February 15, 2006

Holy Terror, Batman

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If reading the newspaper doesn’t satisfy your hunger for “war on terror” news, soon there will be a new place to turn: the comic book. Frank Miller, who is credited with giving Batman its noir makeover is again revamping the series to echo the national mood. The days of nemeses like the Riddler and the Penguin are apparently behind us, as now, according to Miller “Batman will be kicking a lot of Al Queda butt.” Miller acknowledges the new “Holy Terror, Batman” series as a definite piece of propaganda, and wishes “entertainers of our time had the spine and the focus of the ones who faced down Hitler…. it’s silly to have Batman out chasing the Riddler when you’ve got al Qaeda out there.”

While many of us relish CSI-style crime dramas, incorporating the “axis of evil” into comic books interferes with the entire fantasy-driven component of the storyline. Batman fighting the jihad pretty much robs readers of the potential for seeking a pure and escapist form of enjoyment. Is there no getting away from foreign policy any more? Hopefully we can incorporate some domestic issues as well. Stand by for “Batman and Robin’s upcoming nuptials” and “Wonder Woman seeks equal pay!”

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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