Customer Reviews

Batman: Holy Terror

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This is, as far as I know, the first official Elseworlds book. The "What If" is Oliver Cromwell's survival for a decade, which ensures that the Puritan Commonwealth remains in place indefinitely in Britain and its colonies, including North America. Bruce Wayne's parents, dissidents in this harsh, totalitarian theocracy, are murdered by order of the Court of Star Chamber, a shadowy religious authority. This sets in motion the cogs and wheels that will lead to Batman's advent. Seeking answers, Batman penetrates the bowels of Gotham Cathedral and runs into a government project, run by the demented scientist Erdel, to control superhumans and turn them into government stooges. Flash, Green Lantern, Vicky Vale, Aquaman, Lori Lemaris, Clayface, Zatanna, Metamorpho and, most memorably, Superman, turn up and are either crushed by the government and turned into slaves. The story is well told, and remarkably sophisticated. The artwork is acceptable, though not brilliant.

The book is, nonetheless, full of mistakes. The Commonwealth police were never called "Inquisitors", and in fact the term would have been repugnant to them, since it would have smelled of Catholic popery. The same goes for the flagrant use of religious imagery in Bruce Wayne's gymnasium and in a Church where he is ordained. The Puritans were iconoclasts and did not accept the use of human representation in a religious context. In fact, they destroyed most of Britain's medieval imagery, which was a significant part of its culture. The religious structure, with Bishops and ordained priests, looks rather Episcopal, and would have been inconsistent with the Puritans, many of whom were Presbiterians who did not accept tbe bishopry. And also, the Puritans were very divided among themselves and could never have held power for 350 years irrespective of Cromwell's survival. Plus the book is clearly intended as a heavy-handed criticism of the American religious right. Comic books can do social criticism, but then they need to be better informed (cf. The Watchmen is still the gold standard for this).

Having said this, who cares? The story is nonsensical but fun and memorable. So buy it, already!

This is an Elseworlds tale in the tradition of Gotham By Gaslight but released before the Elseworlds name came to be.

The time is the present but one different from the one we know. Oliver Cromwell did not die when he did in our world, instead he rose from his sickbed and persisted for another decade. Because of this, the mother church is in full control of Britain and the New World colonies (and much of the world that they have conquered). Here a young Bruce Wayne has finally found peace after the death of his parents. He is about to take his vows with the church when Inquisitor Gordon reveals that Wayne's parents were rebels and were executed my the Church in a way made to look like a random crime. Now Bruce does not know what to do.

His confidence in the church has been shaken and Bruce sets out to revenge himself on those that decided to kill his parents. But his quest leads him higher and deeper as he discovers that there are people with amazing abilities that have been either enslaved by the church or imprisoned. Bruce sees that his problem is not with the Church itself but with the way some men are wielding its power. With his faith strong Wayne continues to don an old demon costume of his father's and goes out to fight the injustice of the system.

This was one of the best of the Elseworlds tales. The alternate history worked well and the parallel heroes that Bruce discovers were very well done. While Gotham By Gaslight had a couple of sequels, this one has remained alone although it is rich enough to spawn many new tales. Check it out.

This is an alternate reality or elseworlds of Batman. In this era, the holy church still rule. Bruce Wayne's parents, both doctors to the inner circle of the holy church get murdered by a small time criminal, young bruce swore revenge. Little did he knows that the murderer of his parents is not just a small time criminal.. his parents are not just a victim of random street crime.. They are victims of much more larger and sinister entity.
The story has great opening and great ending (although not so satisfactory for me anyway). But in the middle,it dwindle a bit. And the run-of-the-mill genetic re-engineering side story is a bit silly IMHO.
If you are familiar with DC characters like Oliver (Green Arrow), Flash, Aquaman, Superman..you can get the amusment at the background story. Otherwise, it doesn't much make sense anyway.

FIRST OFF, NORM BREYFOGLE (ARTIST OF THE BOOK) IS ASIDE FROM JIM LEE, TODD McFARLANE AND JIM APARO, THE ULTIMATE BAT ARTIST.
HOLY TERROR IS AN ELSEWORLDS TALE BASED IN A POLICE STATE ATMOSPHERE, IN THIS TIME SUPERTYPES ARE OUTLAWED AS WELL AS OTHER THINGS. AS THE STORY PROGRESSES SOME OF THE THINGS AN AVID READER OF DC'S FINEST NEVER WANTS TO SEE, HAPPENS! SUPERMAN, FLASH, AQUAMAN ETC ETC (I'M NOT GIVING ANY OF IT AWAY). THE ART IS AS I STATED BEFORE BY NORM BREYFOGLE, FLUID LINES AND DARK IMAGING, EXCELLENT EXCELLENT WORK AND WRITTEN ALAN BRENNERT, FANTASTIC WORK!
ANY FAN OF ALAN MOORE'S V FOR VENDETTA WILL ENJOY THIS BOOK AND BEST YET, IT'S USUALLY A CHEAP BUY AND A READ YOU WON'T MIND READING AGAIN AND AGAIN.

BUY THIS BOOK!!!!