Forged with steel writes...

Can you tell me how many new episodes have already shown on W.I.T.C.H, cause i haev only seen the first 4. And wanted to ask if any have come on.

niki writes...

I believe the song "Dance With The Gypsies" is played, uncredited, when
Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche's characters are dancing with others
at a party at the river.

"Dances With The Gypsies" is performed by Stoney Larue or Bob Childers.

Can anyone confirm the song is used there?

Ed Reynolds writes...

GARGOYLES #1.

My review/ramble.

But first, a moment of glee. It's 'Gargoyles'! In a comic! By Greg! For real! Magnificent! Big, big, big thanks to all the people who made it happen.

'NIGHTWATCH'

I think I always kind of overlooked 'The Journey'. I always liked it, but it was always a bit of an odd duck, stapled onto the front of a season I didn't care for, a second ending after 'Hunter's Moon' which was an immensely satisfying conclusion. So now it's been many, many years since I saw the episode and although I can still rattle off most of the lines by heart, I'm still coming at it with something of a fresh perspective and, to some extent, seeing it as a creature in its own right rather than 'the last one before TGC' or 'the one after the Hunters'. A few things strike me.

Most obviously, 'Nightwatch' is really very dark indeed. Well, obviously. But there's no talk of journeys or Vinnie's redemption at this point, and read with David Hedgecock and Will Terrell's gloomy take on the city, it really does feel much more oppressive than the optimistic world Elisa introduced Goliath back in '94. It also puts the world tour in perspective a little for me, as seen against the long period where the show had been becoming much brighter and more optimistic than it had been before - the clan isn't alone! Goliath has a daughter! Heroes are awakening to their destiny! - the darker turn seems fitting and I'm interested to see how everything develops once the initial shock fades.

Right now in this issue there's a sense that the walls are coming in. No Faeries or robots or magic or many of the more fantastical elements of the show. No grand romantic statements from the leads, just affection in small ways - comforting each other. And the story says a lot about humans, and humans under fire. Fear, knee-jerk panic, anger, prejudice. It's very raw - especially since we don't have the balance offered by Vinnie's decision yet. It's also a little eerie to return to this story for the first time since some of the major terrorist attacks of the last few years: the story is, after all, in the wake of a major attack on a New York building, and I think the script captures that heady uncertainty of a long, dark night where the news is on loop and the world's turned upside down and everything doesn't seem quite so safe any more.

Despite what might have been a very choppy narrative, all the plots are beautifully intertwined: the newsreaders, the Quarrymen, the cops, the gargoyles, Xanatos and Elisa. Most of the supporting characters have only a couple of lines but each suggests a completely different take on "the gargoyles issue". The people investigating it, the people hiding the gargoyles, the people concerned for their families, the people hunting the gargoyles for vengeance, for pleasure, or worry, for a sense of social activism, out of a concern about science, the gargoyles wanting to keep a low profile, wanting to go about their business, and so on. Different characters, different viewpoints, different loyalties and agendas and levels of information - it's just incredibly sharp stuff. And the people who seemed to be comedy extras in past episodes are now active and outspoken and shaping events: in fact, thanks to the Nightwatch framing the gargoyles are presented as intruders into their life stories instead of the other way around as it's seemed in the past. It's intricate and marvelous.

The Hedgecock/Terrell Gargoylesverse feels a little murkier than we're used to. Part of this is the less distinct backgrounds in places, the more sketchy style; partly the colouring. It's a great interpretation of this script which fits the post-'Hunter's Moon' New York: a little stunned, a little on edge, a little depressed. But I can't help but think back to 'Awakening' and Elisa's comments on the beauty in the city. Although this episode is very bleak, I hope that at some stage when the shock of the gargoyles revelation dies down we'll get to see New York in a context that's a little less 'Gotham'.

But it's still lovely. The colours are moody and ominous, the art revels in the small scenes - I love Matt & Chavez and Elisa & Cagney; and the emotions of the characters in their normal conversations. The action seems to be very tightly framed with lots of close-ups, which gives the emotional stuff a lot of clout (which I love), though the fight scene felt perhaps a bit cramped in places and in the 'louder' scenes the characters seem slightly exaggerated in places.

All in all, I was very impressed by how much 'Nightwatch' got under my skin, even all these years after having seen 'The Journey'. While I always liked the episode, I would definitely rate this issue alongside my very favourites from the first two seasons for its sheer complexity and ambition and its sense of fear and confusion and hurt and a hundred emotions jumbled up.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

- Adapting 'The Journey' works really well as a starting point. There's a lot going on in it and I wasn't sure it wouldn't become overwhelming to a new or casual fan of the sort I'm trying to hook on the comic. But I think most of the roles are pretty obvious (benefactor, cops, etc.) even if you're just looking with no pre-conceived ideas. A couple of the continuity references might be more of a stretch (I wonder what people who haven't seen 'Vendettas' will make of the banana cream pie!). But we only really see much of Goliath and Elisa at this point, and the social situation the gargoyles are being flung into is well-realised and a compelling entry point.

