After his iconic The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300, Frank Miller IS ?the spirit? of Comic Con. So it?s only right that while promoting his latest film based on Will Eisner?s classic comic, that Miller dress the part, clad as he was in black suit, red tie and fedora. In the Q&A panel for his Sin-City-esque-looking take on Eisner?s noir masterpiece, Miller appeared alongside star Eva Mendes as Sand Saref and producers Deborah Del Prete (Buried Alive) and Michael Uslan (Batman, The Dark Knight). The team unveiled a 1st tease distillation, which was highly reminiscent of Sin City. Producer Deborah Del Prete remarked, ?The film is shot, he?s just still laying in the world.? For more, check out our article about The Spirit teaser trailer, check out a new Spirit widget (or "Spidget") or read below for some details shared at the panel by Miller, Mendes and company.

On Will Eisner, The Spirit and Getting Eisner?s Blessing?
FRANK MILLER: He took the most advanced technology of his time, which was a sheet of Bristol board and a sable brush and a bottle of ink, and he created magic. I had to translate the movie into a very modern movie, but it had to be as bold as the comic book was in the 1940s. So for purists it will be a bit of a shock.

MICHAEL USLAN: 14 years ago Will and I met at the Harvard club at 44th street, and we wanted to go forward and make a movie based on The Spirit. At that time I promised Will that this movie would respect the sensibilities of Will Eisner. When I read the book Eisner/Miller in particular, of these two geniuses in the graphic arts who had this undying respect for each other?and this respect that they had for each other, despite the generational gap, was an amazing thing to watch. It clearly said to me that this is the perfect person who understands Will Eisner, who understands The Spirit, who understands the medium of comics and the medium of film and could make this thing happen?

DEBORAH DEL PRETE: I was lucky to spend the last Comic Con that Will was at with him, and I was able to talk to him in the movie. What he cared about most, and the one thing most important was he didn?t want the Spirit to use a gun, and that was something we were very careful to protect. But of course the minute we got Frank to be the writer and director, and director of the movie, I knew that we were going to be able to achieve not only what I think Will would have wanted, but something truly extraordinary and truly special. Then add in this amazing cast and a creative team of true extraordinary ability.

On Frank?s Film: The Spirit
DEBORAH DEL PRETE: I think one of things that the audience is going to love about this movie, is that it has all of those things, it has Will?s sense and Will?s words, but with Frank?s ability to write really great dialogue that keeps the humor really good and organic.

There is a lot of really amazing technology that we used in this movie. We all saw in Sin City what this new technology is capable of. We?ve brought the element to these comic movies which we were never able to before, which is the element of the artist?s work.

MICHAEL USLAN: Technically this is not Sin City, it?s not New York City. This is Central City, and that?s what Frank has brought to life here. When we go beyond whether a property is well known over many generations, or whether it is not as well known, I think what really matters with movies as well as comics is a great story, is it great characters, is it the character that the plot intends to tell? Will was the ultimate storyteller, he crafted the most wonderful layers of interesting characters, and that?s what Frank has brought to life.

All About Frank!
EVA MENDES: At first I was a little nervous. I was like ?He doesn?t have a lot of experience, and he seems really weird.? Well, let me tell you, he?s very weird and we love that, and he was a complete joy to work with. He?s an amazing actor?s director, he referenced movies I didn?t even know, and his attention to character development is just amazing?

Finding ?The Spirit?
DEBORAH DEL PRETE: When we first discussed it, Frank and I we talked about finding someone. And he was like ?Oh, wow we?re, working with Lionsgate!? which is a fantastic company to work with and they?re giving us the freedom to make the movie we wanted to make and the freedom to have the spirit not be a famous actor. We thought, ?This is great. We can have any actor we want play the Spirit.? And then we tried to find him?

FRANK MILLER: Hollywood has produced many male actors, however very few men.

Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus in The Spirit
FRANK MILLER: Samuel L. Jackson was my first and only choice for the Octopus. We never had a backup. I knew he always wanted to play a super-villain.

DEBORAH DEL PRETE: The first time he met Frank he brought this for him to sign. He?s a huge comic fan.

What He Does Best: Sin City 2, Future Films and Comics?
FRANK MILLER: I?ve written part two of what I feel is the trilogy of Sin City. That said, I am absolutely allergic to discussion of production schedules, plans or release dates? The stories are planned and the script is finished. The stories are planned?it?s mostly drawn and the script is finished.

I?ve been sitting on this for a little while. I?ve written 120 pages of my next graphic novel. I can?t really give you the title until certain business is out of the way, but it?s going to progess and I intend to finish it soon.

I am certain to direct more films in the future.

On another Daredevil film after the flop of the first?
FRANK MILLER: They?ve got my phone number.

On Comics to Film, and Comic Book Artists to Directors?
FRANK MILLER: Slowly, the inmates are taking over the asylum.