Talon Volume 2: Fall of the Owls (The New 52)
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| An accurate representation of books that guest star Batman. |
Writer: James
Tynion IV
Artists: Miguel
Sepulveda, Szymon Kudranski and Emanuel Simeoni.
Collects: Talon #8-17 and Birds of Prey #21
Background
information:
Fair warning: This isn’t a new reader’s book. Understanding
it requires you to know the first two volumes of Scott Snyder’s Batman run, as well as the first Talon volume, Scourge of the Owls.
But basically, the Court of Owls, a secret society that has
been ruling Gotham for centuries, has been knocking off people they don’t like
with assassins called Talons. For years, there had only been one Talon at a
time who would be recruited from young performers at Haly’s Circus. Calvin Rose
is one such Talon. An escape artist, Calvin’s first mission was to kill Casey
Washington, the new CEO of her dead father’s security company and her daughter,
Sarah. Calvin refused to kill the girls, and instead went on the run with them.
Six years later, the Court of Owls has revived the Talons, giving them
Wolverine-like healing powers and sending them after Calvin. Thus began his
mission to bring the court down; a mission that eventually saw him betrayed by
his mentor, Sebastian Clarke and killed by Bane.
And yes, there’s still a story here.
Review
There were really only three things going through my head as
I read Fall of the Owls
1)
I really like Calvin Rose as a character.
2)
Bane is so, amazingly boring. How do people like
this guy?
3)
This should have been two volumes, not one.
And that last point is really what spoils an otherwise
enjoyable read.
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| This is your Talon on drugs! |
See, there are no less than four story arcs in Fall of
the Owls. In the first, the Court of Owls revives Calvin into one of their
own, undead Talons and sends them after Stryx, a fugitive Talon who currently
rolls with the Birds of Prey. In the second, they send Calvin after Bane on his
military-state island of Santa Prisca in search of Sebastian Clarke (which
fails). In the third, they take on both Clarke and Felix Harmon (the big bad of
the previous volume) as the two psychos try to destroy Gotham and in the
fourth, Calvin searches for a cure for his immortality.
None of these stories are particularly bad, even if the
first arc is the weakest point of the book, but there are so many of them that
the whole trade just feels bogged down under the weight of its own
cancellation. It really should have been two trades, with two story arcs
apiece. I realise that would mean making one trade only five issues (something
I hate when it’s done by Marvel), but it would actually be better here. You
need that break in a series like this and having everything collected into one
is really too much to take in.
Which again, is a pity, because there’s no real bad story
here. Tynion manages to, again, capitalise on Calvin’s skill set as an escape
artist (making it a weapon in some places, a plot device in others), the
characterisation is still fun, and the over-the-top action is entertaining. On
that last point, the last issue features Calvin THROWING A SHARK at a villain.
Yep, he done did that!
And it’s the kind of ridiculous moment that makes this book
weirdly fun. It’s not something you tend to expect from a book this dark, but
some of Calvin’s tactics in this trade really come out of left field. For
example, the dude lights himself on fire so a freezing cube doesn’t affect his
healing factor, but does take out the other three Talons around him.
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| I now present to you, the most stupidly- cool moment in Talon. |
That’s what there is to like about Calvin: he’s clever. He’s
insanely resourceful, skilled at what he does and morally conflicted. I realise
that I probably just described Batman to most of you, but the difference here
is that Calvin’s still a nice guy. He’s obsessed with protecting those he loves
and that often leads to some great moments for him.
I do have to talk about that Bane story arc, though. I
rolled my eyes when I first read Bane’s appearance in Volume 1, and this arc
really didn’t change my mind. It’s a good Bane story, but that’s like saying
that you had a nice spew- it’s a really a matter of relativity. See, the last
Bane story the New 52 had, to my knowledge, was in Batman the Dark Knight, which was awful. Even though the Bane story
here is better, it’s still not great because it’s Bane. Talon confronts Bane. Cue Bane talking about his plans to
take Gotham. Cue Bane standing over the guy who’s paying him. Cue Bane talking
about how he was moulded in Santa Prisca. Essentially, cue everything Bane does in The
Dark Knight Rises. As good as the story arc is, it’s not good for Bane’s
presence.
It’s hard for me to go one way or the other in rating Fall of the Owls. If you like Calvin
Rose, you’ll probably like the second volume of Talon, if you don’t, haven’t heard of him, or feel indifferent, you’ll
want to stay away from a book that gets a three out of five shark-throwing
contests.
***
+ Calvin is awesome
+ Action is weirdly fun.
- Bane… Bane…
- Way too many story arcs.
Alternate Option: Talon: Scourge of the Owls
Don’t even think
about reading Fall of the Owls until
you’ve read this one.
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