Batwing #4
Writer: Judd Winick
Art: Chriscross
Inks: Ryan Winn
The Comic
Featuring the origin of Batwing!
And special guest artist Chriscross!
You know what I like best about Batwing? That you could easily take the Bat out of the title and make this hero stand on his own. I'm not kidding, this character is solid work.
Young David and his brother Isaac were skilled hunters of men. They worked for a General who would betray them. It appears that young Isaac is killed by the General, and David gets his revenge. He decides that he is a monster and needs helps. He surrenders to an orphanage where he meets Matu, his Alfred. David says that he is "better at terrible things." That he is a monster, and he will hunt down Massacre, because it will take a monster to stop a monster.
I'm glad that Winick waited until now to tell the origin story. It fits in quite well here and would have made a bad first issue. My big disappointment is with the art. We don't have series regular Ben Oliver on the art, which was really growing on me. Instead we have Chriscross. He isn't bad, but the style differences between the artists are very noticeable. While Oliver has a painted look going for him, Chriscross is more in the style of Eduardo Risso of 100 Bullets fame. Chriscross tends to show any action panels with a bunch of lines to convey motion, and that's something that bugs me. A skilled artist would be able to show guys punching each other without the need for so much of those types of "action" lines. I can take a little bit of it, like what is used on the opening panel. But when you have a couple of panels that have more action lines in them than an actual picture, that's when it seems amateurish to me.
We get the main story advancing with another murder of a member of the Kingdom. As I learn more and more about these former heroes, I really think I would enjoy seeing an issue featuring them or a one shot going further into their background story.
I think that's when I realize more and more that I'm liking this book. Its the whole world that Winick is creating and running wild with. I also notice that the more and more I re-read this comic, the more I feel that it could have made for a good first issue with some tweaks to it. But I think I like it where its at.
Grades
Words: 8/10
Pictures: 6/10
Recommend: Yes, definitely. This is one of the sleeper hits of the new 52 that will grow on you.
Buy Next Issue: I'm looking forward to it.
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