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Talon |
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| Alias: unknown |
Titans Member
Joined: Teen Titans (third series) #38 [2006] |
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| Talon Quick Bio: On the parallel world known as Earth-3, evil versions of the Justice League use their human abilities to terrorize the planet. As an evil analogue to Batman, Owlman likewise adopted a young Robin-like sidekick named Talon. After Talon betrayed his mentor by falling in love with Joker's Daughter, he fled Earth-3 for another earth. |
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OWLMAN and TALON: The Early Years |
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| Owlman and Talon terrorize Gotham in COUNTDOWN PRESENTS: THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER: CRIME SOCIETY #1 [2007]. |
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Rotten Robin
On the parallel world known as Earth-3, most super-beings used their meta-human abilities for personal gain. Together, Owlman, Ultraman, Superwoman , Johnny Quick and Power Ring banded together and terrorized their earth as the Crime Society of America.
As an evil analogue to Batman, Owlman likewise adopted a young Robin-like sidekick named Talon. Running out of things to conquer, The Crime Society clashed with their Justice League doppelgangers more than once.
New Earth, New Start
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| Talon and the Joker's Daughter reveals their secret love in COUNTDOWN PRESENTS: THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER: CRIME SOCIETY #1 [2007]. Duela's dad doesn't take the news well. |
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Owlman and Talon had various encounters with The Jokester, a heroic version of the Joker. In an ironic twist, Talon fell in love with the Jokester’s own daughter, Duela Dent.
A cosmic anomaly, Duela shifted in between parallel worlds where she claimed to be the daughter of various super-criminals. After revealing their secret affair, Talon and Duela Dent were disowned by their respective families. Having nowhere to go, Duela brought Talon to New Earth, where they both joined the Teen Titans for a brief time after the Infinite Crisis.
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Talon reveals his alternate-earth origin
as the Titans react to Osiris in
52: WEEK TWENTY ONE [2006]. |
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Talon’s membership was short lived. When the other members learned of his origins, they kicked him out of the group. Since that time, Duela Dent was murdered by a rogue Monitor, who believed anomolies like Duela should be eliminated. Talon's current whereabouts are unknown.
As an analogue to Robin, Talon possesses similar skills and abilities as the Boy Wonder.
titanstower.com
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Teen Titans #38 [2006]: The new story arc "Titans Around the World" begins as the Teen Titans journey into the heart of Russia to meet its greatest super-hero: Red Star! On a quest to locate a former member, the Titans head to Moscow to learn how Red Star has rebuilt his life following Superboy-Prime's rampage and where they can find their lost friend and ally Raven! The "One Year Gap" Titans membership is revealed in a double page spread. First appearances of Talon, Power Boy, Little Barda, Molecule, Mas Y Menos, Young Frankenstein, Bombshell, Osiris and Riddler's Daughter. First appearance of Joto as Hotspot. One Year Gap Titans include: Beast Boy, Raven, Speedy, Kid Devil, Ravager, Hawk, Dove, Aquagirl II, Zatara III, Offspring, Miss Martian, Talon, Power Boy, Little Barda, Molecule, Mas, Menos, Young Frankenstein, Bombshell, Osiris, Riddler's Daughter, Joker's Daughter, Captain Marvel Jr., Argent, Hotspot [a renamed Joto], Mirage, Flamebird and Red Star.
52: Week Twenty Thirty-Two [2006]: Raven and Beast Boy hold a membership drive for the Teen Titans after their ranks have been depleted. Outside Titans Tower, many would-be Titans gather to volunteer for the team, including Argent, Flamebird, Mirage, Red Star, Joker's Daughter, Captain Marvel Jr., Aquagirl II, Kid Devil, Talon, Miss Martian, Bombshell, Offspring, Young Frankenstein, Mas Y Menos, and Molecule.
Countdown Presents: The Search For Ray Palmer: The Crime Society [2007]: Learn the origin of the newest Challenger from Beyond, from the world where the heroes are villains: Earth-3. The origin The Jokester (a heroic version of the Joker) is revealed. Duela Dent is revealed as the daughter of The Jokester and Evelyn Dent (Three-Face). Duela falls in love with Talon and leaves Earth-3. Talon's backstory is revealed. Origin of Duela Dent.
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| A preliminary character sketch by Tony Daniel, courtesy of newsarama.com |
The One Year Gap Titans
"You call this the Titans? Since Superboy died, the Titans have gone through over twenty new members. But no one wanted to stay very long. No one got along."
