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Batwing (2011)
Batwing, Vol. 2: In the Shadow of the Ancients
As a part of the acclaimed DC Comics--The New 52 event, Batwing follows a soldier carrying on the legacy of The Dark Knight in the most tumultuous region on Earth. Meet Batwing, the Batman of Africa, as he takes on the villainous Massacre and The Court of Owls!
This second volume of Batwing, from acclaimed writter Judd Winick, follows Batwing to the streets of Gotham as Batwing hunts for Massacre, following the elimination of the superheroes known as The Kingdom. Batwing also must confront the Court of Owls, in a very special, action-packed crossover with comic superstar Scott Snyder's Batman storyline. Outgunned and on unfamiliar
turf, can Batwing survive the "Night of Owls"?
This second volume of Batwing, from acclaimed writter Judd Winick, follows Batwing to the streets of Gotham as Batwing hunts for Massacre, following the elimination of the superheroes known as The Kingdom. Batwing also must confront the Court of Owls, in a very special, action-packed crossover with comic superstar Scott Snyder's Batman storyline. Outgunned and on unfamiliar
turf, can Batwing survive the "Night of Owls"?
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 2, 2013
8 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
About the author
Judd Winick
786 books393 followersJudd Winick is an American cartoonist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and former reality television personality known for his diverse contributions to storytelling across multiple media. He first entered the public eye in 1994 as a cast member on The Real World: San Francisco, where he formed a close friendship with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora, an experience that deeply influenced his later work. Winick memorialized their bond in Pedro and Me, a critically acclaimed autobiographical graphic novel that earned several literary awards and became a staple in school curricula.
Winick's career in comics took off with The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius and continued with major runs at DC Comics, including Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Batman. His stories often explored socially relevant themes, such as HIV, homophobia, and identity. He was recognized for introducing gay characters and tackling difficult subjects with empathy and clarity. His work on Batman notably included resurrecting the character Jason Todd as the Red Hood, a storyline later adapted into the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, for which Winick wrote the screenplay.
Beyond comics, he created The Life and Times of Juniper Lee for Cartoon Network and served as head writer for Hulu's The Awesomes. In 2015, he launched the Hilo series, an all-ages sci-fi adventure inspired by his own children. The bestselling series has been widely praised and is expected to reach its eleventh volume in 2025.
Winick lives in San Francisco with his wife, Pam Ling, also a Real World alum, and their two children. He continues to create heartfelt and imaginative stories for audiences of all ages.
Winick's career in comics took off with The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius and continued with major runs at DC Comics, including Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Batman. His stories often explored socially relevant themes, such as HIV, homophobia, and identity. He was recognized for introducing gay characters and tackling difficult subjects with empathy and clarity. His work on Batman notably included resurrecting the character Jason Todd as the Red Hood, a storyline later adapted into the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, for which Winick wrote the screenplay.
Beyond comics, he created The Life and Times of Juniper Lee for Cartoon Network and served as head writer for Hulu's The Awesomes. In 2015, he launched the Hilo series, an all-ages sci-fi adventure inspired by his own children. The bestselling series has been widely praised and is expected to reach its eleventh volume in 2025.
Winick lives in San Francisco with his wife, Pam Ling, also a Real World alum, and their two children. He continues to create heartfelt and imaginative stories for audiences of all ages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
December 18, 2017
The first 2 issues finish up the Massacre storyline from volume 1. Why these aren't in volume 1 is beyond me. Winick telegraphed the "big reveal" from the first couple of issues. Then we get a well-done "Night of the Owls" crossover. The second half of this book suffers from too many guest stars. Volume 1 was excellent because of Batwing's rich backstory. Now he's gallivanting around Asia with Nightwing before bringing the awful Justice League International back home with him to take on Lord Battle. It all felt a bit rushed and inconsequential. Finally, there's a decent zero issue where we see how Matu lost his eye.
June 18, 2017
Good backstory; good tales of Batman's team in Africa.
[I actually started this story in May, so unable to count toward Seasonal Reading Challenge or Library Challenge.]
[I actually started this story in May, so unable to count toward Seasonal Reading Challenge or Library Challenge.]
April 30, 2013
I had really enjoyed the first volume of Batwing. If anything, I liked this one more. Unlike some of the other new Bat family books, (Batwoman, I'm looking at you) Batwing has been given a roster of villains that are actually unique and interesting in their own rights. Lord Battle in particular, whose true power set ended up being fantastically mythical in nature. I think David, as opposed to Batwing, got the short end of the characterization stick in this volume, but that's pretty normal for a Bat family book. Batman and Nightwing end up playing fairly large parts in the story, and Robin and Batgirl show up in more supporting roles, but they don't overshadow Batwing in his own book. If anything, it's a great look at how the concept of Batman, Incorporated is meant to work. And honestly, I could do with quite a bit more of Batwing and Nightwing teaming up, because they play off each other perfectly. There are two (relatively) low points that I noticed: the revelation of Massacre and the Court of Owls tie in story. Massacre's true identity had been telegraphed so heavily that there was no suspense for the reader, though I believe that Batwing would be slower on the uptake and his shocked reaction was handled fairly well. The Court of Owls tie in was sort of mediocre to me, though that could just be because I'd already read it, in Batman: The Night of the Owls. If anything, it proves how entirely pointless the Night of Owls collection was. As a whole, I'd have to say that Batwing is one of my favorite of the New 52 titles, so far.
