Phoenician writes...

Saturday

Well, here’s where the crazy fun begins, no doubt about that. After breakfast with Goose and his family, we hightailed it back to the hotel in hopes of signing up for one of the Mug-A-Guests that morning. (Can’t really remember what was played on the way there, music-wise, so I guess it couldn’t have been too good. I do remember the two of us listening to the Kevin & Bean show, where they talked about OCD . . . odd) We had just barely missed Keith David but we manage to sign up or Josh Keaton with room to spare. While waiting for his arrival, we chatted with some of the fans nearby the Registration and Dealer Room, including, but not limited to Blaise and Abby.

Josh came just as he was supposed to, and after him grabbing some ice water, we headed inside the suite with a group of 9ish, (2 more would come after trying out for the Radio Play, I believe). Everyone sitting at a table, I suddenly understood the difference of intimate setting that I couldn’t imagine the day before (hey, Thom’s just a really personal guy I guess). In short (too late!) Josh talked about how he got into the business, how he got involved with Spectacular Spidey, how he was a dork in high school, and how he knew about Spider-Man all his life. One of the questions I asked regarded who he enjoyed villain-wise, from the point of view as a comic-fan that he is, and from a behind-the-scenes who he liked to work with-point-of-view. I was giddy upon hearing him mention his excitement regarding the show’s Tombstone, who he said, ‘Would kick Kingpin’s a**’ . . . hee hee. He also mentioned having a great time working with John DiMaggio. He went on to say that he would love to see the Spot one day on the show, simply because â€" given the show’s animation â€" it would be awesome. We soon passed the allotted time, which meant we kept on talking till the kicked us out to bring in Keith David and his muggers. d:

After the Mug-A-Guest with Josh, while Goose went to go see Crispin Freeman’s Anime Mythology while I went to go find the audition line for the Radio Play. Having never been to a Gathering, I knew I at least wanted to try out, even though I haven’t been in a production of anything since Goldilocks and the Three Bears in Kindergarten (and I was the ‘Baby Bear’ Bed . . . seriously). As I got in line, I was behind the fellow that would eventually rock as Carnage (I believe he auditioned with a Green Goblin script), while I took a gander at a Harry Osborn bit. Again, no experience of acting AT ALL . . . but it’s my first (and by default, last) Gathering so yippee kai yay, I even attempted a shriek . . . sooo didn’t sound pretty.

As I left the audition, feeling (at the least) great for the fact that I at least gave it a shot, I discovered the line for Marina Sirtis. Upon realizing it was for MARINA SIRTIS, I popped right in line, much to the amusement of those already in line. I was soon joined in the line by none other than Gorebash, who was awesome to meet in person. Marina was an absolutely wonderful, signing by Season II, Volume I DVD of Gargoyles (the Demona side). I would later thoroughly enjoy her participation in the Gargoyles Voice Actors Panel (especially her chucking Jolly Ranchers at both Greg Weisman and Jamie Thompson) d:

After getting Marina’s autograph, I made my way to what was left of Crispin’ presentation . . . and from what I saw, the guy REALLY REALLY knows his stuff. If ever a fan were to think that the pros think we are all dorks . . . it’s almost certain that these pros are dorks, geeks, and gamers as well.

As Crispin ended, I joined the front of the room where the Gargoyles Voice Acting Panel would take place â€" oh what fun indeed. Jamie Thompson, Thom, Keith, Marina, and Greg were all a delight and hilarious to see in person . . . though it was one small sample of the original cast, its clear that these folks had fun working on the set. The same thing was obvious as we then saw the Voice Acting Panel for Spectacular Spider-Man . . . but this time with a fair majority of the main cast. Laughter was in no short supply during these panels, and I was happy to see them. Afters, when we were being kicked out for the Radio Play Rehearsals, I asked Steve Blum to sign the glider of my Green Goblin action figure . . . which I think gave him a smile, seeing a toy version of his character d:

As we waited for the Radio Play to begin an hour and a half later, I thought to go outside for a bit while Goose went to see the special screening o Michael Reeve’s special Star Trek screening. Instead, I found myself discovering the Con Suite in the Boarding Room, whereupon I met two fellow fans also from the Phoenix area (we actually don’t live that far from each other) and VickyUK again. During this time we talked to fellow fan and how he discovered the fandom and how he had never realized its decent size and longevity. I wasn’t a big event, but for me, the chance to actually chat with people who actually KNOW about the show . . . as much as I do . . . this was just so cool.