- The Art & Lois scene is new to me and it's very effective. It's funny because I saw the previews for this which ended with Goliath flying into a rage and although I was excited to read it, I had no preconceptions about what might follow. I just didn't really think about it, I wanted to wait and see it 'for real'. But somehow I found myself pleasantly surprised by Goliath's solution. It's not a new solution for him ('Deadly Force' and other episodes obviously spring to mind), but it's an effective one, a peaceful one, a dignified one, and it really gets to the nub of Goliath's character at a very early point. I like that even after feeling I've known the character for a decade, he can still pleasantly surprise me by, literally, his grace under fire.

- The monstrous Quarrymen-designed gargoyle amused me. Didn't the TGC version have an actual replica of Goliath or something? I always assumed Jon Canmore had it for some reason, or the Illuminati had provided it or something along those lines, but it seems more credible that the Quarrymen mock-up would just be a plain old scary monster. So now I'm guessing they used Goliath in the TGC version to save the cost of drawing up a new stone model? It also explains why the Quarrymen didn't recognise Goliath on the rooftop later (though Banquo ought to have, I'd have thought).

- Grigori, not Gregorino? Or is Vinnie just assuming an alias in case the Quarrymen are as unsavoury as he seems to fear even at this early stage? In any case, I like the name Grigori. It's got the in-joke, but it's not intrusive.

- Speaking of the Quarrymen, I always had trouble making out the line "no way you're fighting this hard if stone-face weren't the real thing..." in the cartoon. It sounded like "heart of stone" something. I think I worked it out eventually (or perhaps through Blaqthorne & Crimson Fury's transcript) but it's nice to see it in the text. And Banquo nearly said 'whore'. I guess this scene was one of the punch-to-the-face moments that was possible in S2 but which TGC got stopped from doing.

- The titles took a long while to grab me. I now quite like 'Nightwatch'; it seems to resonate on a lot of levels. 'Clan-Building' is kind of dull still. I admit, the traditionalist in me would kind of like it to be "The Journey" Part 1 & 2... 'just like 'real' episodes!'. Going to have to get used to the fact that it's a comic now. 'The Journey' was one of my favourite titles in the series, and although I realise it would probably not make much sense for #1 (since it's only really explained right at the end), I still really like it. I hope Part 2 is called 'The Journey'. Also, the nerd in me misses the nice, blue title font - it always gave me that 'new episode buzz' in the good old days, especially when a "part one" or something popped up after the first titles, and so it has a strong sentimental value. Okay, okay, I'll shut up about the titles now.

- Greg Guler's cover is ace. The colours are wonderful too. Deep and crisp and gorgeous.

- Also, on the colouring front, I especially liked the transition from day to sunset to night, with a darker twilight than the show sometimes had. There's a lot more red used in the comic as a whole than I remember of the cartoon and that gives a different flavour to scenes like the Quarrymen mob scene especially - maybe it makes it a little too on-the-nose, I'm not sure. I kind of liked my recollection of it with cool colours predominating -- the banality of evil or something like that.

- I felt the sweatdrop on Art was a bit on the cartoony side. I think 'Gargoyles' works best when it's kind of understated.

- I really love the page where Goliath flies over the head of Vinnie. A really memorable, iconic image. The original cartoon did this sort of thing a lot but with cuts and silhouettes and odd angles; the shape of an animation frame obviously isn't really useful for this sort of thing. This image is to me a nice encapsulation of... well, the series. Gargoyles trying to live their lives watching over humans who are blundering around uncertainly in the dark.

- One thing that I'm unsure about is the portrayal of Castaway, just in terms of artwork. He's very animated here - his hands-on-hips introduction, his psychotic expressions. This is where it's a case of me being used to one interpretation (the cartoon's) and suddenly questioning what I had assumed: how stable is Castaway? He's obviously not such a fruitcake that he puts off scared citizens from joining a violent organisation, but then again he set up the Quarrymen in the first place. Jon Canmore seemed to keep things close to his chest and then snapped. Does Castaway return to Canmore's very repressed attitude, or will his anger always be as close to the surface as some scenes here? My memories of the cartoon are quite different from the tone of the art here; the latter much angrier and more forceful and animated, the former slicker and more comforting. Incidentally, this is one of the best and most powerful speeches in the series. I just love the way the theme of community and 'aloneness' is threaded through the series.

- And one bare-faced quibble on the 'About Greg Weisman' page... it's 'Talespin', not 'Tail Spin'! Grr! :)

I just hope that by the time this post reaches the front of the queue the comic is a runaway success! Keep up the great work. :)

Todd Jensen writes...

Finally got my copy of Gargoyles #1 (I'd ordered from Amazon.com, and it took them longer to get a copy to send me than I'd expected) in the mail today. I thought that I'd give you my thoughts on it.

While most of the material was familiar to me from "The Journey" (of course, it's been nine years since I last saw it - I never taped any of the Goliath Chronicles), there were some new things that I liked in it, such as Matt's meeting with Chavez and Goliath's encounter with Art. (The latter gave us another one of those rare moments when Goliath displays a sense of humor, when he lets Art keep his gun - now twisted into a spiral shape.) And, on the smaller level, Vinnie's remarks during Castaway's Quarrymen recruitment speech (I was particularly amused by his "Well, I don't got kids" line).

