The last decade and change have not been overly kind to the
legend and legacy of Frank Miller. Both
of His new millennium endeavors involving the caped crusader have proven to be
nonsensical and extraneous. The highly anticipated The Dark Knight Strikes Again was the graphic novel equivalent of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. All-Star
Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder somehow managed to be even worse. To add insult to injury, the poor reception of
DK2 seemed to spark a collective
reconsideration of Millers entire catalogue among fandom, with many now viewing
it as mildly diverting yet childish and derivative. Cinematic versions of Sin City and 300 offered
Miller a rebirth of sorts, but that momentum was quickly stalled by his ill-conceived
adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit.
Now would be as good a time as any for another original work
from the maestro to get things back on track.
While Millers upcoming graphic novel Holy
Terror isn’t exactly a departure from his usual fare, it does offer the
world a brand new superhero in “The Fixer.”
Well, he isn’t exactly new.
Actually, he is more than a little reminiscent of the middle aged and
psychologically disturbed Batman from The
Dark Knight Returns. In fact, the
idea for Holy Terror was originally conceived
ten years ago as a Batman story entitled Holy
Terror, Batman. In it, The Dark
Knight would tackle terrorists in a post 9/11 America. Miller has salvaged the basic concept sans the
caped and cowled one. Legendary Comics
has just released a full trailer that promises gunfights and bloodshed
galore. Miller’s penchant “rough and
sketchy” art style is clearly alive and well.
Despite the whining of fanboys everywhere, he seemingly has no
intentions of evolving or changing course at this point in his career. Whether that’s a good or bad thing remains to
be seen. Either way, Holy Terror will be available everywhere
on September 14th.
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