Mark Millar = ________

Steve: I have to go with Tarantino for this one. As much fun as I find his movies to be, he’s an overly cocky guy who ultimately gets by (for the most part) on shock and flash. Millar’s very much made in the same mold, both in the over-confident public persona department as well as the over the top storytelling tendencies with an intense love for shocking twists, scenes, character behaviors, etc., often at the expense of the actual plot itself.. If it was physically possible for Millar to insert himself into his comics, I guarantee he’d write himself a cameo in every one.

One thing they aren’t altogether similar in is their ability - or in Millar’s case, inability - to write a decent ending. Leaving the mess that was “Death Proof” aside, Tarantino generally wraps things up nicely in his stories, as opposed to Millar’s tendency to seem to remember at the last minute that he’s on the last chapter of whatever arc he’s working on and “Oh shit, I need to wrap this up STAT!” Still, for the most part, I see more similarities than differences.

Andrew: With Millar I don’t see that comparison at all. As far as Tarantino goes, I think Garth Ennis is the (almost too) obvious analogy there since he seems highly inspired by The Q’s style and aesthetic. Not to mention Tarantino dabbles in skillful, dialog-heavy cult film genre mash-ups of noir, blaxploitation, and kung-fu, and Millar’s work is usually an action-oriented, poor man’s version of the epic and confrontational “widescreen” (sorry…) fantasy/sci-fi superheroisms of Morrison and Ellis. True, Millar and Tarantino are both deeply concerned with The Cool, but that’s where the similarity ends.

No, I think Millar more closely resembles another cultishly adored and highly successful director: Michael Bay. Unabashedly big and corny and unafraid to please the crowd with well-worn cliches and elaborate, ridiculous set pieces, both Millar and Bay are brash, and they both think and create huge. Tiny little distractions like plot and character and plausibility and realistic conclusions become secondary to the overall excitement and style of the ride. Not sure if Michael Bay will ever come up with something as nifty as “Red Son,” though…

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