Holy Terror

• Title — Holy Terror • Publisher — Legendary Comics • Date — September 28, 2011 • Genre — Action, superhero • Main Char Team — The Fixer • Writers — Frank Miller • Artists — Frank Miller • Sort — Holy Terror

As originally announced the plot revolved around Batman defending Gotham City from an attack by the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda. According to Miller, the comic would have been a "piece of propaganda" in which Batman "kicks Al-Qaeda's ass". Miller announced the graphic novel during a panel at the WonderCon comic book convention held in San Francisco in 2006. He summarized the work as "not to put too fine a point on it, a piece of propaganda... Superman punched out Hitler. So did Captain America. That's one of the things they're there for." The title of the graphic novel is a reference to the war on terror as well as the catchphrase ("Holy [something], Batman!") used by Robin (Burt Ward) in the 1960s Batman television series. Later that year, on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, NPR aired a brief memorial commentary by Miller, which provided insight into his inspiration for this project: In a May 2007 interview, Miller relayed that he was still at work on the graphic novel, which he said was "bound to offend just about everybody". Miller also said he was about 100 pages into it with 50 remaining. The following year Miller said the series, until then being billed as Holy War, Batman, would no longer feature Batman. "As I worked on it, it became something that was no longer Batman," he clarified. "It's somewhere past that and I decided it's going to be part of a new series that I'm starting." In 2010, Miller said he was no longer working on that project, clarifying that Holy Terror was in progress but without Batman. He later said it would feature a new character called The Fixer and not be published by DC. "It's no longer a DC book," he explained. "I decided partway through it that it was not a Batman story. The hero is much closer to Dirty Harry than Batman. It's a new hero that I've made up that fights Al Qaeda." At San Diego Comic-Con in 2011, Miller further explained the reason to drop Batman and use The Fixer as the protagonist, saying "This character is much more well adjusted in committing terrible acts of violence on very evil people." Talking about the controversy the graphic novel might generate, he said he hoped the book accomplished its purpose in angering people.