dph writes...

My review of issue #7

Let me start by saying that I found this issue very intriguing, more so than normal. I wish I had the next two issues with me so that I could put together the whole story all at once. Where do I start? With something I've almost completely ignored in my thoughts up to now. Xanatos let Macbeth visit the gargoyles on the top of the castle. The last time (and first time) that Macbeth visited the gargoyles on top of the castle, he offered them a favor: a new home. In this story, we get the reverse: Macbeth asking the gargoyles for a favor. Things have changed a lot since then. Anyways, Macbeth wants to personally insure that the Stone of Destiny makes its way back to Scotland.

Since I'm guessing that you'll stick with real world history, the Stone of Destiny (or a likeness of it) will be returned, but that isn't important as the journey that the Stone takes to get to its destination.

It's nice to see Macbeth using 'conventional* transportation - an aircraft not an airship - to travel. Xanatos allowing Macbeth to visit the gargoyles makes sense in that he can monitor their communication. Had Xanatos denied Macbeth the visit to the gargoyles on top of the castle, Macbeth and the gargoyles would have met anyways with Xanatos being in the dark about what happened in that meeting. Xanatos's comment about planning for this contigency makes me wonder if Xanatos's original plan called for interference from Macbeth, gargoyles, or both?

Dr Sato meeting the mutates was interesting. When I first read "treating someone in Maggie's 'condition'", my immediate thoughts were her being a mutate, not anything else.

Was Macbeth that bored or that sleepy? Either way, it makes sense for him to do something to pass the time. Macbeth explaining to the gargoyles that they experienced jet lag helps explain the situation. Hopefully (and humorously), Angela's whisper to Broadway isn't going to turn into a giant speculation as big as something else. I hope we get to see more of the flashback of Macbeth trying to recover the Stone of Destiny in 1950. When you wrote "Gathelus and his family would wander the globe for Two Years", did you literally mean the entire globe or just Europe?

Anyways, Xanatos's line of "The stone's flawless surfaces and clarity increase the speed of " and the picture showing location have me fairly convinced that the diamond is an essential part of Coyote 5.0's "computer core". I wouldn't have caught the reference except for an episode of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego where Carmen took some coal and turned into a diamond and the detectives installed it into their computer system and somehow speeded things up. On the other hand, I could be way completely off-base in the assumption that the crystal is part of the computer core.

When Dr Sato mentions that Maggie needs an o.b., I had no idea what that meant, but then others in the s8 cr pointed out that was a way of saying that Maggie was pregnant.

King Arthur pulling a sword onto Macbeth really is an indicator of King Arthur's skill, but still one wonders why use the sword instead of an arm. It's nice to see the London clan, again.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and am looking forward to seeing the next two parts. The intrigue keeps growing as I'm not sure what the true motivation of each player really is.

I have some theories about the use of the Coyote diamond inside of Coyote, but I'm more thrilled that you don't let things go to waste from season 1. Indeed, you are building a great tapestry.

Ricky writes...

Hey Greg,

I just managed to get a hold of issue #7, and I have to say it is my absolute favorite so far! The story was great, and I can't wait to find out what happens next, but what I really wanted to comment on was the artwork. I've loved David Hedgecock's unique style and his take on the different looks of the characters since the beginning, but I know that there have been fans who have gone as far as to say they hated it. I noticed that in this issue the characters drawings looked a bit different, maybe as if David had heard the fans' comments and paid attention to their criticism while drawing this issue. So, finally my questions:

1. I'm sure you've heard the fans' criticism and I was wondering did you had talk to David about the fans' concerns? If so, what did you say?

and, if not:

2. Do you know whether David heard the criticism, and if so, is that the reason for the slight difference in the artwork?

Thanks a lot for your time, Greg! Keep up the great work!

Matt writes...

This is a screenshot from "The Mirror":

http://gargoyles.dracandros.com/Image:Riding_the_Subway.jpg

Was this supposed to be Macbeth or is the similiar appearence simply a coincidence?

Matt writes...

Can you give us some clarification on what is going on with Macbeth's coronation in "The Rock" versus "City of Stone". Is this a retcon or did both scenes happen?

Chip writes...

I have so much to say about "The Rock". I don't even know where to begin. Normally I'd start at the beginning, but the issue doesn't even start there...

MacBeth needs Goliath and clan's aid. It think that for Mac, this is more than just asking a favor. This is him officially making peace with the clan. We knew he was pro-goyle from "The Journey" but now he officially becomes an ally. Oddly enough, Xanatos is not. We live in his castle, but he's not our friend.

So X makes a deal with Coldsteel (Interesting that X is holding all the cards in his alliance with Coldsteel) and C teams up with Coyote 5.0 I love it, and knowing Coyote, he won't last long. This one has the Coyote diamond, I wonder if Xanatos reused parts from 4.0 and the Cauldron of Life?

Jacob's pillow. Hmm...I see that Shari likes telling storys, on a completely unrealated note...ever read Arabian Nights?

Nice touch with the City of Stone reference on page 4, and I got a chuckle out of "Magic talking stone" Yay, Scotland!

And now Shari's story about Gathelus. As an Egyptologist (or rather a student, as I'm not one yet) I loved this story. I feel that Gathelus must have done far more than just win some battles though...for a Pharaoh can only claim right to the throne if he's married to the daughter of a Pharaoh. By giving Gathelus his daughter, the Pharaoh was essentially saying you are next in line for the throne. Quite an honor

I was so pleased that you didn't make the common error of saying that Rhameses II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. (In fact thank you for not mentioning him by name at all) Calling Rhameses the Exodus Pharaoh is probably my biggest pet peeve and I don't think even Gargoyles would have survived my annoyance.

