For years, Frank Miller spoke of a Gotham City graphic novel that would be like no other -- for the 120 bone-crunching pages of "Holy Terror, Batman!" Miller -- arguably the most important comic book creator of the last 30 years -- envisioned a story in which the Caped Crusader went on a blood quest against Al Qaeda.
Miller, best known as the writer and artist of "The Dark Knight Returns," "300" and "Sin City," said the story will be set in a place called Empire City that, as the name suggests, evokes New York. The landscape and people are fictional but the real-life Al Qaeda will be transferred to this universe with its name, history and mission intact.
The book's title will be shortened to "Holy Terror." And what of the protagonist?
"The character is called The Fixer and he's very much an adventurer who's been essentially searching for a mission. He's been trained as special ops and when his city is attacked all of a sudden all the pieces fall into place and all this training comes into play. 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."
Miller went on to say:
"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."