Frank Miller’s Holy Terror! Isn’t Dead, 300 Sequel Coming Soon

"Holy Terror, Batman!" may be dead, but "Holy Terror!" isn't!

Ace ComicsAlliance writer Nick Nadel reported that Frank Miller was no longer working on the long-awaited Batman graphic novel. From the Graphic NYC transcript of the panel:

[KYLE] BAKER: Getting back to the last question, the reason I hadn't answered it, regarding relating to personal stuff related to superheroes: Whenever I have something on my own mind, I'll make up my own character and story, rather than trying to shoe in Batman at the end. You could do that, but Afghanistan would be better. He's going to do it.

MILLER: No, I'm not.

BAKER: You're not doing it anymore?

MILLER: No, I'm not. (Laughter)

It makes sense, seeing as DC Comics is often skittish when it comes to possibly controversial material, as when Kyle Baker inadvertently got "Elseworlds 80-Page Giant" pulped when he wrote a story where a baby Superman briefly ended up in a microwave due to Letitia Lerner, a babysitter who was completely out of her depth. But really, who knows why it was shelved, because no one's talking. Though, "shelved" isn't quite right. From a thread on The Complete Works of Frank Miller, a fan-site that Miller occasionally pops up on:

I'm still doing HOLY TERROR! -- it's just not a Batman story anymore. The content got too extreme, and a brand new superhero popped into my head. I'm 94 double-page spreads into it, with more to go. It's going to be big and loud, I promise. Neal Adams has fallen so in love with ODYSSEY that he's scripting it himself. The artwork is STUNNING. I've just turned in XERXES #1 and am going strong. I'm keeping busy, folks! Having a great time! FM

First: holy crap, 94 spreads? That's 188 pages in the "300" format and he's got more to come. I've been waiting for some new Miller art, and he's definitely going to scratch that itch. Second: "Holy Terror, Batman!" is just "Holy Terror!" now, featuring a new hero? That's cool, I can live with that. Third: Miller isn't scripting Neal Adams's Batman: Odyssey.

Finally, "Xerxes #1"? Is this long-rumored sequel to "300," a good book that won three Eisners (two for Miller and one for colorist Lynn Varley) and spawned an okay movie? Survey says yes! The LA Times reported on it and announced its name back in December, along with the setting: The Battle of Marathon.

If Miller's already turned in the first issue, there's probably a good chance we'll see it this year. I'm excited. Who's with me?