On Wednesday, “Batwing” #19 was released, effectively ending the reign of David Zavimbe as the man behind the silver, armored cowl. While the character was introduced in the first volume of Grant Morrison’s “Batman Incorporated,” it was the first arc of its ongoing, New 52 series, was where the character truly took shape. Today is as good as any day to go back and revisit that arc.
When “Batwing” started, it was helmed by Judd Winick (“Justice League: Generation Lost,” “Green Lantern,” “Under the Red Hood”) and Ben Oliver (“Ultimate X-Men,” “2000 AD”). For those totally unfamiliar with the character, Batwing is the Batman Inc agent in Africa (specifically, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and more specifically, in Tinasha), but he is also David Zavimbe, member of the Tinasha Police Department. He was a child soldier before escaping and entering the police force. He wears a suit of Bat-armor, which gives him the ability to fly, or at least glide.
There are a lot of similarities between Zavimbe and Bruce Wayne, at least in the broad strokes. They both are orphans; they both have an older caregiver who helps them in their crime-fighting career; they both have that one, intense moment of tragedy that drives them. There is also the ever important sense of doing what is right because the authorities aren’t doing their jobs – Zavimbe is an honest cop among crooked cops, and is dedicated to bringing justice to those that his fellow officers disrespect through their corruption.
All of this sounds like it could be a pretty run of the mill story; nothing all that innovative or interesting to check out. And, after Winick and Oliver left the book, that is what it, sadly, became. Typically, I am a person who reads a book for the story first, art second. I love a great piece of art, but I need to care about the story to pick up a book. When I first saw the sample pages from Oliver’s first issue, however, the book became a must-buy for me, even before reading a single issue.
Oliver’s work is some of the most elegant of any superhero work I’ve ever seen. He has a photorealistic base that he works off of, but turns up the cinematic elements to create something really special. Check out this spread from “Batwing” #1.
First of all, Oliver nails the armor, something no artist since has been able to do (compare that shot to this from issue #19). In other hands, the armor looks clunky and corny; for Oliver, it looks majestic and functional. In addition to his armor looking good, Oliver manages to capture an arid, humid texture to the settings. The book, even if you didn’t know where it was set, feels African in its tone and approach. Oliver’s action sequences always appear to be directed by a great film director, as he finds interesting angles to frame his panels, and the book winds up feeling far more operatic and epic than it would after Oliver’s departure.
While many, including yours truly, seemed perplexed than a non-African was writing the book, Winick showed a commitment to both the character, and doing his best to make the comic not just a generic African story, but add some depth and spirit to the setting. In Winick’s hands, Tinasha becomes a real location, not just “generic African city.” While I still think there is a small lining of racism with thinking that an entire continent needs only one Batman, where Gotham city has a dozen heroes (not on the part of any particular writer, but on the concept in general), Winick does his best to focus the setting in Tinasha, instead of trying to cover the entire continent in one book.
The initial arc is helped by having the story be so integral to who Zavimbe is as a hero – it deals with the original African superheroes, The Kingdom, being picked off one by one by a villain calling himself Massacre. This creates a nice link between the 5 years of heroes that would have preceded Batwing on the continent and Batman Inc. Just about everything that happens in this arc feels important; vitality gives a new book a huge leg up on keeping a reader. Compare this first arc to something like “Blackhawks,” another New 52 series. “Blackhawks” eventually found its comfort zone and turned into a pretty good comic, but that first arc felt like it was a small story in the grand scheme of what the book would become. “Batwing,” on the other hand, went big in its first arc, giving the reader everything they could want – a scary nemesis, some great character moments, gorgeous art, and a hook that would bring them back for more.
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Of course, like so many things, it was too good to be true. Oliver departed after issue #6 (after having a fill-in for #4), and the quality of art never recovered. Just a few months later, Winick departed as well, leaving a book that’s strength was its creative team to flounder under diminishing returns until, with Wednesday’s #19, completely retooling the book. Winick hasn’t written for DC since, and Oliver has done sporadic work since, mainly covers and the fantastic “Action Comics” #0. And with Zavimbe on the shelf for the foreseeable future, it is almost as if DC is trying to make their readers forget where “Batwing” started – and that is a real shame.
You can pick up the entirety of Oliver’s run (but not the entirety of the first arc, as that runs 8 issues) in the Volume 1 trade paperback.