I'll probably be saying this again when/if you do a ramble on "The Journey", but I get a big kick out of Castaway's speech and all the ironies in it. First, he talks about how his audience is struggling with such problems as "violence, racism, injustice..." - while signing them up for an organization that typifies all three. Then he asks them "Are you afraid these creatures will attack while you sleep?... Are you afraid they will steal your children away?" When reading those lines, I find myself remembering two things: first, gargoyles clearly fear also that humans will attack them in their stone sleep (and they have even better reason for that fear - a sleeping human has some possibility of waking up in time to save himself or herself, but a sleeping gargoyle is doomed unless the would-be gargoyle-killer made the mistake of attempting to smash him or her at sunset), and second, in "The Reckoning", Demona views Princess Katharine and the Magus taking the gargoyle eggs away to Avalon as "steal[ing] our young". And finally, Castaway constantly uses the word "alone" in his speech - when I remember where I last heard that word in "Gargoyles" in a significant moment, it's definitely chilling. Kudos to you for writing that part.

I'm assuming, also, that you've got more liberal S&P on the comic than you did on television, in light of what Banquo called Elisa (no wonder she interrupts him with a punch and "shut up"!).

I'm looking forward to #2, and hope that the comic has a long run.

Alex Garg writes...

Hey Greg,

Thanks for rambling again (at the time of this post)! Always enjoyable.

No Gathering 2006 report I'm afraid. I was stuck back East starting a new job (well, returning to an old job) and helping to pump water out from my home's flooded basement (my understanding is that L.A. doesn't have to worry about getting 14 inches of rain in three days - we here in the Mid-Atlantic do).

Fun stuff, let me tell you.

However, I'm glad y'all had a good time and I'm pretty darn sure I'll be able to make '07 (though by the time you read this, we'll have probably known the outcome of this prediction for some time).

Anyway, rambling aside, I do have something of potential value to offer - my personal review of the comic, which after weeks of hunting for (all places in my area which ordered it sold out of no fewer than two orders, and the place I asked to order it from, um, forgot to and then, in a CYA move, insisted that the comic was not coming out in June) and eventually waiting for two weeks after ordering direct from SLG, "Gargoyles #1" is in my hands.

On the whole, I like it. I think you did a good job of adapting what we saw on screen to the pages and providing a way for new fans to get acquainted with what's going on. Of course, what's fun for me is seeing in print what I had the honor of acting out as ART back in Montreal during Radio Play, but I digress. The story's well-paced and moves along nicely, but I'm going to hold back on really looking at the writing aspect until *very* new material starts coming out. I have THE JOURNEY so internalized that I don't think I can be objective in a review of it.

As for the art, I think it's clear that David is still working with getting the models down, but some panels particularly demonstrated that he has the ability to nail it down. He seems to be more comfortable with up-close work than whole characters or multiple characters, but it's clear that he has the potential to pull it off. Right now, consistency is the major issue I have - some panels are great, others not so. I don't think it's off-putting by most measures, though I suspect those with a keener eye for art would be able to find more to take issue with. However, I'm going to remain optimistic that the art will improve with each issue.

I like the comic, I'm glad it's out, but again I'll wait until we're really in "uncharted" territory before I roll out deeper reviews (and might even, for once, have questions to ask).

And... that's all. Take care and I'll hopefully see you in '07 (or '08 if you get this closer in that neighborhood). :)

P.S.: Oh, in answer to your question on my '04 journal, "How did Leo get home?" He stayed in Montreal another day or two and flew out from there.

Now I'm done.

Anonymous writes...

RelenaS
Level 2
Sweat Hog
Posts: 2 35. Re: W.i.t.c.h. in the U.S.A. | 06/20/2006 7:32am
A hint I would love to give most corporations who are interested in markets by gender on the TV: Despite it being an action based series, with fighting and good verses evil, if it has female main characters, heroes, ect. It has a female audience. Period. There are girls out there who enjoy action, adventure, and seeing their heroines focusing their attention beyond cosmetics and boys. It is extremely biased to assume that all females love to see cartoons on the newest hair accessory. More over, it's biased to assume that only males enjoy action cartoons.

They can keep W.I.T.C.H. as it is, it doesn't need a "makeover" to appeal more to females for merchandising, nor does it need its more female relationship aspects toned down to keep it a male focused show. They tried to tone down the female aspects in Card Captor Sakura on Warner Brothers and look what happened.

Fans would appreciate it if the companies, who are broadcasting the cartoon/animation, would not mess with the original version more then absolutely necessary, and means of marketing are not such reasons.

Understandably this isn't marketed on the main stream Disney because it doesn't follow the same kind of animation produced for the main stream. Its more anime like, and thus gets anime status on a circuit that doesn't show random episodes, but the order of the episodes. Thus Jetix. Cartoon network did something similar with Toonami and the new Maguzi. The problem is they focus on action, and thus assume only male base audiences. The reason why they seem action like is they actually follow a somewhat coherent story, unlike other such shows, like Jake Long and Lilo and Stich, which although they have a story line and an order of episodes, they don't need to be played one right after the other to make sense, they work beautifully as individual episodes. As such they are easier to present to America as very few people have the dedication to actually track a series to find the next newest episode to continue the plot.