I soon found my way to the Dealer’s Room, voting on the various pieces . . . and shortly afterward I walked toward to see what was left of the Star Trek screening . I may not have seen one episode of Star Trek, let alone a Trekkie, but there were definitely some fun moments that reminded me of Gargoyles (can’t remember any at the moment, but there was this ‘vibe’ about it, which is a total cop out I guess).
Caught up with Goose and the two of us got in line for the Radio Play, which was just starting to get big . . . we were in a lucky spot . . . we managed to get in the second row :)

The Radio Play was . . . well, as Greg put it . . . a work of three days, which means the man’s a GENIUS. It was awesome to see it pick up right where both series left off, from the last issue of Clan Building for Gargoyles, to the finale of the second season of Spidey. For fans of both shows, this was the Radio Play to see . . . it offered no major conclusion to either series, but it satisified that desperate wish most fans currently have about both . . . which is that they want MORE STORIES. It was absolutely spectacularly epicly awesome . . . what with the various insidejokes, both the on and off screen type, and the huge ensemble from BOTH series really gave any fan something to enjoy, because this monster of a play had something for everyone. Like Goliath/Elisa? Check. Enjoy Demona scheming? Check. Love Spidey/Goblin quips? Check. Enjoy the various incarnations of the Sinister Six? Check. Like the Liz/Pete/MJ/Gwen/Harry hurricane of teen romance? Check. Like the gangster stories . . . be it Big Man/Manfredis or the Brod/Dracons? Check. Love making and hearing grunts, wails, groans, shrieks, and roars? Check. Want to hear iconic lines from either series? Check-a-roo. Enjoy breaking the 4th Wall? Check. Enjoy double entendres AS WELL AS plain-out entendres? A definite Check there, good sirs and ladies. Like hearing characters interact with characters by the SAME voice actor? Check! (Thom’s Lex line of ‘what an annoying voice’ was flat-out hilarious) Want more Hormunculi? Check to the 5th power! You REALLY want Carnage? CHECK! Enjoy magic? Check Check, and a very almost-sacriligious-but-very-awesome CHECK (Seeing Marina/Demona ‘lick’ her own oozing blood . . . man, she may not have done Demona in over a decade, but she’s STILL got it)!!!

And unsurprisingly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg . . . flat out amazing. The entire Gathering players were awesome . . . special nod to Blaise and his Zafiro (seriously, a freakin’ HUGE cast). It was absolutely wonderful to hear the talent of Marina, Darran, Phil LaMar, Steve Blum, Keith David, and other in person. I can’t possibly imagine where I’ll have this opportunity again. So. Definitely. Worth. It.

An inexperienced mind would see a script for this play and think it was a stack of five copies . . . this thing was HUGE, and it went by SO fast. Just. Awesome.
After the Radio Play, I found Josh Keaton and asked him to sign my season one DVD of Spidey. It was soon joined by Crispin’s, Daran Norris’s, Debra Strang’s, James Arnold Taylor’s, Eric Vesbin’s, Thom Adcox’s (who also signed by Clan Building Volume II), Ben Diskin’s, and even Greg B’s . . . oh come on, he was the worst chauffeur! Wendy Pini would sign the first page to Clan Building Volume I, where her introduction rests d:

With the Radio Play over, Goose and I were hungry indeed, so we went out to the City Walk and saw a bit of the sites . . . definitely awesome to do, as I’ve never been near Universal Studios before. We eventually stopped to eat at the Hard Rock Café . . . my first time at a HRC, in fact . . . despite the long wait for TWO people, the food was good enough to say it worthwhile and we then hightailed it back to see if we got back in time for the Blue Mug Session.

