Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

A short response to Avator -- ~mammal~ red blood cells have no DNA, but gargoyles are not mammals. Other vertebrates have red blood cells with DNA in them.

Avator writes...

Genetics, from Gargoyles in 1994 to now!

This isn't so much a question as general very late reply to a few things I've seen here that had been posted years ago. (about cloning, and how it was done in gargoyles)

I've noticed people mentionned dr. Severino Antinori as being some sort of real-life version of our catroon "friendly genetecist". It's interesting to notice that Severino actually said he'd have a first human clone done around 2002 and then said it wasn't true. The guy actually seems to be generally creepy and even fake-starved himself in his homeland to protest the refusal of the country to allow human cloning. Either way, it can only be assumed that this fellow who really was a genycologist to begin with (and not a molecular biologist), never did a human clone. But the fact is that he's interestingly as "scary" in his actions and words as Savarius.

To this day, few can say they really succeeded at cloning humans. Dr. Zavos is probably the only one with some credibility. But that aside, onto results...

While it's impossible to say how "well" cloning would work with humans, it's well known that it doesn't work much if at all for primates and other animals like dogs. Yes, it's been done with cats, horses, cows, mice, mules, etc--- but here's the catch. Most cloning issues have to do with the mother (the one who will be pregnant with the clone). For example, dogs only can breed twice a year and it's impossible to change that. So timing this with the making of cloned embryos is just too far out. WIth gargoyles I could see an even bigger issue here--- but Savarius luckily managed to create "in vitro" type uterus environment. I think just this would solve a whole lot in terms of cloning difficulty for gargates (or even humans or primates or canines) So already, even more than 14 years after the episodes were written, it's interesting to still see some credibility in the story of the gargoyle clones. Of course we're far from replicating the environment of a uterus and it is known that embryos implanted -elsewhere- in a creature sadly ends into the embryos becomming aggressive cancers instead of lifeforms of their own.

No matter how clones are of have been done to this day, there's always one element that is required, the ovocyte. Which means a female subject is -always- necessary for cloning (at least so far). So unless, again, Savarius had broken the mold... then it seems plausible that he could have used some from Demona. Of course that'd mean putting her under and cutting her open to get them. (would she have been willing?) And it would also mean that all the clones would have her mitochondrial genome (as a perfect clone can only be done with females, males inherit the mitochondrias from whoever the ovocyte was taken from). Now the mitochondrial genome has very important yet small things.. it basically commands your cellular breathing. What's funny about this though is that IF that's how it was made, then Thailog and Demona shared at least.. part of a genome ;)
While this is all speculations, perhaps it could explain why Bronx wasn't cloned--- because they didn't have access to garg beast ovocytes because... no female was around! (how conveniently credible again!)

As a last point... which is slightly negative though, is the usage of blood to make clones. Now the best cells one can get their hands on are stem cells, to make a cloning procedure. From embryos this works great... from adults it's still better than nothing. (when cloning females though they were able to take cells from part of ovaries that seems to give the best result so far) Adult creatures still have stem cells around, some in the spinal cord for example... and even some in the skin! So it's sort of great that "Thailog" material came from a robot scratching Goliath. It can be assumed they used the skin material and not the blood... but sadly this can't apply to the robot musquitos that they used for the others.
Now why is that--- well red blood cells simply have no nucleus so they have no genome DNA. At all. And while you can still have white blood cells... which have DNA... well those simply give -awful- result for cloning so far. It's been done, yes, but with less than 0.3% even on animals easily cloned. Now I'm not sure how much blood those musquitos took but it seems very unlikely that they found enough material to even do a successful cloning with white blood cells in there.
Now with that said, and forward to the comic, it seems Thailog took consierable quantities of blood from each gargoyle again for genetic issues.... which would probably give a better yield than just a drop or two. Still we can say they got skin cells from it to work with... I like to think, in the light of this, that there's some sort misconception about how blood carries "life" in itself... and while this falls into psychology it's sort of silly since we know that "breeding" has little to do with blood, unless you're a vampire ;)

