Thus far in
BATWING, we’ve come to learn of David Zavimbe’s crusade as a member of Batman Incorporated, his emerging enemy Massacre, and bits and pieces of what I like to call “DC Africa” -- that is, the history of the DCU in that particular continent ever since the New 52 relaunch. As far as David’s backstory goes, we’ve been privy to small parts of the path that led him to become a hero but some chunks of time have been noticeably absent to this point.
This month’s issue is devoted almost entirely to one of those chunks of backstory. After briefly re-establishing that Batwing is still trying to prevent Massacre from murdering the remaining members of “The Kingdom,” we’re thrown straight into the past, when David and his brother Isaac are teenaged soldiers for the African warlord Keita. After their parents died, the two brothers were recruited into service from a very young age.
And although they’re young, the two are among Keita’s best. However, as we saw in a previous issue, the brothers -- although impressionable -- still have stronger morals than some of their fellow soldiers. After disobeying orders to blow up an entire encampment (that included women and children) just to get at one of Keita’s targets, the general kills Isaac and goes after David. Fortunately, David is able to capture Keita instead, offering him to the target they were sent to kill earlier. The issue ends with David meeting Matu Ba (his present-day Alfred figure) for the first time, and then jumping to the present to reveal Batwing’s new plan to capture his adversary.
While this issue didn’t really move forward the overall narrative, I enjoyed learning more about what makes David Zavimbe worthy of being a protégé of the Dark Knight. It’s worth mentioning that Chriscross took over the interior art duties this month in place of series regular Ben Oliver. While I would’ve liked to see Oliver’s take on these important moments in David’s past, the artwork here is very kinetic and adds a good sense of weight and emotion to this unfolding story. Overall, BATWING remains to be a New 52 Bat-title worth picking up.
SYNOPSIS: As Massacre's bloody reign of murder continues and more heroes fall, Batwing closes in on this mad villain. But with his memories stirring, Batwing's dark past begins to emerge... At last, the truth of his past will come to light.
