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Batwing (2011)
Batwing (2011-2014) Vol. 5: Into the Dark
When Gotham City is invaded by an army of criminals sent from the Gotham Underground, Batwing must defend his home from them and his most dangerous foe yet: Menace! The Gotham Underground is about to boil over with anarchy, and no matter which tribe rises up from below Gotham City, Batwing will be the first target. He must travel straight into the madness that is The Gotham Underground to put an end to those behind The Uprising! Will Batman, Incorporated be in the market for a new Batwing? Or is our hero ready to prove himself once and for all?
Collects Batwing #27-34 and Batwing: Futures End #1.
Collects Batwing #27-34 and Batwing: Futures End #1.
199 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 3, 2015
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99 people want to read
About the author
Jimmy Palmiotti
1,663 books174 followersJames "Jimmy" Palmiotti is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film.
Photo by Luigi Novi.
Photo by Luigi Novi.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 10, 2018
This book was a lot better when it was about a Batman International outlet in Africa. Now it's about Luke Fox, the current Batwing appearing in Detective. Starts off with a Gothtopia crossover that doesn't make any sense on its own here. Then Menace from the Zero Year issue returns and basically destroys Luke's family. I thought the storytelling was awful and felt like it was only done to give Luke a reason for being Batwing. At this point, Palmiotti should go back to inking comics. This writing thing isn't really working out for him. Eduardo Pansica's art however is fantastic. It's full of vibrant kinetic energy and action. He's becoming one of DC's unsung heros.
June 7, 2019
Batwing: Into the Dark picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting the last eight issues (Batwing #27–34) of the 2011 on-going series with the Futures End tie-in Batwing: Futures End and collects nine one-issue interconnecting stories.
This trade paperback has Lucas "Luke" Fox as Batwing continuing his mission as he battles evils around Gotham City. He takes on many minor and rather forgettable antagonists in an old friend Russell Tavaroff, Otis Flannegan as Rat Catcher, Anubis, and George Evans.
Included in this trade paperback are two tie-ins for Batman: Gothtopia (Batwing #27) and Futures End (Batwing: Futures End). For Batman: Gothtopia has Lucas Fox imagines himself to be the Flying Fox as he takes on Russell Tavaroff and Rat Catcher. For the Futures End tie-in has Lucas Fox, five years, into the future leading Batman Incorporated fight against Leviathan.
The team of Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti penned paperback. For the most part, it was written somewhat well. I wished they had more time to explore Lucas Fox as Batwing, because just as we were getting to know him – the series ended. It was interesting to see his interactions with his family, but I wished his antagonists were more memorable.
With the exception of one issue (Batwing #27), which was penciled by Jason Masters, the entire trade paperback is penned by Eduardo Pansica. Since he was the main penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, I enjoyed his penciling style.
Overall, Batwing was a mediocre series – it started out rather strong, but ended rather mediocrity. I really enjoyed the first half of the series where David Zavimbe was Batwing – an arm of Batman, Incorporated and the Batman of Africa. Despite being written well, it was niche series and was destined to end early. Switching the mantle to Lucas Fox was an interesting move to gardener more readers, but instead of making Batwing more in sync with the Bat Family, it made Batwing as generic as Batman's other allies.
All in all, Batwing: Into the Dark is a somewhat good conclusion to an overall mediocre series.
This trade paperback has Lucas "Luke" Fox as Batwing continuing his mission as he battles evils around Gotham City. He takes on many minor and rather forgettable antagonists in an old friend Russell Tavaroff, Otis Flannegan as Rat Catcher, Anubis, and George Evans.
Included in this trade paperback are two tie-ins for Batman: Gothtopia (Batwing #27) and Futures End (Batwing: Futures End). For Batman: Gothtopia has Lucas Fox imagines himself to be the Flying Fox as he takes on Russell Tavaroff and Rat Catcher. For the Futures End tie-in has Lucas Fox, five years, into the future leading Batman Incorporated fight against Leviathan.
The team of Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti penned paperback. For the most part, it was written somewhat well. I wished they had more time to explore Lucas Fox as Batwing, because just as we were getting to know him – the series ended. It was interesting to see his interactions with his family, but I wished his antagonists were more memorable.
With the exception of one issue (Batwing #27), which was penciled by Jason Masters, the entire trade paperback is penned by Eduardo Pansica. Since he was the main penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, I enjoyed his penciling style.
