Batwing #7 takes Batwing and Massacre to Gotham City and we will see Batwing teaming with the heroes based out of Gotham City. The question is, what brings these characters to Gotham City? Newsarama asked this and other questions to series writer Judd Winick.
Newsarama: In upcoming issues, Massacre and Batwing both go to Gotham City. What brings them there?
Judd Winick: As we've established, Massacre is killing heroes from The Kingdom. And two heroes of the Kingdom now live in Gotham City. Batwing is now still on the trail of Massacre, knowing that he is several steps ahead of them. This was planned from day one, that Batwing would come to Gotham City. Not just the United States, but specifically to Gotham City, at some point. And in forming the story, the idea was that the heroes from the Kingdom are located all over Africa. And for this story, we find out that two of them are in Gotham City. So Batwing is coming to Gotham, and of course, he's going to get some help, which is fun. Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Batman, Gotham City and in comes Batwing as well. How fun is that?
Newsarama: Issues #7 and #8 wrap up the Massacre storyline. So does issue #9 tie into "The Night of the Owls" crossover?
Judd Winick: Yeah. And working on that crossover has been a great experience. This is a very clean and intelligent crossover. Not to put down any of the crossovers that have come before, but I think we can admit that we've done some really ham-fisted stuff in comics where books had barely anything to do with what's going on, yet were called a tie-in. [Batman writer] Scott [Snyder] gave us a opening to tell these stories. And the timing was perfect for me, since Batwing is already there in Gotham City, so the crossover offered a really great, different story to tell for Batwing. I don't think I can say too much about the story we're telling in "Night of the Owls," but I think DC has already indicated that it's one night. And Batwing has his hands full, as do all the heroes of Gotham City. So that will be the story in issue #9.
Newsarama: Then to finish up, what will we see in Batwing in 2012?
Judd Winick: Pirates!
Newsarama: Ooo. I'm guessing these are Somali pirates, not "aye matey" pirates?
Judd Winick: Yeah. We'll be diving into the high seas for a little while, and the Somali pirates will lead into a bigger story for Batwing. We'll also learn a lot more about Matu. I like to think of him as Batwing's version of Alfred. I know a story about Matu might not sound exciting on the surface, but Matu has an interesting background which is very, very different from Alfred and the like. Batwing will also enter into more of a relationship with his fellow officer, Kia Okura, who we've seen quite a bit in the issues so far. And we are not done with The Kingdom. There's something with that group that will weave back into the title later in 2012.
For the entire interview, including talk about the origin of Massacre, head over to Newsarama. Batwing #6 hits stores next week.
Posted by Dustin Fritschel