Seeing what another person wrote on the subject, I think it is interesting to note the difference between clones and clonee. It's true "calico" female cats cloned didn't always have the color of their cloned parent. That's because female calico cats have their color on the X chromosome and they have two X chromosomes like humans... and that randomly one X is inactivated at some point thus resulting sometimes in patched colors and sometimes not. This has nothing to do with DNA on it's own, but rather is something that happens well after an embryo is made. I'm fairly sure this means cloned -male- cats would effectivly be the same color than their "father". And unless gargoyles also have their colors on a simili-X chromosome in the same way humans and cats function, then there's no reason the clone would be another color except through epi-genetics (which genes activate and which don't or chromosome inactivation etc) or... as you said... something to do with Savarius' tampering. (So I think that explanation still holds really well and is probably the best)

But what I really enjoyed most of all in the show is how clones were really perceeved as nothig more than twin brothers (or a child) whose mentality had nothing to do with the person whose genes they inherited, but really with their education. Even to this day there's so many people trying to trick the population (specially those with money to waste) in thinking that their clones will carry their spirits, which is plain out ridiculous....

So all this was my two cents, or maybe two dollars ;) To say that I really love how cloning was tackled in the show, it's far more realistic than most would have had it.

Peter Sunnergren writes...

Hi Greg, thank's for the answers to my previous question about prodcuing/writing a comic!

A few more questions have come in to my mind.

1: What kind of format do you use when you write a script for a comic? I have been considering a treatment form such as;

-// Open up on John sitting at the desk in his office. He is on the phone. His expression suggests that he he is stressed and afraid. He says "What? How long?". John drops the phone and looks at a clock on the wall, which shows 12:56. He bolts for the door and exists //-

In that example (which is totally random by the way, it has nothing to do with my, or anyone else's work) I would just describe things; what they are, how they look and what happens, but not how it is presented in framing and paneling, leaving that for the artists.
I have also considered writing as a film script (similar to the treatment form but with different formatting for actions, names and spoken dialogue.) Another possibility I can imagine would be a storyboard. Like a "doodled" version of the page showing what I would like the framing/paneling/positioning to look like.

What are your thoughts on these different approaches?

2: On average, how much time passes on between you starting to write a comic and it goes off for printing?

Thanks! I'm off to the post office to pick up the latest issue of Gargoyles (curses England for having tiny mail slots that comics won't fit through)

Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

Hello Greg,

In #8 we learned that there are no gargoyle beasts in London. This surprised me, since the clan is large, I had assumed that all of the large clans had beasts. It is very unfortunate for the beast species, and really drives home the point that they are much worse off than the gargoyles.

We know that the Xanadu, Manhattan, Ishimura, and Avalon clans have beasts in 1996, and the Mayan clan will hatch some in 1998. The London and Labyrinth clans have none.

1. Does the Pukhan clan have any gargoyle beasts?
2. Does the Loch Ness clan have any beasts?
3. Does the New Olympian clan have any beasts?
4. We're told that by 2188 the gargoyle population will have grown, with all the clans reaching a "full" size. a. What will the beast population be like in 2188: larger than in 1996, smaller, or about the same?
b. Will every clan have beasts in 2188?

Antiyonder writes...

One point that Todd Jensen has voiced about The Goliath Chronicles episode Generations is how viewed by itself it would give Demona some validity as it contained no decent human throughout the episode (The major human characters appearing were some Quarrymen and an Assassin that planned to exterminate Goliath and clan as well as double crossing Demona). So I was wondering if the inclusion of a human protagonist (Someone proving that not all humans are a threat to the Gargoyles) in any Demona story was always a conscious decision you had or just one of those ideas that write themselves (something that came naturally).

Dylan Zimmerman writes...