The only problem the Fundamentalists running America would have with this show is A: its name (Witches have been their enemies for ages. B: the Elemental basis on power (too earthy and pagan like for them) C: where that power comes from, they weren't exactly born with it, it comes with age, and was not granted to them by a single deistic power. Thus the show must be teaching immoral lessons on power and encouraging some kind of nature worship. In addition there is a female power focus. All the main high power characters in this show are female. The guardians, their mentor, the principal, while the King was bad, the Queen is good ect. A few exceptions, the rebel leader and the Oracle are both male, but you get the gist. Despite all this however they really shouldn't have much of a problem with the show. It's not like the fundamentalists to attack anything unless it shows a considerable threat to their cause (IE Harry Potter).

For fear of rambling I shall stop now. But keep WITCH on.

Twiggess writes...

I'll try to keep this short, as I kinda already gave my 2 cents yesterday.
I didn't catch the Star Trek reference at the time, b/c I hadn't heard of that episode. Now that I've seen clips of it, I realize it was a brillant (for want of a better term) spinoff. Although I think over all the Angie-Desie-Broad-Cold kiss was better than Kirk and Uhura (spelling, sorry- that chick who voiced Diane! That'll work!)'s. I mean, I haven't seen the whole Star Trek episode, so I don't know what the alien's relationship was like, but those 2 were so freakin SHAKY. They looked like they were having a seizure out of passion, or something.
(I am sorry if this offends any Treky's out there. Like I said, I haven't seen anything but a 5 minute clip of the kiss. I'm much more of a Next Generation gal, anyway. Two words: MARINA SIRTIS. Plus it's really fun to see "Xanatos" and "Demona" flirting.)
I'm assuming you left Ms. S out of the TNG voice credits in your ramble cuz she wasn't in the episode. I'm cool with that, and I realize that if you gave credit to all the Star Trek voices, we would be here all day.
So yeah. I'm not really a big Cold trio fan (although I am a big fan of Coldstone's icecream-sorry, couldn't resist! I think of Micheal Dorn whenever I go in that creamery now!), but this episode was okay. And I was really excited that I finally got to see Angela (even if she WASN'T white with red hair like I always imagined. Don't ask me WHY.)
Oh and one little confession: Before I could remember what her name was, I used to call Coldfire "Starfish Face." I sincerely apologize for this crudeness. I never really got a good enough look at her, and I thought her horns kinda made her look like she had a starfish on her head. I really hope the animators and fellow fans forgive me for this, as when I got a better view of her in "City of Stone" and "Legion", I realized she was actually quite pretty.
OK, so that's my confession for the day (again, REALLY REALLY sorry!) Now I better go before some random Treky or Desdemona fan gets some vitual tar and feathers for me!
P.S.: Was it ever confusing to have both a Demona AND a Desdemona? I realize that other than in the first "City of Stone" they never had an episode together (CF wasn't in "Reawakening, was she?) but it's still seems like kind of a nusiance to me.
P.P.S: Have i mentioned I'M SORRY?!

Blair writes...

Hi! Before I ask my question, I just want to ask what the chances of a fourth season are. But thats not my question. If there were to be a fourth season, when and where would it take place? WOuld it take place right after the last episode, or many years into the future? Also, instead of making a fourth season, would Disney ever redo the whole series? Thank you so very much! :)

Peter Brülls pb@rogue.de writes...

Hi.

Ypou write

"4. Would Disney ever consider selling the rights to Gargoyles?

No. They won't even let go of Clarabelle Cow. They don't want to take the risk that someone else could make a mint on their property and make them look bad."

"Clarabelle Cow" is actually a bad example, I think. She's making regular appearance in Non-US Mickey Mouse stories, acting as best female friend to Minnie Mouse.

Battle Beast writes...

Posession>

<<FINALLY...
We wanted that giant pocket watch (or whatever) that Puck pulls out at the end to be a MICKEY MOUSE WATCH... but Disney would just not allow it. They were afraid it would come off as product placement in a kid's show or something.>>

...Because Puck is a mickey Mouse kinda guy???

Abby writes...

I enjoyed your ramble on "Possession." This episode holds a special place for me as one of the very first I saw. In your "pre-ramble" you mention the complexity of this one - imagine the confusion to someone unfamiliar with the characters! But this complexity is part of what drew me to the series and why I still enjoy it so much. I still catch new things when I watch this episode.

I did, however, immediately notice the "Bewitched" reference as well as the parallels to the Star Trek body-switching episode (which helped me better understand what was going on, especially on repeat viewings). I'd wondered if the inspiration for the switching triangle came from Trek; thanks for the clarification! (Incidentally, that Trek episode was called "Return to Tomorrow." I much prefer "Possession" - it's a much better description of the action, and made me think of that old line "possession is nine-tenths of the law" when the characters were tempted to keep their new bodies).

