Batwing: The Lost Kingdom

{{DC Database:Storyline Template
 * Title                  = The Lost Kingdom
 * Image                  = Batwing The Lost Kingdom.jpg
 * ImageText              =
 * OfficialName           = The Lost Kingdom
 * Aliases                =


 * Universe               = Prime Earth
 * Locations              = Tinasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo


 * Heroes                 = Batwing, The Kingdom
 * Villains               = Blood Tiger, Josiah Kone, Massacre, Warlord Keita
 * Others                 = Army of the Dawn, Batman, Dawnfire, Earth Strike, Kia Okuru, Matu Ba, Razorwire, Staff, Steelback, Thunder Fall


 * Origin                 =
 * Titles                 = Batwing
 * Collected              = Batwing: The Lost Kingdom
 * Creators               = Judd Winick; Ben Oliver; ChrisCross
 * First                  = Batwing #1
 * Last                   = Batwing #8


 * HistoryText            = The Lost Kingdom is a Batwing storyline written by Judd Winick with art by Ben Oliver and ChrisCross. Following the timeline reboot in Flashpoint, it establishes his continuity in the DCnU. It's the first arc on Winick's Batwing volume, the character having previously appeared only in Batman Incorporated. This storyline leads directly into the Night of the Owls crossover followed by their second arc In the Shadow of the Ancients, and Batwing joins the cast of Justice League International in their second volume Breakdown. Although the collected edition only carries the series' first six issues, the beginning arc actually ends at issue eight.

The story follows Batwing as he tracks down a villain named Massacre who's killing the retired members of Africa's first super-hero team The Kingdom. Batwing's origins are explored and the Kingdom's secret history is slowly revealed.

Synopsis
Batwing continues to be mentored by Batman as a member of Batman Incorporated. While taking down the warlord Blood Tiger together, they discover a gruesome pile of mutilated bodies. The next day in his secret identity as a police officer in the corrupt Tinasha department, he helps investigate the corpses with his honest co-worker Kia Okuru. In his headquarters the Haven with Batman and manservant Matu Ba, he discovers that one of the bodies was a member of Africa's first super-hero team The Kingdom named Earth Strike. When he walks back into work late in the morning, his entire squad has been massacred and he's stabbed through the chest by a villain named Massacre. Recovering after a two-week coma, he leaves bedrest against Matu Ba's orders to pursue Massacre. It's shown that Massacre is stalking all former members of the Kingdom, and Batwing interrupts a fight between him and the retired Thunder Fall at a schoolyard. In flashback, David remembers having been a child soldier in the Army of the Dawn alongside his brother. There's a huge battle and Thunder Fall incapacitates Massacre before succumbing to his injuries and dying in a hospital. On his deathbed, he confesses that the Kingdom betrayed Africa and caused the death of 50,000 people.

There's a large flashback to David Zavimbe's origins. In the Army of the Dawn, David and his brother Isaac were their most effective killers although they refused to murder women and children. Their leader General Keita nicknamed them the Dragonflies after taking them from an orphanage. Eventually Isaac rebelled against Keita and was seemingly thrown off a cliff for his betrayal, causing David to flee. He kidnapped Keita and left him for his enemies to find, before checking into another orphanage called the Children's Harbor. This orphanage is where he met Matu Ba who helped reform him from being a mass-murderer. In the present day he finds Dawnfire's corpse, and resolves his efforts to stop Massacre since he is just as great of a monster.

There's a massive ceremony to unveil a new Kingdom museum at their old headquarters in the Citadel, run by their former tech master Josiah Kone. Batwing teams up with Batman again as Bruce Wayne is in town donating to the museum. There's a massive riot as men dressed in Massacre costumes begin shooting into the crowd, and the Citadel is destroyed in a massive explosion. It's revealed that Massacre is nowhere near the chaos, he's actually in Egypt at the Sphinx. While traveling to Egypt, Batwing remembers the beginnings of his career as a vigilante when he couldn't handle the police corruption. Upon arrival, he fights off Massacre again to protect Steelback and a bus full of innocents. David begins to suspect that Massacre is Ayo Keita as he uses the same phrases. Steelback gives Batman and Batwing the locations of the other Kingdom members, leading them back to Gotham City.

Steelback explains the Kingdom's secret history while they search for Razorwire and Staff in Gotham. While waging war against dictator Masika Okura alongside the People's Republic Army, they were faced with a terrible choice. Okura allied with the warlords, and they were forced to grant him safe passage in exchange for his army's surrender while thousands died in the insurgent battle. Kone berated the team angrily and then left when Earth Strike struck him. Back in present day Gotham, they arrive at a warehouse just in time to see Massacre with a friend using Steelback's armor murder Razorwire and Staff. Batwing finally beats down Massacre, and discovers that he is his long lost brother Isaac. Batman, Nightwing and Robin take down the empty Steelback armor which causes the warehouse to explode. They track down its signal to Josiah Kone, who is revealed to have been the mastermind. Kone indoctrinated Isaac as his personal killer and used him to take revenge on the Kingdom. Batwing swears that he'll find his brother and rehabilitate him, as no body was found in the wreckage.


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 * Notes                  =
 * Pandora makes a cameo appearance to witness the events of this storyline, as she does all #1 issues published as part of The New 52. This is directly following her first appearance in the pages of Flashpoint. She can be seen while Zavimbe is walking through the streets of Tinasha.
 * This storyline reveals Batwing as suffering from.
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