Hi Greg I have been a fan of Gargoyles since I was a kid and I have a comic book I am writing that I will be sending to Darkhorse soon and I was wondering if you would take the time out of your scedule and check it out now I am sure you get asked this millons of times a day so if no responce I get it no harm no faul but I would love an honest opinion from someone experenced if you want to contact me outside of your website my Email is Madprofecer340@aol.com but please leave it out if answer my question

Craig writes...

I must make a brief comment on the terrific advances David Hedgecock has made since this series has begun. A lot of fans were quick to criticize his early work. Unfortunately, now that his art has improved by leaps and bounds, I have not seen a corresponding amount of praise.

Right off the bat, we have the cover. Since I was ten, I've thought Hudson was the coolest looking gargoyle, and Hedgecock and Jorge Molina prove it in style! I was really disappointed to hear that Guler would no longer be doing the covers, so I was biased against Hedgecock in that regard...but even with that bias, I feel that this is the second coolest cover, after #5!

Other highlights for Hedgecock this issue: Thailog's victorious grin (and subsequent contrite look) upon catching Shari in a lie, and then being reminded of her disclaimer. Macbeth's look when he talks about "sleep-walking" (what a PERFECTLY written scene, by the way!). The wide-eyed optimism in Lex's eyes when he asks about the beasts, and the sadness in Griff's face when he replies (this exchange is odd and without context at this point, and yet Hedgecock lends it exactly the right tension and emotion to make us curious for an explanation). The design of Merlin...precisely the right balance of benevolence and mystery. And our first foggy glimpse of Castle Carbonek...! What a thrilling moment for us Illuminati nuts, after all these years of waiting.

I never thought Hedgecock's work was "bad" by any standard. However, I think the improvement from issue one to the current issue is comparable to the difference between a TV episode animated by Sun Woo and one animated by Koko...the art goes from supporting the story to elevating it. This is a massive testament to Hedgecock's commitment to this project...I cannot begin to imagine the hours he must have put into exploring this world, not to mention the new characters he has to learn for every issue. So I hope that you will forward this comment to Dave as some small motivation to keep up the terrific work. And as always, Greg, thanks for making all of this possible, and for bringing David and the rest of us to your world!

BLESSING USANI OTU writes...

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF AULTAL SPECTRUM DISORDER,WHAT IS THE CAUSE, WHAT ARE THE SYMTOMS, HOW IS IT TREATED, WHO CAN SURFFER IT

Anonymous writes...

Is there any gay or lebian gargoyles?

Darren writes...

Which cartoons did YOU watch when you were younger? Did any of these inspire you?

dph writes...

Thank you for sharing with us a year's worth of Today In Gargoyles Universe History. It was very interesting. I have one question about an event not on the calendar so far. What year did the Pack first start airing on television?

TAMEKA writes...

DO U KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT AND OLD MOVIE CALLED THE DUNNY WITH LEVAR BURTON STARING IN IT

Matt writes...

Hey Greg, just thought I'd say you are doing are great job with the new Spider-Man show. I'm sure you get that alot, but just felt like thanking you for bringing a version of Spider-Man that feels true to the comics. Sure you've put your own spin on a few things but it still has the feel of classic Stan Lee/ Ditko era. Being a longtime Spider-man and Gargoyles fan I was thrilled when I heard you would be heading this new show. Oh and FYI "616" refers to the main Marvel universe, as opposed to the Ultimate universe. I believe it was Alan Moore who coined the term that the main Marvel universe, instead of being universe 1 or universe 2 as seen in DC, would be some random universe so he had it assigned universe 616. Anyways thanks again for making Spectacular Spider-Man truly Spectacular.

Rob writes...

Regarding action figures. I'm a collector of the Gargoyles action figure line and a fan of the cartoon. There is a knock-off action figure line that was released around the same time as gargoyles that have He-man type bodies. I have 4 of them. Do you know the name of this action figure line?

Algernon writes...

Hey Greg, just thought I'd clarify something I read in one of your recent responses.