Overall, Batwing was a mediocre series – it started out rather strong, but ended rather mediocrity. I really enjoyed the first half of the series where David Zavimbe was Batwing – an arm of Batman, Incorporated and the Batman of Africa. Despite being written well, it was niche series and was destined to end early. Switching the mantle to Lucas Fox was an interesting move to gardener more readers, but instead of making Batwing more in sync with the Bat Family, it made Batwing as generic as Batman's other allies.
All in all, Batwing: Into the Dark is a somewhat good conclusion to an overall mediocre series.
August 12, 2016
Reprints Batwing #27-34 and Batwing: Futures End #1 (March 2014-November 2014). Luke Fox is adjusting to life as Batwing but his past is about to come back to haunt him. His sister has been kidnapped by Menace…who used to be Luke’s best friend. With his family targeted, Luke is about to discover a seedy underbelly to Gotham that not even Batman knows about, and things will never be the same for Luke and his family.
Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, Batwing Volume 5: Into the Dark is the final volume of the series. Following Batwing Volume 4: Welcome to the Family, the series features art by Eduardo Pansica, Jason Masters, and Scott Kolins and features issues as part of the Gothtopia and Futures End series.
I feel Batwing got a bad shake. The first volume of the series wasn’t very good, but the character grew. I really enjoyed the switch from David to Luke Fox and liked some of the direction that the story was going…but reading this volume you can tell the writing was already on the wall for the series.
This volume of Batwing is very dark. The first few issues of the series are almost torturous with Luke’s likeable sister Tamara getting kidnapped, shot up with drugs, and ending up a vegetable. It almost seemed like a disservice to the developing character who had been around for a number of years. If the series had continued and this had become a driving force for Luke, it could be argued that her condition was a legitimate use of the character, but here, it almost feels like the Women in Refrigerator syndrome since the series ended.
The whole “underground” of Gotham thing is also very problematic. It is stated that it is massive and they can’t believe no one ever found it. They should have just made this in one of DC’s neighboring cities or something especially since the sewers of Gotham have always been a stomping grounds in Batman…Killer Croc never found this big city with a whole culture and population? I like the idea but putting it in Gotham was a mistake.
Though it started out pretty rocky and generic, I kind of wish Batwing had survived. With the overpopulation of “Bat” titles and the New 52 out, I don’t see a ton of future for Batwing though he was just starting to develop. Luke’s character went on to appear in Batgirl and a Futures End story in this volume just doesn’t provide a satisfying end to the character…maybe Batwing will find a way to fly again someday.
Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, Batwing Volume 5: Into the Dark is the final volume of the series. Following Batwing Volume 4: Welcome to the Family, the series features art by Eduardo Pansica, Jason Masters, and Scott Kolins and features issues as part of the Gothtopia and Futures End series.
I feel Batwing got a bad shake. The first volume of the series wasn’t very good, but the character grew. I really enjoyed the switch from David to Luke Fox and liked some of the direction that the story was going…but reading this volume you can tell the writing was already on the wall for the series.
This volume of Batwing is very dark. The first few issues of the series are almost torturous with Luke’s likeable sister Tamara getting kidnapped, shot up with drugs, and ending up a vegetable. It almost seemed like a disservice to the developing character who had been around for a number of years. If the series had continued and this had become a driving force for Luke, it could be argued that her condition was a legitimate use of the character, but here, it almost feels like the Women in Refrigerator syndrome since the series ended.
The whole “underground” of Gotham thing is also very problematic. It is stated that it is massive and they can’t believe no one ever found it. They should have just made this in one of DC’s neighboring cities or something especially since the sewers of Gotham have always been a stomping grounds in Batman…Killer Croc never found this big city with a whole culture and population? I like the idea but putting it in Gotham was a mistake.
Though it started out pretty rocky and generic, I kind of wish Batwing had survived. With the overpopulation of “Bat” titles and the New 52 out, I don’t see a ton of future for Batwing though he was just starting to develop. Luke’s character went on to appear in Batgirl and a Futures End story in this volume just doesn’t provide a satisfying end to the character…maybe Batwing will find a way to fly again someday.
October 13, 2015
So what is the point of this book? I thought Batwing was going to be an international version of Batman, travelling the world and fighting crime everywhere. But in this volume, all but the Future's End standalone issue take place in (or under) Gotham, which kind of defeats the purpose. You can see the pull of the editorial mandate with the Gothtopia issue opening the story, and then the whole Gotham Underground concept gets used relatively well here, but still is a horrid concept at its center. No, nobody noticed huge underground areas beneath a city that is a seaport? After all the disasters? Sorry, doesn't work for me.
