The Hunter, the Doctor, and The Owl
Just as I feared, the August 7 are taken down in a matter of a few pages. The big climax, the August 7 ALL finally there, and it takes maybe half the issue, and I'm not even counting the co-feature. Sigh, the end to this arc is so anticlimactic, there was a lot put into building them up as a legitimate threat. Granted, they imply that they could return, but still, it was a major let-down to see things end so quickly. It WAS cool to see Jonah Hex's level of planning, but other than that, eh.
What follows is an odd context-less Talon appearance. It's not that it doesn't make sense, but I'm left wondering where this Talon was in the rest of the Night, and considering what I've seen from the other Talons, why was this one so quick to leave? Generally speaking it seems that, if seen, Talons are to eliminate all witnesses. It wasn't even a crowd or anything, just two men out at night. Thankfully, looking at the cover for #11, it appears that Jonah Hex has NOT seen the last of The Court of Owls, and I REALLY look forward to seeing how his encounters with them play out. Not to mention that this talon had an AWESOME design, and some serious moves the likes of which outdid pretty much every fight scene in this series thus far, except maybe Hex vs. Z.C.
What follows is also quite interesting, while Hex makes some impressive insights into the battle, he also has an intriguing lack of conclusions. A lot of the individual pieces are things Hex has experience with, but the overall package is unfamiliar territory, and for a man like Jonah Hex, that's pretty sweet. Not to mention that the ensuing conversation brings up some juicy tidbit's of Jonah's past, and forces him to finally just sock Arkham in the face.
The last scene of the main feature sets up the next arc, and surprisingly, aside from the lackluster end of the August 7 arc, none of the other stories happening at once feel too short. The intro of Tallulah Black has some PHENOMENAL pacing, I'm really excited to see what she brings to the series.
The conclusion of the Nighthawk and Cinnamon backup is an extremely fun romp of upbeat western delight. The artwork is still really nice and smooth with just the right dash of western roughness. Our protagonist duo are both well written, interesting, playing off each other, and driving the story with their love and differences. It ends, surprisingly, perhaps not long before their entry into the main story.
In Conclusion: 4/5
I was really disappointed by the anticlimactic conclusion of the August 7 arc, but my mood was lifted right back up as Night of the Owls set in. This wasn't as in depth as the other tie-ins, but it set up a future story arc for All-Star Western to spin off of Night of the Owls. Then the setup for the very next arc had some great stuff as well, though it's a little nervously similar to the beginning of the August 7 arc. "Jonah Hex and Amadeus Arkham arrive in a city and meet one of Hex's old 'friends.' " Granted this one begins with them RETURNING to Gotham, but the similarity is unmistakably there. All-Star Western ALSO, once again, has a co-feature that completely justifies the extra dollar, fleshing out backstory of side characters, and generally just being really GOOD.