My thesis paper is on correcting the Egyptian timeline. Egyptologists think of their country as set apart from the rest of the world, as such they've pretty much created their own timeline that doesn't match up with events in the outside world. (the creation of this timeline is complicated, I won't bore you with how it came about) I hope to fix the Sothic timeline. (Which is the false timeline of Egypt)

With the (I use this timeline, but I didn't create it, so I don't claim it as my timeline) amended Timeline the Exodus occured under the reign of Nepherhotep I of the 13th dynasty. A pharaoh who's mummy has never been found. (perhaps because it's in the Red Sea?) a Pharaoh who was lamented in the Papyrus of Ipuwer for (essentially) pissing off (one of) the gods.

According to Manetho (Egyptian historian) the Hyksos invaded shortly after Neferhotep's death and met with no opposistion. (Perhaps because the Egyptian Army with with Neferhotep)

This brings me back to Scota and Gathelus, who befriended Moses and left with Jacob's pillow (Ostensibly during Neferhotep's reign) and who decided to flee with Jacob's Pillow. Which Jacob must have decided was sacred. (Maybe because it could talk?) Does this mean that in the Gargoyles Universe, God himself granted the Stone the ability to speak?

Okay, back to the present (or rather 1996) we see that Sato has become a friend to the Clan and the Labyrinth...and that Maggie is pregnant. THAT through me for a loop. Their children will be mutants rather than Mutates...

As per the cover, Hudson and Lex have jet lag. (Which I figured when I saw big ben on the cover, but I still couldn't stop myself from saying "What scorcery is this") I wonder if when they return to Manhattan the jet lag will work in reverse and Hudson will get his wish of seeing the sun. When I showed my mother the Hudson and Lex Jet lag page she laughed and said "Gargoyles get jet lag?"

Lex felt funny after waking up so I surmise that he and Hudson couldn't absorb Thermal energy during the night, and as such couldn't get the full benifits of Stone Sleep

Back and Manhattan (on the second) Brooklyn tries to avoid the happy couple (and Goliath catches on quick, as opposed to Broadway and Angela, who don't seem to get that Brook is avoiding them) Poor Brook, unlucky in love so often...I really can't wait untill he meets Katana...come to think of it...I want to meet Katana too.

In Scotland Mac, Hudson, and Lex have set up an all night watch on the stone...and Mac reaveals (to the audience) that he was one of the ones responsible for the theft in 1950. (Wonder what went wrong there? Why was the stone returned?)

We Shari tells us of the origins of Portugal and Coldstone (Though not on the same nights) and Goliath and Elisa try to work out their feelings. (And Elisa strokes G's hair!!!)

We see the last part of Shari's story as to how the stone came to be in Ireland, and the rest as they say is history. (No really, it's historical fact now, not mere legend)

Mac see's a shadow, and goes to investigate and it turns out to be King Arthur. Normally I'd like to think of Arthur as a good guy, but in this case...Arthur has a connection to the stone...he might be trying to take it or prevent it's return to Scotland. King Arthur may in fact be a foe. (Which of course show's the strength of Gargoyles, that a person with heroic qualities may in fact be the villian of the piece) And of course if Arthur is an enemy, then so are Griff and the two unknown members of the London clan. (Who's existence is now cannon) Masterful, I give you my full praise, this is the bast issue so far, and I'm sure it only gets better.

Can't wait for more.

Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

Here's more scattered, random reactions to the comics, in lieu of actual reviews. So because I already posted a lot about it in the comment room, and I'm lazy, I'm skipping a review of 3-5 for now and going on to review the latest issues that I bought. Starting with #6, others coming later. How many times can I post in a row without being rude?

SPOILERS (if you haven't got #6 yet)
The art in this issue mostly looks really good, once I got used to the pencils, but Lexington and Brooklyn and some of the early frames of Angela looked wrong.

I noticed that the pictures of Gabriel and Iago were copied directly from specific shots in the animated series. That's interesting, they were immediately recognizable and I thought it was cool, it indicates that the artists are getting a hold of the episodes and paying attention to the art in them. I do wonder if they are supplied with the character model sheets, though.

I'm surprised that you changed the Avalon situation so that the magic does not translate. It is definitely cool to see the language issue addressed, but I thought that the magic translateion was more probable than that every single person they met on the other Tour stops spoke English, and well. Now I wonder how Angela, Tom, and King Arthur are able to communicate with English-speakers.

Lots of new mysteries. How do the Illuminati know about that World Tour stop? And what "seeds" were "sown" at that time? No doubt Xanatos is up to something...

Landing in a giant cooking/laundry pot is definitely a new way to travel.

Shari feeding Thailog grapes while he's dressed like a Roman emperor is... intereting. She should be careful about taunting him, though.

I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't see real yetis, but since All Things Are True, they are probably out there somewhere.

I enjoyed all the issues I've read so far and although this wasn't quite as fun as some of the others, it was still good.
SPOILERS (if you haven't got #6 yet)

E360 writes...

So macbeth was responsible for the theft of the stone of destiny in 50s, what made him return it? On the other hand that seems to be a common practice for immortal scotsmen, being responsible for the theft of the stone that is, since the Highlander show had an entire episode devoted to that little endeavor.

David writes...

Hello Greg,
I know you possibly got pretty stressed out with all of those W.I.T.C.H. questions (especially the ones related to the S is for Self episode).
I understand that you don't have any rights to the songs at all, and are to remain silent when it comes to questions like this...

But I'd like to know if you'd give me any information on who should be contacted in order to discuss the possibility of seeing the W.I.T.C.H. OST(including the songs and the background music from the Animated Series) available for purchase.

Jennifer writes...

I was wondering if Disney is ever going to release the rest of season 2 on DVD,and season 3?