- Wonder Girl (Teen Titans (third series) #36 [2006])
DC's "One Year Later" event occurred March of 2006. In Teen Titans #33, Superboy and Nightwing are in the thick of the Infinite Crisis world-shattering event. With Teen Titans #34, a full year has passed since the Crisis. A comatose Cyborg awakens to discover the only active Titans: Robin, Ravager and Kid Devil. Cyborg is told that the Titans had quite a few membership shake-ups during his "missing year."
Readers shared in Cyborg's confusion. Following the limited series, Infinite Crisis, every DC comic series jumped ahead by one year between February 2006 and March 2006. With DC's March books, the characters' histories resumed "one year later." During the "missing year" between Teen Titans #33 and #34, over 20 new or returning members joined the team. They would come and go, most only being on the team a few weeks before quitting or getting kicked out or simply disappearing. One team was glimpsed at in Teen Titans #34. Teen Titans #38 revealed all the "One Year Gap Titans" in a double page spread.
The "One Year Gap" New Titans include:
1. Kid Devil: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #34.
2. Aquagirl II: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #34.
3. Dove II: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #34.
4. Hawk III: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #34.
5. Miss Martian: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #34.
6. Zatara: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #34.
7. Offspring: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #34.
8. Talon: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
9. Power Boy: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
10. Little Barda: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
11. Molecule: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
12. Mas: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
13. Menos: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
14. Bombshell: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
15. Young Frankenstein: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
16. Riddler's Daughter: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
17. Osiris: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
The "One Year Gap" Returning Titans include:
18. Ravager: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #34.
19. Joker's Daughter : Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
20. Argent [with new costume]: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
21. Mirage: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
22. Flamebird: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
23. Red Star: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
24. Hotspot [formerly Joto]: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
25. Captain Marvel Jr.: Revealed as member in Teen Titans #38.
Talon Timeline: Closing the “One Year Later” Gap
Here’s a list of major events revealed during the “Missing Year:”
 The Titans aid the heroes during the Infinite Crisis. While saving the universe from Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor, Superboy is killed in battle. [IC #1-7] With Superboy, Wonder Girl, Robin, Kid Flash, Starfire and Cyborg gone, Raven and Beast Boy try to keep the Teen Titans together. [TT #34]
Raven and Beast Boy hold a membership drive for the Teen Titans after their ranks have been depleted. Outside Titans Tower, many would-be Titans and current-Titans gather for the team, including Argent, Flamebird, Mirage, Red Star, Joker's Daughter, Captain Marvel Jr., Aquagirl II, Kid Devil, Talon, Miss Martian, Bombshell, Offspring, Young Frankenstein, Mas Y Menos, and Molecule. Osiris arrives to join, only to have Captain Marvel Jr. doubt his intentions. After pleading his case, Osiris is granted probationary membership. [52w32]
Talon mentions he's from an alternate earth. [52w32]
Black Adam ignites World War III. [52w49]
The Titans - Beast Boy, Raven, Offspring, Talon, Young Frankenstein, Hawk & Dove and Terra - confront a rampaging Black Adam in Greece. Black Adam brutally kills both Young Frankenstein and Terra. [ WWIIIp3: Hell is For Heroes]
Note: Talon quit the team shortly after Black Adam's worldwide rampage in 52: WEEK FIFTY. For a complete timeline of the "one year gap," click here.
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Tales of Earth-Three
Pre-Crisis Crime Syndicate
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The Crime Syndicate debuts in the classic
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #29-30 [1964]. |
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Earth-Three, the third in the soon-to-be-infinite number of earths, was introduced by Julius Schwartz and Gardner Fox in the second Justice League/Justice Society crossover in Justice League of America #29-30 (1964). On this planet, various historical occurences had taken place in a curious backward order – i.e., Columbus discovered Europe, Lincoln shot President Booth, and so forth. Moreover, there were no heroes there; all the super-beings were criminals. They numbered five: Jonny Quick, a super-speedster like the Flash; Owlman, who could control his opponents’ minds and actions with his super-brain; Power Ring, a pseudo-Green Lantern who had acquired his ring and magic lamp (which possessed no weakness) from a Buddhist monk called Volthoom; Superwoman, a renegade Amazon who wielded a magic lasso that could take on any shape; and Ultraman, a parallel Superman who gained a new super-power each time he was exposed to kryptonite.
Due to one such exposure, Ultraman gained “ultravision,” which enabled him to see into other dimensions. After telling his fellow Syndicate members of the Justice League of Earth-One, the group decided that challenging their otherworldly counterparts would hone their fighting skills and abate their boredom. Confident of victory, they traveled to Earth-One, took on the team of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash and Wonder Woman – and lost, until Owlman transported them all back to Earth-Three, where the Syndicate then defeated the disoriented Justice League. They similarly beat the Justice Society, and it took the joint forces of both super-teams to overcome the villains. The combined powers of Dr. Fate and Green Lantern created an escape-proof prison for the Crime Syndicate, which was placed in the interdimensional limbo between earths.