Not sure what I can say about it, but it was fun indeed to be there during the time we were there, we just got in right after Thom dropped by with his little pooch, not to mention some snacks in tow . . . I myself gnarked a Ding Dong as I listened to questions regarding to Gargoyles and even some Spidey. Highlight definitely involved . . . well, let’s just say ‘Lexington’ and be done with it. d:

Unfortunately, we had to head back to my pal’s place . . . he doesn’t live really close, and we weren’t sure on the traffic sitch, so we left before anything regarding the ‘Last Tengu’ was brought up. Oh well. It was definitely fun what we saw. I would of course like to have stuck around longer, but hey, I did have to write all this soon after . . . how would it be remembered?? d:

Plus, Sunday looks to be even MORE awesome.

Phoenician writes...

And here be my 2009 Gathering Con-Journal!! It is the first of its kind that I have ever written, and I’m amazed at just what exactly I remembered! (Though writing entries the night of I do believe makes them easier, I would hope). The one constant in each of these entries (besides the giddyness) is the fact that I DIDN’T stay at the Hilton where all the festivities took place. Despite the obvious awesome reasons why that was preferred choice, if I even tried to consider the cost of the Registration AND the hotel AND the flight . . . then it just wasn’t going to happen (and I DIDN’T want that to happen, not when it’s the last year, and when I‘ve put off going for years now). So my friend, Goose, and his family graciously hosted me while I dragged him to a 4-day geekasm. Needless to say, we both had a blast, as it is described below in enough detail (I don’t describe the color of the chairs used . . . oh all right, RED. Ish).

Thursday

Though we arrived in Sky Harbor International at around 6:20 PM, it was soon revealed to us that our flight at 7:20 PM was delayed till 8:10 PM. *Sigh* whatever, I bought a Coke and we waited at the airport as my roommate, Goose, bought souvenirs for his family back in Los Angeles. When we arrived we were picked up by his family, where we chatted over a real late dinner at Denny’s. By the time we were exhausted to go to bed it was past one in the morning.

Friday

Okay, sooo wake up for me was at about 9ish, where I enjoyed breakfast with Goose at his place. Soon after, we headed toward the hotel and Gathering, where we started with a Gorillaz song but ended up blasting Gargoyles music and singing the theme to Spectacular Spider-Man. Despite the traffic we hit, we got there just as the first events began. A quick little visit to the Registration table (where upon I discovered I did my badge name ‘unright’ . . . it WAS my name, just not my avatar-username as most guests had done . . . oh well, no matter, that would be easily rectifiable) and we headed to one of the first events, the panel on drawing comics by Karine Charlebois. When her panel was over, me and my friend decided to stick around in that room for the next two panels . . . the Banshee’s ‘Machiavelli on Gargoyles’ and the ‘Rookery Brothers’ with Thom Adcox and Bill Faggerbake. Except for the fact that Faggerbake wasn’t around (no idea why, :( ) Thom was an absolute blast to get to know and hear from. From his various stories on and off the set (one about him goofing around with Ed Asner while recording for Gargoyles still gives me laughs) to the questions he answered regarding the characters he played over the years . . . Lexington and Tinkerer of course, but a guy-fairy in the next Tinkerbell film and a turtle in a somewhat recent Taco Bell commercial . . . the entire group was having a good time and certainly in stitches d: You can really tell he enjoys coming to these conventions.

It was the same room for those three events that afternoon, so it was interesting who stuck around for which ones . . . in between the second and third event, my friend and I met â€" Abby was it? â€" where we enjoyed having a not-so-short discussion on the comics and Spectacular Spider-Man (gist: comics were spoiler-free, Spectacular Spidey was not!)

