Great review Blaise! How do all of you have so much to say about each issue? I'm jealous!
Kate
posted @ Sat, Nov 11, 2023 8:28:38 pm EST from 72.49.138.52

Sorry for the double post, but:

It still strikes me that one of the biggest differences between Goliath's hearing in "Here in Manhattan" and "And Justice For All" is that in the latter, Goliath was accused of a specific crime (robbing a jewelry store), was placed on trial for it, and managed to clear his name (if in an improbable fashion, to put it mildly). The hearing wasn't about a specific offense. Goliath was taken prisoner as if he was a grizzly bear or mountain lion found roaming around Central Park, without being charged with anything (the closest thing to a crime at the scene being the kidnapping of Rosaria and Peter - which nobody, apart from the rival gangs, even noticed, and which certainly was never mentioned in connection with Goliath's being taken into custody), [SPOILER] and his release was based entirely on the fact that, once he was recognized as a sentient being, he'd been held without any charges and thus should be set free [/SPOILER].
Todd Jensen
posted @ Sat, Nov 11, 2023 8:14:02 pm EST from 174.72.60.154

Thanks for your review, Blaise. I'm still curious about how Tobe Crest knew as much about Goliath as he does - particularly Goliath's reading tastes - and hope that we'll get that question at least partly answered by the end of #12.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Sat, Nov 11, 2023 7:08:37 pm EST from 174.72.60.154

****Blaise trots into the Room. Not because he's on a horse...but because he currently is a horse.****
Don't ask.

Getting back to covering what's come before:
RENDER UNTO CEASAR> Hudson is the narrator this time, and it is great hearing (or reading) his perspective. I particularly like how he says he “surrendered” to the name he had, and even uses the fact that he got it from the river to illustrate how it defines and limits him. Also, there’s the bit where he refers to Goliath as the “son of my heart,” which is just...*chef's kiss*. Long time fans know who Hudson’s biological children are, sure, but this really helps illustrate the “Gargoyle Family” mentality more.

Of course, before Hudson can do anything rash, one of the humans (kitted up in tactical gear complete with mask and goggles) calls him by name. It is Matt Bluestone, of course, because the heavily equipped people that captured Goliath are none other than the Gargoyles Taskforce. Like I said, I figured it was them last issue, and I know I wasn't the only one, but now Matt gets to confirm and do some ‘splainin’. He’s still in charge of the Taskforce, but he can't just NOT use do his job (especially when we learn what he's been given) because that could raise questions and most likely result in someone else being put in charge of the G.T.F.. So here he is trying to use his position to limit the damage, as it were. He manages to convince Hudson that attacking the cops is a bad idea and to trust Matt to keep Goliath as safe as possible under the circumstances. Matt, of course, refers to the cops as his clan, but also as *Elisa’s* clan. I don’t know if Matt has groked that the Manhattan Clan views Elisa as a part of their clan, too, but either way this is a big indicator that Elisa’s membership (as it were) in *both* clans is now in conflict and she may have to make a choice.
[Blaise from the future: Yeah, she’s pretty much already made it--made it the instant she took the stand to defend Goliath.]

Back at the castle we see a couple concurrent scenes: Lexington chatting (ah, the 1990’s) with “Amp” (CONFIRMATION!), and Broadway and Angela talking with Coldfire about a Commitment Ceremony (MORE CONFIRMATION!). So yeah, this confirms several things: Lex and Staghart kept in touch and are quite happy to stay that way (if Amp’s willingness to just turn to stone right in front of the computer is any indication), and Coldfire is the “spiritual” (or at least ceremonial) member of the clan, familiar with the clan’s ceremonies. And one of those is actually called the Commitment Ceremony, it looks like. I also love the eagerness Broadway and Angela show here, almost like excited children despite how big this step is (so I also love Coldfire’s subtle check-in if they *do* both feel ready for this). When it comes to choosing Seconds (more lore!), Angela immediately says Elisa, which is heartwarming right there and shows how she views the detective. She also says Katana, if the latter is willing, which I kind of feel is really just due to a lack of options, but it’s nice to know that Angela feels comfortable enough with her for this. Broadway is a little more hesitant for his seconds, though. He *guesses* Lex would do it, but feels that Brooklyn might be too busy...
...uh, Broadway? Brooklyn’s a mated gargoyle and father now, yes, and that means he has more in his life than just you and Lex, sure. But you can still just ask! Honestly, I cannot wait for the Trio to finally talk their issues out (come on Issue 11!).
Anyway, speaking of Brooklyn, he’s talking with his son, post-history lesson. I love his line, “In a universe with time travel, you want to commit as much history to memory as possible.” Then Hudson arrives with the bad news...