I also prefer the "Gargoyles" resolution to the dilemma of where to put the newly-transferred personalities. In Trek they go off into oblivion, having decided our species isn't ready for them yet. But "Possession" offers the prospect of future stories with these characters.

I enjoyed seeing Alex's winged plushie and the expressions on Broadway's and Angela's faces when Othello and Desdemona leave them mid-embrace.

Other one liners I like are from Michael Dorn (Puck-as-Coldstone): "I trust you have no more questions" and "Wouldn't you like to know."

Thanks for the ramble.

Christine Morgan writes...

Hi, Greg!

Here's my Gathering 2006 Report! Which, since it weighs in at almost nine thousand words, I'm submitting via link: http://www.eskimo.com/~vecna/gathering_06_text.html

Otherwise, Ask Greg might pop like a balloon and I'd hate to be responsible for that! But if you really want me to, just say so!

Todd Jensen writes...

Thanks for your "Possession" ramble, Greg. (Just think - all that you've got left is "Hunter's Moon" and you're done with Season Two!) A few comments.

That opening with Xanatos hunting Coldstone down in the Himalayas makes more sense to me now that I know about that Marvel Comic story that you were going to write but never got to do.

The first time that I saw the episode, I initially thought that what Xanatos and Owen were trying to do (and needed more than technology to do) was repairing Coldstone after the damage done in the recent battle, but afterwards I understood that their goal was transferring Desdemona and Iago to Coldfire and Coldsteel. (And I agree that it would be like Xanatos to say "Chin up" to Coldstone while his head is disconnected from the rest of him.)

I like Alex's winged teddy bear, too.

I agree that Coldfire is a much better name than Goldfire; it certainly fits the pattern with Coldstone and Coldsteel in the way that Goldfire wouldn't. (It even makes me wonder how "Goldfire" was even a candidate to begin with.)

Another thing that I picked up on in later viewings was the consequences of Brooklyn's "Me three - except that you don't need three" line.

One of the big elements for me in the episode is how the voice actors demonstrate their versatility (as you pointed out); instead of taking the customary approach in cartoons of "when people switch minds, they also switch voice actors", we here got to hear, say, Bill Faggerbakke and Brigitte Bako altering their delivery to sound more like Michael Dorn and C. C. Pounder. And it was a very admirable performance.

One of my favorite bits: Puck-as-Coldstone saying, "Naughty, naughty, sneaking up like that on Uncle Coldstone". (As much from how Dorn delivered it as from the actual words.)

And I think that we can all agree that this is just the way that Puck *would* educate Alex.

Again, thanks for the ramble.

Twiggess writes...

Ah, good ol' Possession. Oi, what a headache THAT was. Still, there's a little special place in my garg-lovin heart for this episode, as it was the first I ever saw with Angela in it (I started watching Gargoyles in summer 2004. Techincally the first WHOLE episode I ever saw was "Outfoxed", although I remember seeing the scene in "Long Way till Morning" where Hutson renounces his leadership to Goliath while channel surfing some years previous. "Outfoxed" was on at night, while about 2 weeks later "Posession" was on ABC Family on Saturday morning, to explain the long episode gap.)
Anyway. I was scratching my head a bit while watching this episode, but I thought over all the sentiment was sweet. And, in hindsight, the whole Brook/Iago thing was a good metaphor for Brooklyn's jealousy of Broadway and Angela. Nicely done.
Of course, it's always wonderful to see the Puck in action ;) I wish we could have seen more of that little guy in the series. Particularly along side Demona (amazingly, I'm not just saying this as an excuse have more Demona eps!) I mean, those two TOTALLY stole the show in "The Mirror." Yes, yes, the sexual tension between E and G was all very lovely but COME ON! That's like EVERYBODY's favorite episode (which I didn't get to ramble on, so sorry I'm losing focus on "possession.")
ANYWAY (pardon my short attention span), I don't really remember this episode too well since I only saw it once 2 years ago and I was too busy trying to figure out what the heck was going on and who was in who's body to pick up on the minor details (alright, plus I was secretly hoping Demona would show up at some random moment, that way if I didn't understand anything at least I'd get to see her. I didn't know about "The Reckoning" at that point. Sue me!) I do remember liking Xanatos' "wiggle your nose" line, which I still think is funny. I had heard from Danielle, my gargoyle mentor who got me into the show in the first place, about Puck but like Angie I don't think I had seen him prior to this episode.
Okay, to sum up, great episode, great series, created by a great guy named Greg (isn't iliteration fun? Particularly when it's spelled incorrectly?) and I'm hoping for a GREAT comeback! SPREAD THE WORD ( to quote X in "Reawakening", "I've ALWAYS wanted to say that.")

Todd Jensen writes...

I read and enjoyed your "pre-ramble" for "Possession". One tidbit that I especially liked was the very appropriate concept of Xanatos and Fox's specific destination when they went out that evening being a performance of Verdi's "Otello". Pity that it wasn't mentioned in the actual television episode.

Ana writes...

hey greg i know this is the gargoylles site but i wandered if i could ask a question about WITCH i love y role as caleb it was fantastic but are u going to continue working in season3 REALLY HOPE SO

O writes...

Is WITCH season 2 done already? and will there be a third season? When?

