Review: Batwing Vol. 3- Enemy of the State

June 22, 2021June 23, 2021 ComicBookWire

Quick Summary

Pros: The opening story has a few moments of fun excitement. The second story does a great job depicting Batwing’s struggles as a hero and as an individual.

Cons: The opening story lacks any sort of depth and feels too chaotic. The second story has some minor storytelling problems.

Overall: This is a book that does a few things right but gets a little too much wrong. The stories here are troubled and only manage to be average at their very best. The entire book does a solid job handling Batwing but the storytelling surrounding his character progression is flawed. In the end, this is a book for diehard fans of Batwing, not readers just looking for a good read.

Story

Batwing Vol. 3: Enemy of the State, by Judd Winick and Fabian Nicieza, is just alright. The volume’s first half is troubled and contains a disjointed narrative that simply isn’t all that interesting. The volume improves slightly as it progresses though. The second half focuses more on corruption and the intense choices Batwing is forced to make in his role as a superhero and as a police officer. However, even this half is troubled and only ends up being average. Overall, this is a book that may work for some but is definitely not one of the best DC Comics offerings out there.

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Enemy of the State starts out pretty weak. The opening narrative has Batwing facing off against a mind-controlling cult leader. The actual fight between these two has some moments of fun and excitement. However, the overarching narrative just feels like a bunch of random encounters, with very little depth or meaning between them.

The rest of Enemy of the State makes improvements by really focusing on Batwing’s personal struggles. He is dealing with the weight of his secret identity, the weight of being a superhero, and with maintaining his morals within a corrupt police department. This echoes some factors from the early days of Batman in a way that work really well. I, personally, enjoyed the questions this narrative raised and watching Batwing struggle with these questions.

However, even this portion of the story is a bit troubled. Dawn’s switch from an avenging antihero to common mercenary seems strange, Sky-Pirate is underutilized, and the situation within the police department feels underdeveloped. In the end, even this portion of the read is just alright.

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Art

The artwork in Enemy of the State mostly works for the type of story being told here but doesn’t really stand out as anything that impressive. Marcus To and Fabrizio Fiorentino provide creepy visuals that match the tone of the opening story. Then, Fabrizio Fiorentino and Allan Jefferson do a solid job in emphasizing the human darkness in the second story. However, all of these chapters look a little rough in some places and, at a few points, are structured in a way that is somewhat confusing. Overall, the visuals in this book are passable but not great.