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Batwing (2011) #4-5
Batwing: Luke Fox
Once a member of Batman Incorporated and deputized by the Dark Knight himself, Batwing, the Batman of Africa, has quit. Luke Fox, the son of Bruce Wayne’s trusted ally Lucius Fox, has emerged in his place...but will his actions do more harm than good in Gotham City?
Writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and artist Eduardo Pansica blaze a fresh new start for the armored vigilante who helps Batman protect the streets of Gotham from the forces of evil. The new hero is put to the test with new challenges and threats as he comes face to face with Lady Vic and Charlie Caligula and confronts the Darklings and Anubis clans that live below the city, unbeknownst to the Gothamites above them.
Includes Batwing # 19 – 34 and Futures End #1!
Writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and artist Eduardo Pansica blaze a fresh new start for the armored vigilante who helps Batman protect the streets of Gotham from the forces of evil. The new hero is put to the test with new challenges and threats as he comes face to face with Lady Vic and Charlie Caligula and confronts the Darklings and Anubis clans that live below the city, unbeknownst to the Gothamites above them.
Includes Batwing # 19 – 34 and Futures End #1!
384 pages, Paperback
Published February 15, 2022
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Jimmy Palmiotti
1,671 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 21, 2023
I love Luke Fox! This was really fun! I def will read more in the future
March 30, 2022
The original Batwing discards the mantle in favour of fighting the good fight from the streets of Africa, prompting Batman to offer it to the person he designed the suit for in the first place - flying high across the globe, Luke Fox is the new Batwing!
When Luke was announced as a character in the Batwoman TV show, I wanted to make a point and go back and read his old New 52 series but never quite managed it. Then DC produced this trade, which combined his 17 issue run into one chunky book and I knew the time was right.
Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray try to make the transition as seamless as possible. The first issue of this run puts David Zavimbe's story to rest, and while it's difficult to feel too invested in what he's up to since the earlier 18 issues aren't included here, it doesn't just feel like they're dumping David to one side - they take the time to say goodbye and show that his crusade isn't over just because he's not Batwing anymore, and Luke only appears in the last two or three pages.
Then Luke picks up where David left off - his first arc sends him across the glove tracking down an arms dealer, sending him to Rome, and the Congo, and bringing him into contact with a giant lion man as well as a wannabe Roman Emperor and another member of Batman Incorporated. These issues are globetrotting fun, but they're also paired nicely with Luke's family troubles - he can't tell his folks that he's a superhero, so to them he looks aimless and neglectful of his responsibilities in Gotham, which is just superhero 101; you can't have a good personal life and be a superhero too.
The second arc sends Luke underground as a villain from his past reappears and targets his family with some truly horrific consequences. This could have felt like a more bog-standard Batman story, but the familiar connection keeps things squarely in Batwing's court, and gives Palmiotti and Grey even more opportunity to dig into the Fox family dynamic.
There are also some tie-ins to broader DC initiatives included here, such as a Zero Year origin story (issue 25) which is more of an origin of a villain who reappears in the second half of the run (something I don't remember a lot of the Zero Year books doing, at least not from memory), as well as a Gothtopia tie-in (issue #27), and the final issue of the volume is Future's End: Batwing #1.
All but one issue of this run is pencilled by Eduardo Pansica, and it looks phenomenal. He knows how to draw superheroes like nobody's business, and there's hardly a drop in the level of detail despite drawing so many issues consecutively. The only issue he doesn't draw is the Gothtopia tie-in, which is tag-teamed by Jason Masters and Scott Kolins.
Basically, this book is everything the current I Am Batman title should and yet isn't managing to be. The characterisation of Luke and the depiction of the Fox family is consistent and engaging, the artwork is always phenomenal, and the battles Luke fights are easy to feel invested in because of the personal stakes. Not all secondary Bat books feel necessary, but Batwing easily carves out a niche for itself and manages to draw you in effortlessly. I wish I'd read this sooner.
When Luke was announced as a character in the Batwoman TV show, I wanted to make a point and go back and read his old New 52 series but never quite managed it. Then DC produced this trade, which combined his 17 issue run into one chunky book and I knew the time was right.
Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray try to make the transition as seamless as possible. The first issue of this run puts David Zavimbe's story to rest, and while it's difficult to feel too invested in what he's up to since the earlier 18 issues aren't included here, it doesn't just feel like they're dumping David to one side - they take the time to say goodbye and show that his crusade isn't over just because he's not Batwing anymore, and Luke only appears in the last two or three pages.
Then Luke picks up where David left off - his first arc sends him across the glove tracking down an arms dealer, sending him to Rome, and the Congo, and bringing him into contact with a giant lion man as well as a wannabe Roman Emperor and another member of Batman Incorporated. These issues are globetrotting fun, but they're also paired nicely with Luke's family troubles - he can't tell his folks that he's a superhero, so to them he looks aimless and neglectful of his responsibilities in Gotham, which is just superhero 101; you can't have a good personal life and be a superhero too.
The second arc sends Luke underground as a villain from his past reappears and targets his family with some truly horrific consequences. This could have felt like a more bog-standard Batman story, but the familiar connection keeps things squarely in Batwing's court, and gives Palmiotti and Grey even more opportunity to dig into the Fox family dynamic.
There are also some tie-ins to broader DC initiatives included here, such as a Zero Year origin story (issue 25) which is more of an origin of a villain who reappears in the second half of the run (something I don't remember a lot of the Zero Year books doing, at least not from memory), as well as a Gothtopia tie-in (issue #27), and the final issue of the volume is Future's End: Batwing #1.
All but one issue of this run is pencilled by Eduardo Pansica, and it looks phenomenal. He knows how to draw superheroes like nobody's business, and there's hardly a drop in the level of detail despite drawing so many issues consecutively. The only issue he doesn't draw is the Gothtopia tie-in, which is tag-teamed by Jason Masters and Scott Kolins.
Basically, this book is everything the current I Am Batman title should and yet isn't managing to be. The characterisation of Luke and the depiction of the Fox family is consistent and engaging, the artwork is always phenomenal, and the battles Luke fights are easy to feel invested in because of the personal stakes. Not all secondary Bat books feel necessary, but Batwing easily carves out a niche for itself and manages to draw you in effortlessly. I wish I'd read this sooner.
August 29, 2023
Luke Fox is a great new character. I just wish more had been done with him here. While a fun enough ride, it felt too much like what we've seen before in superhero comics and not enough to set Fox apart as Batwing.
March 8, 2025
Weak, way to goodie goodie for me taste, did not like the Christian overtones throughout, should have a parental warning on cover due to this, influencer warnings etc, removed from libraries and banned everywhere but Florida and Oklahoma.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews