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Batwing (The New 52!) # 9 (Night of Owls)

By Mark Rodriguez

The Court of Owls have unleashed their army of Talons upon Gotham and are storming Wayne Manor! Batman calls upon the Bat-Family to help them fight them off throughout the city. This even involves one of the members of Batman Inc, Batwing himself!


"Night of Owls- You have been judged Unworthy" opens with the Court of Owls discussing retiring one of their Talons named Alexander Staunton several years ago. He has been efficient over the years but he has become less subtle and more like a savage beast. His last mission had him kill an entire family, which was the target, but he was forced to kill the neighbors next door since they heard all the screams. Even though they plan to retire him, they know the time will come when Alexander will serve the Court again.



At the Batman Inc R&D department in modern day, Luscious Fox is working on the Batwing armor and asks David Zavimbe if he wants to add thicker armor for better protection. Matu Ba reminds Fox that the Batwing armor is armor, and not an all-out robot. They were requesting underwater upgrades and Fox will work on them. He tells them that Batman Inc is holding a gala and it will be nice for them to attend to help keep relations with the rest of the organization. David tries to politely decline but Matu gladly accepts on behalf of both, saying they could use the downtime.

Meanwhile on the Upper East Side of Gotham, the Court of Owls have awakened all the Talons. The Talons leap out, not just to kill their enemies but to retake the city.

At the gala, David is uncomfortable at the event, but Matu says he looks good in a suit and the ladies are noticing. David says he's not here to romance the ladies, and Matu says he sounds like he's 80. A man named Matthew Kalu sees them and introduces himself, happy to see fellow Americans there. He is the Prime Minister, but David knows he's corrupt. Fox comes in and tells Kalu that the Russian attendee wants to meet him and he leaves. David is glad because he considers him nothing more than a war monger and doesn't want to shake his hand. Matu says they can't do much about it since America has backed him and sometimes you have to make compromises for the greater good.

Suddenly they smell smoke as a fire has been set. David rushes off to see what he can do. He runs into the kitchen and finds several dead people all over the floor. He figured the fire was a distraction, but he is currently unarmed.



Just then Fox's security guards all hear the message from Alfred, declaring that the Talons are out to kill all of Gotham's most influential people. The guards try to keep Luscious safe, but he insists he can take care of himself. Just then, his guards are killed by the Talon. The Talon declares that Luscious Fox has been declared unworthy by the Court and has been sentenced to die. Just then Batwing wraps rope around the assassin's wrist to hold him back.

Matu warns Batwing over radio about how powerful and dangerous the Talons can be. Batwing shoots the Talon with enough tranquilizers to put down a rhino which puts him down as well. Matu warns that the Talons can regenerate and sure enough the assassin gets back and up and strikes at Batwing. Batwing decides to test his abilities and breaks the Talon's arm, but the assassin can heal the bone and fix his arm almost instantly. He comments that the Talon moves like Nightwing.



The Talon leaps over Batwing and continues to pursue Luscious. David is quick to tackle the Owl out of the building, smashing his back against a car. The Talon flings Batwing off him. Matu tells him the Talons are weak to enough tissue loss and extreme cold. The Talon and grabs the Prime Minister at knife point. He demands everyone to bring Fox to him or he will kill his hostage. Luscious quickly steps out and begs him to stop. Without much time to think, Batwing shoots explosives, strong enough to destroy locks, at the Talon, blowing off both of his arms. The Talon finally falls and Batwing is quick to tie him up. He hopes to take him back to cryofreeze in Batman's lab before the Talon can either wake up or regrow his arms.

The Prime Minister thanks Batwing and expresses his gratitude at being rescued by a proud and fellow son of Africa like himself. Batwing elbows him in the face and knocks him out. He walks off carrying the Talon as Fox tends to the Prime Minister. Batwing tells Fox this is how he compromises in Africa.


My Opinions

Pretty good story, short and to the point. I don't know much about Batwing, but I can get that David is the serious and noble hero while Matu is the one trying to have him lighten up. It's cool to see Luscious Fox working on his gadgets too. There was the bit of irony of Batwing being forced to save the Prime Minister's life, despite all the people he's had killed, but man, Luscious is brave as all hell to be willing to step up and sacrifice himself to save him.

The Talon was pretty cool, though he was more focused on killing Fox than fighting Batwing. I see how careless and theatrical he is. The Talons are supposed to be quick and efficient and not reall say much except for 'The Court of Owls has sentenced you death', but this guy was holding the Prime Minister at knife point and yelling for people to bring him Luscious Fox.

His defeat was kinda weird. I wouldn't think blowing his arms off would take down. I'm not sure if they can heal to the extent of regrowing lost limbs, but I figured he'd still try to use his legs and flip around or something.

It was pretty good and I guess, an interesting preview to Batwing, since this is the first comic I've read with him in it. I really don't know what happened to him after the Batman Inc ended or if he's popped up again after the New 52 also ended, but he seems like a cool character and I like the costume.

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