December 19, 2013
This time last year I was wading my way through New 52 Volume 1s while this year I’ve been going through a ton of Marvel NOW! Volume 1s, so I thought it’d make a nice break to go back to some of the New 52 titles I enjoyed and read the second volume. I’ve regretted doing this for a number of them – Justice League, Aquaman, Suicide Squad, Batgirl Volume 2s are all terrible – but I somehow thought Batwing would be good, after all Judd Winick’s a good writer!
Nope! This one is down there with Suicide Squad Volume 2 as one of the worst New 52 titles I’ve read this year.
Batwing aka David Zavimbe is the Batman of Africa. A tall order, given that the other Batmen are given territories like Japan, France and Argentina – countries – while poor David is given an entire continent to police! Anyway Bruce Wayne’s given him Iron Man armour that looks bat-like so he can rocket all over the place, so I guess that makes up for it…? Or so you would think because in the first half of this book, he’s not in Africa at all – he’s in Gotham! Why? I think it was done purely to have him take part in the Night of the Owls crossover event – it’s that cynical a choice.
So Batwing fights Massacre whose real identity is revealed and it’s not shocking if you’ve been half awake to the story – Winick’s been telegraphing it for several issues at this point, throwing in flashbacks to David and his brother’s youth, before cutting back to Batwing and Massacre.
After the Massacre storyline is quickly dealt with unsatisfactorily, we get the pointless Night of the Owls issue. I really don’t know why every Scott Snyder Batman storyline has to be its own Event but unfortunately that’s how it is. Night of the Owls, Death of the Family, and now Zero Year are all Event stories that suck in a dozen other titles for no reason other than to try to leech off of Snyder’s popularity. It’s a stupid choice and these issues sit awkwardly in the collected editions like it does here.
We are back to Africa though in the second half of the book with Batwing taking on a group of hastily cobbled together “villains” led by a cartoon called Lord Battle (great name – did a 4 year old or Rob Liefeld come up with it?). And then the worst possible thing I can imagine happening in a DC book happens: Justice League International show up!
I involuntarily dropped the book when I saw these clowns appear – the “superhero” with the magic hair and the Chinese “superhero” with the worst name ever *shudder*. It’s not fair, I purposely ignored this title but even when I try avoiding it, they won’t go away! You cancelled this series, DC, take the freakin’ hint! Nobody wants to read about these morons!
The JLI are the lowest point in any book, a mark as good as placing a black spot in an old pirate’s hand, but their inclusion is indicative of a larger problem with this book: the overabundance of characters that smother Batwing. This is Batwing, not Batman Inc, not JLI – Batwing. Yet he’s constantly being overshadowed by these other characters. Nightwing, Damian, Batman, they all steal focus from Batwing who’s relegated to a supporting character in his own book. We learn nothing more about him here than we did in the first book because so much space is taken up with other characters. Get rid of them all, we’re reading a Batwing book because we want to read about Batwing!
The book closes out with the zero issue telling us about how David Zavimbe became Batwing, which is an absolutely pointless issue because we already know why from the first book.
Batwing Volume 2 has multiple problems: structurally it doesn’t make sense, with the non-sequitur Night of the Owls issue and the irrelevant zero issue, and the jumping about from America to Africa for no discernible reason. There are far too many supporting characters and not enough development of the main character, Batwing. None of the villains are interesting and are hastily-assembled arbitrary baddies for Batwing to fight. And there’s no story. Batwing is just pinging around with no purpose. No wonder the series got cancelled, it’s totally directionless and missing a storyline!
I want to like Batwing but we’re not really given a reason to – he’s simply a forgettable Bat-themed superhero. The book should more accurately be called Batwing: In the Shadow of Better Superheroes! The curse of the New 52 has begun poisoning even their good titles in their Volume 2s!
Nope! This one is down there with Suicide Squad Volume 2 as one of the worst New 52 titles I’ve read this year.
Batwing aka David Zavimbe is the Batman of Africa. A tall order, given that the other Batmen are given territories like Japan, France and Argentina – countries – while poor David is given an entire continent to police! Anyway Bruce Wayne’s given him Iron Man armour that looks bat-like so he can rocket all over the place, so I guess that makes up for it…? Or so you would think because in the first half of this book, he’s not in Africa at all – he’s in Gotham! Why? I think it was done purely to have him take part in the Night of the Owls crossover event – it’s that cynical a choice.
So Batwing fights Massacre whose real identity is revealed and it’s not shocking if you’ve been half awake to the story – Winick’s been telegraphing it for several issues at this point, throwing in flashbacks to David and his brother’s youth, before cutting back to Batwing and Massacre.
After the Massacre storyline is quickly dealt with unsatisfactorily, we get the pointless Night of the Owls issue. I really don’t know why every Scott Snyder Batman storyline has to be its own Event but unfortunately that’s how it is. Night of the Owls, Death of the Family, and now Zero Year are all Event stories that suck in a dozen other titles for no reason other than to try to leech off of Snyder’s popularity. It’s a stupid choice and these issues sit awkwardly in the collected editions like it does here.
