Review: Batwing Vol. 2- In the Shadow of the Ancients

Quick Summary

Pros: The opening chapters give a worthwhile conclusion to the story arc from the previous volume. Batwing still feels like a unique character.

Cons: Most of the volume is just average and doesn’t manage to do anything special. The artwork is also mostly average and not as impressive as it was before.

Overall: This volume starts out alright but decreases in quality quickly as it progresses. The opening chapters successfully wrap up the previous story arc in an exciting and interesting way. However, the rest of the book fails to impress and, generally, isn’t that memorable. It makes for a volume that isn’t necessarily bad but is definitely not that good either. Those who enjoyed the previous volume may like portions of this book but it is not a great place for new readers to jump in.

Story

In the Shadow of the Ancients, by Judd Winick, gives a solid conclusion to the story arc from the first volume but fails to really do anything interesting after that point. The first two chapters here are exciting and meaningful. They build upon threads from earlier and even have some unexpected twists to keep things interesting. However, after these chapters, the rest of the volume feels like it is simply treading water. It collects uninspired crossover and generic battles that are moderately fun to see but do not stand out. Hopefully, future volumes will be able to recapture the success of the first rather than doing what was done here.

(spoilers start here)

In the Shadow of the Ancients picks up on the cliffhanger ending from the previous volume and immediately begins wrapping up that story arc. This mostly involves Batwing teaming up with the Bat-family to take down Massacre. Along the way, they learn that The Kingdom made tough calls while they were active and that a supporting member of the Kingdom is behind Massacre’s actions. Batwing also learns that Massacre is actually his brother, who he thought was dead.

As a conclusion to the previous arc, this portion of the book is highly successful. It maintains the same levels of action and suspense while also delivering satisfactory answers to the questions that were posed earlier. It has twist and turns that feel earned and emotions that fuel things even further.

Unfortunately, after this arc is concluded, the rest of the volume takes a noticeable decline in quality. The “Court of Owls” tie-in chapter has lots of action but doesn’t do anything special. The Lord Battle story arc is more interesting but contains a poorly executed crossover with the Justice League International. Finally, the volume’s final issue ends up mostly being a rehash of information from the first volume. The suspense and intrigue that made the first collection so entertaining are nearly absent from these stories.

Where this portion of In the Shadow of the Ancients does manage to succeed is in highlighting the ties to Africa that make Batwing a unique character. Meanwhile, in the “Court of Owls” tie-in, this comes from Batwing’s disdain at seeing someone with a violent history in a respected political position. In the Lord Battle story arc, this comes from frustration overseeing other nations influence Africa’s political situation. Neither of these points are emphasized as effectively as they could have been but seeing them still reminds readers that they are not dealing with Gotham City or Metropolis anymore.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Like the story, the artwork in In the Shadow of the Ancients ends up being far more average than it was in the previous collection. The volume opens with some alright pencils from Dustin Nguyen that simply don’t pair well with the colors or the inks that go alongside them. Typically, I am a huge fan of Nguyen’s work but, here, it does not look nearly as good as it normally does. Then, the rest of the volume sees work from Marcus To. Though To’s work is passable, it further pushes the book into the generic style seen from the rest of DC’s mainstream offerings. Together with a more generic story, this makes the entire volume more disappointing.

Continuity

Batwing Vol. 2: In the Shadow of the Ancients continues the story from Batwing Vol. 1: The Lost Kingdom (Review).

The story here continues in Batwing Vol. 3: Enemy of the State.

This volume also references another comic book, detailed below:

• This volume contains a tie-in issue to the “Night of the Owls” event. The origin of this event is detailed in Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (Review) and its conclusion is detailed in Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (Review).
• Batwing joined the Justice League International (Reading Order) in Justice League International #8, collected in Justice League International Vol. 2: Breakdown (Review). In this same issue, the JLI was disavowed by governments.