By Jonathan Edwards

I don't like Frank Miller. Not just because he's a shitty person, nor because his writing's gotten definitively worse over the last decade or so. With maybe one or two exceptions, I've never liked his work. Brian Azzarello is a lot more middle of the road. From what I've read, he tends to be decent at the very least (Moonshine, for one, has been pretty good so far, though definitely not the best thing coming out from Image right now). However, I'm pretty sure Azzarello is the only thing keeping this book from taking a straight nosedive into pure awfulness. It's long been presumed that he was taking on the brunt of the writing with this series, and some of Miller's own comments, explaining his writing of a fourth entry in the Dark Knight series, more or less confirms that. It's too bad that he can only do so much here, and it really isn't enough. Despite attempts to veil the rampant Islamophobia Miller threw around in Holy Terror, it still ends up about as subtle as a truck. Well, if you want to call portraying the Kadorians as blatant and over the top religious zealots utilizing suicide bombers "veiled." And if that weren't enough, issue #7 of this shit show advocates for police brutality. Way to go. Yet, can this penultimate issue turn it all around and make this a worthwhile book? Nope, not in the slightest.