Tarra writes...

Hello Greg,

I spoke to you briefly after the Iron Artist competition at CONvergence and also presented the artwork of my roommate and friend who was too shy to present it herself.

I just wanted to send you a gentle reminder to please post Blather somewhere. She's going to finish her drawing and she wants to read Blather once more so she can fully embrace it.

We'll scan the finished work and email it to you when she's done if you like.

~Thank you
~~Tarra

Lady Talais writes...

Greeting to you Mr' Wiseman,

I have been a major Gargoyles fan since the day it first aired and have spent much time in gargoyle chat rooms and on this site and others.
Now for my question, Recently I heared that there was talk of making another season picking up where season two left off and using your writing. Please is there any truth to this rummor? I was not happy with the changes that Disney made to gargoyles in third season and would love to see what you had written. Please could you let me know?

Sabina writes...

Good day,

Since yesterday I'm the proud owner of the first issue of the new Gargoyles comic (took some time to get it oversea).

I admit that the drawing style will take some getting used to, but after the tenth re-read it doesn't look as weird anymore.

Otherwise I adore the comic and the nicely thought out transitions, from the Quarrymen to Goliath and Elisa and back again, etc. The short recap was a very nice touch, I especially like the panel with Elisa, Angela and Goliath. Another favourite panel of mine is Cagney so sneakily waiting to pounce on his food.

And then the end of the comic Goliath shot and the laconic commentary by our favourite news anchor "Welcome Back". Welcome back indeed.

I'm eagerly awaiting the second issue, but the third even more. New things to read from the Gargoyles, I'm very happy and hope there'll be many more issues.

Greetings,
Sabina

Craig writes...

Just a few quick observations on the comic...

Loved the idea of having the Hunter icon on Castaway's suit (I'm pretty sure this detail wasn't in "The Journey"). For me, this gave Castaway's scene with Vinnie a whole new level. He looks at Vinnie as a younger version of himself--unsure about the gargoyles, maybe even slightly sympathetic. But he's sure that Vinnie, like himself, will "see the necessity" for violence soon enough.

Hedgecock's art has room for improvement (some off-model shots of Elisa--although in some of the closeups she's beautiful), but it draws me into the story much more than the mediocre animation on "The Journey." He gives the characters real personality, very "animated." And hats off to the colorist...great, moody atmosphere.

You've said that no animated show could get away with your "into-the-camera punches" these days...so in some ways, it's nice to be a comic book, eh? And Elisa gets the honor of delivering the first one. Good for her!

And that wing wound! Ouch. I like that you're upping the violence and language slightly without going overboard. All in all, a great effort. I'll be buying a few copies for friends. Good to have you back!

Revel writes...

June 23
Woke up late, but there was nothing that morning I was in a rush to get to. Trip to the food court and back, I checked out to see if there were any bids on the art and took a walk through of the auction items. I did a little sketching for BrooklynX and greeted a few guest as they came and went.
Got to talking to Nikki about next year and she was more than happy to show off the brochures she had brought. She definitely had done a good job all weekend pimping Pigeon Forge to anyone who was interested. I certainly am excited to head that way next year.
The Radio play was the Mirror and it was great to have Keith David at the helm. He's as much fun to watch as he is to listen to. Crispin's Scottish I think had a bit too much of a pirate twist to it, but made the girls swoon and everyone else laugh.
Dinner was Hotdog on a stick because I love corndogs and never get to have them anymore. Though as I was putting mustard on my plate I had a little girl call me weird for putting a little mustard on my French fries as well…. Me, weird?… nah.
While we waited for Blue Mug we were hanging out in Aaron and Mara's room again and Nikki decided to put on an anime. It was a really bad hentai with all the bad things you can imagine including no story plot. Was funny though.
We knew getting to the consuite early was important, but it was a lot smaller than I imagined. Yes we were loud, that many people it's impossible not to be. But we had fun while it lasted. Greg's a robot, Thom says Lex is still horny, Crispin and Thom were bad, and Keith sang and told stories. Eventually we got kicked out, but not in a graceful way. This is where the hotel staff really balked. We have had other hotels be very accommodating, why, because we are paying guest. But this staff, more than just one was very rude. Should have given them the finger.
Moving on.
After they told us we couldn't go to the convention rooms or hang out in the Foyer a small group went to the bar, I got a Jack and Coke. It was mostly just small talk going about. After it closed we hung outside for a bit but eventually, once again, we were kicked out of that as well. This time by some wedding rehearsal guest. Who does wedding rehearsal at 1am, honestly?
After getting told to leave that many times bed was in order.

