, using some of the worst of Millar’s material. Originally developed as an Ultimate Marvel story, the main Marvel lines wanted to revitalize their content. To do so however meant throwing out what made Marvel so lovable in the first place. Spider-Man for example became little more than a mouthpiece for Civil War to just do whatever Marvel wanted. Due to Millar’s unfamiliarity with the characters, he sticks with their Ultimate depictions. As such Millar and Marvel’s editorial staff run amok with an ending that Millar didn’t even choose.
Mark Millar and His Icons
With Civil War behind him, Millar continues his contract with a number of hits and misses. The Fantastic Four for example has too much going for it to be coherent; essentially learning nothing from his Ultimate take. The only reason he stays at Marvel at all is because of their Icon imprint. It’s there that Millar develops his creator-owned series like Kick-Ass.
Kick-Ass is a continuation of Millar’s dark and cynical humor. It as well as Wanted tell audiences that wanting something other than a mundane life is just plain stupid. The reason being is because the person desiring such is either crazy or a sociopath. Unfortunately they come with an accidental message saying that mundane life is just as bad. TV Tropes goes into a lot of detail about this, including his very pessimistic outlook on comic fans. However, even the biggest cynics get tired of their negativity; for Millar it comes in the form of his arguably favorite character, Superman.
You Don’t Mess With the Man of Steel
Superman, as one of Millar’s first looks into superheroes, serves a very important role to him. Superman Adventures, helps recreate the Superman: Animated Series for a truly all-ages fun time. Even when tweaking the formula a bit, Superman is an enjoyable read. Superman: Red Son shows that even with a different origin, the Man of Steel tries to do good; unfortunately due to the nature of the Soviet Union, he gets too deep into the political end. It requires a big shake-up from Lex Luthor to get Supes out of his delusions. For Millar though, life imitates art.
Not his own art though, when Millar watches Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, he is appalled. While Millar can be a cynic, he is not an objectivist. Seeing Superman in such a bleak world and bending himself to it goes against what made Millar inspired by him in the first place. Ironically, Millar takes his former mentor’s words of confusing realism with pessimism to heart. So he uses this opportunity to look at his own controversies and tries to make up for it.
Mark Millar and His Supermen
Superior for example is a story about fandom; one about a disabled boy coming to terms with his mental illness and his fanboy status. But unlike his previous series, Superior is saying it’s okay to be a fan. For people like the title character, Simon Pooni, it’s what pushes them to better themselves. Even the people behind the classic Superior and his in-universe franchise get revitalized by Simon’s actions. For Simon though, he comes to accept that despite his condition, his own life still matters.
A mundane life will certainly let you down, but it is rather satisfying for some people. In Huck, the title character is a superhuman who spends his days as a gas station attendant. He isn’t looking to save the world, just help whoever he can in his simple life. Huck even makes use of his superhuman physique to just give lost items back to people. For a man like him, it’s just enough to do good deeds. Who needs anti-heroes when everyday life can fill a person’s world.
Mark Millar Creates His Own World
In Millar’s case, that’s his own world of heroes and genre plots. Moving on to Image Comics for more creative freedoms, Millar starts the beginning of his own brand. With so many of his works made into movies like Kick-Ass and Kingsmen; Millarworld gives not just a connection between all of his work but Millar finally realized. No longer held back by his past cynicism or employment contracts, Mark Millar becomes a household name.
Some of Millarworld’s earliest work involve the Millar style cynicism like Nemesis. Then there’s the Flash powers tribute of MPH which has a lighter tone. But in terms of superheroes the biggest contribution is Jupiter’s Legacy and its prequel Jupiter’s Circle. The Jupiter’s franchise is essentially about the role of heroes in a modern world. Unlike The Authority though, it’s a character driven franchise that speaks about how these heroes are still people. While they have flaws they still try to do the best they can. It’s also the point of the kids of these heroes to make their own impact. They think their parents had it all, but they’re just lamenting being in their parent’s shadow. The Netflix show hopefully does this premise justice.
Mark Millar Reaches For the Stars
Among the other series in the Netflix catalogue is Chrononauts. Most series that deal with time travel have gotten so old that Rick and Morty literally shelves it. But in all honesty, it’s more important to just have fun with it. Paradoxes and philosophies take a back seat for a bromance. For that matter, science-fiction is essentially a ride in Millarworld. From the Flash Gordon-esque adventures of Starlight to the galactic empires of Empress. Magic is certainly not out of place with the Magic Order.
Mark Millar Keeps Up The Magic
Mark Millar certainly has a reputation for his creative magic. To some people, he’s an imaginative writer who thinks of interesting topics. To others, he’s a bummer who kills people’s vibes, just ask Morrison or Ellis. But anyone who’s gone through life like he has is bound to have some ups and downs. It’s coming to realizations and loving what you do is what really matters.
But what do you all think? Leave your comments below.
Thanks for coming and as always, remember to look between the panels.