We are back to Africa though in the second half of the book with Batwing taking on a group of hastily cobbled together “villains” led by a cartoon called Lord Battle (great name – did a 4 year old or Rob Liefeld come up with it?). And then the worst possible thing I can imagine happening in a DC book happens: Justice League International show up!
I involuntarily dropped the book when I saw these clowns appear – the “superhero” with the magic hair and the Chinese “superhero” with the worst name ever *shudder*. It’s not fair, I purposely ignored this title but even when I try avoiding it, they won’t go away! You cancelled this series, DC, take the freakin’ hint! Nobody wants to read about these morons!
The JLI are the lowest point in any book, a mark as good as placing a black spot in an old pirate’s hand, but their inclusion is indicative of a larger problem with this book: the overabundance of characters that smother Batwing. This is Batwing, not Batman Inc, not JLI – Batwing. Yet he’s constantly being overshadowed by these other characters. Nightwing, Damian, Batman, they all steal focus from Batwing who’s relegated to a supporting character in his own book. We learn nothing more about him here than we did in the first book because so much space is taken up with other characters. Get rid of them all, we’re reading a Batwing book because we want to read about Batwing!
The book closes out with the zero issue telling us about how David Zavimbe became Batwing, which is an absolutely pointless issue because we already know why from the first book.
Batwing Volume 2 has multiple problems: structurally it doesn’t make sense, with the non-sequitur Night of the Owls issue and the irrelevant zero issue, and the jumping about from America to Africa for no discernible reason. There are far too many supporting characters and not enough development of the main character, Batwing. None of the villains are interesting and are hastily-assembled arbitrary baddies for Batwing to fight. And there’s no story. Batwing is just pinging around with no purpose. No wonder the series got cancelled, it’s totally directionless and missing a storyline!
I want to like Batwing but we’re not really given a reason to – he’s simply a forgettable Bat-themed superhero. The book should more accurately be called Batwing: In the Shadow of Better Superheroes! The curse of the New 52 has begun poisoning even their good titles in their Volume 2s!
April 1, 2014
This is a really strong book. Even though three stories are collected here, each feels well contained and important (with the Court of Owls crossover being the least important overall, but even it pushes some plot forward). It's a book full of crossovers, but they all work in context, and the other characters are present to support Batwing, rather than supplant him.
Reading this so soon after reading Unknown Soldier forces some comparisons, as both deal with violence in Africa. This isn't nearly as raw and bloody, but the currents of violence are definitely present.
One nice thing about this, Batwing isn't afraid to create its own stable of heroes and villains - African super heroes have only ever been lightly touched upon, and the book hints that there's a larger stable there, which could provide fodder for many other titles. Probably never will, but it's nice that they at least hint it.
David Zavimbe mirrors Batman more than any of the other Bat characters - dark and brooding, willing to fight on his own, but also fine in a group situation. He is haunted by his past, and determined to redeem and revenge himself. Definitely a title worth following, compared to many of the other New 52 titles.
Reading this so soon after reading Unknown Soldier forces some comparisons, as both deal with violence in Africa. This isn't nearly as raw and bloody, but the currents of violence are definitely present.
One nice thing about this, Batwing isn't afraid to create its own stable of heroes and villains - African super heroes have only ever been lightly touched upon, and the book hints that there's a larger stable there, which could provide fodder for many other titles. Probably never will, but it's nice that they at least hint it.
David Zavimbe mirrors Batman more than any of the other Bat characters - dark and brooding, willing to fight on his own, but also fine in a group situation. He is haunted by his past, and determined to redeem and revenge himself. Definitely a title worth following, compared to many of the other New 52 titles.
September 6, 2024
I read volume 1 a few years ago, but this held up without needing a whole lot of backstory. Better than volume 1 in my opinion. David Zavimbe is a pretty compelling character.
June 4, 2018
This series could've been great, but it lost me so much with this volume I don't think I'll even continue on to volume 3. There was so much freshness and promise with the African setting of the first volume, but this volume abandons that immediately to wrap up volume 1's story in, surprise surprise, Gotham City.
It's not even justified. Suddenly the final two people Batwing must protect from Massacre aren't in Africa like everyone else has been. They're in America, in Gotham, coincidentally on the Night of the Owls, the big crossover event affecting the Bat family at this time. I wonder if that had anything to do with suddenly yanking Batwing halfway across the world and away from the very thing that makes him unique? Is my sarcasm strong enough?
You can almost feel Judd Winick give up at that point. After the 3-issue stint in Gotham, which features one of the most-telegraphed, obvious "twists" in comics history, he half-heartedly returns Batwing to Africa for a series of half-written, cliche action sequences and a totally unnecessary team-up with Justice League International.
