In Batman Vs. Bigby: A Wolf in Gotham #1, the Dark Knight hunts the sheriff of Fabletown, believing him to be a Gotham City villain.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman Vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham #1 by Bill Willingham, Brian Level, Jay Leisten, Lee Loughridge, Steve Wands, on sale now.
The first issue of the Black Label crossover series between Batman and Bigby Wolf from Vertigo’s Fables has already pit the heroes against one another. A string of mysterious murders across Gotham City has Batman and his allies baffled, with the Dark Knight Detective coming to the conclusion that the murders were perpetrated by a wolf-like creature.
Batman’s insight suggests that Bigby may be responsible for the murders, and his analysis of the situation likens Fabletown’s sheriff to the Gotham rogues, painting him as something akin to Man-Bat. But the Dark Knight has yet to see the full complexities of Bigby’s character.
Bigby Wolf is the infamous Big Bad Wolf that appears in stories such as Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. When he and his fellow storybook characters crossed over into the real world, which they refer to as the Mundane World, Bigby reformed, trying to put his dark past behind him as he placed his considerable skills and powers to use in service of his fellow fables as the sheriff of their community. His wolf-like traits make him ideal to sniff out clues and hunt criminals.
While Bigby is a reformed villain, he is not exactly a hero, so to speak. In retrospect, he is the closest thing that the Fables series has to a genuine protagonist, but his character is defined by an layer of complexity in how he approaches his attempt to be a better person and how he operates within his position as sheriff. Bigby does not abide by the law all the time, believing that sometimes it needs to be bent or even broken to protect the people from the true monsters in the world.
Ironically, this makes him very similar to Batman, who regularly breaks the law in his activities as a vigilante. But Batman hasn’t gotten to know Bigby yet. All he’s seen are clues that paint the murders as acts of coordinated savagery. And while Bigby is entirely capable of being savage when pushed far enough, this misses the point of his development since his early days as a villain. Bigby has grown since then, relying mostly on his human form and tries to do better, using his powers as needed but never gratuitously indulging in violence.
In all likelihood, these murders have been committed by a third party who either has similar abilities to Bigby or is attempting to frame him for the crimes. Batman has only interacted with Wolf from a distance, but this is generally how all of his partnerships begin, with uncertainty and distrust regarding the motives and capabilities of others. Once the misguided apprehension is sorted through, the similarity of the two men could lead to a partnership unlike anything the DC Universe has seen before.
About The Author
For all the latest Comics News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
