Review: Talon Vol. 2- Fall of the Owls

Quick Summary

Pros: The action and thrills provided by Calvin’s adventures are still entertaining. The conclusion here is epic and provides closure for the series as a whole.

Cons: The beginning of the collection is a little rough. The artwork is significantly worse than it was in the first volume.

Overall: The second and final volume of this series starts out as a bit of a disappointment but manages to make up for this by the end of the story. The main negatives include an initial storyline that feels rather generic, a lackluster crossover, and poor artwork. Luckily, as the volume progresses, most of these negative disperse and readers are able to enjoy the epic conclusion to Calvin Rose’s story. This is not a good volume for new readers but it will provide a satisfactory conclusion to those who enjoyed the first volume.

Story

Talon Vol. 2: Fall of the Owls starts out a little rough but improves as the volume goes on, ultimately delivering a fun story and a satisfactory conclusion to the series. At first, the volume stumbles as readjustments are made to the style of the series and a lackluster crossover takes place. However, the narrative improves as the story progresses and finally peaks in a thrilling conclusion that sees numerous story elements come together in an epic manner. Overall, this is a slightly above average story and a worthy conclusion to this series.

(spoilers start here)

Fall of the Owls picks up right where the previous volume left off, Calvin Rose was captured and killed. Now, the Court of Owls has brought him back to life and is using blackmail to make him do their bidding.

At this point, there is a small crossover with the Birds of Prey series that has Calvin attempt to kill another rogue Talon, at the Court’s behest. Though there is some interest sparked in the meeting between these two Talons, the crossover as a whole isn’t that great. This is because the two Talons’ meeting is one of the few positives, while the rest of the crossover ends up feeling like unnecessary bloat.

From here, Calvin is sent to Santa Prisca to kill Sebastian and tie up loose ends with Bane. This portion of the story is where quality begins to trend upwards. The story is more exciting, the action feels more meaningful, and a few interesting allies are added to the cause. The only problem is that the entire affair still feels a bit generic and does not contain any of the stealth elements which made the first volume so entertaining.

Upon returning to Gotham though, the titular “Fall of the Owls”  begins and the story reaches its highest point. This is where all of the series’ plot threads come together to coalesce into one epic conclusion. The Court of Owls’ plans, the fate of the Gotham Butcher, the current status of Casey, the brainwashing inflicted on Sarah, and Calvin’s ultimate goal to be free of the Court are all addressed here. The scope of it all is great to witness and the conclusions offered allow each story element to be wrapped up in a satisfactory manner.

Oddly enough, the series continues after what was seemingly the perfect endpoint in order to tell two additional stories. One is a quick history of a specific Talon from the past and the other is a quick story about how Calvin is able to fully return to life. Both stories are entertaining, the Talon history is gripping and emotional while the Calvin story adds additional closure to his current situation. However, both stories also feel somewhat out of place here and don’t flow quite as well with the rest of the book.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Unfortunately, the artwork throughout Fall of the Owls sees a significant decrease in quality from the previous volume. Miguel Sepulveda’s work, which is mostly confined to the beginning of the collection, is the biggest offender here. The artwork here lacks detail, feels static, and does not properly convey emotion from the characters. It is a more stylized take on the series that simply does not work well here and actively impedes the story.

Luckily, as the volume progresses, the artwork also improves. Emanuel Simeoni takes over and provides artwork that ends up being pretty average overall. It still does not contain the detail or imagination from the first volume, but it is at least able to avoid looking downright bad. Jorge Lucas’s work at the collection’s end is similar in this regard, not good but not bad either.

Continuity

Talon Vol. 2: Fall of the Owls continues the story started in Talon Vol. 1: Scourge of the Owls (Review).

The Talon series ends with this volume. However, Calvin Rose makes a few minor appearances in Detective Comics Vol. 5: Gothtopia and Batman Eternal Vol. 3 (Review). In addition, Bane’s storyline continues in Forever Evil: Arkham War.

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• The events of Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (Review) and Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (Review) are mentioned a number of times throughout this collection. These volumes contain explanations behind references like the Court of Owls’ resurrection process, suicides at the Harbor House, and the story of Lincoln March.
• The crossover with the Birds of Prey series includes a number of references to the beginning of Birds of Prey Vol. 4: The Cruelest Cut (Review).
• The mysterious man who visits Bane has his origins in Justice League of America Vol. 1: World’s Most Dangerous (Review). However, his true identity is not discovered until the very end of Trinity War (Review).
• At one point, the owner of Amusement Mile and his move from Gotham is brought up. Dick Grayson took over ownership of Amusement Mile back in Nightwing Vol. 1: Traps and Trapezes (Review) and left Gotham in Nightwing Vol. 4: Second City (Review).
• The existence of “Batman Incorporated” comes up in this storyline. This organization started back in Batman Incorporated.
• Lord Death Man’s references his history with Batman, specifically being shot into space. This happened in the first issue of Batman Incorporated.
• Anya’s involvement with “a second-rate ‘Penguin'” happened in Detective Comics #18, collected in Detective Comics Vol. 3: Emperor Penguin.