Review: Batwing #1

There has been some debate as to how much, exactly, have DC erased with the nuDC relaunch.  Is it a total reset? Action Comics, Detective Comics and Justice League seem to suggest so, offering two early years tales and an origin tale for the team respectively. Books like Batwing, however,  suggest that the reset has affected far less than you might have suspected, and perhaps less than new readers might have hoped.
Batwing himself is affiliated with Batman Incorporated, part of the immensely complex continuity Grant Morrison has left in his wake but this first issue goes no way to explain that in any great detail, or even what Batman incorporated is. It’s an uncomfortable starting position for a new book but one that, with a bit of attention and reasonable conjecture from new readers, can be worked around.

Thankfully, once the story gets underway and the reader is comfortable, Batwing is a surprisingly engaging read, detailing the exploits of ‘Batman for Africa’. It’s an odd juxtaposition for a pitch because when you think of Africa, you’ll most likely imagine the bright sun of the plains and beautiful countryside- hardly the neo gothic urban despair of Gotham City and all the iconic Batman imagery that entails. Wisely, Judd Winick and Ben Oliver choose not to try and circumvent those images and instead opt to find their own style. An African Batman needs an African darkness and the team find it in the shape of warlords, corrupt government and brutal murder. It’s no coincidence that the book opens with Batwing taking on his first opponent in broad daylight, nor is it a coincidence that his adversary, named Massacre, fights with a machete. His chosen tool of slaughter and the crime scenes he leaves behind are instantly reminiscent of the mutilations and beheadings carried out by militias in any number of tribal conflicts and civil wars across the continent. While obviously a delicate subject, it’s an effective means of establishing the book with its own identity and darkness far removed from the childhood trauma and dark alleyways that Bruce Wayne’s own identity hinges on.
Where the script does falter, however, is in providing Batwing with his own strong motivation for joining Batman Inc. We soon find out that he’s a policeman in his day job, struggling to deal with corruption and inefficiency, but is that enough motivation to turn to high tech vigilantism? Compared to Batman himself, it feels lacking but hopefully the book will continue to develop his character and give us more.
Overall, however, this is a very successful first issues and one of the more enjoyable of the New 52. Winick looks set to be crafting an interesting, thematically strong and action packed crime story with a twist and it shouldn’t be understated how much Ben Oliver brings to the book, either. The line work in the art is absolutely superb – Batwing himself looks high tech, swift and immensely cool but it’s Massacre who really steals the show. His visual design is superb: armour plating and military dress make up the majority of his costume but Oliver deserves credit for making him look athletic and physically threatening under it all without making him ridiculously muscular. It’s more realistic and, as a result, more effective. Brian Reber, too, deserves more than a slight mention for his colours. Employing a distinct style of pastel shades and blended colours, Reber , perhaps more than anyone else on the team, gives Batwing #1 a sense of Africa. Every panel looks hot, dusty and scorched with heat and the book is instantly recognisable as being in Africa. Elsewhere, the high tech lair of  Batwing is given a cold, blue atmosphere that creates great visual contrast.

Batwing is off to a great start. Hopefully it can maintain the momentum in the rest of the series.