Frank Miller pits Batman against Al Qaeda in comic book propaganda

Grimmlok · February 15th, 2006, 04:02 PM

My god, i'll never get my eyes back as they're rolling so far away from me.. I used to respect this guy, but he's bought the Bush cabal nonsense hook line and sinker.

Ah well.

Quote:

The latest Batman adventure will see the Caped Crusader take on al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

Comic book artist Frank Miller is midway through writing Holy Terror, Batman, which sees Batman defending Gotham City from a terrorist attack.

"It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a piece of propaganda," said Miller at a US comic book convention.

The veteran writer called it "a reminder to people who seem to have forgotten who we're up against".

He said the story was "an explosion from my gut reaction of what is happening now".

Honourable tradition

Batman has typically faced off fictional villains including Catwoman, the Penguin and the Riddler, but this is the first time he will have confronted a real-life threat.

However, Miller - who revived Batman's popularity some 20 years ago with The Dark Knight Returns - said using cominc book heroes for propaganda was an honourable tradition.

"Superman punched out Hitler. So did Captain America. That's one of the things they're there for," Miller said.

Batman returned to the big screen last year in the prequel Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale and Katie Holmes.

twitchy · February 16th, 2006, 07:44 PM

"an explosion from my gut" ..................eeeewwww!

Tradition yes, honourable....?

I used to have some old Superman cartoons from the war where Superman would fight hideous caricatures of asians in the name of American freedom. Donald Duck also joined the Nazis during the war, but it turned out to be just a dream. (shades of Dallas)

And then there was this little gem found on Amazon.com

IceQueen · February 17th, 2006, 10:55 PM

So what - it's been done before and it will be done again. Miller even said it is a piece of propoganda...
As far as the last book "Will they fly a plane into our house" - it isn't even meant to be propoganda or be used to scare people with. Kids watched the towers fall too, and if you can try to think what it must have been like watching that, and then watching the reactions of adults around you - would you not be affected? The book is supposed to set kids' overactive minds at ease that they are safe.

Grimmlok · February 17th, 2006, 11:49 PM

Well in that case, I'm guessing an explanation of 50 years of reprehensible US foreign policy isn't explained.. that would give them nightmares for years.

twitchy · February 18th, 2006, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IceQueen

.
As far as the last book "Will they fly a plane into our house" - it isn't even meant to be propoganda or be used to scare people with. Kids watched the towers fall too, and if you can try to think what it must have been like watching that, and then watching the reactions of adults around you - would you not be affected? The book is supposed to set kids' overactive minds at ease that they are safe.

I'm aware of that. You can actually read the book in it's entirety here:
http://www.guidancechannel.com/talkingterrorism.pdf

Unfortunately, if you can convince your children that they are safe, will that not simply be negated through subsequent media exposure? The only people still spreading fear are the networks.

I included the picture of this book as what I thought was an interesting contrast to the WW2 images.

ourmaninBusan · February 18th, 2006, 02:02 PM

I can't summon any respect for comic-book artists. It takes a lot
of work to write a story for a Spiderman or a Batman comic
but the whole thing smacks of arrested development. "My hero Spiderman
can shoot webs from his hands!" is a subliminal indication that the artist
is obsessed with masturbation, IMO.

IceQueen · February 18th, 2006, 02:56 PM

I would think the foreign policy would be 'explained' in the biggest comic source of them all - the US History books.

I am not sure that kids really pay attention to well to the talking heads on the news, and instead base their reactions more on the reactions of adults around them. Having said that, I think it is ridiculous parents would actually buy books like that. I don't know why the parents have to resort to comics to tell them how to talk to their kids.

Ourman - how about Batman and Superman? There are some smarter comics out there where the characters don't have any real special effects, Though considering the market of who comics appeal to - I doubt they sell as much because of too many big words, not enough action, and certainly not enough gratuitous T+A.

twitchy · February 18th, 2006, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ourmaninBusan

I can't summon any respect for comic-book artists. It takes a lot
of work to write a story for a Spiderman or a Batman comic
but the whole thing smacks of arrested development. "My hero Spiderman
can shoot webs from his hands!" is a subliminal indication that the artist
is obsessed with masturbation, IMO.

Sorry to be so immature, but that reminds me of this:

**NoDayButToday** · February 18th, 2006, 07:40 PM

Quote:

I can't summon any respect for comic-book artists

It depends on the comics we are talking here. I respect them as artists. There are some very, very talented comic book artists out there, although they are mostly on the underground or lesser known comics (not many of them are making characters that shoot webs out of their wrists). My sister is a big comic fan as well as an artist (a serious one), her collection is full of some very beautiful artwork. It's also considered a legitimate art career, there are private art colleges offering cartooning majors.