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| The Crime Syndicate returns in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #207 [1982]. |
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And there the Syndicate stayed for 14 years, until the Secret Society of Super-Villains inadvertently released three of their number – Superwoman, Jonny Quick and Power Ring – in Society of Super-Villains #13-14 (1978). It took Captain Comet, who had followed the Society to Earth-Three, to reimprison the villains (presumably alongside Ultraman and Owlman, who were not mentioned in this story, and whose absence went unexplained).
The next adventure involving the a Crime Syndicate member occurred in DC Comics Presents Annual #1 (1982), when Ultraman teamed with the Luthors of Earth One and Two. How he escaped was a mystery, as were the whereabouts of the other super-criminals. At any rate, the Lois Lane of Earth-Three was able to convince the world’s leading scientists – Alexander Luthor – to use his natural talents to defeat the other Luthors. Alexander Luthor returned Ultraman once more to limbo shortly after the end of the story.
The entire Crime Syndicate made their pentultimate appearance in full in a five-part story that ran in Justice League of America #207-209 and All-Star Squadron #14-15 (1982). There, they aided Per Degaton in his attempts to reshape the history of Earth-Two and conquer it. However, when the League and the Society, alongside the All-Stars, finally defeated Degaton’s time-travel scheme, all memory of the encounter was wiped from the minds of everyone but Degaton.
Months later, the Crime Syndicate was released from their prison by Alexander Luthor (as revealed in Whos’ Who #14), who had since married Lois Lane and produced a son. Despite their evil natures, the Syndicate bravely faced the danger and died nobly, their mighty powers useless against the onslaught of the Anti-Monitor in Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (1985). The entire world was destroyed except for Luthor’s son, Alexander, who later played a pivotal role in the Anti-Monitor’s defeat. With the reformation of DC history following the Crisis, the Crime Syndicate and their world “never existed.”
Qwardian Crime Syndicate
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| The revamped Crime Syndicate |
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The Crime Syndicate was revived 15 years later in Grant Morrison’s hardcover graphic novel, JLA: Earth 2 in 2000. In this revised version, Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Johnny Quick, and Power Ring hailed from the anti-matter universe of Qward rather than Earth-Three. Morrison’s story re-imagined them as the “heroes” of a world where evil is good and vice versa. Grant Morrison on the Crime Syndicate's revamp: “We've reversed everything, so these guys are all just sitting around drinking all the time, fighting with each other, and doing terrible things. They're sleazy as well. Just real bastards, basically.”
JLA: Earth 2 featured a positively wicked take on the Justice League in the Crime Syndicate. Ultraman used his heat vision to fry cats in trees, instead of rescuing them. Superwoman (secretly Lois Lane, no less) was a super-dominatrix involved with both Ultraman and Owlman. Jonny Quick was addicted to the very drug that granted him super-speed abilities. And Power Ring didn’t exactly control his ring – it controlled him. Alexander Luthor, true to his Pre-Crisis Earth-Three counterpart, became the "hero" of this backwards world.
The Qwardian Crime Syndicate of Amerika returned in the pages of JLA #107-114 (2005). In the storyline, “Syndicate Rules,” the Syndicate plots to switch places with the Justice League and leave them trapped in the anti-matter universe of Qward. As a lead-in to this story, the Syndicate also appeared in JLA Secret Files & Origins 2004. In JSA Classified #3 (2005) the Psycho Pirate brought The Crime Syndicate to Earth from the anti-matter universe to confuse Power Girl about her origins.
Earth-Three After Infinite Crisis
In the wake of the cosmic-altering Infinite Crisis, the multiverse was restored with 52 alternate earths. In the final issue of DC’s weekly mini-series 52: Week Fifty-Two (2007), Earth-Three lived again! That issue revealed some of the newly-revamped earths, including an Earth-Three populated with the familiar Crime Syndicate.
In the weekly series, Countdown, Donna Troy, Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner and Bob the Monitor hopped from parallel Earth to parallel Earth in search of missing Ray Palmer. On Earth-Three, they found themselves outmatched by the evil Crime Society of America in the pages of Countdown #31 (2007). In addition to the familiar Crime Syndicate members Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman, Johnny Quick, and Power Ring, their number included alternate versions of Black Canary, Red Arrow, Stargirl, Hawkwoman, Wildcat, and more. The story also introduced one of the few heroes of Earth-Three: the heroic Jokester - After Jokester learned that his missing daughter was murdered by a rogue Monitor (Countdown #51), he sacrificed his own life to save Donna Troy in Countdown #29 (2007).