And the other thing that bugged me about this book is the sheer amount of damage done to the Fox family. Luke comes out okay, but it starts to seem like the girlfriend in fridge syndrome again - everyone around the hero suffers as a motivation for him to fight.
I'll grant there is some strong action in here, and Luke makes for an interesting character, although there's not a whole lot about him beyond his ethnicity and his relatives that makes him stand out from the other heroes. And there's a really weird sequence with his genius little sister and an astrophysicist that just seems really preachy for no good reason. The book goes back and forth between decent action and weird segments and family activities, and just never settles on a comfortable or consistent tone. It's not horrible, but it seems like it could be a whole lot better.
And the other thing that bugged me about this book is the sheer amount of damage done to the Fox family. Luke comes out okay, but it starts to seem like the girlfriend in fridge syndrome again - everyone around the hero suffers as a motivation for him to fight.
I'll grant there is some strong action in here, and Luke makes for an interesting character, although there's not a whole lot about him beyond his ethnicity and his relatives that makes him stand out from the other heroes. And there's a really weird sequence with his genius little sister and an astrophysicist that just seems really preachy for no good reason. The book goes back and forth between decent action and weird segments and family activities, and just never settles on a comfortable or consistent tone. It's not horrible, but it seems like it could be a whole lot better.
August 17, 2020
Po średniej ocen spodziewałem się tortury na równi tego, co spotkało mnie przy Catwoman czy Green Arrow z New 52, w czasie gdy obiema seriami zajmowała się pewna autorka (A.N), a i sama seria wraz ze zmianą protagonisty zaliczyła trend zniżkowy. Ale nic z tego. Bawiłem się świetnie, miejscami nawet bardziej niźli cały tom zasłużył, bo liczba głupotek w pewnym momencie przytłoczyła mnie, jak szczury pewnego złego jegomościa, ale po kolei...
Luke Fox, syn tego Foxa robi za pomocnika Batmana, ale takiego nieco bardziej niezależnego. Batwing miejscami jest tak samo skuteczny jak sam Wayne, choć zdarza mu się przekraczać granice. Stawką jest w końcu życie jego dwóch sióstr, przy czym ta najmłodsza to istne złoto. Intrygantka jakich mało, co widać po scenie "próby swatania", ale też zwyczajnie mózg odziedziczyła po ojcu. Niemniej zanim do tych wydarzeń dojdzie, Batwing wybierze się na poszukiwanie tych, których kocha.
Palmiotti zaskoczył mnie tym, jak poprowadził wątek innej siostry Luke'a. Jest to dołujący motyw, zresztą jak cała sytuacja rodziny Fox, która powoli rozpada się na łamach tego komiksu. Ta bezradność czy bezsilność. Jak to było nieźle zarysowane. Wraz z nimi pojawia się gniew. Z gniewem przemoc. Batwing zaczyna działać bardzo brutalnie, ale jestem się z nim w stanie utożsamić. W końcu chodzi o bliską osobę.
Tu zacznie się głupie. Poszukiwania zaprowadzą herosa do... podziemnego, olbrzymiego miasta jakie znajduje się pod Gotham. Ok, zarys takich rozmiarów pojawia się już w serii z J. Hex, ale tam byłem w stanie w to jeszcze uwierzyć (co prawda ledwo, ale zawsze...). Tutaj urasta to do absurdalnych rozmiarów. Podziemie ma własne społeczeństwo pełne różnorakich frakcji. Z jedną nawet młody Fox będzie miał nawet spore spięcie.
A wszystko kręci się wokół przeciwnika, jaki pojawił się w komiksie zerowym serii Batwing w ramach New 52. Jest to typowy złoczyńca, który marzy tylko o zemście, co mu pośrednio wychodzi. Motyw z tym władcą szczurów uważam za idiotyczny. Wielgachna ryba? Też jest... Na szczęście na drodze herosa staje jego siostra i znów wszystko idzie w lepszym kierunku, zwłaszcza że zwrot fabularny w tym momencie zaserwowany połechtał moje serduszko.
Krótką historię z naśladowcą Batmana uważam za udaną. Seria się kończy i mam nadzieję, że ten motyw poprowadzi ktoś dalej, zwłaszcza że zakończenie mimo, że trochę z czapy to jednak intryguje. Kompletnie zbędna jest za to dla mnie historia zahaczająca o Futures End. Mdła, przewidywalna, zbędna.
