Cover Story
Excerpts from Frank Miller’s Acceptance Speech I’m not going to thank anybody. The list is too long, I owe too many people way too much so I’m going to skip the thank you parts and all I really want to do is pass along a lesson I learned from three mentors [Will Eisner, Neal Adams and Robert Rodriguez] in my life. And that is: drama is drama, character is character, death is death, sex is sex and blood is blood. And I think that having comic books in these awards is a really big step, because we comic book folks really want to stand shoulder to shoulder with all the other media that just a few decades ago completely disdained us. And we offer the other media our best. And we hope to learn a lot from you. So ... take me to school.
Jessica Alba and Ben Affleck present Frank Miller with the first-ever Comic-Con Icon Award on Spike TV.
us, having a tie-in with Comic-Con was not only a great way to be connected to the fans, but also a huge honor and a really cool way to kick off our show.” When it came to who would receive the first Comic-Con Icon Award, the selection was an easy one. “Frank Miller was the perfect choice for our first Icon Award, because he has been so instrumental in bringing comics to a wider audience,” said Glanzer. Miller’s twenty-five plus years as a major force in comics, on such high profile projects as Daredevil, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and 300, which debuts as a major motion picture from Warner Brothers in theaters March 9, made him the obvious choice. He’s also one of the few comics creators to cross over into directing, with the big screen adaptation of Sin City, along with co-director Robert Rodriguez, also a Scream Award recipient. (See the sidebar article for Miller’s acceptance remarks.) Levitt, who was executive producer of the Billboard Music Awards, World Music Awards, TV Land Awards, and the Producers Guild Awards, talked about how different the new Spike TV event was. “The Scream Awards was unlike any other award show I have previously produced. Because the genres of horror, sci-fi and fantasy are inherently exciting, visual, and creative, it gave us unlimited opportunities to really break the award show mold. The show found its groove in year one and I loved the anti-award show vibe that was created in the room by the talent and the audience.” Glanzer was at the show’s taping and had these observations. “When Ben Affleck and Jessica Alba (they presented the ComicCon Icon Award to Miller) stepped on stage, the audience went crazy, and I couldn’t help but feel proud when they began to talk about the San Diego Comic-Con and what a mega event it has become. I was proud for everyone who has ever worked on the convention, for everyone who has ever walked through the doors as a fan, and for everyone who gave and continues to give so generously of their time and talent to serve as program participants.”
Photo (left): Albert Ortega