June 24
Being that it was now Sunday several of the food court establishments were not open yet when we got up to eat, but the hot sandwich place was, was really good too.
I caught the tail end of the comic panel and stuck around to take pictures. I said hello to Hedgecock, whether you like his art or not, I thought it was important to at least show him some respect.
I did attend the Voice actors panel, because I love to hear their stories and what people will ask. I have no idea why I decided to stand in the corner, not like I was on security detail, but it did give me a good view of the room, sorry if it made anyone uncomfortable.
Morgan Sheppard was a lot of fun to hear, and hearing all their stories on their favorite and least favorite moments in the biz was very interesting. Thom was late, he went for food. I ragged him a bit, but Thom is great like that, you can play with him like just another guest.
Once again during the signing I hung back and took pictures. GregX and I chatted a bit about how the con was going and general chit chat. We had mentioned how neither of us had seen Steve Blum yet when he walked up. Got to shake his hand and say hello but had to usher him to the W.I.T.C.H. panel that had already started.
I had a few things that Spacie wanted signed and she was in her own panel, a Hellsing DVD for Crispin to sign and a Big O poster for Steve Blum. The signing was running long with so many guest in a little room I had to point it out to Greg Weisman.
Aaron, Gside, and I went up to the con suite to try and see the other music videos that were not shown, but there was no VCR to play them on, that was rather disappointing, but I did snag a few pieces of pizza.
Just for fun I then dropped in on the Drawing Erotica panel. Mara and Kyt lead this one well. Not sure if anyone learned anything but was a lot of fun and I think everyone else would agree.
Spacie dressed nice for Banquet and I'll have to admit after seeing Tony in his sharp suit, I felt like a slob. Nevertheless the food was good and we had several good conversations with Patrick Archibald about direct to DVDs, story boards, and his current projects.
After a second helping and listening to the guest and a few questions we readied for Masquerade. To be honest I thought me as Brode just didn't work. At least as Dracon I had a fairly similar body type. Brode is more bulky, but I did my best effort at a cheap bastardized eastern Euro/Russian accent. (I improved so lines on walk out and had to do it again because the music was too loud.) I plan to have a better costume next year. And I'm not afraid to agree that Tony has no shame, he would probably say so. There were not many costumes, but the ones there were, were great.
Afterwards I took pics and looked forward to continuing the Blue mug we were kicked out of the night before. It was a more intimate setting this time, more space and less people, plus Michael Reeves joined us. I was honored and pleased to hear that Greg W not only liked this one particular piece of my art that he loved the concept of a bearded Thailog that Greg X and I came up with just in random conversations. Eventually we reached a good stopping point and crashed.

June 25
Got up as early as my fatigue would let me. Cons burn you out. Anyhow, I wanted to make Greg's Time travel panel and I only missed the first few minutes. Quantum physics can give you a headache, but is fun nevertheless.
I then made it to my only other panel, which I felt really under qualified for, Digital Rendering. I do well, but I'm the first to admit I'm still just starting, especially when compared to people like Steph, Karine, and Kyt, all three who are professional artist. Anyhow, the panel was a blast, Steph is great to watch in action, very energetic. She has a photoshop brush named WEEE!!!
Closing Ceremonies was very quick, almost too quick, but it was over. It was a good con and assuming nothing goes horribly wrong we'll be at the next one.
Dinner was in the Food court again and the hang out was Aaron and Mara's room. We had lots of visitors though. Leo stopped by, Allaine said goodbye, was nice to talk to him more this year.
WE had to crash a little early, and loaded the van that night so as to just get up and run in the morning. We had a long way to go.

June 26
Had a slight irritation with the desk clerk at check out. She didn't even ask if we were splitting the room payment and just put the WHOLE THING on my card. Then she didn't know how to refund it. That killed a half hour. Very annoying.
I took first leg and got us all the way to El Paso. That was about 12 hours of driving, but add two hours for time zones. We could have stopped but after eating at a Chili's we felt pretty refreshed and pressed on all the way to San Antonio. Which was fine, saved money. We got in SA at about 6 in the morning and just crashed.

June 27
Slept a lot, hung out in San Antonio and read my comic again and most of the Anthology. We left the next day for Houston and thus returned to normal working life

Ending Gathering 2006.
See you in Tennessee!

Revel writes...

Here we go...

June 20
I was able to get Tuesday off work but Spacie had to work, so that was one thing right there that slowed things down. Much like Vegas the previous year we had reserved a rental van to take us to the con and back. Weekly rates are very good and split among 5 or more people makes for very affordable travel, especially with drivers who rotate and don't need major stops.
We finally left Houston just before 7 and made it to San Antonio around 10... of course getting stopped for speeding didn't help. No biggy, just got a warning. Dinner was MacDonalds.

June 21
We retrieved the van around noon, a Chrysler Town & Country that I didn't think was as nice as the Dodge we had last year, but small details. Brunch was sandwiches and we ate on the road.
This was different for me because in the past I have been the iron driver that does most of the wheel time. Aaron did more than his fair share, taking us from San Antonio to El Paso, about 600 miles and I took us to Tucson, about eight hundred and sixty some odd miles all together for the first day. We had purposely planned to stop in Tucson for the night even though it was an extra expense because we didn't want to get to the hotel too early. It was a Days Inn, was not too shabby. Aaron once again took the wheel and took us all the way to Valencia, about an 8 hour drive.
The scenery was not very interesting except the Wind Farms, I found those interesting. Mostly just a lot of dirt and some mountains. We did stop at the Patton museum and I got some pictures. Was also our first taste of California fuel prices. Oooouch. Anyhow, The afternoon traffic starts even as far as 50 miles outside LA proper and that slowed us down. I started to get worried that we had missed our exit and would have to take I-10 all the way to I-5. Thankfully no. We bypassed most of the bad stuff and being of the Bill and Ted generation made fun of the signs that said San Dimas, no we didn't find a Circle K there.
I was surprised to find that Valencia was quite a ways from down town Los Angeles, but given how spread out things are I suppose that is to be expected. Greg Weisman described Valencia as a "Mall town." Good word choice, the place, at least around the hotel was all shops and restaurants. In fact as we were sitting at the light to turn into the parking area, a fairly large group of garg fans were on their way to the BJ's.
We parked, checked in and went across the street to find the crowd. Though it took a while to sit, it was not bad, and the food was good. I split a pizza with Silver and Spacie. Silver is always fun to talk to.
The rest of the evening consisted of getting the bags into the room and hanging out till we got sleepy.

