It’s a good day and a potentially bad day for Batwing and his fans. The good news is that issue #8 is well worth picking up. You won’t be surprised, but you’ll be thoroughly entertained. The bad news is Batwing is joining the cast of “Justice League International” as well as having his own book. Why’s that bad? Because it likely isn’t so much an honor of having 2 titles as much as it is a sign that Batwing will be canceled sometime soon. DC has said that they will keep all of their characters from canceled books around in some way or another and beginning the transition from “Batwing” to “JLI” now as a fail-safe is exactly what this feels like to me. “Batwing” has not been selling too well and can’t seem to crack the top 100. I flipped through “Justice League International” at my local comic shop and considered giving it a review since Batman and Batwing both would be in it, but I flipped through and saw Batwing battling a giant parallax/energy monster thing and decided to put it back on the shelf. Seeing Batman characters battle magical or alien forces has always been a turn-off for me. But anyway, there you have it. Am I being paranoid about Batwing joining the JLI or do you think that the end is coming?
Review
It used to be you could read “Batwing” and find a setting outside of Gotham. Now, he’s in Gotham, but you’re getting something else that many bat-titles and most comics in general don’t show enough of: heart.
Yeah, the surprise twist ending isn’t going to shock too many people. Most saw this coming a mile away, but between the final reveal and a nice moment between David and his mentor, Batman, “Batwing” comes with plenty of emotion and memorable moments that will greatly define this character. It also comes with a great deal of action served up not only by Batwing and Massacre’s final battle, but you’ll get to see Batman, Nightwing, and Robin fight a giant robot as well!
If you’ve been following “Batwing” all along, then it’s going to be pretty satisfying to see the Kingdom murder mystery solved. However, if you’re a new reader, I suggest you wait until next month’s “Night of the Owls” tie-in and then after that you’ll see Batwing fight pirates in issue #10. Both should be good jumping-on points. Issue #8, however, is for fans who have stuck by through all the first 7 issues of this over-long arc.
David Nguyen’s art is great as always. His drawings may lack the photo-realistic quality of former artist Ben Oliver’s pages but he more than makes up for it with detailed backgrounds and an excellent sense of movement. One of the only things that bugged me about the final chapter of Batwing’s first adventure is a bit of a spoiler.
“Batwing” #8 was the better Bat-title this week and it sets up an interesting future plot. I just wonder how long the “Batwing” series has left to play such a story out.
SCORE: 8/10