And Goliath awakes to experience it first-hand. And wouldn’t you know it? Of all the prison cells in all the prisons in all the world, he had to end up in the one next to Tony Dracon and Tomas Brod, who are both loving this. It looks like Goliath tries to bust out of his chains right then and there, only to get shocked by...the guard who got whammied by Coyote back in “Leader of the Pack”?! Wow! I don’t know why I never expected to see him again, but I didn’t. You’d think I would have learned by now.
But Elisa shows up to stop the shock, though the guard remarks that this “ain’t [her] beat.” Well, Tony and Tomas throw a few snide remarks, with Tony just plain saying “that beauty’s sweet on that beast,” but we don’t get any immediate fallout from that right now, it seems. As it is, Elisa and Goliath apparently don’t say anything to each other. If this page and the next are anything to go by, she just stays with him throughout the night, until he enters stone sleep the next day. I guess, if they can’t say anything to each other, they can at least comfort each other by just being there. It’s something.

Now, however, we check-in on the organized crime side of the story. Specifically, the “Romeo and Juliet” aspect, as Huracan Sanchez grills his daughter, Esperanza, over his other daughter’s whereabouts while Yingpei Choi is doing the same thing to one of her guys, Jimmy, regarding her nephew’s whereabouts. It’s interesting to contrast their reactions upon learning that the star-crossed relationship is still going on, too: Huracan runs hot while Yingpei seems more cold.

But let’s head to Elisa’s apartment where she and Matt are watching the news about Goliath’s capture, where none other than John Castaway is being interviewed. After throwing shade at the G.T.F. as dragging their heels and calling the gargoyles “invading monsters that threaten our lives,” Elisa turns off the TV (appropriate response) and rounds on Matt for “betraying” Goliath. Matt puts the breaks on that, though, and confirms that “some mysterious benefactor donated more money, equipment and resources than the Mayor and the Chief had ever seen or imagined.” This pretty much also confirms that the “amazing” thing Margot showed him back in “Tale Old as Time” was pretty much just that donation. It also ties back all the way to “Invitation Only” where Matt mentioned that the Mayor and the Chief were still hashing out the budget of the G.T.F., so it was only “part-time” for the officers involved back then. Amazing how fast things can happen when a lot of cash suddenly falls into your lap. No word on who the mysterious benefactor is here (and in the future we all know who it is, but for the moment let’s pretend I was writing this on the day and didn’t know): Renard would be my first guess. Yeah, this is a bit underhanded for him, but we’ve seen he’s done such things before out of desperation (and as a 21st Century adult, I’m less credible toward the idea of the “good, philanthropic rich person” as I used to be). And with the set-up we saw in the previous issue (the recognizable silhouette), it just makes the most sense.

Regardless, Matt repeats that “one way or another” the G.T.F. was going to get a gargoyle this time, which to me highlights his own feeling of helplessness in the face of this situation. And then he rounds on Elisa for being out of contact when he tried to get in touch with her and have her warn the clan. It seems Elisa was talking to a “C.I.”, which I think means “Confidential Informant," about Dino Dracon. If it is a Confidential Informant, I wonder if it’s someone we know.... Unfortunately, that left Matt to do the best he could while pretending he didn’t know the clan. At the end of the scene, though, it’s pretty clear whatever anger Elisa had has been replaced with sadness and/or weariness.

