London, Feb 16 (IANS) Comic book superhero Batman will dispense with his old enemies the Riddler and the Joker to take on Osama bin Laden in his latest adventure.

In "Holy Terror, Batman!", a new graphic novel by Batman writer Frank Miller, the Caped Crusader will take on Al Qaeda when his hometown Gotham City is attacked by terrorists, the Daily Telegraph said in a report.

"It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a piece of propaganda - Batman kicks Al Qaeda's ass," Miller told a San Francisco comic book convention.

"It just seems silly to chase around the Riddler when you've got Al Qaeda out there."

Miller, who has been responsible for reviving the Batman comics with a series of graphic novels, pointed out that comic book superheroes had taken on other real-life characters in the past too.

"Superman punched out Hitler. So did Captain America. That's one of the things they're there for. It's an explosion from my gut reaction of what's happening now, a reminder to people who seem to have forgotten who we're up against," he said.

"Holy Terror, Batman!" does not have a scheduled publication date. It is unlikely to appear until next year at the earliest, when it will do battle with the book "Messages To The World: The Statements Of Osama bin Laden", which was just released in America.

In this compendium of bin Laden's statements, he attacks the US as "the Great Satan" for exporting a culture of pornography and violence.