Well, here we go. The grand plans to have a “Batman of Africa” (which may have been a bit presumptuous, given that America has about five flavors of Batperson just in one city) have petered out, and the effort to boost Batwing sales has begun in the Justin Gray/Jimmy Palmiotti era. The All-Star Western writers have taken over the book, and the first order of business is to broaden the appeal, which sadly means taking Batwing out of Africa. That translates to having the troubled Tinasha police officer David Zavimbe retire from Batman Incorporated, return the Batwing equipment to Batman, and find his own way.
I can’t help but be a bit disappointed with this, as I’ve liked the potential of Batwing since the New 52 started. Being a Black Panther fan, I was really hoping for at least one chunk of mainstream comicdom could focus on this large and often ignored continent, and it managed to do so for 19 issues… well, okay, I’m still counting the “Night of the Owls” stuff where Batwing came to Gotham City, but still. However, I’m given hope because A.) I like the team of J&J, and B.) the way they handle Zavimbe’s relinquishment of the Batwing armor and mantle makes one believe that we haven’t seen the last of this guy. I’ve really enjoyed Zavimbe as a character, I’ve been intrigued by his circumstances, but the book does seem a bit off lately – creative churn will do that.
Batwing #19 doesn’t beat Zavimbe bloody, as the cover would have you believe. It’s actually wrapping up the loose ends from the previous issues, while weaving in Zavimbe’s retirement speech to Batman, insisting that the Dark Knight’s methods do not work in his country. David is reeling because his mentor Matu Ba – his Alfred – is in the hospital dying as part of a retaliatory strike from Sky Pirate, as punishment for Batwing trying to bring down the serial killer son of a wealthy bastard named Marksbury. David’s childhood friend Dawn, who has somehow gone from crusading soldier against the Brother Lost cult to a heartless mercenary David has to beat up and threaten to get information from (seriously, I feel like I missed an issue or something when this happened), finally gives up the locale of the evil son, and Batwing brings him down, then threatens the elder Marksbury (and beats the snot out of him). He’s determined that the wealth-makes-right way of things will be ending. But it seems he’s become convinced that Batman’s ‘no killing’ rule does not translate to war torn nations like his, and he’d rather stop wearing his symbol than corrupt it with the things he will have to do. Having to watch Matu die bottoms him out – and he even quits his job as a cop in a completely corrupt precinct. But it doesn’t sound like he’s given up on justice. It’s a solid farewell, and hopefully a temporary one. He doesn’t have to become Batwing again, but I hope he winds up somewhere.
Batman then heads back to Gotham, shows off the new prototype Batwing armor to Alfred, and then we see who he’s going to choose as a replacement – his “first choice” for Batwing, and the character that we were told would have a closer connection to Gotham City (which would kind of defeat the purpose of having a Batman Incorporated agent located in Africa, but whatever). The last page reveal is that Luke Fox, the ultimate-fighter son of Lucius Fox who has been lamoring for Batman’s attention, will be that Batwing. He is also apparently nipple-less, but that seems to be an Eduardo Pansica artistic choice – perhaps hoping to be the polar opposite of Joel Schumacher’s Batfolk.
All in all, if we have to Americanize Batwing in order to keep it around, I suppose I can swallow this. Palmiotti said at Wondercon that the new Batwing was going to be much more international and not confined to one region. While I’ll lament the loss of the African focus, an intercontinental effort may still be pretty worthwhile. I think J&J can make that happen.
