Talon, An Owl No More.

Talon #0 Review

“The Long Run”

Along with other Batman titles running their #0 course, Talon comes out of that whole “Night of the Owls” series that recently ended, or is currently still running it’s course, I’m not afraid to say I didn’t pay attention to it at all. What do you get out of that story arc, Talon, a former member of the Court of Owls’ “special ops” unit, the Talons, plural of course.

Talon is Calvin Rose, an orphan abandoned by his abusive father, left to rot away in a dog kennel, escaped and joined the same famous circus as the one you know as “Robin or Nightwing”. His talent is escape, and he’s the best. At a young age he was brought up by the Court of the Owls to be their top pupil, and bring their definition of “justice” to Gotham City. Talon’s first target to assassinate isn’t the rat he was promised to bring to justice, instead it leads him on the run from the very dangerous organization that trained him.

First off, Talon is good, it’s not great, it’s not bad, it’s good, mediocre would be a misnomer, but almost an accurate description. That’s how I felt reading Talon #0. I was reading it just wondering when it was going to end. The narration draws on and on, it’s good information, just presented like a history lesson rather than an action film. Although the action is quality, it’s quick and merciless with extreme precision. The whole book reminded me a lot of the Bourne movies, this man who’s been trained his whole life to be this apathetic killing machine, ends up with Jiminy Cricket on his shoulder, can’t kill his intended target, and ultimately revolts against the hand that once fed him. If you’re into the Bourne movies, you may like the Talon character, I was just reading it waiting for the punchline I knew was coming. Scott Snyder is a great writer, I just wonder why this book felt so stale and unwanted.

Read more of Burke’s reviews over at nerdfarmblog.com