On the 14th of March you wrote "I'm not sure I know what 616 means". As I understand it in the context of Marvel's fictional multiverse, Earth-616 refers to the mainstream Marvel Universe that read about in the comics every month. As opposed to the various alternate universes like Ultimate Marvel and those old issues of What If? The term was allegedly first coined by Alan Moore in an old Captain Britain story.

samantha writes...

i would like to know how to get rid of a gargoyle that is hanging over a little girl as it is not a good thing it is scarring her even thow she can not see it . i am not sure what to do thank you samantha

Algernon writes...

Finally got to see the latest episode of Spectacular Spider-Man so here are my semi organised thoughts...

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S

A
H
O
Y

COMPETITION
Funny thing about me, as much as I like to see superheroes struggling with real life problems, I could never really stand the kind of Dawson Creek High School Drama that so many shows featuring teen superheroes seem hell-bent on ramming down our throats. It's one of the main reasons never really got into X-Men: Evolution and probably why despite seeing a couple of episodes of Smallville and thinking it was kinda okay, I could never maintain any prolonged interest in it. Even Batman Beyond which I did enjoy down to the ground left me kinda cold when they focused to much on that side of Terry's life (beside wasn't grouchy old man Bruce the real star of that show?)

So it has come as pleasant surprise to me to find that I'm greatly enjoying the Midtown centric subplots particularly in how they tend to parallel Pete's adventures as Spidey. It just validates my own belief that weather a character is fifteen or fifty, single or married doesn't mean a damn thing if he doesn't have a quality writer backing him up, but that's a rant for another day.

It seems Harry has taken his dad's advice to heart. Now that he's one of the in-crowd I suspect that he may start drifting away from Peter and Gwen. It's also neat to see said in-crowd being injected with a little much needed depth via Kong and Gloria.

You know for such a science wizz, Pete isn't the most observant guy. Poor Gwen is practically throwing herself at the dumb git and he barley realises she's there, funny, funny stuff.

Moving on to the darker end of the Spidey-spectrum we see a lot going on with the rogues' gallery. Sandman is comes across quite nicely here played with great panache by John "bite my shiny metal ass" DiMaggio. The animation on Sandman's transformations is both fluid and creative; I especially liked him morphing his whole body into one giant fist. Speaking of which; the Spider-Man vs. Sandman battle's were pretty brutal weren't they? (At least by the standards of a Saturday morning cartoon). I don't think I've seen such cringe inducing action in a mainstream superhero cartoon outside of Bruce Timm's DCAU. Not that I'm complaining mind you, after the weak pallid affairs that the 90's Spidey-toon euphemistically termed "fight scenes" its a welcome change of pace.

Norman is of course in top form, exuding an almost reptilian calm and utter callousness; it's going to be interesting watching him make the leap to cackling madman. Walloping websnappers, is that Emily Osborn? It's a pretty radical departure from Spider-lore but I have faith that you wouldn't have made such a drastic change unless you were going somewhere cool with it.

The Big Man has apparently been reading the Super-Villain Handbook as revised by David Xanatos. Using super powered thugs to keep Spidey distracted from his real operations is just the kinda scheme to make old Mr. X proud. Also we get our first real taste of Dr. Otto Octavius. This timid and rather meek portrayal is certainly a far cry from the egomaniacal mad scientist we all know and love.

Last we come to the little people, those seemingly inconsequential bit players whose 'blink and you'll miss it' screen time belies their hidden potential. One of the many joys of this series for me as a Spidey-fan is wondering which obscure figure of spider-lore you're going to sneak in this week. It's fast getting to the point where I'm going to have to start freeze framing crowd scenes just to see if that tiny blob in the bottom left hand corner is supposed to be Cletus Cassidy (though frankly, a two second walk on cameo is probably more then he deserves). This episode marks the low key debut of Hobie Brown and judging from what I've heard about the rest of the season we're going to see a lot more of him in the not to distant future.

There are also a couple of nice moments from Tom Wilson's Stan Carter, did anyone else pick up a hint of barely concealed frustration and contempt as he was forced to let Marko and O'Hirn go. Also Carter's comments later in the episode seem to mark him as a Spidey sympathiser, which will be interesting down the road.

