Talon #17 – Review

By: Tim Seeley (writer), Jorge Lucas (art), Jeromy Cox (colors)

The Story: Calvin Rose is the world’s greatest escape artist. He’s escaped family, identity, Santa Prisca, the Court of Owls, and even death. But before his series ends he’ll have to escape from immortality and its slow march towards a cage.

The Review: As the final issue of the series it’s kind of appropriate that Talon #17 almost seems like a first issue in reverse. It opens with a kiss, establishes the backstory of nearly all the major characters, and is all about a character attempting to lose their superpowers.

The sensation that this series ended a few months ago is definitely setting in, but this is the sort of story that might support a one-shot or a miniseries or, perhaps more likely, wouldn’t be published at all. That’s not a criticism of the issue, the market often demands bigger and better stories with bigger and more profitable characters but this is a lovely little story for fans of Talon and his world.

Though the issue lacks the definition of Calvin’s escape or his shower with Anya, this issue does a fantastic job of reestablishing the mission for these characters and this series. These characters have a simple air of heroism about them, one that’s only emphasized by the rather sinister antagonists.

Talon #16 – Review

By: Tim Seeley (writer), Jorge Lucas (artist), Jeromy Cox (colors)

The Story: Don’t listen to Lord Death Man; the cake is a lie.

The Review: Talon has always been a very special little series. Bolstered by Scott Snyder’s undeniable success, DC was willing to try something new, debatably the first original character to hold a title in the New 52, followed only by The Movement.

This trust paid off and, though Talon is ending, it had a tight fifteen issue run under James Tynion IV. As such, it feels strange to be spending an issue with Calvin Rose and his associates again after Tynion’s departure and Marguerite Bennett’s look at the history of the Talon name last month. In many ways this issue had all things against it.

It’s very interesting how different Tim Seeley’s writing is from Tynion’s. The first and clearest difference is Seeley’s surprising choice to use a third-person omniscient narrator. Omniscient narrators have really been on the way out for the past decade, and it’s definitely jarring to come back to Calvin’s story with a different narrative perspective, but while he won’t be hailed as the second coming of Chris Claremont – something even Chris Claremont can’t do – Seeley actually pulls it off quite admirably. It helps that he shows appropriate restraint but the ability to comfortably highlight important themes and provide clarification without introducing more panels is a godsend for this two-part finale.

Talon #14 – Review

By: James Tynion IV (writer), Emanuel Simeoni (artist), Jeromy Cox (colorist)

The Story: Calvin Rose has nowhere left to run, but neither does the Court of Owls.

The Review: With this issue, Calvin Rose’s story comes to a close for now. James Tynion has been very clear that this was the ending he was writing towards from the beginning and it does wrap up the story quite cleanly.

Though its connection to The Court of Owls storyline made it a clear tale for the New 52, Talon has always been extremely cinematic. I’ve enjoyed the little bit of Arrow I’ve seen, but if DC is looking for more inspiration for television, they should probably check out how Tynion did it because this would have been an amazing show. But one thing that it probably would have benefitted from had it been on TV would be the hour-long season finale.

This issue is very much the second half of a conclusion that began in issue #13. The climax begins early in the issue and we open right into the middle of huge battle. I imagine this will read better in trade, and it’s not really Tynion’s fault that the story didn’t divide quite right, but it is a little jarring at first.