Issue zero of Batwing should accomplish its goal of attracting new readers but there’s not much here for fans who have been reading the book since the beginning. Plainly stated, Batwing is a character who really didn’t need a zero issue. The story told here is one that we saw briefly a few months ago, only it wasn’t quite as detailed. You get a glimpse at yet another tragedy in David’s life that led to him becoming a vigilante and you’ll meet a character who was a major influence on his life but one who oddly enough I don’t think was ever mentioned over the past twelve months of this series. The first few pages started off strong but then some meta-human demon gang showed up and it just felt really over-the-top to me. Once David became a vigilante it felt like something I had already read before. There…really isn’t a lot to say truthfully. This is probably going to be the shortest review I’ve ever written–which is a nice change of pace after reviewing those three No Man’s Land TPBs.
There was an awkward lettering mistake in which a word was missing in a speech bubble, the art is still alright except for one shot in which a woman is reaching out but the glare from the car window makes it look like she only has three fingers. The book’s final page is fairly cool and should excite new readers to pick up even more Batwing issues, but tried and true fans of the series will wish that they had been given something fresh and new this month instead.
Readers who have always been curious about Batwing should give issue #0 a chance but if you’ve stuck with the series since the beginning then you’ll probably find this issue to be no more than just “okay”.
SCORE: 6.5/10