We cut to a courtroom, where someone is reading the Daily Tattler (I love that one of the lines on the paper is “Tattler proven correct!”--someone is feeling vindicated). The judge presiding in the court is old Roebling. Good to see him again, though it’s a bit of a coincidence that he just happens to get this case [Blaise from the future: or *is* it?]. And we meet our newspaper reader: a lawyer named Tobe Crest here to represent Goliath, but not as a defendant like I’m sure most of us thought (and “The Goliath Chronicles” assumed). No, it does make more sense that this case, arguing for Goliath’s sentience and person-hood, would require he be the plaintiff, though I don’t think Goliath knows anything about this yet. Tobe, however, is here to represent him already and very well prepared to do so. Unfortunately, the ADA arguing against him is none other than Margot Yale (not a coincidence that she would be here--she is the G.T.F. liaison, after all, and I feel like she would get thrown anything “Gargoyle” related at this point, if not take it up herself). She, of course, argues that Goliath’s an animal, that the only reason he’s not at the Bronx Zoo was because they didn’t have a cage that could hold him, and even brings up parrots when the subject of talking is broached. Tobe, however, brings up that Goliath reads, and somehow knows Goliath’s preferred (or at least past) reading material. Very interesting. Roebling, meanwhile, is trying not to let on that he knows Goliath. The conflict of interest in this doesn’t seem to come up [Blaise from the future: and we know why...]. Roebling says he will consider the motion.

That night (busy day, huh?), the clan awakes and Brooklyn immediately plans to free Goliath. Elisa tries to talk him out of it, but Brooklyn says he has “one absolute rule: No gargoyle left behind. Period.” Given the nature of his Timedance, it makes sense he’d think that way. Broadway and Lexington are ready to go right along with him, but Brooklyn focuses on strategy instead and elects to bring only Coldstone and Coldfire, telling everyone else to guard “the castle and each other.” As Hudson points out, this plan has strategic merit, but Broadway and Lex are clearly dejected by it, and Hudson fears Brooklyn will regret not having them with him. I think that fear turns out accurate, but not from any “battle” point of view. Rather, he could have used their moral support given what’s about to happen.

Cutting back to the Sanchez and Choi syndicates, we get more parallel panels. We have kidnap photos where the “obvious” kidnapper is also obviously sweating and betraying fear/anxiety with their eyes. But that’s all lost on the people looking at the photos. Huracan and Yingpei draw the obvious (wrong) conclusion, say “forget Dane and Dracon” and vow to take the other down. Well, looks like the first part of Dino’s plan went as intended...

And at the prison, Brooklyn and the Cold-Duo go to town. Of course, Brooklyn instructs them to “try not to hurt any humans” and is adamant about no killing. Coldfire is OK with that, but Coldstone is a little less enthused with that, it seems. As for Brooklyn, it looks like the only weapon he left behind was his katana, as he has everything else here. He even uses his shoulder-rifle (which seems to have had a redesign since “Phoenix”) to blast open the wall near where Coldfire’s vision can see Goliath.
(The next couple of pages took a bit for me to figure out how to properly read them; the top two rows can be read as normal, it looks like, but the bottom row is supposed to be read *all-the-way* across both pages.)
Brooklyn and Coldfire head in to save Goliath while Coldstone remains outside to maintain their escape route. He does so, but is clearly unhappy about the whole “no hurting any precious humans” aspect. I think this is not just Coldstone not being humanity’s biggest fan right now, given the current situation (although I'm sure that's in there); I think it’s also because he’s still very much a 10th Century warrior. He’s spent some time in the modern world, yes, but not as much or as deeply as the rest of the clan. And in the 10th Century, when someone’s attacking you, you attack them right back; it is a *lot* more effort to try to do so non-lethally, let alone without really hurting your enemy. And that’s the key word: *enemy*. That’s how he views the people attacking him, and he calls them as much on the following pages. Nuances of perception and shades of grey are not part of his worldview here. So yeah, Coldstone does the job well, but is not happy about it.

Meanwhile, the guard tries to stop the rescuers by...shocking Goliath (seriously, that was your plan, dude?). Something he continues to do even when one of the “monsters” draws a gun...and then manages to shoot the control out of his hand! (Is this Brooklyn, or Dead-Eye Duck?) Though Brook mentions, as he talks the guard out of drawing his own weapon, that having only one eye means his depth perception “sucks” (could they say that in the show?) and that next time his “aim might not be true.” Normally I wouldn’t think too much about that line, but we’ve seen that the titles of the issues coming out seem to be spelling out something with their first letters. By this issue, it’s “AIMTR” (and we’ll know by issue 10 it’s “AIMTRUEMYN”), so I’m wondering if this line might not have more significance later on.

At any rate, Coldfire is about to free Goliath when Tony and Tomas just have to crack a comment about how the “gargoyle do-gooders” will break the law when it suits them. I love how Goliath’s eyes are shadowed here as he listens to their comments. I don’t know if this was the *only* thing that informed Goliath’s decision, but it seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, as it were.

