By Mark Rodriguez
The Court of Owls has unleashed their army of Talons all over Gotham City! As they storm Wayne Manor, Batman holds them off while Alfred send the alert to the BatFamily. After discovering earlier on that one of Nightwing's great grandfather was a Talon, and that he himself was once destined to become a Talon, he has a more personal stake in this. How will Nightwing deal with the Talons?
"The Night of the Owls- Bloodlines" begins with the flashback of a child juggling for pennies on the streets of Gotham City in the year 1910. At the time the Elite of Gotham were Alan Wayne, Frederic Cobblepot, Edward Elliot, and Burton Crowe. The child's father worked building bridges and when a bridge collapsed during construction, he lost his life. His mother worked at a textile plant and couldn't afford to watch the kid. Even though she warned her against begging on the street corners, he continued to juggle on the streets for a year. One day a guy tried to run off with a kid's money. The street juggler threw one of his baseballs at the guy's head, knocking him down. The guy was so impressed by the kid's aim he offered him a job.
In modern day Gotham City, Nightwing is investigating the murder of the Stayhorn brothers, apparently with one of his own escrima sticks. He wonders why the media hasn't come after him yet since his weapon was used in the murder. Just then he receives Alfred's message about the Talons. He heads off to protect Mayor Hady.
Mayor Hady is discussing politics with his men when suddenly the lights go out. As one of the politicians go to see what's wrong, he finds several dead men lying on the ground. Before he can react his head is sliced off by one the Talons. The Talon tells Mayor Hady that he has been sentenced to death.
Just then Nightwing busts in and kicks the Talon down. The Talon has the tendons in his knees torn by the kick but is quick to regenerate. He tells Nightwing he'd have to play harder, since he can play harder.
We resume the flashback as the child was enlisted to Haly's Circus. His mother knew but didn't say anything since they really needed the money. At the circus, the kid was told he is going to have to play harder than juggling baseballs and he was encouraged to take knife tossing. He soon became a master of knife tossing. As the kid grew into a man, he had achieved status and fell for a woman named Amelia.
Nightwing challenges the Talon to a swordfight, allowing the Mayor and the others to get away. As they fight, Nightwing's arm gets sliced up, but he manages to impale the Talon and jam one of his sticks into his eye.
The man remembers his romance with Amelia, the daughter of Burton Crowe. He remembers that this was the beginning of the end as everything was soon stripped away from him. He said this betrayal does not compare to the betrayal he currently faces.
Nightwing carried the Talon away and the Mayor asks if he killed him. Dick tells them that he's already dead and the stick in his eye is keeping him from regenerating fully. Just then, Nightwing is stabbed in the chest with multiple throwing knifes. As he drops to his knees, a second Talon appears. He is William Cobb, the great grandfather of Richard Grayson, and he has come to kill his own descendant.
My Opinions
Wow. Out of all of the Talons, this guy was the one we have seen the most. William Cobb was the one that tried to kill Bruce Wayne a few times and also led Batman to the deadly maze that nearly killed him with starvation, dehydration and hallucinations. Even though he was taken back to the Batcave to be examined, he somehow escaped and headed straight for Nightwing.
At first I thought the Talon that Nightwing was fighting was him, since he called him Batman's birdy, hinting that he knew he was once Robin. Plus he used the 'play harder' line, just like Cobb used it in the flashback. Having Cobb suddenly appear at the end surprised me. The knowledge that Cobb was Dick's great grandfather only made it logical that these two would eventually end up fighting. Compared to the other members of the Bat Family, Nightwing's run in with the Talons begins in issue 8 and continues in issue 9, giving him a 2-parter. It made sense due to his personal connection to Cobb, and it'll be awesome to see them face off. If Nightwing can somehow overcome multiple stabbings to the chest that is. I do have to say though.... not many things can get weirder that facing an undead version of your great grandfather that's out to kill you.
