Batwing #16

Fabian. Don't you dare come on to this title and make everybody turn on Batwing. Can't you simply let a hero be a hero?

This cover doesn't get my hopes up. This cover actually gets my hopes down. Batwing may have some problems with the corruption in Tinasha's police force. But can't David try to solve the problem without turning everyone against Batwing? Or maybe this is something else.

The issue begins with a young prostitute being murdered by the son of a wealthy industrialist. Corruption allows him to walk and he immediately kills again. Looks like it's time for David Zavimbe to get really fucking angry. So angry that Batwing begins kicking the asses of every corrupt cop in the department. And since David knows which cops are corrupt, Batwing should have a really easy time of it.

If you're a decently self-aware person, everything you read gets filtered in and around your own views and lifestyle. So when I read that David has to put up with this and he isn't instantly losing his cool, I should probably look at how quickly I want to shit all over Scott Lobdell whenever his pen merely touches a piece of paper. Should I get so angry over something that matters so little?

Well, of course! We all have our parts to play! My part is to make sure Scott Lobdell never feels very comfortable Googling his own name! Some day when he writes something wonderful, I'll applaud him, weeping and wailing and praising sweet bloody Jesus on the cross. But until that day, fuck him. He's just as dangerous as a fictional man that kills fictional prostitutes. Maybe even more so!

David is boring me. Let's see Batwing!

Hmm. No. Still bored.

Batwing confronts the murderer's father and claims the man can stare down Batman and serial killers. I notice he didn't include Amanda Waller! That bitch is icy! Somehow, the police arrive just moments after Batwing forces his way into the bar. I will say this: the Tinasha police department has the quickest response time I've ever seen. I guess when you know everybody you arrest is going to make you a shitload of cash when they bribe their way free, it's pretty good incentive to arrest as many people as quickly as you can. I'm pretty sure they've barged in on every fight scene in the entire sixteen issue run of Batwing so far. That's a much better record than the Gotham or Metropolis police.

Once the police arrive, Batwing flies through the roof of the club causing lots of damage. If this is the way Batwing is going to act, I'm all for the police going after him like on the cover. What gives him the fucking right to threaten people and then destroy property? If he's serious about justice being served and he's going to act recklessly and outside of the law anyway, just kidnap the boy, rape him, kill him, and throw him in a well.

Why did I add rape him? Oh! Because that's probably what he's been doing to these women.

And just like that Matu draws me right back into the story. Nothing like a character echoing exactly what I just said to make me start thinking the comic book is well written!

David answers, "I don't know." Now all Fabian Nicieza has to do is wow me with Batwing's solution to this problem while maintaining his own sense of ethics and I'll be pretty much okay with Nicieza taking over this book.

The scene continues and it's a really nice, strong scene. Fabian gets the real dilemma that David is in. Tinasha is not in America. Batwing cannot fight justice in the same way that Batman does although he now has to try, both because he represents Batman, Inc, and because of his own vow to himself to never kill again. Gotham and Tinasha have a lot of similarities though, especially with the corrupt police and people with money getting away with anything they want. While Matu suggests that killing this kid may be the only permanent way to get justice here in Tinasha, David is looking at the larger picture. This crime isn't about this one boy anymore. The system is fucked up and he needs a solution that'll fix it. Good luck, Batwing! Even Batman hasn't figured that one out yet.

The corrupt police finally resort to violence against the captain of the precinct at his home. They get the name of the witness against the murderer boy rapist scumbag and head to take out the little girl. Kia has been watching the Captain's place and lets David know what's happening. David gets to the girl's house before the corrupt police and tries to defend the house while he waits for Batwing's Batwing to arrive via remote control.

Is that right? Is Batwing's plane also called the Batwing? That's a bit weird.

That's the solution! Have Kia kill everyone!

Maybe Batwing doesn't have a plane since Batwing flies! Instead, the armor with a holographic projection of a person inside of it lands at the scene to scare everybody away. Although I imagine they'll just shoot at it instead of running. Since they don't run, the remote controlled armor tasers all three cops and puts them down. Then it flies back home with the robot satisfaction of a job well done.

Fuck! Who needs David? This armor can fight all the battles by itself! Actually, the remote control technology is apparently severely limited and the tasers were pretty much the only offense it was capable of. Now all that's left is for Kia and David to figure out what the fuck to do since they can't just shoot the cops.

Although now that the corrupt cops know David and Kia know, things at work are going to be a little tense around the water cooler.

By keeping the witness safe, the murdering kid ends up in jail without bail while awaiting trial because the justice system quickly gets the kid past the corrupt precinct and deeper into the system where the money can't save him.

Fucking David just bankrupted all of his co-workers.

The kid's dad, Phillip Marksbury, isn't too happy about his son winding up in jail. He puts out a hit on both David and Batwing. It looks like David isn't going to get much rest in the near future.

Batwing #16 Rating: +1 Ranking. I enjoyed the situation Batwing was placed in here. He's been trying to deal with the corrupt system nearly every issue so far, so it was only a matter of time until he couldn't look the other way anymore. It seems like every cop is corrupt except David and Kia but that could change as Batwing continues to fight the system. Kia used to accept the bribes herself because she knew if she didn't, it would garner distrust amongst her coworkers and make her less effective at her job. So there must be many more on the force in the same awkward position. Perhaps now that the bribe money has dried up, it'll be easier for the uncorrupted cops to help David and Batwing change the system. Or maybe they'll all just continue to spit in David's coffee and wipe their asses with his sandwiches before putting them back in the fridge.