Maybe it's the complete-ist in me. Maybe it's overzealous veneration for an already celebrated writer. Maybe it's the fact that I know this was meant to be a Batman story, but *for one reason or another* Miller shifted to a brand new, generic protagonist named 'The Fixer' to vent his anti-Islamist terrorism propaganda. It's likely part all of those things...
Yes, that's 'anti-Islamist terrorism propaganda.' Miller makes no apologies on this, a fact that made the text much more compelling, and the 30+ dollar cost a little easier to swallow. See this link for Miller's rationale, but the semi-short version (quote, really) is this:
"So when I say that my new book, HOLY TERROR, is
propaganda, I mean so in all the ways that the virtuous works of Thomas Paine
practiced it, through to the ways that the current, shameless MSNBC practice
it. I employ propaganda in HOLY TERROR as such. Without apology.
Let’s keep in mind that, back in the forties,
Superman punched out Adolf Hitler. Or that the O’Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green
Arrow series in the seventies was a left-wing screed that climaxed with Jesus
strung up on the head of a jumbo jet. Subtle stuff, all of it.
Come on. Propaganda is rampant. News objectivity is a twentieth-century myth. We only complain about propaganda when we don’t agree with it."
Come on. Propaganda is rampant. News objectivity is a twentieth-century myth. We only complain about propaganda when we don’t agree with it."
After reading a few soft/negative reviews, I had decided not to bother, or maybe pick it up in publisher's overstock at BMV a few years down the road for pennies a glass. A chance happening on Miller's site (linked above) led me to this quote and justification, and I just *had* to read Holy Terror to see for myself.
If it's meant to be clever, it fails. If it's meant to be subtle, it actually approaches the issues with a mallet. The basic premise is this:
- Whilst fighting/flirting with a generic female cat burgler (NOT Catwoman), a generic caped crusader-vigilante (NOT Batman) stumbles upon an Al Qaeda plot to destroy the statue of liberty.
- Generic crusader-vigilante and female catburgler love interest combat caricature terrorists while a sympathetic, gruff generic police commissioner (NOT Commissioner Gordon) provides support.
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| This is not a Miller drawing of Batman and Catwoman. No! It's 'The Fixer' and a generic female cat burgler. |
The idea that Miller originally conceived this as a Batman story, pitched it as a Batman story, and started to write/draw it as a Batman story, but subsequently *decided that this wasn't a Batman story after all* makes this execution a farce, really. The overlap is so overt and distracting, to suggest it's anything other than a lazy port is a tired and desperate lie.
In the end, politics and positionality are not the problem with Holy Terror. Lack of originality, lack of depth, and a sublimated cowardice or impotence to write this as a Batman story drag this down much, much further. It's these interrelated issues that are the primary failing here.
A close and almost equal second is the often lazy and insulting art. Several *sparse* pages seem nothing more than that. Not artful, not minimalist, just lazy. Full stop.
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| This is actually a page spread. More lazy than meaningful, I say... |
We can be thankful that this effort didn't drag the Batman franchise down with it, if nothing else. With Xerxes confirmed as a prequel to 300, it casts doubt and anticipation on this otherwise long-awaited release as well.
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| Still, looks pretty effing cool... |
I can't believe a Frank Miller just rated a 'You're Fired'... heavy sigh...