Also, a squandered premise that could have been great. In a two-issue story, Batwing goes up against the terribly-named Lord Battle, an African warlord and metaphor for any of the various tyrants that have ruled African nations over the years. The story is over before it even has a chance to get started and features a number of deus-ex machinae and a last-minute reveals that get our heroes out of trouble far too easily. But, the reveal that Lord Battle is essentially a symbiotic organism who simultaneously feeds off of and fuels his nation's spirit is very smart. It could've been such a great commentary on the nature of some tyrants, their iron-fisted violence as a blood-soaked path to prosperity, and how they need the people just as much as the people can need them. It's a difficult dichotomy to navigate, and I think Winick was really onto something cool here. But instead of dealing with it, they just wrap it up lickety split and move on. It's upsetting!
So, with all the potential of this series down the drain, I'm done with it. This volume is just too sloppy and all over the place for me, and it makes me think the next volumes can't be much better. I'm gonna blame DC on this one more than Winick, cause it really feels like this series succumbed to Crossover Fever.
RIP
It's not even justified. Suddenly the final two people Batwing must protect from Massacre aren't in Africa like everyone else has been. They're in America, in Gotham, coincidentally on the Night of the Owls, the big crossover event affecting the Bat family at this time. I wonder if that had anything to do with suddenly yanking Batwing halfway across the world and away from the very thing that makes him unique? Is my sarcasm strong enough?
You can almost feel Judd Winick give up at that point. After the 3-issue stint in Gotham, which features one of the most-telegraphed, obvious "twists" in comics history, he half-heartedly returns Batwing to Africa for a series of half-written, cliche action sequences and a totally unnecessary team-up with Justice League International.
Also, a squandered premise that could have been great. In a two-issue story, Batwing goes up against the terribly-named Lord Battle, an African warlord and metaphor for any of the various tyrants that have ruled African nations over the years. The story is over before it even has a chance to get started and features a number of deus-ex machinae and a last-minute reveals that get our heroes out of trouble far too easily. But, the reveal that Lord Battle is essentially a symbiotic organism who simultaneously feeds off of and fuels his nation's spirit is very smart. It could've been such a great commentary on the nature of some tyrants, their iron-fisted violence as a blood-soaked path to prosperity, and how they need the people just as much as the people can need them. It's a difficult dichotomy to navigate, and I think Winick was really onto something cool here. But instead of dealing with it, they just wrap it up lickety split and move on. It's upsetting!
So, with all the potential of this series down the drain, I'm done with it. This volume is just too sloppy and all over the place for me, and it makes me think the next volumes can't be much better. I'm gonna blame DC on this one more than Winick, cause it really feels like this series succumbed to Crossover Fever.
RIP
February 10, 2015
The second volume in this "New 52" graphic novel is called, "In the Shadow of the Ancients," and is once again by Judd Winick with artwork by Marcus To and Ryan Winn.
The storyline that was laid down in the first volume is concluded in this second volume. A story tying into the Court of Owls plotline that took place in all the "Batman" family of comics is included and a new storyline is introduced.
I quite enjoy the introduction of the new characters and teams from both volume 1 & 2. The continent of Africa's mythos in the DC universe is beginning to take root in this graphic novel (GN).
With the introduction of Winn & To doing the artwork it is quite a departure from the first volume but not to the dismay of the reader. Different but very good. More classic comic book style but worth the color and ink.
Looking forward to the next volume.
The storyline that was laid down in the first volume is concluded in this second volume. A story tying into the Court of Owls plotline that took place in all the "Batman" family of comics is included and a new storyline is introduced.
I quite enjoy the introduction of the new characters and teams from both volume 1 & 2. The continent of Africa's mythos in the DC universe is beginning to take root in this graphic novel (GN).
With the introduction of Winn & To doing the artwork it is quite a departure from the first volume but not to the dismay of the reader. Different but very good. More classic comic book style but worth the color and ink.
Looking forward to the next volume.
September 22, 2024
#7 & 8 Would have made more sense if this had been in the previous volume. It concludes the storyline of Massacre (whose identity is obvious). Appearances from Nightwing and Robin.
#9 Night of Owls tie in.
#10 - 12 I enjoyed this collection more. A despot leader whose power comes quite literally from the land beneath his feet, Nightwing, a man who can turn into a dragon, Batman, and the JLI. What's not to like. These 3 issues bumped my rating up to 4*.
#9 Night of Owls tie in.
#10 - 12 I enjoyed this collection more. A despot leader whose power comes quite literally from the land beneath his feet, Nightwing, a man who can turn into a dragon, Batman, and the JLI. What's not to like. These 3 issues bumped my rating up to 4*.
November 29, 2014
Read the single print issues
To me the strongest issues (#9-11 and 0) were the ones when Batwing was on his own or getting just a little help from Nightwing. The other issues were good but not as good as those because the story felt crowed with unnecessary characters.
To me the strongest issues (#9-11 and 0) were the ones when Batwing was on his own or getting just a little help from Nightwing. The other issues were good but not as good as those because the story felt crowed with unnecessary characters.
April 11, 2015
It was nice to see Batwing and other members of the Bat Family. Comic was good. Hope Batwing will be able to stop King Shadow and save his brother.
December 17, 2016
I enjoyed the first volume and love the idea, but this one just didn't hook me in as much. There was a lot going on... maybe too much.
