I Don’t Even Have Any Good Skills
When Atlantic 654 crashed into the ocean, all of its passengers perished. Well, all but one. Breathing in the ice cold water, hours later, English professor Nicholas Dane was found alive. He was not, however, the only survivor.
Talent was a four-issue mini-series by the creative team behind one of my favorite book series, The Menagerie, Christoper Golden and Thomas Sniegoski.
Dane finds that he has been imbued with all the talents of the other fallen passengers. The skills of an assassin, the fighting techniques of a boxer, and the simple knowledge of origami are now Nicholas’ skills. He must use his power to finish the passengers’ business on earth, from a simple phone call to killing a mob boss. Pursued by assassins, the government, and a world-wide shadow cult, Dane has to stay one step ahead of his adversaries. It’s not just his life on the line, after all.
Now a trade paperback, Talent is a rare gem. Well-written and showcasing the writers’ versatility to venture out of pure fantasy and scribing, essentially, a conspiracy crime drama, Talent was able to capture my attention from the first few pages. But in the end, I don’t know how to feel about this series.
It ends, just *poof* - done. The plot isn’t resolved and Dane is left to go about his mission to avenge the fallen and put their souls to rest. I can see this as a 60-issue maxiseries, but as far as BOOM! and the writer’s websites show, there are no plans to continue the series beyond this four-issue book. As much as I want to recommend the book, it would almost be like giving candy to a baby and then taking it away.
It’s up to you if you want to read this book. It’s a great comic, but it was too painful to see it end as it did.
