'Holy Terror' Review

WHOA! I've never heard of this before! I'm not sure where to start with this one. Holy Terror is a bit of a change of pace from my last review on here (which was shoujo). This comic book is intense. And pretty damn offensive. First off, I'd like to say that I love Frank Miller. As a writer and as an artist, but especially as an artist. Visually, Sin City is one of the most amazing works of art out there. I love 300, The Dark Knight Returns, Spawn/Batman, etc. Holy Terror starts off just as visually breathtaking as anything else by Frank Miller. The wide format Miller uses for his comics now is really interesting. The first six or so pages of the comic are all single page spreads before he starts using panels.

Plot Summary

The comic opens with The Fixer (basically Batman) right on the tail of Natalie Stack (basically Catwoman) as they swing from rooftops of a city. They start a brutal fight which eventually leads to making out. They get caught up in a much bigger deal in the form of a massive explosion across the city. This leads them to basically fighting Al-Queda (as ridiculous as that sounds). The equivilant of The Statue of Liberty gets bombed by these terrorists and this leads to The Fixer going all out against the FIENDS. Natalie Stack eventually finds herself in a massive, underground mosque lair place and having to fight her way out.

This graphic novel is pretty straightforward. Frank Miller wanted to kick some terrorist ass and he really dishes it out in this thing. It's a pretty offensive piece of work and I'm sure that's how he intended it. I wasn't really into the story much; for me, this comic is all the art. My God, it's superb. Typical Miller style whites and blacks with harsh reds. There were two pages where Natalie falls into an underwater area and the only color on both pages is pink EVERYWHERE. It's almost like she's swimming in pepto bismol but it still worked so well. The dramatic use of color really made this comic great for me. I'm surprised how much negative response this thing is getting from the comic world. I mean, yeah, it's really opinionated and offensive. I don't think that constitutes people saying Miller has 'lost his touch' or 'changed too much' or whatever. I'm shocked by how many people are bashing his artwork in Holy Terror. It does have a frantic feel to it but it's not bad at all. How can people say that it isn't good? The faces may be very bizarre looking but it's very intentional. He's still Frank Miller, his writing style and art still look like Frank Miller and this comic is very Frank Miller. It's just a fun and wild ride. I honestly thought this book was a little too short (especially for how expensive the cover price is) but it wasn't a problem. Miller depicts an obsolutely absurd-looking Obama halfway through the comic. His views are pretty clear cut for the reader. Obviously this comic is not for the easily offended. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes beautiful visuals. IT'S BEAUTIFUL. The story is definitely a little too politics/religion heavy for me to fully enjoy but the art completely made up for it.

"There's something under your coat - what is it?" "Paradise."

Holy Terror - 7.8/10