June 22
My first objective was food followed by finding reg. And where the art show was setting up. We found it worth the short walk to always head to the food court because the price was better and the food was not bad, plus a bit of variety. After breakfast I picked up my art and was pleased that Cindy (Eden) loved the picture of her gargoyle and Spacie's garg so much that she bought it. I was proud of that piece. I was a little embarrassed to see that I brought more adult art than anyone.
The first panel I was on was Sketching 101. Though more than qualified to be up front I still felt a little small being up there with talents such as Kyt, Karine, Steph, and Mara. But I added where needed and let them lead. I hope people enjoyed our antics as well as learned something.
I had thought I was on other panels as well, but they must have been canceled or moved since my only other one was on Monday. I enjoyed Crispin's voice panel, it was interesting to see even a bit of how dubbing is done and the software he had was very cool. Afterwards I did audition, but didn't do was well as I had in the past, that and it being a small cast meant I got bumped. Oh well, maybe next time.
Spent an hour in the dealer's room at the Anthology signing plus I picked up a copy of the comic. The nearest comic shop here is about 20 some odd miles away.
Opening ceremonies took a bit different turn this year with the music videos being shown. I always miss the videos because they are usually in the con suite and I rarely make it up there. All the videos were good, I particularly liked the one that used the song Hemorrhage(In my Hands) by Fuel. I always enjoy annual count the first timers show of hands, quite a few this time around, plus I heard there were lots of walk ins all weekend. I always enjoy the Bad Guys pitch, because there is no where else you can see it and only once a year.
Food was at the food court again, but it was good and when we got back we caught the tail end of the MiSTings. We end back in Aaron and Mara's room and had great conversations with Marty about the comic, the business, the economics of it, politics, hell lots of stuff. It was great to get a chance to really talk to him and thank him for his persistence in bringing the comic to life.
Bed was at about 1am.

Greg Weisguy writes...

In your ramble about the episode "The Mirror", you said you couldn't resist turning Bronx into a dog.

In response to why Thailog never cloned Bronx in "The Reckoning", you said it was because Bronx never guarded Demona like the other Gargoyles did.

Why is it that you made sure Bronx was included in the plot twist de jour of "The Mirror", but denied him similar inclusion in "The Reckoning", when it seems like it would have been relatively easy to just write him into having guard duty with one of the other Gargoyles. Did "cloning the dog" just seem like something too silly for Thailog and Demona to do?

Harvester of Eyes writes...

Hi, Greg.

I just read your ramble on "The Reckoning," which is one of my favorite episodes, and just wanted to contribute my two cents. Ever since "Sanctuary," I had been wondering what would happen when Demona and Angela met again, and I'm happy to say that this episode did not disappoint. For an episode with a very large supporting cast (that also introduced several new characters to boot), it carried itself amazingly well.

It flowed wonderfully, and as you pointed out, contained a lot of memorable lines. Jim Belushi is not my favorite actor, but I loved him as the voice of Fang. I think Fang just might be one of his best roles. His delivery of the one-liners was superb.

If I had to pick a favorite visual moment, it would have to be the shot of Demona, Thailog, and the clones right before the end of the second act. It was like looking at a negative photographic image of Goliath's clan. Very chilling.

A few things I found interesting: Thailog and Sevarius in the same room together. I suppose it's not too surprising, since mentally, Thailog was programmed with Xanatos's slant on life. Xanatos kept the gargoyles alive because he thought they'd be useful (or I'm just going by what he told Goliath at the end of "City of Stone"). Similarly, I'm wondering if that was Thailog's line of thinking when Sevarius was hired to engineer the clones: the doctor does come in handy.

Also, concerning the relationship between Demona and Angela: I think that Demona does love Angela. But I find it interesting that she told Goliath to save their daughter instead of doing it herself. The thing she seemed more solidly focused on was punishing Thailog, because Thailog had just delivered a double whammy by not only ending their relationship, but also splicing her DNA with the human she seems to hate most. It almost looks like Demona loves revenge more than Angela. I look forward to seeing what happens between them in the comic. Your comments on those three small words were very intriguing.

All in all, a very well-done episode that exceeded my expectations. I will be posting comments on the new comic at a later date, but for now, let me just say thanks, and best of luck with your future endeavors.