Either way, Goliath orders Brooklyn and Coldfire to depart and leave him there. And somehow, Hudson feels this and it makes his blood run cold. I have to say: I love how panels 2 and 3 are done here. Brooklyn is facing to the right with his damaged eye in the back as he reacts while Hudson is facing to the left with his damaged eye in the foreground. It’s a connection between the two that I like and helps to sell how they both feel at this moment.

I suppose now is as good a time as any to talk about “voice casting”: Tobe Crest is one I heard in my head as Phil LaMarr in his “John Stewart” wheelhouse, which would make this the second character I have mentally cast him as for the comics. Back when “Reunion” came out, I had cast him as Master Dawa (sounding more like his Samurai Jack performance), although these days I may cast someone else for that role. The only other one I have a definite voice for is Dino Dracon for whom I’ve mentally cast the late Miguel Ferrer (something similar to what he did for Silvermane in “The Spectacular Spider-Man”).

The tension ramps up in this issue, and it’s great!

OK. Just four more issues and I'll be caught up. I'll try for another this weekend.
****Blaise-horse rears and gallops out of the room.****
Blaise
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."--The Doctor
posted @ Sat, Nov 11, 2023 3:00:46 pm EST from 45.48.54.221

Regarding any future conflict between The Quarrymen and the clan, [SPOILER] I just imagine a politician commenting on matters by stating that there are good people on both sides.:-p [/SPOILER]
Antiyonder
posted @ Fri, Nov 10, 2023 10:47:13 pm EST from 71.84.183.196

Sorry for the double post, but:

[SPOILER] I've mentioned my theory that Mack Kemp was named after Will Kemp, a noted comic actor of Shakespeare's time (who played Dogberry in "Much Ado About Nothing" and might have played Bottom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"), matching the Shakespearean atmosphere of the troupe. I just wondered if his first name might have been a reference to Mack Sennett. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Fri, Nov 10, 2023 8:58:28 pm EST from 174.72.60.154

[SPOILER] I reread the "Once Upon a Time There Were Three Brothers" section of #1 alongside the depiction of Shari's first story-telling session in #4, to compare the two, and noted that the text story was presented as a memory of Alesand's from some time before. Which makes it safe to conclude that she's not likely to be a casualty of #5 or #6. (I also noticed, from the depiction of the scene in #4, that there were indeed other grown-ups, both human and gargoyle, listening to the story besides Robbie, including not only Prince Malcolm, but Iago as well.)

I wonder what the trio's response to the names she'd given them would be, if they ever found out about them, and whether they'd have preferred them to their actual New York-derived names. I think the latter suit them better, of course, though the former are much more distinguished. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Fri, Nov 10, 2023 6:52:38 pm EST from 174.72.60.154

Todd Jensen> [SPOILER] Yep, knowing she might have 23 years before a possible tragedy, is very relaxing.XD [/SPOILER]
Antiyonder
posted @ Fri, Nov 10, 2023 12:53:48 pm EST from 107.77.205.83

Conjecture about Alesand moving away has made me wonder about Robert’s own backstory. He somehow ended up as a servant at Edinburgh, quite a long ways from home, and I wonder how that came about. According to the timeline, it takes Katharine and company a full year to travel from Wyvern to Edinburgh in “Avalon.” While I think this is likely an unrealistically long time (given what Greg has said about the location of Wyvern, it’s about a two-and-a-half-day continuous walk from Edinburgh), it is still quite a distance to travel for a peasant in that time.
Craig
posted @ Fri, Nov 10, 2023 12:22:12 pm EST from 166.198.251.27

[SPOILER] Right. And just because she's not around in 994 does not mean she's dead. She might've moved away somewhere. Or maybe her old buddy Caesar took her on a TimeDance adventure and she could be anywhere/when.
I'll admit that her death would help explain the Captain's turn by 994 and is most likely, but it is not the only possibility. We'll just have to see how it plays out. [/SPOILER]
Matt
"And, thus, given no choice, we waited..." - Alesand, "The Reach"
posted @ Fri, Nov 10, 2023 11:50:46 am EST from 204.184.178.1

KATE - [SPOILER] True, but it doesn't necessarily mean that whatever happens to her, happens by the end of #6. There's twenty-three years to go until the Wyvern Massacre, after all. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Thu, Nov 9, 2023 8:45:32 pm EST from 174.72.60.154

Just read #4 as well since I've put it off for a bit.
Spoilers: [SPOILER] I'm really worried about Alesand, knowing all of this is a prequel and she's absent in the TV show doesn't bode well. [/SPOILER]
Kate
posted @ Thu, Nov 9, 2023 8:35:33 pm EST from 72.49.138.52

This is an awesome blog. Thanks for posting.
Drolet Escape 1500-I Wood Insert Trio - [appliancerepaircalg01 at gmail dot com]
posted @ Thu, Nov 9, 2023 8:59:01 am EST from 49.145.228.165

Sorry for the double post, but after reading the comments on "Dark Ages" #4 from last week.

