Batwing: Year One
Marcus To gives us one of those very standard Zero Issue covers that makes most of them blend into the woodwork. It takes the concept and really doesn't do anything with it. It's a cover that would be a little better if it wasn't competing with the rest of the Zero issues.
This issue fills in the last major gaps we had in Batwing's origin story. Previously we saw where his raw talent and thirst for justice began, but we never got to see that transitional period. How did he go from 'angry former child soldier with a righteous heart' to someone who could gain Batman's attention? Well wonder no more, because this issue gives you the answers.
The relationship between a young David Zavimbe and Matu Ba is not completely unlike that of Bruce Wayne and Alfred. Except that David already HAS the raw talent as a child, and Matu constantly needs to go out and find this child who runs off into the streets to brutalize criminals. His aversion to killing is already set; and you can see how some very loving and understanding foster parents instilled such powerful morals into him.
Marcus To's artwork is much better here than it has been, not that it's been bad. I think To's finaly his his 'Batwing' stride. Not what it was on Red Robin, but perfectly fitting for the different series.
In Conclusion: 3.5/5
David's journey from 'the one good cop' to 'Batwing' is a fairly typical one, but not uninteresting. We get to see flashes of some very interesting villains in a variety of african locations; as well as the standard superhero tragedy. There's no real major flaws in this issue, but very little of it is surprising or majorly compelling. There's a lot of nice unique touches to David's backstory, but at this point it's just filling in the gaps that needed filling, but couldn't hold anything too shocking considering how much we knew at this point.
