Way back in aught-six, legendary creator Frank Miller announced to Nerdom that his next Batman project for DC Comics would find the Caped Crusader taking on the very real threat of Al Qaeda in a visceral, 120 page graphic novel titled "Holy Terror, Batman!." Cut to today -- four years later -- and it looks like the book will finally be published...only not by DC. And not starring Batman. And now just called "Holy Terror."

In a recent sitdown with the LA Times' Hero Complex, Miller discussed the new direction of the politically charged, much talked about story, as well as his overall feelings on writing the Dark Knight, a character he's arguably defined for several recent generations of Bat-fans.According to the source, Miller says he's "almost done" with the graphic novel, and while it still needs to find a publisher, he confidently says the book will come out "next year, certainly." He calls his earlier take on the concept, which was inspired by the 9/11 attacks in 2001, as "an extremely angry piece of work and as the years have passed by I've done movies and I've done other things and time has provided some good distance, so it becomes more of a cohesive story as it progresses."

Despite rumors over the years about DC Comics being reluctant to publish Miller's "Batman-vs-Osama" story, the outspoken Miller instead says that it was his decision to move take the story in a new direction that didn't involve the Dark Knight:




DC executives were reportedly leery of Miller's plan to drop their globally recognized property inside an Al Qaeda vendetta fantasy. Miller, though, says he is the one who decided to leave the familiar hero in the Batcave for this particular mission.



I had a talk with [former DC president and publisher] Paul Levitz and I said, 'Look, this isn't your Batman,'" Miller said. "I pushed Batman as far as he can go and after a while he stops being Batman. My guy carries a couple of guns and is up against an existential threat. He's not just up against a goofy villain. Ignoring an enemy that's committed to our annihilation is kind of silly, It just seems that chasing the Riddler around seems silly compared to what's going on out there. I've taken Batman as far as he can go.




Miller also described the book's new protagonist, The Fixer, as "an adventurer who's been essentially searching for a mission. He's been out there fighting crime without really having his heart in it -- he does it to keep in shape. He's very different than Batman in that he's not a tortured soul. He's a much more well-adjusted creature even though he happens to shoot 100 people in the course of the story."



[Via Hero Complex]

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