[SPOILER] I completely missed the significance of Brother Valdez's name beginning with "Val". Then again, I also, when Lord Valois was introduced, didn't think of Brother Valmont, either. I was more focused on "Valois" being a French name (the name of the royal family of France during the Hundred Years' War), and thinking that the Auld Alliance was off to an early start. I hope that next time a mysterious character with "Val" in his name enters a "Gargoyles" story, I'll be more alert to that. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Thu, Nov 9, 2023 8:47:56 am EST from 174.72.60.154

I finally got to read "Dark Ages" #4. A few thoughts on it.

[SPOILER] I was a bit disappointed that the dragon thread (introduced on the last page of #3, and mentioned in the solicitation) was not advanced this issue (will the two remaining issues be enough time to do justice to that story?), but we got some other good material.

Greg Weisman's mention of the ruins of a previous castle (or building, at least) upon Wyvern Hill now become canon. I'm curious about the ruin; was there indeed a previous alliance between gargoyles and humans at Wyvern? If so, what became of it? Something for another day, I suppose (and unlikely to be answered in the last two issues either, alas).

So the Players appear in the main "Dark Ages" story as well as in the "Once Upon a Time There Were Three Brothers" - and it seems that our suspicions about them are, if not confirmed, then strengthened. I think we can safely assume that the "Player King" and "Player Queen" are Peredur and Blanchefleur - and it's all the more obvious now that Shari's with them. I was amused and delighted by the Shakespearean elements accompanying them (so appropriate); Mack Kemp is presumably a reference to Will Kemp, a major comic actor in Shakespeare's day (who was even part of Shakespeare's acting company, and afterwards did a several-day morris dance across England as a publicity stunt), we have the twins Benvolio and Malvolio (I've a soft spot for Malvolio, having played him a couple of times in school productions) - and in the "Once Upon a Time There Were Three Brothers" section, Shari is called "the Dark Lady". (Now I wonder if she actually was the Dark Lady of the Sonnets.)

Brother Valdez isn't too keen on the Player King. If the Player King is indeed Peredur, this would be appropriate; the Holy Grail, despite its Christian veneer, was never accepted by the Church - though the Church didn't try to stamp out the Grail romances as heretical. While I doubt that Valdez actually is linking the Players to the Grail, I do wonder if he suspects something....

We get the start of Desdemona and Angel's lessons juxtaposed (something that the "Gargoyles" Dynamites comics enjoy doing) - including the revelation that Angel can't read yet (meaning that the Archmage will be giving her lessons).

And we see Alesand making friends with the young quartet and even naming them (confirming our suspicions about those same names) - a very charming moment. The last page where she dreams of growing wings and flying - well, gliding with them - was lovely.

I'm looking forward now to #5 - and hope we get to meet the dragon in it at last. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Thu, Nov 9, 2023 8:00:31 am EST from 174.72.60.154

So regarding the current arc and a relevant bit of the 3rd part in the Double Date story:
[SPOILER] Given that Brendan informed Sato of some needing medical help, yeah definitely looking forward to seeing if he and Margot are on the outs. Wondering besides that where his character will go. [/SPOILER]

Also behind on show several hauls. Overall stuff:
1. First haul
- https://www.deviantart.com/antiyonder/art/Collection-Addition-Picture-19-987761301

- https://www.deviantart.com/antiyonder/art/Collection-Addition-Picture-20-987761714

2. Second haul
- https://www.deviantart.com/antiyonder/art/Collection-Addition-Picture-21-992195571

- https://www.deviantart.com/antiyonder/art/Collection-Addition-Picture-22-992196300

- https://www.deviantart.com/antiyonder/art/Collection-Addition-Picture-23-992196654