Dobrze, że kreska jaka towarzyszy całej historii jest świetna. Pansica ma talent i w sumie cały ten głupi pomysł z podziemnym światem został uratowany dzięki jego ołówkowi. Batwing w ramach New 52 był serią mocno nierówną, choć patrząc w pryzmacie innych tytułów na pewno nie najgorszą. Początkową petardę nieco zastąpiono kapiszonami, aby potem znów zaczęło być nieźle. Polecam każdemu, kto ma dosyć Batmana, ale nie świata DC. Zasłużona "czwóreczka".
Luke Fox, syn tego Foxa robi za pomocnika Batmana, ale takiego nieco bardziej niezależnego. Batwing miejscami jest tak samo skuteczny jak sam Wayne, choć zdarza mu się przekraczać granice. Stawką jest w końcu życie jego dwóch sióstr, przy czym ta najmłodsza to istne złoto. Intrygantka jakich mało, co widać po scenie "próby swatania", ale też zwyczajnie mózg odziedziczyła po ojcu. Niemniej zanim do tych wydarzeń dojdzie, Batwing wybierze się na poszukiwanie tych, których kocha.
Palmiotti zaskoczył mnie tym, jak poprowadził wątek innej siostry Luke'a. Jest to dołujący motyw, zresztą jak cała sytuacja rodziny Fox, która powoli rozpada się na łamach tego komiksu. Ta bezradność czy bezsilność. Jak to było nieźle zarysowane. Wraz z nimi pojawia się gniew. Z gniewem przemoc. Batwing zaczyna działać bardzo brutalnie, ale jestem się z nim w stanie utożsamić. W końcu chodzi o bliską osobę.
Tu zacznie się głupie. Poszukiwania zaprowadzą herosa do... podziemnego, olbrzymiego miasta jakie znajduje się pod Gotham. Ok, zarys takich rozmiarów pojawia się już w serii z J. Hex, ale tam byłem w stanie w to jeszcze uwierzyć (co prawda ledwo, ale zawsze...). Tutaj urasta to do absurdalnych rozmiarów. Podziemie ma własne społeczeństwo pełne różnorakich frakcji. Z jedną nawet młody Fox będzie miał nawet spore spięcie.
A wszystko kręci się wokół przeciwnika, jaki pojawił się w komiksie zerowym serii Batwing w ramach New 52. Jest to typowy złoczyńca, który marzy tylko o zemście, co mu pośrednio wychodzi. Motyw z tym władcą szczurów uważam za idiotyczny. Wielgachna ryba? Też jest... Na szczęście na drodze herosa staje jego siostra i znów wszystko idzie w lepszym kierunku, zwłaszcza że zwrot fabularny w tym momencie zaserwowany połechtał moje serduszko.
Krótką historię z naśladowcą Batmana uważam za udaną. Seria się kończy i mam nadzieję, że ten motyw poprowadzi ktoś dalej, zwłaszcza że zakończenie mimo, że trochę z czapy to jednak intryguje. Kompletnie zbędna jest za to dla mnie historia zahaczająca o Futures End. Mdła, przewidywalna, zbędna.
Dobrze, że kreska jaka towarzyszy całej historii jest świetna. Pansica ma talent i w sumie cały ten głupi pomysł z podziemnym światem został uratowany dzięki jego ołówkowi. Batwing w ramach New 52 był serią mocno nierówną, choć patrząc w pryzmacie innych tytułów na pewno nie najgorszą. Początkową petardę nieco zastąpiono kapiszonami, aby potem znów zaczęło być nieźle. Polecam każdemu, kto ma dosyć Batmana, ale nie świata DC. Zasłużona "czwóreczka".
July 13, 2018
I had some hopes early on in this final volume of the Batwing series that it might end well, but it quickly devolved into a series of fights that I cared nothing about, while not answering the important questions I kept having. Like, why does the main monster Luke keeps fighting look just like an updated design for Bane? How are we supposed to believe that, in addition to whatever caverns and complex sewer systems, there's a VAST underground city of "refugees" beneath Gotham? Besides the logistical impossibilities (wouldn't Gotham collapse into a hole so big beneath its own weight?), this is a world where Superman exists and can see through and across the whole planet. He's surely been to Gotham City, which is not far from Metropolis. If all these ridiculously gimmicky gangs and factions were going buck wild underground, Superman would see it and tell Batman. They never address this, or why Batman loses touch with Batwing's comms while he's in the underground city. Maybe there's a high lead content throughout allllll of the bedrock of Gotham?
