First David Zavimbe quit the Justice League International after Batwing #12. Now DC tells us he'll be quitting Batman Incorporated altogether in Batwing #19, released today.

So the question isn't whether Batman will be replacing Zavimbe as Batwing, but who Batman will be replacing Zavimbe with. In an interview with Vanetta Rogers at Newsarama.com, writer Jimmy Palmiotti described the new Batwing:

This new Batwing will be a character more people will relate to...or more likely wish they were. We are approaching this with the feeling of "what if Batman picked me as the next Batman" kind of feel. There is joy, chaos, over the top action and adventure and a lot of romance.

Working from clues dropped by Palmiotti and his co-creator Justin Gray, Keith Callbeck handicapped the identity of the new Batwing at Comicosity.com. Callbeck gives Booster Gold 250 to 1 odds to be the new Batwing. (Terry McGinnis is the favorite, at 5 to 1.)

We all know that Booster knows a thing or two about playing the odds, but we'll have to pick up Batwing #19 to see if he's the winner of this competition.

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Now that we are 99.9% sure that Booster will be appearing in next month's All-Star Western #19, you may want to pick up today's All-Star Western #18 so that you have an idea what's going on in that title. Then you can hit the ground running next month when Booster arrives to save the day.

While it's a long shot that Booster would appear in today's All-Star Weatern, Booster's appearance in today's release of Batwing Volume 2: In the Shadow of The Ancients is a sure thing. This trade collects Batwing issues #7-12 and 0. You may recall that Booster Gold and the JLI assisted Batwing in Africa in Batwing #12. Batwing quit the JLI in its very next issue. Maybe Batwing knew how bad the Justice League International Annual was going to be, so he got out while the getting was good.

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Last week, Newsarama.com ran "BATWING Goes Global for JLI, Back to Africa for ZERO MONTH," an interview between Vaneta Rogers and Judd Winick. Included in that article was a quote about Winick's hopes for Batwing #12.

Nrama: Fans of your work on Justice League International are looking forward to you writing some of those characters again. How was it for you to return to them in the New 52?

Winick: Oh, it was a blast. I wish it was longer. I had 20 pages to do a lot. I wanted Booster to talk more, you know? So I could write him! I could have done 60 pages on these guys.

But it was really fun to get back to those guys for just a little bit. Just a little bit. I loved doing that entire run. It was fun for me when they announced that Batwing had joined the JLI. I'm sorry to see the book go. But it immediately opened the door for this. I said, "Oh! Can they come play over here? Please?"

I had this idea about this big old fight in Africa, and I thought they could come along. I knew it would be great. And I really enjoyed writing it.

That's what issue #12 is. It's one of those big superhero issues where it actually feels right. You know? You only get to do it now and again where it feels right and makes sense, and doesn't feel like an overload — a whole, big old superhero dogpile. That's what we have for issue #12. It's good fun.

While Winick may have intended Batwing #12 to be a "big old fight," the issue as published feels more like a bait and switch. Yes, Winick sets the scene for a battle royal by establishing bad-blood (and international intrigue!) between the combatants before maneuvering them into their respective corners. But just as the opening bell is rung, the broadcast edits the match for time and cuts straight to the finale. How disappointing!

The issue is all pre-fight and post-fight, with nothing in between. If I only wanted to know who won the fight, I could skip watching the bout and read the headlines in tomorrow's newspaper. Even that would be a waste of time here, since there's never any doubt that the forces of good will ultimately triumph over the forces of evil in mainstream comic books. If we're not paying to see the fight, what are we buying with our $3.00 admission ticket?

To be fair to Winick, he is just part of the team of creative personnel and editors responsible for the finished product. Perhaps penciller Marcus To forgot to include the panels with the real action. Throughout the issue, it's unclear how one panel is supposed to lead to the next; maybe To doesn't understand that sequential art is similar to film making in how it's supposed to tell a story. Or maybe issue editor Harvey Richards decided that showing the widespread combat this issue was theoretically centered around would be too graphic for the desired teen audience. This wouldn't be the first issue of the New 52 that DC Editorial had damaged its published product with enigmatic decision-making.

Whatever the reason, this issue ultimately feels like 5-10 pages were left on the cutting room floor. Winick did deliver big in the 26-issue Justice League: Generation Lost, where he had plenty of space to develop his story into a semi-satisfying finale (that thanks to DC's post-Flashpoint market strategy will never have its necessary follow-up). This begs the question of whether it is even possible to deliver an epic plot in the modern 20-page comic book that promotes digitally-aided pin-up art over old-fashioned plot narrative. If Batwing #12 is any indication, the answer is "no."

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Welcome to the Digital Age of comics, where you can try before you buy! Interested in how Dan Jurgens will wrap up his year on Justice League International? Take a look at DC Comics' 5-page preview before you travel to your Local Comic Shop! Curious how well the JLI will be integrated in Batwing? Check out the preview before downloading it at Comixology.com.

Whichever method you prefer, buy these issues and make Skeets happy! (Thanks to MetalWoman for the preview links.)

UPDATE 08/03/12: MetalWoman also dropped by the Boosterrific Forum to let us know that Booster puts in a surprise cameo appearance in Stormwatch #12 this week. And he's not alone: alongside the JLI is Skeets, in his first New 52 appearance!

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"Predicts" may be a bit strong. But in last week's interview with Josie Campbell for Comic Book Resources, former Justice League: Generation Lost and current Batwing writer Judd Winick does hint that the JLI has a future after their cancellation.

CBR: While the JLI are in [Batwing] with issue #12, has the cancellation of "Justice League International" affected the story you're telling at all? Or is what you're doing unaffected as it is specific to your book?

Winnick:The script was written before the announcement. Even though the book is being canceled, I don't think the JLI is being disbanded so much as we're not publishing a book about it. I can't tell you how it's being wrapped up, y'all will just have to read the JLI title. In Batwing, we will leap in as a team, and Batwing as a member.

As mentioned, the Booster Gold-led JLI appearance in Batwing #12 is scheduled for an August 1 release. That's the same day that the final issue of Justice League International hits the stands, but don't expect the events of Batwing to provide significant illumination on the resolution to Dan Jurgens plans for the JLI. From the same interview:

CBR: Turning to your other series, while Batwing appeared in Gotham for "Night of the Owls," the next issues will see him operating on an international level and teaming up with Nightwing and the JLI. Did you talk a lot to Kyle Higgins and Dan Jurgens about their characters?

Winick: No. In this case we're doing it through editorial. This isn't a crossover so much as it is just using the characters. I know Kyle a little bit, mostly through Scott Snyder, so through editorial we asked if it was cool. But it goes to a larger issue tact we're taking at DC. We're trying to be better in paying attention to continuity, but at the same time not being so slavish to it we're not producing story.

Standalone adventures without slavish devotion to continuity? I think I can support that concept (partially because I don't really want Judd Winick anywhere near my favorite characters' continuity).

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