- https://www.deviantart.com/antiyonder/art/Collection-Addition-Picture-24-992197053


Waiting until several weeks into December for another post of pick ups, but some current minis on my list:
- Superman '78 The Metal Curtain (Got #1)
- Batman '89 Echoes
- Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars Battleworld

Still enjoy the first Secret Wars, even a guilty pleasure regarding the second. But definitely looking forward to the current revisit as Tom DeFalco and Pat Olliffe are involved.
Antiyonder
posted @ Thu, Nov 9, 2023 1:56:15 am EST from 71.84.183.196

What month will Young Justice season five going to come out
Brandon Callahan - [BrandonCallahan74 at yahoo dot com]
posted @ Wed, Nov 8, 2023 8:33:39 pm EST from 67.20.151.242

It's a good question that I had also considered. I think it'll go to Fox and Alex, but Preston will be running it (as he had since at least The Green). I kind of suspect that with Preston at the helm we could see a major conflict between him and Fox. Maybe Cyberbiotics will end up in a merger with Nightstone or something.
Matt
"And, thus, given no choice, we waited..." - Alesand, "The Reach"
posted @ Wed, Nov 8, 2023 3:29:09 pm EST from 204.184.178.1

Admittedly, I've been spoiled over the past three weeks. I'm sad there's no new comic today.

But anticipating what's ahead, I've been wondering about something, and I don't remember seeing it discussed here. With Halcyon Renard nearing the end of his life, who will inherit Cyberbiotics?

1. Preston Vogel? He's such a good right-hand-man that I can't picture him running things himself and being in charge.
2. Fox? Would Cyberbiotics continue to compete with her husband's company, or would they merge the two together?
3. Goliath? Now that gargoyles have been granted the same rights as humans, might Renard leave his company to his dear friend? An airship like Fortress II would be a big help in chasing Demona around the world in search of the new Keys to Power.
4. Other?
Phil - [p1anderson at yahoo dot com]
posted @ Wed, Nov 8, 2023 10:28:57 am EST from 50.192.123.171

Cool. Nice discussion guys.
Metal Works
posted @ Tue, Nov 7, 2023 7:42:16 pm EST from 180.191.181.2

The mention of John Muir reminded me of a very enjoyable PBS nature documentary I watched earlier this year, but forgot to mention at the time, about an old tree in a Scottish forest and its history. I remember it was called "Wildheart". In it, many figures and elements from Scottish history passed by the tree, among them Mary Queen of Scots, Rob Roy, and a young John Muir, shortly before he and his family left for America. I liked it a lot, and highly recommend it. (I wonder what the gargoyles would have thought of it.)
Todd Jensen
posted @ Tue, Nov 7, 2023 7:37:05 pm EST from 174.72.60.154

Matt> No apparently about it, John Muir came from a Scottish family. But you're distantly related to him? That's pretty cool, I live a short ways away from his home and the John Muir Historic Site. He's one of the local historic celebrities of the Bay Area.

As for myself, I've got some Scottish on both sides. My maternal grandmother was pretty into our family history and we managed to trace back some roots to clan Stewart; clan McGregor on my father's side.
Matthew
posted @ Tue, Nov 7, 2023 6:08:31 pm EST from 64.85.245.77

Craig> Super cool and interesting. My brother and sister both did some research into our background a few years ago. We knew we were French and German on our mom's side, but our dad's side we only knew was English. Come to find out, we were actually way more Scottish than English which is cool. The naturalist John Muir is a great great uncle of mine or something on that side. They didn't go into it farther than that, but given how I've got a lot of Scottish blood (apparently), it wouldn't surprise me to find out that I'm related to you and the Gargoyles characters of note somewhere back there.

Neat stuff.
Matt
"And, thus, given no choice, we waited..." - Alesand, "The Reach"
posted @ Tue, Nov 7, 2023 10:47:56 am EST from 204.184.178.1

CRAIG> LOL! Gonna be awkward when Castaway shows up at the next family reunion. :P
Algae
'Nuff said.
posted @ Tue, Nov 7, 2023 10:30:24 am EST from 88.87.179.191

Craig> That's awesome! Family trees seem like such a fun rabbit hole to go down.
Kate
posted @ Mon, Nov 6, 2023 11:32:56 pm EST from 72.49.138.52

CRAIG - Thanks for sharing that story.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Nov 6, 2023 11:01:43 pm EST from 174.72.60.154

Fourth! Small bit of trivia about me that I haven't mentioned before...I'm a Canmore! (Well, sort of...bear with me.)