February 7, 2020
No i się zaczęło. Pierwsza część miała klimat, mroczne rysunki i była krwista przez co nie mogłem się od niej oderwać. Druga część to taki swoisty misz masz, a raczej nawet Batwing Team-Up, tylko po drodze gdzieś coś nie zagrało tak jak powinno...
Jedynka kończy się w dość ciekawym momencie, przez co czekałem na drugi tom z niecierpliwością i nadziejami. Dajcie Masakrę. Nie, mimo tego że ta postać tu jest to najpierw mamy crossover w ramach wydarzenia The Night of the Owls i przygody David w ramach tegoż że wydarzenia są słabe. Niby bronimy Luciusa Foxa plus pewnego watażkę, który przybył do Gotham w ramach misji dyplomatycznej, to dylematy postaci na temat: czy takiego zbrodniarza ubranego w konsularne szaty warto ratować, nie mają jakiejkolwiek wagi. Naprawdę. A mogło mieć to głębię. Były zadatki.
Wróćmy do wspomnianego Masakry i jego dalszych działań w stosunku do The Kingdom, grupy "krystalicznych" z pozoru herosów afrykańskich, którzy są istotni praktycznie dla całego kontynentu, a raczej ich czyny. W trakcie fabuły wypłynie jednak kilka szczegółów, które rzucą istotny cień na nieskazitelność herosów i ujawnią powód, przez który tracą życie. Dotyczy to trudnych z etycznego punktu widzenia wyborów jakie wtedy dokonali, ale tego można się domyślić. Fabuła w tym momencie jest mocno przewidywalna, co boli. Tak jak motyw Isaaca czy Matu, choć losy tego ostatniego nie były mi obojętne. Zaopatrzeniowiec Batwinga zdobył moją sympatię, a ścieżka rozwoju jego postaci została tu potraktowana po macoszemu. I jest to jedyna postać jakiej tutaj kibicowałem.
Batwing ma tu sporo momentów łączonych z innymi herosami DC, jak Nightwing, gdzie obydwaj robią sobie mały wypad do Chin, gdzie biją się ze... Smokiem? Smoczkiem? Co to miało być? Zazwyczaj łączenie sił z innymi podnosi nakład i atrakcyjność danego tytułu. Nie w tym miejscu. Jedynym obiecującym momentem była chwila łączenia sił z Justice League International, aby stawić czoła nietypowemu watażce, bodajże Lord Shadow. Całość rozegrana jest taką sztampą, ale drugie dno tej postaci jest naprawdę interesujące, bowiem przeciwnik jest niejako odzwierciedleniem lądu afrykańskiego i jego moce są z tą ziemią powiązane. I jest to korelacja obowiązująca w obie strony. Pozbycie się tego przeciwnika zaszkodzi Afryce. Motyw nowatorski. Ciekawy, ale zagłuszony przez zawał nawalanek, prostych pomysłów. Szkoda, naprawdę szkoda.
Za dużo rodzynek w tym cieście(nienawidzę rodzynek), aby móc się w pełni cieszyć tym tomem, który ma swoje przebłyski, ale zalewa je szara masa nudy i sztampy. Zwłaszcza, że całość wygląda o niebo gorzej niż zjawiskowy tom pierwszy. Może to moje rozbuchane oczekiwania, ale "W Cieniu Starożytnych" jest słabe. 2/5.
Jedynka kończy się w dość ciekawym momencie, przez co czekałem na drugi tom z niecierpliwością i nadziejami. Dajcie Masakrę. Nie, mimo tego że ta postać tu jest to najpierw mamy crossover w ramach wydarzenia The Night of the Owls i przygody David w ramach tegoż że wydarzenia są słabe. Niby bronimy Luciusa Foxa plus pewnego watażkę, który przybył do Gotham w ramach misji dyplomatycznej, to dylematy postaci na temat: czy takiego zbrodniarza ubranego w konsularne szaty warto ratować, nie mają jakiejkolwiek wagi. Naprawdę. A mogło mieć to głębię. Były zadatki.
Wróćmy do wspomnianego Masakry i jego dalszych działań w stosunku do The Kingdom, grupy "krystalicznych" z pozoru herosów afrykańskich, którzy są istotni praktycznie dla całego kontynentu, a raczej ich czyny. W trakcie fabuły wypłynie jednak kilka szczegółów, które rzucą istotny cień na nieskazitelność herosów i ujawnią powód, przez który tracą życie. Dotyczy to trudnych z etycznego punktu widzenia wyborów jakie wtedy dokonali, ale tego można się domyślić. Fabuła w tym momencie jest mocno przewidywalna, co boli. Tak jak motyw Isaaca czy Matu, choć losy tego ostatniego nie były mi obojętne. Zaopatrzeniowiec Batwinga zdobył moją sympatię, a ścieżka rozwoju jego postaci została tu potraktowana po macoszemu. I jest to jedyna postać jakiej tutaj kibicowałem.
