As a neo-noir classic, Frank Miller’s Sin City is considered one of the most popular and controversial works in the comics industry. In this short paper, it will be investigated how Miller injects noir into the first volume of the series.
Figure 1. Cover Art of the First Volume's TPB
“The Hard Goodbye” adopts many different elements from classic noir movies, including the setting, stereotypes, visual style, and story arc. The story takes place in the fictional urban setting called “Basin City”. As expected from the world of a noir-influenced work, “gloom” and “corruption” are the two keywords that define the city best.
Throughout his story arc, Marvin, the protagonist of the volume, visits the signature locations of a noir narration such as dark streets, bleak apartments, strip clubs, and the den of the evil character. In this volume, Miller also does not pass over an important tradition of the genre: placing the climax to a visually complex setting. In most film noirs, the resolution of the story takes place in a somewhat unusual spot such as industrial sites, or jungles, which are mostly picked from the outer parts of the city. In “The Hard Goodbye”, towards the peak level of the excitement, Miller inclines Marvin’s journey to Kevin’s farm, where he faces off against him for the second time, and also for the last time.
Figure 2. Introduction Panel of the Resolution Part
To represent the stylish mood of noir, Miller makes use of contrast and negative space in his black and white work, designed in a minimalistic manner. In addition to the mood, he also inherits the photography techniques commonly used in noir cinematography, low-key lighting, being in the first place, which strengthen his hand in the depiction of a dark story. Another visual technique that draws attention is the unusual view angles used in certain panels.
Figure 3. Example Use of Negative Space
Figure 4. Low-key Lighting Example
The volume also bears a resemblance to film-noir in terms of the personal characteristics of the protagonist. The main character, Marvin, is an anti-hero with a dark past. It is implied in several panels that he is a well-known person in the underground crime world. He mentions that he was suffering an existential crisis before meeting Goldie, revealing his “alienated” nature. His character arc perfectly fits the ones of the hard-boiled tough guys with tragic backstories in classic noir movies. To portray his inner conflict, Miller resorts to the flexibility of the first-person narrative, which is commonly used in film noir, and uses the pills as an instrument to put Marvin in the thin line between illusion and reality. Due to his paranoid nature, the suspicion of losing contact with reality preys on Marvin’s mind. An additional remark about the protagonist is, throughout his pursuit of the truth behind the murder of Goldie, Marvin frequently smokes a cigarette, which can be associated with the cynical detectives of film noir, who use cigarettes as a part of their method to solve the case.
When the noir genre is considered, bleak or tragic conclusions are more likely to happen. The Hard Goodbye keeps the tradition, with a dramatic final inner dialogue, and the cold-blooded attitude of the protagonist against his fate.
A distinct divergence from the noir genre in the volume is the role of women. Most of the classic noir works employ an ambitious femme-fatale with a strong personal character. She poses a potential threat for male characters and probably makes decisions that cause a major change in the story arc. In The Hard Goodbye, Goldie just plays the role of a spark that starts the journey of the protagonist, not much about her character is revealed. The same holds for Lucille and Wendy, they also do not shape the story majorly. However, the proper femme-fatale role is filled with a greedy Ava in the next volume, A Dame to Kill For, who is an extreme example of this archetype.
FA 489 - Graphic Novel
Boğaziçi University - Department of Western Languages and Literatures