:characters_of_dc:David Zavimbe: Batwing::characters_of_dc:

Hello again and welcome to C of DC’s August session. September marks the ten year anniversary of the N52 so this session is serving as a bit of a prelude to a N52 Anniversary collaboration some of our clubs are having then.

One of my favorite N52 titles was Batwing, who was the Batman of Africa. I was drawn to it because although it was a “Bat Book” it was not like any Bat title I had ever read before and if you don’t already know it, I am drawn to the unusual and the perhaps lesser known characters and books. I always end up liking them better than the old standards. That was the case with this particular book. So let’s take a look at the character and see what he’s all about.

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DAVID ZAVIMBE INFO

“I will not kill…I will not honor them in blood”- David Zavimbe- Batwing #0.

“You need to temper your wrath. Focus…Only then will you be a true force of goodness.” Rene Diallo, Co-Head of The Children’s Harbor. Batwing #0.

* Chronology

* Character wiki

Here’s a fun bit of information that I didn’t know before. David Zavimbe, or at least the way Batwing’s costume looks is loosely based on this image from Batman #250 in a story called “The Batman Nobody Knows”. I would have liked to link the above issue but it’s not available on DCUI at the moment but I do have this image from it.

photostudio_1627786989757

Other Info

  • Former child soldier for General Ryo Keita of the Army of the Dawn. He and his brother Isaac were called the Dragonflies for their speed and dexterity and were members of Keita’s elite squad of men.

  • Police officer for the Tinasha PD. David joined the TPD because of a deep seated desire to help the people of Tinasha and as a way to atone for all the things he did as a child soldier, which he never quite forgave himself for.

  • Came to Batman’s attention through his vigilante work in Tinasha.

Supporting characters include:

  • Matu Ba-who is a father figure to David. He was once Co-Head of The Children’s Harbor organization that took in child soldiers and tried to rehabilitate them so they could lead normal lives. David was one such child.

  • Rene Daillo- who was a mother figure for David. She was also a Co-Head of The Children’s Harbor organization. She was always full of sage advice and helped lead David on the path he now walks.

  • Officer Kia Okuru-David’s partner on the TPD. She is cleaner than most of the other officers on the force and David thinks very highly of her.

  • Isaac Zavimbe- David’s brother and fellow child soldier.

What to Read

* Batwing #0-19

Discussion Questions

  1. What do you think of David’s origin story as shown both on issue #0 and issue #4?

  2. What did you think of the twist with regard to Massacre’s identity? Was it something you expected or did it surprise you?

  3. Did you like David’s supporting cast? Who was your favorite?

  4. What about his interactions with his supporting cast?

  5. What did you think of his adventures? What about the ending of his series?

September is the 10th Anniversary of the N52 and August’s session was a bit of a prelude to that. Next month’s Character of the Month is Cole Cash better known as Grifter.

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  1. I loved his origin story. I loved how it showed and explained the path he took and the awful path he could’ve taken (Massacre’s story). I think his backstory makes complete sense and I enjoy how it’s the opposite of Batman’s.
  2. I actually guessed that Massacre was David’s brother when it said that they were both the best fighters in the war.
  3. I loved the supporting cast, especially Matu Ba, who I actually cried at when he died.
  4. I think his interactions were very well-done and his life was shown perfectly through his actions.
  5. I was honestly a bit confused as to why he gave up his role as Batwing but I did enjoy his talk with Batman.
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  1. I thought it was a good motivation for him to want to atone for his time as a child soldier.
  2. I figured out who Massacre was before the reveal. I would have liked to see more of him.
  3. I loved Matu Ba. His relationship with David made me think of Alfred with Bruce.
  4. His interactions with his other supporting cast were good.
  5. I enjoyed his adventures and was sorry to see him quit, but I understood that he felt he couldnt adhere to Batmans standards any longer.
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I just thought I’d let you know that I found more appearances of David Zavimbe. Here they are:

David Zavimbe — Batman Inc.



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Cool. Thanks for posting those @Jurisdiction.

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The bolded was what I really liked about his origin story. He could have easily turned into Massacre but he didn’t and we see early on why he doesn’t. Isaac grew to love killing but David did not.

Matu Ba was my favorite supporting character here. I enjoyed every interaction between the two of them and I also cried when he was killed. (Actually I was also a little angry about that but that’s another story.)

I honestly think he blamed himself for Matu’s death and that was part of the reason he gave up the role. He also might have felt that he had lost focus with the death of Matu.

Yeah, I figured it out pretty quickly too. Like @Jurisdiction said once it was mentioned that they were both the best fighters in the war I had pretty much decided Massacre had to be related to David.

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