My mother's side of the family has always been interested in family history (my dad is just now getting into it on his side, which is an entirely separate, deeply fascinating story, but irrelevant here). My mom and my grandmother and many other members of the family were/are members of the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution, and through those organizations our ancestry was traced back to the colonial era of the future U.S., but there were also word-of-mouth stories that had been passed down the generations that we had English royalty way back in the bloodline. Back in the 1990s, my uncle (my mom's brother) was lucky to retire pretty young (in his mid-50s), and became rather obsessed with genealogy, hiring a genealogist and taking many trips to European churches to view birth, marriage, and death records. After several years of intermittently working on this, he was able to trace the family lineage back to the Plantagenet line of regents, and ultimately from there the history books did the work and took us all the way back to Alfred the Great and his successors in the Wessex line. But most relevant to Gargoyles is exactly HOW we jump from the Wessex regents to the Plantagenets: More or less right after he was crowned in 1100, King Henry I (son of the Norman invader-King William the Conqueror), in a move of political expediency, sured up the legitimacy of his reign by marrying Matilda, the great-granddaughter of King Edmund II (Edmund Ironside), who had been the last king of the old Wessex line--thereby merging the Norman and Wessex lines. Matilda's mother Margaret (later to be canonized Saint Margaret) had lived her life in exile, given sanctuary in Scotland by the man she would eventually marry, Matilda's father...our beloved King Malcolm III, a.k.a. King Canmore! Henry and Matilda's daughter (Canmore's granddaughter) would go on to marry Geoffrey Plantagenet, leading to the new line beginning with their son Henry II.

My uncle shared his genealogical research with me probably five or six years after Gargoyles had gone off the air, and while I of course found all of it incredibly interesting, that little Gargoyles connection especially made me smile. So, there's my confession...I'm a direct descendant of King Canmore, and his Hunter heritage! (As well as Duncan, Maol Chalvim, Kenneth II, etc.)
Craig
posted @ Mon, Nov 6, 2023 10:11:22 pm EST from 24.46.161.155

Third.
Haven't gotten the chance to read the new Dark Ages yet, but my Lexington figure is on his way so that's good. All I'll need for completion to what's out right now is Armored Xanatos and the Steel Clan, but I'm not a huge fan of their designs so it's no big loss if I put them off.
Kate
posted @ Mon, Nov 6, 2023 12:03:30 pm EST from 72.49.138.52

Second.

Sooo...I was in New Orleans last week and unable to pick up DA #4 when it came in at my local shop. I don't have a whole lot to say that hasn't already been said, so I won't. I am also squarely a doofus, because, to my own shame, [SPOILER] I totally missed the connection between the Light-Bringers and the Illuminati. It didn't even occur to me. It's obvious once it's pointed out, and Brother Valdez's reaction to them made it clear, even for dullards, that something funny is going on, but, O.M.G., this is why I shouldn't read this right after waking up in the morning. [/SPOILER]

I would like to pause to apologize here in cleartext for having brought the intelligence of the gestalt down by a couple of points through my own inattention. Anyway:

[SPOILER] I'll at least take comfort in having made the connection to Shahrizad more quickly; that one's clear enough, anyway, from the opening line of her story a couple of pages later.

While I'm feeling dim, may as well speculate: no chance Mack Kemp's going to turn into Careless Jones, is there?

My own initial impression was that this is a fairly light, narrative issue, just kind of bridging between story points. But, you know, much like the castle's construction site, it looks a whole lot like there is a whole lot more going on under the surface. [/SPOILER] The scope of this universe continues to amaze and delight, and thanks to the group as always for diving depths I cannot yet fathom.
morrand - [morrand276 at gmail dot com]
posted @ Mon, Nov 6, 2023 9:55:54 am EST from 99.74.15.252

First.

The Centaur, Sagittarius, am I,
Born of Ixion and the cloud's embrace;
With sounding hoofs across the earth I fly,
A steed Thessalian with a human face.
Sharp winds the arrows are with which I chase
The leaves, half dead already with affright;
I shroud myself in gloom; and to the race
Of mortals bring nor comfort nor delight.

"The Poet's Calendar: November", Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Nov 6, 2023 7:39:05 am EST from 174.72.60.154