Sin City

Sin City is a series of neo-noir comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" (April 1991), and continued in "Dark Horse Presents" #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of "Sin City", serialized in thirteen parts. Several other stories of variable lengths have followed. The intertwining stories, with frequently recurring characters, take place in Basin City.
A film adaptation of "Sin City", co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, was released on April 1, 2005. A sequel, "", was released on August 22, 2014.
Publication history.
Writer-artist Frank Miller rose to fame within the American comics industry with his 1981–1983 work on Marvel Comics' "Daredevil", and the 1986 DC Comics miniseries "The Dark Knight Returns", both of which exhibited subtle elements of film noir. Miller's venture into the film noir genre would deepen with his creator-owned series "Sin City", which began publishing in serialized form in the Dark Horse Comics anthology series "Dark Horse Presents" #51–62. The story was released in a trade paperback, and later re-released in 1995 under the name "".
In a 2016 interview with the Kubert School, Miller explained his inspiration for "Sin City" thus:
I've been a fanatic for a long time for old crime movies and old crime novels. But it started with the movies. And the old Cagney movies. Bogart and all that. I loved just how the morals of the stories are. They're all about right and wrong. But in "Sin City" in particular I wanted them all to happen to in a world where virtuous behavior was rare, which greatly resembled the world I lived in. It's kinda like the old Rolling Stones song, where every cop's a criminal, and all the sinners are saints, where the lowlifes would often be heroic, and the most stridently beautiful and sweet women would be prostitutes. I wanted it to be a world out of balance, where virtue is defined by individuals in difficult situations, not by an overwhelming sense of goodness that was somehow governed by this godlike Comics Code.
The film noir influence on the series' artwork is seen in its use of shadow and stark backgrounds. Black and white are the sole colors most of the time, with exception of red, yellow, blue, and pink, of which limited use is made in some stories to draw attention to particular characters.
The writing style also draws heavily on detective and crime pulp fiction.
Miller's "Sin City" work challenges some conventions of comic book form. The letters of onomatopoeic words like "blam" are often incorporated into scenes via lighting effects, or are suggested by the negative space between panels, or are created by the outline of the panels themselves. This is especially evident in early "yarns," such as "The Hard Goodbye", which were more experimental.
On April 28, 2022, it was officially announced that Miller was launching the comic book publishing company Frank Miller Presents (FMP), with one of his initial contributions being a Western tale set in Sin City's past, titled "Sin City 1858".
Setting.
Basin City, almost universally referred to by the nickname "Sin City", is a fictional town in the Western United States. The climate is hot and arid, although Sacred Oaks is characterized as being heavily wooded. A major river runs through the city, which has an extensive waterfront. Usually twice a year, a major downpour comes, and the city is prone to heavy snowfall in the winter. Desert lizards and palm trees are common, while tar pits, desert areas, mountain ranges and flat farmland make up the landscape around the city.
The Basin City Police Department are more or less along the lines of paramilitary or SWAT, as they have to deal with incredibly high crime rates among criminals and civilians alike, which is why they have access to what most would consider "heavy weaponry" and full body armor. Those who make up the force have been described as commonly being lazy, cowardly and/or corrupt. Only a handful of the cops are honest, though frequently the wealthy of the city bribe the corrupt members of the police into performing their duty (usually as a result of some crime being committed or threatened against a member of their family).
During the California Gold Rush, the Roark family "imported" a large number of attractive women to keep the miners happy, making a fortune and turning a struggling mining camp into a thriving, bustling city. Over the years, as the Roark family migrated into other areas of business and power, these women ended up forming the district of Old Town, the prostitute quarter of the city where they rule with absolute authority. In addition, the people charged with governing the city, most of them from the Roark line, remained in power for generations, running it as they saw fit.
As the various yarns progress, the audience gradually becomes familiar with key locations in and around Basin City:
Characters.
Organizations.
Because a large majority of the residents of Basin City are criminals, there are several organizations and cartels central to the stories who are vying for monopoly over the various criminal enterprises in the city. Listed below are crime syndicates, gangs and other low-lifes who figure heavily in the Sin City mythos.
The Basin City Police Department: So deep does corruption and criminality run in Basin City that even their police officers qualify as a gang of paid thugs, turning a blind eye to the affairs of those too poor to pay them off. Few among them are considered incorruptible; even the honest officers are unable (or unwilling) to curtail the criminal actions of the dishonest ones. Notable characters in the series who are police include Detective John Hartigan, his partner Bob, Lieutenants Jack Rafferty and Mort, Commissioner Liebowitz, and Officers Manson and Bundy from "Hell and Back".
Roark family: A dynasty of corrupt landowners and politicians whose influence over Basin City has stretched as far back as the days of the Old West. Famous Roarks of this generation include a senator, a cardinal, an attorney general, and Roark Junior, 'That Yellow Bastard'.
The Girls of Old Town: Populating the region of Basin City known as Old Town is a group of women in the world's oldest profession, having made a truce with the cops to allow them to govern and police themselves. As of "A Dame to Kill For", they were led by the twins, Goldie and Wendy.
Wallenquist Organization: A powerful crime syndicate led by Herr Wallenquist, a mysterious crime lord with a broad range of criminal enterprises to his name. Although they are one of the city's two "normal" criminal organizations, the Wallenquist management seems to be the most peaceful and forgiving of the various leaders. It is unknown which crime rings they hold.
Magliozzi Crime Family: The undisputed heads of the local Cosa Nostra, the Magliozzi family seems to be the purest example of "true" Mafia lifestyle. While they appear in only one story, it is hinted that the Mafia influence in Basin City's underworld is a lot larger than just their family and that there are more families.
Other groups that have been seen or mentioned in the comics include:
Tong gangsters: Mentioned, but not seen as of "A Dame to Kill For". Miho's life was saved by Dwight when he secretly protected her during a fight with several Tong gangsters in a dark alleyway.
White slavers: Mentioned, but not seen as of "A Dame to Kill For". Led by a man named Manuel, whose brothers were also involved. Were "taken care of" by Dwight prior to the events of "A Dame to Kill For".
Irish mercenaries: Seen during "The Big Fat Kill", most of them are evidently former IRA members, as implied by one of the mercenaries referring to his glee at blowing up a public house (British pubs were targeted by the IRA). All are killed by Dwight and Miho.
"Sin City" yarns.
These are the individual stories, usually referred to as "yarns," set in Frank Miller's Sin City universe.
Collected editions.
The stories have been collected into a number of trade paperbacks and hardcover editions. There is also a collection of art, "The Art of Sin City".
In 2016, Dark Horse Comics released an ambitious, oversized edition titled "Frank Miller’s Sin City The Hard Goodbye Curator’s Collection". This 15 x 21 inch book reprints the entire first storyline, scanned and reproduced exactly from the original art at 1:1 size. When referencing the production process in an interview with Michael Dooley for Print Magazine, editor/designer John Lind gave the anecdote “When Frank and I first reviewed some of the scanned pages from "Sin City", he pulled one aside and said, ‘You can see details in some of the scans where you can tell what the humidity was like when I was lettering because you can see the smudging from my hand.’ That type of reaction represents the level of detail I'm working hard to achieve with the production.
Adaptations.
Films.
A film adaptation of "Sin City", co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, was released on April 1, 2005. A sequel, "", was released on August 22, 2014.
Television.
Dimension Films planned to develop a soft reboot of the series for television; Stephen L’Heureux who produced the second film was to oversee the series with "Sin City" creator Frank Miller. The new TV series would feature new characters and timelines and be more like the comics rather than the films. On November 15, 2019, Legendary Pictures bought the rights for the television series.