By FRANK MILLER (Legendary Comics; 2011)

Here we have what is perhaps the most widely hated work of comics legend Frank Miller.  This graphic novel has been reviled as racist and xenophobic, not to mention hard to follow, simplistic and dumb.  In fact, it’s all those things and more.  I’ve tried valiantly to find something to like about HOLY TERROR, and can point to Miller’s laudably bold and audacious black and white artwork, presented in oversized hardcover format (a la Miller’s 300), but even it isn’t up to the high standards of Frank Miller’s other, better work.

HOLY TERROR admittedly had a fraught conception.  It was Miller’s reaction to 9-11, but took several years to reach fruition due to the fact that it began as a DC published Batman story entitled HOLY TERROR, BATMAN!  Depending on who you ask, Miller either abandoned the Batman angle halfway through or was forced to do so by DC.  The book ended up being published by Legendary Comics, with a main character, known as the Fixer, who looks and acts remarkably like the Dark Knight (despite Miller’s claim that the character is “much closer to Dirty Harry than Batman”).

HOLY TERROR’S problems start with the Fixer, who isn’t much of a character.  As his moniker portends, he exists to right wrongs in a place called Empire City (initially Gotham City), being, essentially, a tough guy with no noteworthy attributes.  His sidekick/love interest is a sexy cat burglar named Natalie (initially Catwoman), who the Fixer happens to be apprehending when a nail bomb goes off, detonated by Islamic terrorists.  This group is led by faceless freaks wrapped up mummy-like in rags (a literal depiction of the term “towelhead”) who operate out of a vast mosque (a place described as “big—and scarier than Hell”).

The Fixer’s response to this provocation is simple: he kicks lots of ass, and utilizes torture for good measure (to which Natalie eagerly intones, “Torture.  Okay.  I’m down with that”).  The Fixer’s interactions reveal Miller’s none-too-evolved views on the Muslim world (as the Fixer tells one of his victims, “Pardon me for guessing your name, but you’ve got to admit the odds are pretty good it’s Mohammed”), and are punctuated with unflattering caricatures of public figures ranging from Barack Obama to Michael Moore and Hillary Clinton, to make sure we understand the book’s real-life relevance.

What’s curious about HOLY TERROR is that it was apparently drafted in the heat of anger yet has a tired, by-the-numbers feel, being an uninspired rehashing of characters and themes that were already covered in Miller’s earlier work.  If I didn’t know better I’d say it was a hack job, done strictly for the money.  Quite simply: he can do better.