Frank Miller Says Goodbye to Batman
Long-Awaited Batman Graphic Novel To Feature New Hero Instead
Frank Miller is perhaps the most important comic book artist of the last 30 years. Miller most recently made headlines with the announcement of a new 12-part comics series called “Xerxes,” which more closely examines the characters introduced in the politically controversial graphic-novel-turned movie, “300”. Best known as the writer and artist for “Sin City,” “300” and the Batman graphic novel “The Dark Knight Returns” (a drawing from which has been scanned to digital above), Miller has discussed for years the possibility of doing a new Batman novel in which the Caped Crusader would take on Al Qaeda in the biggest anti-terrorism effort since Jack Bauer first began showing off the art of “enhanced interrogation.”
But Miller announced last week that he has decided to restructure the work, originally entitled “Holy Terror, Batman!” to leave out the Dark Knight altogether. Now simply entitled “Holy Terror,” the new graphic novel will forsake Gotham City for a new setting – called Empire City – and will feature a new Dirty-Harry-like hero named The Fixer. Unlike the revenge-driven Batman, The Fixer is “an adventurer who’s been essentially searching for a mission,” said Miller. “He’s very different than Batman in that he’s not a tortured soul.” Miller went on to describe his new protagonist as “a more well-adjusted creature …(who) happens to shoot 100 people in the course of the story.”
Although the landscape and people of the fictional Empire City are not strictly modeled after reality, the Al Qaeda villains that fight Millers new hero have the same name, history, and mission as the real thing. Because he has dropped Batman as the story’s hero, Miller is not publishing “Holy Terror” with DC Comics. Though Miller says that his decision to nix Batman and change publishers was driven entirely by the work itself, there have been continuing insider rumors that DC’s leadership was hesitant to move forward with another politically charged concept from Miller.
Miller told the Los Angeles Times that he felt that he had “taken Batman as far as he can go,” and that this story, which began as Miller’s reaction to 9/11, required a different kind of protagonist. “My guy carries a couple of guns and is up against an existential threat,” he said. “He’s not just up against a goofy villain.”
Miller says he has nearly finished the book, and that he will choose a new publisher after it is completed. To see more of Miller’s artwork that has been scanned to digital, visit http://moebiusgraphics.com/.
Frank Miller, the writer, comic book creator, and graphic novelist behind recent hit movie adaptations Sin City (2005) and 300 (2007) recently announced that he is working on a new story series about the Persian leader Xerxes, who was controversially portrayed as the villain in 300’s depiction of the bloody Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.E. For Miller, this marks more than a return to the ancient battle fields of yesteryear, as he also will likely face political battles from Iranian leaders, especially if the filmmakers who created the film version of 300 pursue another film adaptation.
