Trivia / Holy Terror

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• Creator Backlash: In this 2018 interview with The Guardian, Frank Miller expressed regret for making Holy Terror and the statements he made around the time of its publication, admitting that he "wasn't thinking clearly" and was "blinded by hatred" at the time when he wrote it and that in retrospect, he could see that it was terrible from both a political and storytelling standpoint. In other words, Frank Miller doesn't look back on the story fondly, being thoroughly ashamed of it's blatant racism and admitting (in his own words) that he let his former bigotry get the better of him. He's since disowned it entirely.
• Creator Breakdown: Like much of Miller's work following the tragedy, it's extremely obvious that the comic's jingoistic and xenophobic themes were rooted in Miller's extended trauma from 9/11. Miller lived in New York City for most of his life and was only four miles from the attack when it happened, and much of the controversial themes present in Holy Terror were directly reflective of similar comments he would make on Islam and terrorism during its release. For what it's worth, Miller has backed away from such comments, admitting he wasn't thinking clearly while creating it amidst a dark point in his life, leading to him disowning the book on a narrative and political level.
• Divorced Installment: The story was originally meant to be a Batman story set in the "Millerverse" called Holy Terror, Batman!, a nod to Robin's "Holy (whatever!)" Mad Libs Catch Phrase from the '60s Batman series. (Miller was probably not aware of an Elseworlds tale already called Batman: Holy Terror.) Supposedly, Frank Miller decided to take the book to Legendary because he realized it was "not a Batman story" and the hero was "much closer to Dirty Harry than Batman".
• Similarly Named Works: There was an Elseworld tale published in 1991 called Batman: Holy Terror.

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