The flashback story is interesting and gives a more in depth backstory to Cobb that the other Talons. It also ends on a cliffhanger, so I'm also curious as to what was the big betrayal that ruined his life in the past. I guess we'll see.
The Court of Owls has unleashed their army of Talons all over Gotham City! As they storm Wayne Manor, Batman holds them off while Alfred send the alert to the BatFamily. After discovering earlier on that one of Nightwing's great grandfather was a Talon, and that he himself was once destined to become a Talon, he has a more personal stake in this. How will Nightwing deal with the Talons?
"The Night of the Owls- Bloodlines" begins with the flashback of a child juggling for pennies on the streets of Gotham City in the year 1910. At the time the Elite of Gotham were Alan Wayne, Frederic Cobblepot, Edward Elliot, and Burton Crowe. The child's father worked building bridges and when a bridge collapsed during construction, he lost his life. His mother worked at a textile plant and couldn't afford to watch the kid. Even though she warned her against begging on the street corners, he continued to juggle on the streets for a year. One day a guy tried to run off with a kid's money. The street juggler threw one of his baseballs at the guy's head, knocking him down. The guy was so impressed by the kid's aim he offered him a job.
Mayor Hady is discussing politics with his men when suddenly the lights go out. As one of the politicians go to see what's wrong, he finds several dead men lying on the ground. Before he can react his head is sliced off by one the Talons. The Talon tells Mayor Hady that he has been sentenced to death.
Just then Nightwing busts in and kicks the Talon down. The Talon has the tendons in his knees torn by the kick but is quick to regenerate. He tells Nightwing he'd have to play harder, since he can play harder.
We resume the flashback as the child was enlisted to Haly's Circus. His mother knew but didn't say anything since they really needed the money. At the circus, the kid was told he is going to have to play harder than juggling baseballs and he was encouraged to take knife tossing. He soon became a master of knife tossing. As the kid grew into a man, he had achieved status and fell for a woman named Amelia.
Nightwing challenges the Talon to a swordfight, allowing the Mayor and the others to get away. As they fight, Nightwing's arm gets sliced up, but he manages to impale the Talon and jam one of his sticks into his eye.
The man remembers his romance with Amelia, the daughter of Burton Crowe. He remembers that this was the beginning of the end as everything was soon stripped away from him. He said this betrayal does not compare to the betrayal he currently faces.
Nightwing carried the Talon away and the Mayor asks if he killed him. Dick tells them that he's already dead and the stick in his eye is keeping him from regenerating fully. Just then, Nightwing is stabbed in the chest with multiple throwing knifes. As he drops to his knees, a second Talon appears. He is William Cobb, the great grandfather of Richard Grayson, and he has come to kill his own descendant.
My Opinions
Wow. Out of all of the Talons, this guy was the one we have seen the most. William Cobb was the one that tried to kill Bruce Wayne a few times and also led Batman to the deadly maze that nearly killed him with starvation, dehydration and hallucinations. Even though he was taken back to the Batcave to be examined, he somehow escaped and headed straight for Nightwing.
At first I thought the Talon that Nightwing was fighting was him, since he called him Batman's birdy, hinting that he knew he was once Robin. Plus he used the 'play harder' line, just like Cobb used it in the flashback. Having Cobb suddenly appear at the end surprised me. The knowledge that Cobb was Dick's great grandfather only made it logical that these two would eventually end up fighting. Compared to the other members of the Bat Family, Nightwing's run in with the Talons begins in issue 8 and continues in issue 9, giving him a 2-parter. It made sense due to his personal connection to Cobb, and it'll be awesome to see them face off. If Nightwing can somehow overcome multiple stabbings to the chest that is. I do have to say though.... not many things can get weirder that facing an undead version of your great grandfather that's out to kill you.
The flashback story is interesting and gives a more in depth backstory to Cobb that the other Talons. It also ends on a cliffhanger, so I'm also curious as to what was the big betrayal that ruined his life in the past. I guess we'll see.
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