Flight
I think of all the new titles that are a part of DC's so-called "Third-wave", Talon had the most to prove. Despite having the blessing and support of Scott Snyder, people were fast to cry fowl, labeling it an obvious cash grab due to the success of the Court of owls, which is stupid since sometimes the most popular characters in superhero books arose because of the urge to milk a cash cow for all it's worth. Strong titles have arisen from weaker titles, so it deserved it's fair look. And guess what? It's pretty damn good.
Calvin Rose himself has another one of those stories peppered with poetic irony, but is still solid. A tad generic at some points, but it fits with what we know about the court and his own abilities. The theme of running and escaping from a trap is anything but subtle, but it's consistent throughout the book. Calvin's abilities as an escape artist are unique, and we can see how he uses them, which paints him as a force to be reckoned with. Time is also taken to show why he's so much more noble and sane than his fellow Talons, and the ultimate conflict that forces him to split all fits together nicely with what was built up about him.
One thing I especially liked about this was how the story was framed. Most zero issues, sometimes to their detriment, chose to do this issue as a straight flashback. Others, like Amethyst, chose treat it like their first issue. Talon instead chooses to drop us off later on down the line, introducing him at a specific moment in his life, and giving us flashbacks so that we get introduced both to where his is now, and where he once was. This gets us caught up really fast, and will probably make the actually issue #1 much easier to read.
Art wise, Guillem March is no Greg Capullo, and lacks his flair and style, which is disappointing since I have trouble picturing the owls without his unique pencils, but still, he does a good job here. I was hesitant, since I believe March was the one who did such a god-awful, borderline insulting run on Catwoman not too long ago, but no trace of that is here. Hopefully he'll keep the buxom women out of this book so I can enjoy it without getting annoyed.
Really, the only potential flaw with this book is that the author's might take the easy way out and focus the story on the court for too long. Or, god forbid, make Batman a frequent guest *shudder* because that's exactly what this needs. Still, I think this might be the best of DC's third wave, and if you trust Scott Snyder and liked the court, you'll probably feel the same way.
