DCnU - Batwing #1 from DC's New 52

Batwing, the African Batman. Written by Judd Winick with art by Ben Oliver.

I said in my preview entries that I thought this would be a good book, but also that I didn't have high hopes for it continuing to sell, since it was set outside of the USA.

If the quality of this book keeps up to the standard set by this issue, I can see it lasting quit a while. The story was strong, the villain, Massacre, is menacing and bad ass, and the art is absolutely beautiful.

Winick tends to take on social issues, and a book set in Africa is a wonderful place to do that. I also love that he sets up the fact that Batwing isn't the first hero Africa has had.

This book was tightly paced, with some good action scenes, and lots of good character stuff. I like that Batwing's secret identity of Officer David Zavimbe is one of the few good cops in Tinasha, a fictional city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Striving to get the system working by day, and working outside it by night, trying to accomplish good however he can. His admiration for the Batman is plain. And Batman shows him respect in the flashback appearances he has in the book.

Batwing's supporting cast is interesting. Officer Kia Okuru is a clean-ish cop in a place so dirty that "clean-ish" is the best you can expect. She sees the progress that has been made to clean up corruption in Tinasha and sees it as good, whereas David comes off as just as extreme as Batman himself on this issue. When a case is let to drop, David asserts it is because there were no bribes to be had. Kia says "It is better than it was," to which he replies, "That means nothing. Tinasha is one of the most crime-ridden cities in all of Africa. We need to do more than just 'better.'" This is nice bit of exposition that reveals both soething about the character, and about where he finds himself. Batwing also has an equivalent to Alfred in the form of Matu Ba. And the relationship is very different. As opposed to Alfred's hiding his caring for Bruce behind upper-class snark and disapproval, Matu Ba is unabashedly supportive of David.

Good hero, an engaging mystery, strong villain, supporting cast that draw your attention, and a shocking ending to the story, all beautifully rendered? This book is definitely staying high on my pull list.