Batwing ma tu sporo momentów łączonych z innymi herosami DC, jak Nightwing, gdzie obydwaj robią sobie mały wypad do Chin, gdzie biją się ze... Smokiem? Smoczkiem? Co to miało być? Zazwyczaj łączenie sił z innymi podnosi nakład i atrakcyjność danego tytułu. Nie w tym miejscu. Jedynym obiecującym momentem była chwila łączenia sił z Justice League International, aby stawić czoła nietypowemu watażce, bodajże Lord Shadow. Całość rozegrana jest taką sztampą, ale drugie dno tej postaci jest naprawdę interesujące, bowiem przeciwnik jest niejako odzwierciedleniem lądu afrykańskiego i jego moce są z tą ziemią powiązane. I jest to korelacja obowiązująca w obie strony. Pozbycie się tego przeciwnika zaszkodzi Afryce. Motyw nowatorski. Ciekawy, ale zagłuszony przez zawał nawalanek, prostych pomysłów. Szkoda, naprawdę szkoda.
Za dużo rodzynek w tym cieście(nienawidzę rodzynek), aby móc się w pełni cieszyć tym tomem, który ma swoje przebłyski, ale zalewa je szara masa nudy i sztampy. Zwłaszcza, że całość wygląda o niebo gorzej niż zjawiskowy tom pierwszy. Może to moje rozbuchane oczekiwania, ale "W Cieniu Starożytnych" jest słabe. 2/5.
June 1, 2019
Batwing: In the Shadow of the Ancients picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting the next six issues (Batwing #7–12) of the 2011 on-going series with the Zero-Month tie-in Batwing #0 and collects seven one-issue interconnecting stories.
The first two issues: "But There Were Consequences For Us" and "What I Am...Was Born from Death" (Batwing #7–8) continues the storyline from the previous trade paperback, which has David Zavimbe as Batwing battling Massacre who has found his way to Gotham City. Bruce Wayne as Batman, Dick Grayson as Nightwing, Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, and Damian Wayne as Robin helps Batwing in his mission, only to discover the identity of Massacre to be his brother Isaac.
The second half of the trade paperback has David Zavimbe as Batwing going international: "Fight or Flight" and "I See All of it Now" (Batwing #10–11) has Batwing going to China tracking down Long in China, who has connections to Oswald Cobblepot in Gotham City. Dick Grayson as Nightwing helps in the mission. "I Am One With This Land" (Batwing #12) has Batwing, Nightwing, and the Justice League International teaming together to go against Lord Battle and his team.
Finally there are two tie-in stories for the Night of the Owls (Batwing #9) and Zero Month (Batwing #0) crossovers. In "You Have Been Judged Unworthy" David Zavimbe, who happens to be in Gotham City to capture Massacre, was called to help fight the Talons, to protect Lucius Fox and the delegation of Democratic Republic of the Congo. "They Will PAY For What They've Given Birth To" gives the back story of David Zavimbe and how he became Batwing.
Judd Winick penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it was written rather well. The reveal of Massacre was rather interesting, if not predictable. I would have liked that the first two issues were added to the previous trade paperback so that it felt like a complete story. The follow-up stories and tie-in made the rest of the trade paperback rather disjointed. However, as a Robins fan, I was glad to see Dick Grayson as Nightwing featured so much in this trade paperback.
Marcus To (Batwing #9–12, 0) and Dustin Nguyen (Batwing #7–8) are the pencilers for the trade paperback. For the most part, the penciling styles complement each other rather well, which makes the artistic flow of the trade paperback rather smooth and pleasing to the eye.
All in all, Batwing: In the Shadow of the Ancients is a somewhat good continuation to what would hopefully be an equally wonderful series.
The first two issues: "But There Were Consequences For Us" and "What I Am...Was Born from Death" (Batwing #7–8) continues the storyline from the previous trade paperback, which has David Zavimbe as Batwing battling Massacre who has found his way to Gotham City. Bruce Wayne as Batman, Dick Grayson as Nightwing, Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, and Damian Wayne as Robin helps Batwing in his mission, only to discover the identity of Massacre to be his brother Isaac.
The second half of the trade paperback has David Zavimbe as Batwing going international: "Fight or Flight" and "I See All of it Now" (Batwing #10–11) has Batwing going to China tracking down Long in China, who has connections to Oswald Cobblepot in Gotham City. Dick Grayson as Nightwing helps in the mission. "I Am One With This Land" (Batwing #12) has Batwing, Nightwing, and the Justice League International teaming together to go against Lord Battle and his team.
Finally there are two tie-in stories for the Night of the Owls (Batwing #9) and Zero Month (Batwing #0) crossovers. In "You Have Been Judged Unworthy" David Zavimbe, who happens to be in Gotham City to capture Massacre, was called to help fight the Talons, to protect Lucius Fox and the delegation of Democratic Republic of the Congo. "They Will PAY For What They've Given Birth To" gives the back story of David Zavimbe and how he became Batwing.
Judd Winick penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it was written rather well. The reveal of Massacre was rather interesting, if not predictable. I would have liked that the first two issues were added to the previous trade paperback so that it felt like a complete story. The follow-up stories and tie-in made the rest of the trade paperback rather disjointed. However, as a Robins fan, I was glad to see Dick Grayson as Nightwing featured so much in this trade paperback.
Marcus To (Batwing #9–12, 0) and Dustin Nguyen (Batwing #7–8) are the pencilers for the trade paperback. For the most part, the penciling styles complement each other rather well, which makes the artistic flow of the trade paperback rather smooth and pleasing to the eye.
