THE story of '300' the popular comic book mini-series and, soon, a film from Warner Brothers began when Frank Miller, the series's creator, was 6. The year was 1963, and 'The 300 Spartans' was in theaters. In this telling of the battle of Thermopylae, Richard Egan played the Greek king Leonidas, who in 480 B.C. led 300 warriors in a doomed battle against the much larger Persian army, and David Farrar, regal in robes of purple and green, was the Persian king Xerxes. The film's dialogue and staging may seem a bit quaint now. But the young Mr. Miller was stunned as he watched its climax, in which the few remaining Spartans are slaughtered in a hail of arrows."It was a shocker, because the heroes died," Mr. Miller said in a recent telephone interview. "I was used to seeing Superman punch out planets. It was an epiphany to realize that the hero wasn't necessarily the guy who won.... I tend to be drawn to characters who might die disgraced to the world, who technically lose whatever combat they're in but win the moral victory," Mr. Miller said.More...
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