Batwing #9

Is Batwing done defending Africa?

Batwing begins with a flashback to a Court of Owls meeting in 1856. They're discussing retiring their current Talon, Alexander Staunton, because he's lost his subtlety in the killing. He's efficient but becoming a Public Relations nightmare. And since The Court of Owls is supposed to be secret, they have no public relations and don't want any anytime soon! So they decide to put him away in a box in the labyrinth until the day "a worthy adversary will be thrust before him." I'm guessing that day is a night and it's the Night of Owls and the adversary will be Batwing! I'm so smart!

Batwing is in town with his Hawaiian shirt wearing Alfred to check out some upgrades on his Batwing costume. Or else he's still in town after chasing Massacre to Gotham. Or maybe he's still in town after visiting Vixen in the hospital. But he's definitely not moving away from Africa since one of the upgrades they're looking for are aquatic improvements to Batwing's armor so that he can fight Somali pirates.

It just so happens that on the Night of the Owls, Batman, Inc, is having some sort of event where many representatives of the franchise will be in attendance. Batwing decides to attend (as David, of course) and partake of a whole mess of free Batfood. And Big Batman Parties always bring the young (terribly young) Batman groupies!

Somebody went to the David Finch School of Making Sexy Women Creepily Young!

Lucius Fox, Batman's weapons and armor guru (you know! The guy played by Morgan Freeman in that Batman Begins movie!), is also at the party. And he was a name on the Talon's list.

He's the guy in the glasses! Batwing is the guy not in the Batwing Suit and unprepared to fight off a Talon!

A fire breaks out as a distraction so that the Talon can get to Lucius Fox. At the same time, Batwing's Alfred whose name I keep forgetting (I can only remember that he was the guy wearing the shirt with the mislabeled dice print) gets the message from Batman's Alfred about the Talons and their list of victims. David runs off to figure out how he's going to stop whatever is happening as Batwing without his Batwing suit. I think they're in the Batman, Inc. building though, so maybe he'll dig around for something he can use. Or maybe he'll just suck it up like Bruce Wayne and defeat the Talon in his party clothes.

Oh! His name is Matu! I didn't just remember that! I just read it a few pages on. And it appears Batwing did bring his armor and left it in coat check. Or a duffel bag in a toilet tank in the bathroom. He did message something about his voice code so maybe he just gained access to an armory in the back room where they were upgrading his shit.

Matu warns Batwing about Talon's regenerative properties. Batwing tests them out a bit and assesses the situation.

I appreciate the moves like Nightwing bit.

Batwing takes the fight outside to the street where it just so happens all of the people in the party have gathered to escape the flames! Talon takes the Prime Minister of somewhere in Africa not mentioned in this comic hostage and threatens to kill him unless Fox is presented. I think the Talon should just kill everyone! What does it care? But it doesn't. And Batwing doesn't care about the Prime Minister because he was once a warlord who caused thousands of deaths. But Lucius Fox is about to give himself up and Batwing sees on last chance and takes it.

Unless the Talon's regenerative ability has a super speed starfish capability, this would seem the best way to deal with them! Blow off their limbs! And heads! Why not kill them? They're really just reanimated corpses!

Batwing takes the unconscious Talon to dump in a tank of Liquid Nitrogen in the Batman, Inc. Armory. And that's probably all Batwing has to do with the Night of the Owls.

Batwing Issue #9 Rating: No change. It's a shame that DC's editors sometimes feel the need to tie in as many books as possible to their big cross-over events. Batwing really didn't need to partake of this. It's just slowed down the momentum Winick had from the Massacre story. But I can't dock it for an editorial decision either. It was just an average comic.