Isn't it interesting that in art world people will always hang to the perception and story behind the art instead of art itself (and this is comic so it is art, visual story telling). I have a feeling it is because they sound daft to themselves if they say what the h***k is this ink blot here? You dont see it? What connoisseur of visual art are you!?!! You need to go above mere visual perception and seek higher meaning.

Hehehehehehee..... for this comic? Hehehehehheheheh......

As you most probably heard this comic was criticized on the part of the story, and story should be maybe 3rd or 4th thing to criticize this comic for.

Story wise, masked avenger (Fixer) and his sidekick (he spends good part of book chasing around) turn against the Al Qaeda cells that start activating and killing civilians in the Empire City. So he is not friendly towards these terrorists and he kills them in some very gruesome ways. To say that book is against entire religion is ridiculous to say the least. Fixer does not go around the world hunting the terrorists, he stops the cells blowing themselves in the city (and he does not manage to stop all of them, while some are even stopped by citizen arrest). It is as to say that Zero Dark Thirty is against the religion of the people waging the war against US, and not the actual people waging war against the US. Is this type of patriotism cringey - yes, but it happens every time during conflicts (I mean c'mon even Duffy Duck had encounters with the WW2 German soldiers).

So story is mediocre at best and I can even understand why critics wrote only about this. Because art is so ugly it is unbelievable. It is possible they just browsed through the book and decided not to say anything about art - this is ungrateful because what is ugly today will be beautiful tomorrow so imagine you end up on wrong side of history (hahahahahahahaha) - but to concentrate on oh so sweet scandal that will bring this book more unwarranted attention. Basically they took easier path.

So.... art. Ugliest piece of visual art I ever saw in my life, and I have seen a lot. It is unbelievable that author's resume lists Batman and 300. Level of visual cacophony on every page is such that pages can be used as alternative to Rorschach's test and people asked what they see. And if they see anything send them to ESP training centers so they can help humankind with looking towards stars.

Unbelievably ugly art, blocky characters that just ..... blot out with backgrounds. Women sidekick is .... it took me almost half a a book to find out this was woman in the first place. As a contrast lets take Metal Gear Solid graphic novel drawn by Kris Oprisko, book I also had issues with. If you look at Oprisko's style it is also sketchy, sometimes messy but if you move out a bit you will see actual dynamic of the drawing, even some of the details that you cannot see if you are too close to the pages. Is it strange, dream-like, almost nightmarish style - definitely. But you can see it, you get immersed and after a while you get accustomed.

For Miller's work here you can go as far as Moon and still wont be able to decipher what is going on. As a matter of fact I dare you to say you see anything at all.

Author is one of the giants of the industry but this book is terrible in the most important aspect - visual presentation. I do not think he needed this one but hey every great author can make mistakes as long quality work is also given - and in Frank Miller's opus you will find truly great things.

As of story - it will trigger you if you are ultra sensitive PC (to use modern parlance although I dont understand why would it trigger you at all, aren't we sufficiently grown up to recognize comic is comic? If you use/see comic as a political tool and something to get picture about reality I can tell you it isn't about the comic ..... get triggered by things outside imagination, get triggered by what is happening around you, what you see in news or read in newspapers, not by entertainment).

If you read any Punisher, Suicide Squad and even Batman story chances are you wont even register the story but increasing migraine developing while you watch the pages and try figuring what is up and what is down.

I cannot recommend to this anyone, trust me, skip it, your eyes will be grateful. ( )

Still love the artwork, but it was a bit heavy with the 9/11 jihadist blah-blah crap. Hate that stuff. ( )

I've enjoyed Miller's work before. The Dark Knight Returns is one of the seminal graphic novels of the '80s, and a book I sincerely admire and enjoy; Sin City is a bit dark for me, but it's visually striking and you have to admire the relentless grimness of his vision. I'm not sure I can include 300, because the main reason I like it so much is the art by Lynn Varley. Then we come to Holy Terror, which combines the worst of Miller's tics and adds some new and very distasteful aspects. Feast your eyes on that cover, with its faceless, monsterous villain trailing bloody molars.

The quality of the writing is okay - never wordy, and sometimes managing to imply more than it says. However, there's really no attempt to make his two protagonists anything more than bruisers (one of them a thinly adapted Batman, since DC gave this book the well-justified boot), and the "falling in love" subplot is perfunctory to the point of parody.

Now I have to talk about the content. Do I have to talk about the content? Bad Muslim terrorists are blowing everyone up because they hate 'our' freedom. There's a big evil weapon. Much is made of the scale of the attacks and the number of victims killed, and the protagonists' response is to locate and torture a terrorist until they get the location of the evil weapon.

The art is grungy and confused - whirlwinds of black and white scratches, with Miller's signature gigantic shoes clumping through every frame. It's not attractive in the least; every person looks like a dreadful Groszian caricature, which undermines some of the empathy with victims of terrorist attack I think he's trying to create. We're given a bit of Miller's customary gratuitous female tied up with ropes firmly securing her breasts (in case she tries to kung-fu the villains with them I suppose). Frank, I don't think terrorists have necessarily studied Japanese bondage techniques; maybe you're trying to make a point about their leering hypocrisy, but it looks to me like you wanted an excuse to draw this.

In short, it's a two-dimensional screed against Muslim fundamentalism (not that there's any attempt to imply that peaceful or moderate Muslims even exist), at a time when we need, need, three dimensions when we approach this issue. I don't like the caricatures. I don't like the violence justifying violence. I don't like the transposition of violence to American soil, when most of it is going on overseas, in other people's homes. Frank, I think I'm done with you. ( )

Disappointing... ( )

I'm not overly familiar with Frank Miller's work. I have seen his movies but not taken the opportunity to read his graphic novels. When Holy Terror came up, I jumped at the chance. I'm almost sorry I did. It just wasn't the work for me.
To start with, Frank Miller uses the hard black and white images that are difficult for me to see. I had a hard time distinguishing characters. The book starts with two costumed characters - one male, one female - in chase. She is a diamond thief and he is a superhero. That was interesting for me since I like superhero works but their battle was a mess of black with the occasional color thrown in. I couldn't tell who was winning or if I even cared.
I can't remember the female character's name but the male was The Ringer. Their costumes reminded me of luchadores with combat boots. I was already disappointed but there was still potential, especially since The Ringer is concerned he's falling in love with the thief.
Then the explosions happen, I'm still okay with the book so far. It's not going to be a favorite but there still is so much potential until Frank Miller reveals the villian.
I need to point out here that I don't read realistic horror. I don't watch crime or war movies unless they focus on something other than the graphic violence that comes with. I like stories to be my escape. To read about something that is true and horrific disturbs me. Holy Terror disturbed me.
The villian was not some made-up costumed sort that the beginning of the story led me to believe. The man that The Ringer captured was a Muslim who he called Mohammed because that's what all Muslims are called. I was shocked and not in a good way. I was appalled.
What Frank Miller has created was hateful and encourages racism. Now he did through in an Irishman leader to break up the Muslim focused hate but that didn't do the job. He painted a picture that Al Queda was more than just Muslims and that they use them because the Muslim's make for good mindless soldiers. It was just sad and violent and hateful.
I kept hoping for something poinent to come out of this but it never came. There was no real budding romance for The Ringer or at least that the reader saw. It just reminded me that there is a reason I am not a Frank Miller fan. I won't be seeking out his graphic novels.
I won't tell you not to read his work because he has an audience but I will caution parents not to let their children read this one. I don't think my teenage son will be getting any Frank Miller works for his library. It just makes me sad to think that this might just help fuel hate to a group of people who just happen to share a religion with extremists. ( )