All in all, Batwing: In the Shadow of the Ancients is a somewhat good continuation to what would hopefully be an equally wonderful series.
July 29, 2019
4.5 stars
Wildly entertaining, emotional, and insanely gripping. Love the characters, enjoying all the various interactions, and oh man you better believe I'm picking up the next volume. I'm gathering from the Goodreads rating that I have a bit of an unpopular opinion here, but I'm quite enjoying myself so I'll just keep on reading and strap myself in for the ride.
Only thing that kept it from the full 5 stars was the abrupt stop with the storyline
Wildly entertaining, emotional, and insanely gripping. Love the characters, enjoying all the various interactions, and oh man you better believe I'm picking up the next volume. I'm gathering from the Goodreads rating that I have a bit of an unpopular opinion here, but I'm quite enjoying myself so I'll just keep on reading and strap myself in for the ride.
Only thing that kept it from the full 5 stars was the abrupt stop with the storyline
December 9, 2022
The second volume of Batwing sees him come to Gotham to finish the very good Massacre story from vol 1 and be around for an obligatory Night of the Owls tie in issue that’s not bad.
The second half of the volume deals with Matu’s family and new villain Lord Battle. It’s a disappointingly forgettable and bland story and the series feels swamped by guest stars by the end of the volume once the JLI have waded in as well as the Batfam.
Issue 0 rounds off the collection completing the story of Batwing’s past.
The stories aren’t the best, but the character of David shines through and I’ve found myself really invested in him and his world.
The second half of the volume deals with Matu’s family and new villain Lord Battle. It’s a disappointingly forgettable and bland story and the series feels swamped by guest stars by the end of the volume once the JLI have waded in as well as the Batfam.
Issue 0 rounds off the collection completing the story of Batwing’s past.
The stories aren’t the best, but the character of David shines through and I’ve found myself really invested in him and his world.
June 27, 2018
This slept-on series about the "Batman of Africa" (mostly The Congo) continues to be great. Judd Winick did a superb job of creating new characters (and probably refreshing some obscure ones I just hadn't known of) and establishing nuance between them and their various nations, factions, and motives for fighting.
This volume is just as good as the first, and allows for plenty of growing room.
This volume is just as good as the first, and allows for plenty of growing room.
January 6, 2019
This continues the brutal story started in the first volume. The court of owls cross over was ok, but felt out of place. We get to see how Batman and Batwing meet as well as a few other one shot comics that are actually pretty good. The art is still decent, but not quite as good as the first one. I'd still recommend this series for Bat fans.
July 16, 2020
This was fine. I wanted to know more about Batwing, his origin and how he operated. This book gave me that. It might not be a triumph of the human spirit or anything, but it's a perfectly good storyline.
And you get to see Batwing fight one of the Talons, which is excellent.
I think I'll try Vol. 4 next.
And you get to see Batwing fight one of the Talons, which is excellent.
I think I'll try Vol. 4 next.
November 27, 2017
This series takes a downturn from its remarkable debut. By relocating from Africa to Gotham DC Comics might have bought itself a tie in with it's "Court of Owls" crossover but this title lost its soul in the bargain.
May 12, 2017
3.5 Stars
May 3, 2018
3.5 stars. Better than Winick's Catwoman from the same period.
November 3, 2022
I was not impressed. Too many characters, an empty story and a quite uncharismatic lead.
December 21, 2023
A little better than the preceding volume, this is just a run-of-the-cave bat story with some new villains and some familiar Gotham faces thrown in.
July 23, 2024
An underrated character given rather poor treatment
September 4, 2024
Not as good as Vol 1, but great nonetheless.
August 15, 2025
First volume was so good. Then it went into an incoherent mess. On the upside, the paper used was high quality.
January 3, 2026
okay the comic is not that bad but who actually gave him the batwing name 🤔
August 12, 2016
Reprints Batwing #0, 7-12 (May 2012-November 2012). Batwing is searching for the killer of members of the African superhero team called the Kingdom, but finds himself pulled into a conflict in Gotham involving the Court of Owls. The kidnapping of a scientist leads Batwing and his allies in search of clues as to why…and conflict with Lord Battle.
Written by Judd Winick, Batwing Volume 2: In the Shadows of the Ancients is the second volume in the New 52 series following Batwing Volume 1: The Lost Kingdom. Batwing #9 (July 2012) was also included in Batman: Night of the Owls.
Batwing was an interesting New 52 addition in that he was truly “new”. The character had premiered in Batman, Inc. (briefly) but was generally unexplored. The first volume of the series was very Africa heavy since the character was based there, but this volume sees him with more interaction with the DC Universe out of North America which is commonly followed in comics.
As a whole, the story isn’t very coherent. The collection has a couple of parts with the search for the Kingdom’s killer, Night of the Owls, the Lord Battle storyline, and an origin story. That is a lot to cover in minimal number of issues. In a sense it feels a little like an older style comic book which is more issue driven (and that is good), but for reading as a collection, it doesn’t have much flow.