This was yet another solid episode that builds on what came before while laying the groundwork for future stories. I can't wait till this comes out on DVD in the form of a season one box set so I can see the grand tapestry as a whole.

P.S. Was Osborn's female Chauffeur a supposed to be an homage the Mercy Graves from Superman TAS?

Jesse Betteridge writes...

Hey Greg,

I'm a huge fan of Spectacular Spider-Man so far, and I have to admit am a bit concerned about the show's future after the demise of Kids WB. I know there are a lot of options for where the series may move to and a lot of factors determining what decision is made. However, given that there has been some confusion about the HD broadcast status of the show through KidsWB, I thought it might be appropriate to ask if that may be a determining factor of where the show goes? As far as I know, Cartoon Network is the only option that will offer a feed that will guarantee an HD broadcast for the series, so that may be the ideal option.

Also in regards to the series' longevity: I know you want to keep Spidey in high school for 65 episodes (ie: what will likely be the show's full run), but is there any chance that we may see some sort of college-based continuation of the series, should it continue to remain successful?

Kenneth Chisholm writes...

Pardon me if this has been asked before, I've had no luck finding an equivalent answered question in the archives

How precedented is something like Goliath and Elisa's relationship in the history of Scottish gargoyles? The casual acceptance of it by the rest of the Manhattan Clan obviously suggests some comfort with the concept, but what was it like in the 900s?

For that matter, how do the various other Clan cultures feel about this kind of thing?

Quexinos writes...

Hey Greg, thanks for answering my last question. Or at least giving an answer which was "I don't have an answer" but it was nice that you at least said that =P

Because you didn't have the answer, I decided to do some deep research about the Weird Sisters and found out some very interesting facts:

1. The first toy product ever advertised on television was Mr The Weird Sisters Head.
2. Half a cup of The Weird Sisters contains only seventeen calories.
3. Three seagulls flying overhead are a warning that The Weird Sisters are near.
4. The Weird Sisters can be found on a Cluedo board between the Library and the Conservatory!
5. The Weird Sisters are often used in place of milk in food photography, because milk goes soggy more quickly than The Weird Sisters.
6. Worldwide, The Weird Sisters are the most important natural enemy of night-flying insects.
7. If your ear itches, this means that someone is talking about The Weird Sisters.
8. In the 1600s, tobacco was frequently prescribed to treat headaches, bad breath and The Weird Sisters.
9. The Weird Sisters can fly at an average speed of fifteen kilometres an hour.
10. Without its lining of The Weird Sisters, your stomach would digest itself!

Okay i got it from here:
http://thesurrealist.co.uk/trivia.pl

But it really made me laugh and thought you might get a kick out of it.

The One Known As Mochi writes...

Wow... So many people have posted questions and comments for you. By the time you get around to my post I'll probably have Gargoyles #8 and the trade paperback (I hope...). Normally, I would have a question for you, but it seems I found the answer in the archives. The question I would've asked was in regards to the episode 'High Noon'. I wondered how Macbeth wasn't being knocked around when Demona (in human form) and Elisa were fighting. Someone had already asked and you responded, so I don't have to worry about that.

What I really wanted to do is comment on Spidey. I've managed to watch all the episodes so far and I have to say it's very well done! I seem to think that there's an intensity present that doesn't let up when it comes to the story and the action taking place. Spidey's quips reminded me of the cartoon from the 90s, though I only vaguely remember watching it at the time (I was preoccupied with a lot of other cartoons...even Gargoyles ;) ). I really like the character designs and the animation is very fluid. Overall, I can tell this Spidey series is going very far and I can't wait to see what you and Victor Cook have planned for all the characters.

I have to admit it's been a long time since I've had to wake up early to watch a Saturday morning cartoon that's this good.

Thank you for such awesome work on Spidey and keeping Gargoyles alive!