Talon #17

By Tim Seeley, Jorge Lucas and Jeromy Cox

Talon #17 is the final issue of the series, which is a shame because this book has – since its inception, been one of the most fun Batbooks that the New 52 has given us – and although the book dipped in quality during the brief Birds of Prey crossover that was full of wasted potential and the Bane arc – which was again full of wasted potential, and had incredibly poor artists since Guillem March left (with the exception of the latest Jorge Lucas) – which is a real shame because this title, with March remaining on board, could have remained excellent.

This is the third issue not written by series creator James Tynion IV and the second written by Tim Seeley – who wrote this two part story arc pitting Calvin Rose against the Grant Morrison created villain, Lord Death Man. It seemed like a match made in heaven and the two issues really worked – managing to end on a triumphant note as well as setting it up for future appearances of Talon in the Tynion IV written sections of the upcoming weekly series Batman Eternal.

Despite this book being a spinoff, Talon is arguably one of the better spinoff titles that DC have put out and Tim Seeley really wrapped up this title well with a great final act. Whilst it was not perfect – Calvin lacks any real accomplishment for the final issue to make his character really memorable, and there were times when this issue felt a tad rushed – the issue serves as a good send-off to the series, which is great considering that Seeley could have easily just whipped something up off the top his head and left fans unsatisfied.

The artwork from Jorge Lucas is pretty good in this issue. He gets the dark atmosphere and pulls of some pretty good panels –only enhanced by the colouring work of Jeromy Cox. Both work pretty well together and the end result is some of the best artwork designs that we’ve seen in this series since March left the title.

There was some good, confident writing here by Seeley. The Lord Death Man was pulled off very well and the short two issue arc was handled positively considering that there are a lot of longer arc series out there. It’s also nice that #17 didn’t end on an abrupt note – it’s clear that Seeley was able to plan for a finale rather than leave the arc unfinished, which is something that is always nice to see considering both JH Williams III and James Robinson left their respective titles, Batwoman and Earth 2 – in the middle of story arcs.

Overall, it’s been a great journey for Calvin Rose, if one of mixed qualities. For me, he’s been one of the best original characters to come out of the New 52 – and it’ll be really interesting to see what kind of role he plays in Batman Eternal – and hopefully it’s a good one.