Frank Miller, Batman, and Osama Bin Ladin

[FVZA_Colonel]

(Before I begin, I would like to apologize for posting this here, as I am not yet able to post in the group boards). For those who are not yet aware, comic book artist Frank Miller is going to be publishing Holy Terror, Batman!, a graphic novel featuring an assault on Gotham City by Al Qaeda (more information here: http://comics.ign.com/articles/688/688140p1.html). An interesting concept, to be certain, but there are a few pieces that I found a bit troublesome-


Miller proudly announced the title of his next Batman book, which he will write, draw and ink. Holy Terror, Batman! is no joke. And Miller doesn't hold back on the true purpose of the book, calling it "a piece of propaganda," where 'Batman kicks al Qaeda's ass."

The reason for this work, Miller said, was "an explosion from my gut reaction of what's happening now." He can't stand entertainers who lack the moxie of their '40s counterparts who stood up to Hitler. Holy Terror is "a reminder to people who seem to have forgotten who we're up against."


As I said, exploring the War On Terrorism through the medium of Batman is not necessarily a bad idea, but these particular pieces strike me as a bit, well, antithetical to who Batman now is. Now I must say that I am not particularly familiar with Batman, as a comic and a character, but I have had the general perception that he has always been a man surrounded in moral ambiguity (for a comparison, I can't help but think of the Man With No Name, made famous by Clint Eastwood in the three greatest Spaghetti Westerns ever made), not black and white world views. If I seem to be prejudging Mr. Miller's then I must apologize, but it seems that, based on the excerpt from this IGN article, it seems that Mr. Miller might be shifting into the latter world view. However, it seems to me that he could create a more effective justification for the fight against Al Qaeda were he to remain true to Batman's more cynical and critical nature, due to the rather interesting possibilities that could arise plot wise: rather than simply killing them all, Batman might try to gain a real understanding of the minds of those he is now fighting ( of course, this might not be the path he is taking, and if that is so, then I must apologize to Mr. Miller and any of his fans who are bothered by this).

I apologize for this seeming segway, but I feel the value of this was provin elsewhere in the world of entertainment, in the form of the episode of 'The Twilight Zone' featuring a young Dennis Hopper as a neo-Nazi communicating with a shadow enveloped man who turns out to be Adolph Hitler. I say this because I feel that Rod Serling and the other writers of 'The Twilight Zone' understood well the threat posed by the "Racist" and the "Nazi," but also that simply responding with brute force would never allow us to defeat them, only achieve a seeming victory. This, I feel, ought to be the approach taken to the "Terrorist," and, though I have said I am not yet familiar with what Mr. Miller may have let out about his upcoming work, I feel a bit of... regret that this does not seem to be the path he is taking.