The art also varies greatly throughout the collection. Some of it is very good and stylized, but other art is very average. It always worries me when a comic book has a ton of artists or writers because that generally means it isn’t a priority in the publisher’s line or that no one wants to illustrate it (and you get average illustrations). I kind of feel that Batwing had that distinction.
Batwing is unfortunately not the best series, but it does have its fun moments. It is nice to have a series that isn’t bogged down by a lot of history but with a character with enough background that it makes sense to have crossovers with the mainstream heroes. I wish that the series had utilized a few more “big” villains for its start, and Batman a little less. Batwing 2: In the Shadows of the Ancients is followed by Batwing 3: Enemy of the State.
Written by Judd Winick, Batwing Volume 2: In the Shadows of the Ancients is the second volume in the New 52 series following Batwing Volume 1: The Lost Kingdom. Batwing #9 (July 2012) was also included in Batman: Night of the Owls.
Batwing was an interesting New 52 addition in that he was truly “new”. The character had premiered in Batman, Inc. (briefly) but was generally unexplored. The first volume of the series was very Africa heavy since the character was based there, but this volume sees him with more interaction with the DC Universe out of North America which is commonly followed in comics.
As a whole, the story isn’t very coherent. The collection has a couple of parts with the search for the Kingdom’s killer, Night of the Owls, the Lord Battle storyline, and an origin story. That is a lot to cover in minimal number of issues. In a sense it feels a little like an older style comic book which is more issue driven (and that is good), but for reading as a collection, it doesn’t have much flow.
The art also varies greatly throughout the collection. Some of it is very good and stylized, but other art is very average. It always worries me when a comic book has a ton of artists or writers because that generally means it isn’t a priority in the publisher’s line or that no one wants to illustrate it (and you get average illustrations). I kind of feel that Batwing had that distinction.
Batwing is unfortunately not the best series, but it does have its fun moments. It is nice to have a series that isn’t bogged down by a lot of history but with a character with enough background that it makes sense to have crossovers with the mainstream heroes. I wish that the series had utilized a few more “big” villains for its start, and Batman a little less. Batwing 2: In the Shadows of the Ancients is followed by Batwing 3: Enemy of the State.
October 12, 2013
I really wanted to like this more, I really did. But, it took the great potential of the first volume, and finished up that story cycle far too quickly, and deprived us of more time with Massacre, the great villain (and would be Joker to Batwing) by moving on too quickly.
I also felt that, like Volume 1, there's a lot of Bat Family here, in fact, too much to allow Batwing to stand on his own, I know that's part of Batman Inc., but it's just too much other heroes and not enough of him on his own.
I was glad to see the further development of Matu, the Alfred-like father figure to David (Batwing). That's something worth following up on.
However, it seemed like new 'Meta-powered' bad guys kept showing up, who were not quite laughable, but not exactly great either...
There's ties into a familiar Gotham Rogue, which seems like just another attempt to boost profile of Batwing by throwing in another recognizable face.
When the JLI show up in another adventure, I really started to wonder, because I was fairly sure the JLI series had been cancelled, and the membership was missing about half the original members. They only had a supporting role, but I really felt like there was way too many guests in a book that was supposed to be starting to establish it's own character.
However, the final issue that goes back into the backstory of David Zavimbe was good, and I did like where that was going, when we ended volume 2.
There's good stuff here, like a sculpture waiting to be chiselled out properly by a good artist, however, right now, they haven't done all the work. The potential is there, and I like the African setting, and I like the African hero, but they really need to let him grow on his own and stand on his own feet a bit more (some Bat Family would be OK, but this is too much).
I would suggest try Volume 1 first, and go from there depending how you like it...I hope it takes an upswing in Volume 3, and I will read that if I do get a chance...but there's just too many things that I didn't like to give it a higher rating...I wanted this to be so much more...
I also felt that, like Volume 1, there's a lot of Bat Family here, in fact, too much to allow Batwing to stand on his own, I know that's part of Batman Inc., but it's just too much other heroes and not enough of him on his own.
I was glad to see the further development of Matu, the Alfred-like father figure to David (Batwing). That's something worth following up on.
However, it seemed like new 'Meta-powered' bad guys kept showing up, who were not quite laughable, but not exactly great either...
There's ties into a familiar Gotham Rogue, which seems like just another attempt to boost profile of Batwing by throwing in another recognizable face.
When the JLI show up in another adventure, I really started to wonder, because I was fairly sure the JLI series had been cancelled, and the membership was missing about half the original members. They only had a supporting role, but I really felt like there was way too many guests in a book that was supposed to be starting to establish it's own character.
However, the final issue that goes back into the backstory of David Zavimbe was good, and I did like where that was going, when we ended volume 2.
There's good stuff here, like a sculpture waiting to be chiselled out properly by a good artist, however, right now, they haven't done all the work. The potential is there, and I like the African setting, and I like the African hero, but they really need to let him grow on his own and stand on his own feet a bit more (some Bat Family would be OK, but this is too much).
I would suggest try Volume 1 first, and go from there depending how you like it...I hope it takes an upswing in Volume 3, and I will read that if I do get a chance...but there's just too many things that I didn't like to give it a higher rating...I wanted this to be so much more...
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