Talon Vol. 1: Scourge of The Owls (The New 52) Review

Talon Vol. 1: Scourge of The Owls (The New 52)

I thought Superman was the one who was
unchained

Writers: Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV

Artist: Guillem March

Collects: Talon #0-7

Background Information:

The final review in Scott Snyder week!

If you want to know more about this character, it’s best you read the Batman Vol. 1 and Vol.2. It deals with a group known as the Court of Owls who rule Gotham City from the shadows. Talon is the name they give to their main assassins who they lift directly out of Haly’s circus. In Snyder’s Batman, the court was handily defeated, but not destroyed, and that’s where we take our mark.

Review:

It’s hard to get people on board with a new superhero. It’s the reason there have been so few genuinely new names in comics for the last fourteen years. Unless the name was seen in the nineties, you can pretty much kiss a new character goodbye. Such has happened to Talon; which is a pity, because the book is really an amazing read.

Scourge of The Owls introduces us to Calvin Rose- an escape artist adopted by the Court of Owls to be the next Talon. It’s a mantle that his better nature wins out over, however, and he flees the court; hiding for years until he hears that Batman has dusted the clocks of various Court members. Coming back to Gotham, Calvin meets Sebastian Clark. Clark is a former member of the Court and he has a job for Calvin; become the Talon again, and use his skills to take down what remains of the Court of Owls. This means hitting places that hold a large amount of the Court’s wealth, and taking on a few of the sixteen remaining Talons.

Now, if you haven’t read any of the New 52 Batman firstly... what got you interested in this character in the first place? Secondly, and more importantly, you should know that most of the Court’s Talons have developed healing factors. Calvin, unfortunately has missed out on this upgrade and therefore has to fight a little harder for his life as he sneaks into various court strongholds. This has the potential to result in a no-holds-barred gorefest, or even worse, Wolverine-style violence. Thankfully, Calvin doesn’t fight like that. For him, fighter harder means fighting smarter; Calvin uses diversion tactics, his environment and basic physics to outwit his opponents and it makes for battles that are actually more satisfying than anything seen in Batman.

Equally admirable is the fact that Calvin is a good person at heart. Instead of trying to kill opponents, Calvin tries to negotiate with the remaining Talons; more interested in turning them to his side than killing them. It would have been so easy for Calvin to become a tough, grizzled soldier, but amazingly Snyder and Tynion move away from that and give Calvin a real human side; one that doesn’t want to take a life- something that actually formed the basis of his escape from the Court. The comic book industry has enough Wolverines, and it’s refreshing to see a nice guy who’s also really good at dishing out pain.

The only problem I have with Scourge of The Owls is where Calvin has his obligatory meet-up with Batman. Batman had a huge part to play in the fall of the Court, but I think more could have been done by having Nightwing meet Calvin instead. Both of them have pasts that are directly connected to the Court and Haly’s Circus, and both have worked hard to reject the heritage that they were “supposed” to embrace. I really think a great team-up book could have happened here (were both titles not cancelled or getting cancelled), and it feels like a missed opportunity.

The art by Guillem March is fantastic, using a lot of browns and greys. It looks different to any of the bat-books out there now. In most bat-books, grittiness is achieved through use of shadow and dark tones. It’s effective, but March’s approach is significantly more clever. March creates darkness and grittiness by making everywhere Calvin goes look dirty and unsavoury. It’s a nice touch and real helps Talon feel like its own series. The pity though, is Calvin’s costume design. It looks great from the toes up, until you hit that mask, which looks more than a little silly. Considering that this book has a lot of dialogue, and therefore focuses a lot on Calvin’s head- that’s a problem.

Overall though, Scourge of The Owls is a brilliant read that fans of Snyder’s Batman should definitely pick up. It’s sad that this series ends with the next volume, but don’t let that stop you from reading one of the best original characters to come out in a long time. It gets a four out of five nice guys.

****

+ A nice character who’s awesome because of it

+ Smart, satisfying fight scenes

+ Art is distinctive from all other Bat-books

- Batman scene feels unambitious

- Talon’s mask looks silly.

