Seriously, has no one in DC's editorial office seen Waiting...? I can barely reference this book's title without conjuring a mental image of Luis Guzman stretching out his, er, well...I'd hate to spoil the surprise if you haven't seen that movie, either.
Batwing catches up with the African member of Bruce Wayne's international Batman, Inc. in what would be a by-the-numbers superhero romp if not for two qualities that lift it above the mundane. First, Ben Oliver's fully rendered and painted art is gorgeous. Most painted comics have the inherent stiffness of portraiture, rather than the fluidity and expressiveness displayed here. Batwing is worth a second look for the dynamic art alone.
More importantly, Batwing does not shy away from its setting. This is not another fictitious stand-in for a real place. This is the Congo, full of violence and corruption. One can safely assume that the villain of this opening story, a masked man called Massacre who is killing off the heroes of Africa, is meant to be a stand-in for all the worst that you'll find in the Congo. One can also assume, then, that Batwing is a manifestation of the best.
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