Miller and Janson Discuss Dark Knight III and Carrie Kelley
Only two days remain before this week’s New DC Day on which the first issue of the latest installment in Frank Miller’s Dark Knight saga will be released! A huge spoiler about Dark Knight III: The Master Race was revealed yesterday, and today we bring you an interview where Miller and DK III inker Klaus Janson sat down with Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog.
Janson began by talking about Carrie Kelley and how important it was to introduce her as the first female Robin:
"Not only was the first Dark Knight ahead of its time in terms of format and storytelling, you can see something that Frank did that was way ahead of his time, in that he introduced a female Robin. And that was groundbreaking 30 years ago. People are talking about diversification these days, but Frank was doing that 30 years ago. That was an amazing, and very forward thinking, thing that Frank was doing back then."
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Miller downplayed the significance of this, responding by saying that one of the reasons he introduced Carrie was because he thought the costume looked better on a girl. Whatever Miller’s original intention was, Carrie became one of the most iconic (but also somewhat under-appreciated) Batman characters. I don’t think Carrie is the best Robin (that honor goes to Dick Grayson), but she connected with Bruce Wayne in a way that I’m not sure any of the others have. When she saves him from his first battle with the Mutant Leader, it builds a special type of trust between her and Bruce. Miller, of course, clearly recognizes her importance as well, going on to say: “She is the complete symbol of youth. She is the future, and she’s everything that Batman is working towards.”
Another highlight of the interview was Miller talking about how he enjoyed collaborating with co-writer Brian Azzarello on DK III, but how he does feel protective specifically of Batman: “When it comes to Batman, I’m a raging dictator. I’m looking hard to remind Brian about what I think the essence of the character is.” In true Frank Miller fashion, he finished off the interview by saying: “I think I’ve done a good job my entire career pissing everybody off. I hope to keep pissing people off with every single thing that I would do.”
Next: Frank Miller Announces Dark Knight IV
Read the full interview at the Heat Vision blog here. Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are about DK III, and be sure to stay tuned to Caped Crusades for the latest on Miller’s expanding Dark Knight universe and for all your Batman news!