There are a few redeeming moments to be found in these comics, like the scene late in the series where Luke takes his youngest sister to see a (woman of color) astro-physicist give a lecture. But I swear, a few issues prior, when Tiffany had been kidnapped, they said she was 8 years old. When Luke drives her downtown, she's sitting in the back in a carseat looking like a toddler. When she speaks up at the lecture to answer a complex question about humanity's maturity level, she says she's six and a half. I'm just shaking my head that this creative team apparently can't keep track of the age of this kid, and has no idea how big she'd be (I guarantee she wouldn't fit in a baby's carseat.).
At least once I caught Jimmy Palmiotti using the same exact purple prose TWICE in the same issue, and not as a motif, but just as in he must've had this line in his head, written it in the script, then finished the script the next day and had Luke say the same dramatic thing about being drunk on the thud of his fists and how he's only running on adrenaline and it can't last. He says that twice with just a few pages between the instances. Palmiotti isn't the *worst* comic writer or artist, but he's pretty crap, and this series could have been fantastic all the way through if it had kept the original characters and tone. As it is, Batwing just looks like a disposable caricature of any other given Batman stories, with villains and hero arcs that are all style and no substance.
There are a few redeeming moments to be found in these comics, like the scene late in the series where Luke takes his youngest sister to see a (woman of color) astro-physicist give a lecture. But I swear, a few issues prior, when Tiffany had been kidnapped, they said she was 8 years old. When Luke drives her downtown, she's sitting in the back in a carseat looking like a toddler. When she speaks up at the lecture to answer a complex question about humanity's maturity level, she says she's six and a half. I'm just shaking my head that this creative team apparently can't keep track of the age of this kid, and has no idea how big she'd be (I guarantee she wouldn't fit in a baby's carseat.).
At least once I caught Jimmy Palmiotti using the same exact purple prose TWICE in the same issue, and not as a motif, but just as in he must've had this line in his head, written it in the script, then finished the script the next day and had Luke say the same dramatic thing about being drunk on the thud of his fists and how he's only running on adrenaline and it can't last. He says that twice with just a few pages between the instances. Palmiotti isn't the *worst* comic writer or artist, but he's pretty crap, and this series could have been fantastic all the way through if it had kept the original characters and tone. As it is, Batwing just looks like a disposable caricature of any other given Batman stories, with villains and hero arcs that are all style and no substance.
February 14, 2021
This is a WEIRD book. The stories and characters are bizarre: a whole underground Gotham, mutated weirdo villains, vicious goat creatures (you heard me), and unresolved plot lines. However, for all this hot mess, I REALLY like Luke Fox and the Fox family dynamics. His story sadly feels incomplete, so I hope to read more Batwing adventures in the future.
December 9, 2022
Unforgivably bad. I hated this run from start to finish and it gets even worse here. The villain, threateningly named Russell, is appalling. Tam Fox gets fridged for no reason. The writing is dreadful. There are no redeeming features whatsoever. They should have kept David Zavimbe because Luke Fox just ain’t it.
July 29, 2018
Nope.
March 19, 2017
Gosh. Really good at times, then really bad at others. A ton of storylines just dropped, a time-jump, I think? Plus you had this series start out with a great African hero and then he just leaves for seemingly no reason and is replaced with an American, who is a great character too, but now that's over I guess? Disappointing.
November 15, 2020
Moving the setting from Africa was a big mistake. Ultimately we were too early in the "course correction" to see if this would have worked. I hope the character returns in a better book.
Find more on this in Comic Book Coffee Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48xyG...
Find more on this in Comic Book Coffee Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48xyG...
May 15, 2015
Wow...I can't believe how far off I am from the average.
I thought this was the best Batwing book yet! Lots of Fox family drama that allows us to see more of the extended Batfamily.
I thought this was the best Batwing book yet! Lots of Fox family drama that allows us to see more of the extended Batfamily.
May 9, 2015
Not my thing. Liked the previous volume.
December 4, 2017
Przyjemny komiks. Akcja jest żwawa, a Lucas kopie tyłki i dowcipkuje. Musi poradzić sobie z zagrożeniem, które wzięło na celownik jego rodzinę. Oczywiście ta nie jest wdzięczna, bo nie znając jego alter ego ciągle krytykuje jego nieodpowiedzialność. Auć.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews