Frank Miller's Long-Awaited HOLY TERROR, BATMAN! Graphic Novel won't have Batman

Frank Miller's been working on a 120-page graphic novel for awhile now called Holy Terror, Batman! In which Batman would be taking on Al-Qeda. How awesome would that be!? Batman out in the world, doin' his thing, kicking Al-Qaeda's ass! Unfortunately, Batman will no longer be the hero of the story. Miller explained,

It's no longer a DC book. I decided partway through it that it was not a Batman story. The hero is much closer to Dirty Harry than Batman. It's a new hero that I've made up that fights Al-Qaeda.

The question is, are you interested in seeing Dirty Harry taking on Al-Qaeda? Well, are ya... punk! It could be an interesting new character. The story will obviously not take place in Gotham City, the setting has been moved to Empire City, which I imagine is like a bizarro Gotham. Miller goes on to explain the new character.

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 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.

Anyone that shoots a 100 people in a story is not a well adjusted person in my book. The new project will simply be called Holy Terror, and it will have nothing to do with DC Comics. Miller continues, and explains why he decided to take Batman out of the story.

I had a talk with [former DC president and publisher] Paul Levitz, and I said, 'Look, this isn't your Batman,' 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.

So there ya have it folks! I guess if he feels that he's taken Batman to the limits then it's time to move on. Personally. I'll never get tired of Batman stories. But thats ok, I'm up for trying something new... Holy Terror is coming, and its bringing a Dirty Harry type character along for the ride. In the end, I'm looking forward to reading what Miller has planned.

What do you think about Frank Miller dropping Batman and replacing him with this new character?