Earth-Three Titans: Duela Dent and Talon
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Duela tries to keep her own history straight in COUNTDOWN PRESENTS:
THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER: CRIME SOCIETY #1 [2007]. |
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Mere weeks after his debut in the pages of Countdown, Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1 (2007) revealed the secret origin of the Jokester. Failing comedian Jackie Napier was inspired by Owlman crashing through the window – and began to poke fun at the ruthless costumed villain in his nightclub act. Owlman didn’t take the joke well and brutally beat Jackie, which caused him to spiral downward and emerge as the clown vigilante known as the Jokester.
Unknown to Jokester, he has long ago sired a child by Evelyn Dent, who was secretly the fractured crime-fighter, Three-Face. The daughter of Jokester and Three-Face was Duela Dent, who never seemed to get a proper origin story since it was revealed she was too old to be the daughter of Two-Face in Tales of the Teen Titans #50 (1984).
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Duela is cosmically confused in COUNTDOWN PRESENTS:
THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER: CRIME SOCIETY #1 [2007]. |
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This issue retro-actively constructed the confusing back-story of Duela Dent. Originally, Duela gained notoriety by calling herself the Joker's Daughter and vexing Robin (introduced in Batman Family #6 in 1976). This became an ongoing game, as Duela claimed to be the criminal offspring of the Catwoman, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, the Penguin. Duela later maintained she was the daughter of Two-Face and became a valued member of the original Teen Titans team as Harlequin.
The Post-Crisis Duela Dent (reintroduced in JLA/Titans mini series #2 in 1999) didn’t play at being insane – the girl WAS insane. In and out of mental institutions, Duela was re-imaged as a bipolar Titan that claimed to be the daughter of a different super-villain every week. Writer Sean McKeever made sense of every Duela origin by making her the daughter of Earth-Three's heroes, Jokester and Three-Face. And Earth-3’s Riddler became her step-father.
Upon meeting her long-lost father, Duela’s step-father introduces her as the Riddler’s Daughter, but she corrects him, “No... No, now I’m Joker’s Daughter.” Jokester corrects her, “But... My name’s the Jokester...” At this point, Duela’s cosmic confusion sets in, “Really? I you sure? I swear mom said... Uchh... I dunno how, but sometimes I’m in another world altogether? It’s exactly like this world but not at all... And then there’s this place with nothing but bald guys with really interesting facial hair who monitor everything in all worlds... I guess I’m just confused about where I really am... My boyfriend calls my Harlequin sometimes... I think...”
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Duela's mother, Three-Face, reveals the truth to Jokester in COUNTDOWN PRESENTS: THE SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER: CRIME SOCIETY #1 [2007]. |
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McKeever confesses, “I don't recall what all went into (creating Duela’s revised origin); development was actually pretty fast... I do recall Mike Carlin suggesting the Three Faces of Eve bit. And I'd known a bit about her strange history via Countdown and Titans research, so I took all the strange elements of her various identities and found a way for it to make sense. Then went back and forth a little more with (editors) Eddie Berganza and Adam.”
Thirty years after her first appearance, Duela Dent finally got a definitive origin story. Too bad she wasn’t alive to see it (she was murdered by a rogue Monitor in Countdown #51).
Duela’s secret origin also revealed Talon (Earth-Three’s evil Robin) as her secret lover. Talon first appeared in Teen Titans #38 (2006) as one of the “missing year” Titans. In 52: Week Twenty Thirty-Two (2007), Raven and Beast Boy held a membership drive for the Teen Titans after their ranks have been depleted. There, Talon remarks, “That kid would get his ass kicked on my earth.” Readers may have guessed Talon was referring to Earth-Three – but it wasn’t confirmed until Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1 (2007). If fans ever wondered if there was an evil Robin on Earth-Three, they got their answer in Talon.
On Earth-Three, Owlman and Talon had various encounters with The Jokester, a heroic version of the Joker. In an ironic twist, Talon fell in love with the Jokester’s own daughter, Duela Dent. After revealing their secret affair, Talon and Duela Dent were disowned by their respective families. Having nowhere to go, Duela brought Talon to New Earth, where they both joined the Teen Titans for a brief time after the Infinite Crisis.
Earth-Three Essential Reading:
Justice League of America #29-30 (1964)
Society of Super-Villains #13-14 (1978)
DC Comics Presents Annual #1 (1982)
Justice League of America #207-209 and All-Star Squadron #14-15 (1982)
Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (1985)
JLA: Earth 2 Hardcover Graphic Novel (2000)
JLA Secret Files & Origins 2004
JLA # 107-114 (2005)
52: Week Fifty Two (2007)
Countdown #31-29 (2007)
Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1 (2007)
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