The Black Bat: God Complex, from Leviathan Labs

Any discovery of a Black Bat project is cause for excitement, but there are always questions about how faithful it is to the original source material and will be in the future.

The comic book below was found by chance while looking for cover art to German publisher Blitz-Verlag's reprints of the original Black Bat stories. It appears to have been released this past spring, by Italian publisher Leviathan Labs, with the second issue scheduled for early next month.

The solicitation text under the cover image went through the Google Translate grinder, so do not blame writer Niccolo Testi if it's a little clunky. 

Like pitch black, evil and corruption roam the filthy streets and the most oppressive alleys. It is in these places that Black Bat finds (his) origin, between madness and gunpowder, among hardened and corrupt criminals of all sorts. The city, like a sleeping Leviathan, lies beneath him, under the buildings and neon lights that accompany the disturbances and violence that will follow the black bat.

From what I've been able to piece together, the character's stories are set in a modern-day superhero universe. He is a former criminal turned vigilante following the death of his wife. I see no indication of heightened senses as a result of a period of blindness or any such, at least not from my limited exposure to the first issue so far.

Then very little remains of the original character, even though there's no question that this Black Bat was based on the 1940s version by Norman Daniels. That is made quite clear on Leviathan's social media accounts and mentioned in the book. Nevertheless, the book does look quite good so I'll support it and see where it goes.

While I prepare to do some translating, here's a look at the cover for the second issue, as well as some interior art by Gabriele Schiavoni.