The Talon Rises.
Oh boy, this is going haywire at the moment. While we see more of Bane's better side, some of the irrational actions really drag the issue down.
The art as usual is wonderful and the crowd scenes are where Scot Eaton excels. But when the plot is so confounding, the art cannot save it.
SPOILERS FOLLOW..................
BaneBat revives the only Talon in his custody - and it's William Cobb, Dick Grayson's grandfather who we last saw active in Nightwing's tie-ins to Night of the Owls.
Having come to know of Bane from the Court, Cobb is persuaded by Bane to take back his fellow Talons from the Arkham inmates. But first off all, while Scott does the bulky Bat costume well, Bane still looks ridiculous in it. Still, we didn't have to watch Cobb putting on a Robin costume (ugh).
Through some friendly banter, Cobb readily agrees to help Bane (though I do hope he has some ulterior motive) and they arrive on the Gotham streets, where we get to see more of the madmen of Gotham.
The Reaper fights Firefly while Zsasz keeps adding new notches to his skin. We get to see Scott at his finest as he details each participant brilliantly. Though I have to say, Firefly looks really wrong (would have preferred the Arkham Origins version, but then he wouldn't be a metahuman, so....).
We get cameos from Clayface, Two-Face, Black Mask, Mad Hatter, the Ventriloquist (another horrible villain) and someone called Sumo (?). Each character is distinct despite being only one-panel each.
BaneBat and Cobb enter the scene, knocking out Sumo using Firefly and the other crazies, all the way espousing that Arkham Asylum is a failure and madness should be stamped out instead of imprisoned.
The pacing though seems all over the pace as we shift from the main street chaos to a quieter part where a boy is attacked by a hoodlum while he takes food to his sick mother. BaneBat comes in and smashes the thug's head in, instructing the woman and boy to go to the Bane Tower (previously Wayne Tower).
We see Bane's mercenaries helping the common folk while BaneBat questions Zsasz as to where Scarecrow is. Elsewhere, Mr Freeze manages to recalibrate the other Talons to his whims. Scarecrow and his group unleash the Talons.
SPOILERS END.......................
Art notwithstanding, the miniseries has been a disappointment, highlighted by Bane's conflicting moves. Especially him taking on the Bat mantle was contradictory to his prideful nature.
Still, I'm hoping this ends with a bang but right now, the feeling is predominantly closure despite it featuring some of the best villains in the DC universe.
So, I'm giving this 6.5 out of 10
+The art is exceptional
+Cobb is a good adddition
-The pacing is all over the place
-BaneBat is still ridiculous
-Some irrational actions
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