Alternate Option: Nightwing: Traps and Trapezes

A story about the Court of Owls and Haly’s Circus- if Scourge of The Owls sounds good to you, this one should, too.

Batman Vol.2: The City of Owls (The New 52) Review

Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (The New 52)

Batman's football team is going all the
way this year.

Writers: Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV

Artists: Greg Capullo, Jonathon Glapion, Rafael Albuquerque and Jason Fabok (Phew!)

Collects: Batman #8-12 and Batman Annual #1

Background Information:

Welcome to Scott Snyder Week! 5 books by Snyder over five days!

If you haven’t read Scott Snyder’s spectacular Batman Vol. 1: Court of Owls, then this is book might go over your head. What’s worse, though, you’d be missing half of one of the greatest Batman stories of all time!

But, if you’re stubborn, the Court of Owls are a group of wealthy Gothamites who secretly rule Gotham from the shadows. They also have a penchant for sending assassins named Talons to kill people they don’t like. In the last Batman volume, the court uses a special regenerating formula to bring back the Talons from the last two hundred years with Wolverine-like healing powers (theory: the dude’s in so many books that he’s spilling over into DC) to boot and sending them out to “take Gotham city”.

Review:

For a book called The City of Owls, this collection spends a lot of time either in Wayne Manor, or in Gotham after the court has been defeated. When Gotham is a city of owls, we’re not in the city and when Batman is in the city, the Owls have pretty much vacated. But that’s okay, because The City of Owls is a brilliant end to one of the best Bat-Stories you’re likely to read in years.

So after Batman’s escape from the court, Bruce is left emotionally broken. The Gotham that he once thought was his city doesn’t exist and in its place is a dark entity in which Bruce is just a guest. It’s precisely at that moment that an army of Talons comes to Wayne manner with the intent on murdering the billionaire playboy. It seems like overkill, but Bruce was able to avoid a Talon before (and not as Batman), so I guess the Court really wants him dead.

The Court of Owls established themselves as great villains in the last book, and here is no different. The whole concept of the Court is unnerving. It’s great to see that Snyder understands that the best Batman stories are only 50% action at most- usually only about 30%. The rest is usually equal parts mystery and horror. The City of Owls pulls this off by giving us villains with emotional complexity and a serious mental problem.

Central to the last volume was the theme of control. That theme doesn’t play out as strongly here, instead, themes of privilege and secrecy are central to this one. I won’t give too much away, as it’s pretty essential to how this story plays out, but it ties the Wayne family directly to the Court of Owls.

While there are some pretty dark moments in this collection, they somehow don’t hit the mark the same way that they did in Court of Owls, instead, we’re mostly getting an action story. It’s a pity to see the element of psychological horror that made the previous volume so awesome left out, but the action here is more than satisfying enough.

Admittedly, some of the book tends to drag on a bit, and none so more than the Batman annual that revamps Mr. Freeze’s origin for the New 52. I love Mr. Freeze. When I was a kid, the best news I got was that Mr. Freeze would be appearing in Batman And Robin back in ’97 (don’t judge me). But by the time I got halfway through the annual, I was ready for it to be over. They aren’t moments that make the book awful, but they break the momentum of an otherwise perfect book.

One of the things I’ve been complaining about with the New 52 is the artwork. It’s generally very good, but there seems to be too much that looks the same. Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke and Jim Lee are all excellent artists, but their art tends to look the same. That’s not something I can say for Batman’s main artist Greg Capullo. The dude has been drawing Spawn for years, and some of that creepiness and gritty lines has rubbed off on Batman. Thanfully, it suits the Dark Knight like a glove and, more importantly, it’s a book that I can say looks like Batman and not like Justice League or Green Lantern.

Overall, this is a series that if you’re not reading, you should be. I now can’t imagine anyone other than Scott Snyder writing Batman (and for the record, I have read work by Grant Morrison and Tony S. Daniel). The City of Owls gets a four and a half out of five Wolverine appearances.

**** ½

+ A seriously well-developed villain

+ Art is distinctive and looks fantastic

+ Works well thematically

- Some parts of the book drag out a bit

Alternate Option: Nightwing: Night of Owls

This book ties directly into City of Owls, so it’s definitely worth a look.