Now, I have never attended a Mug-A-Guest -- and having just arrived when we did, we missed our chance at signing up for Greg or Diskin â€" but despite the larger group, I felt there was some ample time for most everyone that wanted to ask a question or have a comment to be able to do so. I also have to confess that one event finished and I was still too giddy to show patience with Karine . . . I just had to ask for her autograph for my Bad Guys Trade . . . hey, folks, she did a fantastic job! The giddiness would decrease to a more natural level later in the day, and I stopped myself from bugging Thom and Greg Weisman when I met them (don’t take it personally, I have all weekend d: )

By the time we were done hanging out with Thom, it was something of a half-hour before the start of the Opening Ceremonies. So, after a quick look around at the Art Show (crazy good stuff there, by the way), we headed towards the Ballroom, where I noticed a discussion regarding the latest comics nearby . . . a somewhat shy walk towards the group revealed to me to be CR vets Bishansky, Matt, and Blaise, with some others that I wasn’t able to catch their names. I also spotted and met VickyUK and I totally had to tell her that it was just awesome to know that she had flown 10 hours to enjoy this last Gathering.

When it comes down to it, my favorite part of the evening was getting to see this group of dedicated fans in person . . . there is no doubt in my mind that that my enthusiasm for the series has lasted this long due to my (somewhat passive) interaction with these folks online in the CR.

Anyways, after a slight delay, we all entered the Ballroom and took our seats as Opening Ceremonies began. Greg W opened up with the icebreaker of pure demographics . . . who’s new and virgin and who’s old and veterany. After telling all the 1st time newbies to rise (couldn’t really tell from where I was, but it was a lot wasn’t it??) he then dwindled the group one year at a time (there seemed to me to be a big drop after six, but who’s counting ?) until finally all that was left was Patrick, Jennifer, Greg, Karine, and A Fan â€" the kids that decided to stick it out for 13 years. Kudos for all the hard work, guys . . . and to everyone else that’s been vital to the Gathering. Kudos.

So after introductions and general FYI, Greg started his usual spiel . . . which apparently is almost verbatim for over a decade d: Though I’ve never been to one, the story was familiar simply from reading the Ask Greg archives all these years, as well as some of the bonus features on the DVDs. Nevertheless, there was quite a bit of detail that I didn’t know or remember (I don’t believe I ever read about Faggerbake’s ‘It’s better than Barney’ quip after the preview of the show to the press).

Interesting note . . . its probably well known fact, but I do remember watching what was apparently cropped from the footage shown at the SciFi footage â€" the mostly Johnathan Frakes vid â€" on a VHS of A Goof Movie (I think that’s the one) . . . I haven’t seen it in over a decade, but the music and animation clips-cutted look familiar to me, as well as the brief interviews from Frakes, Marina Sirits, and Keith David (though I distinctly remember seeing Salli Ricardson as well in that VHS preview). Certaintly reminded me just how much time has passed since I first saw this show when I was WAAAYY little.

So after seeing the original show pitches and the spinoff pitches (including the Bad Guys leica reel . . . I guess I’m in a special class of fan that got to see the reel AFTER the reading the Trade Paperback) I finally got to see the latest work on ‘The Last’ . . . still incomplete, but there was a ton done in those twenty-odd minutes and while ‘unofficial’ â€" it’s really awesome to see the conglomeration of the professional Voice Acting with all the art that fans have come to put together. Having never seen it before, I really wonder which scenes were completed first and which ones were new additions. All in all, an entertaining episode that made me further appreciate my copy of ‘Bad Guys.’ d:

Total random moment when a cell phone sounding just like Kim Possible’s Kimmunicator started beeping . . . Greg even recognized it, stopping mid-sentence to blurt out while looking at the crowd: ‘Kim? Kim?’ Too funny.

With the conclusion of the Opening Ceremonies, I imagine most guests and fans and staff grabbed something to eat somewhere . . . me and my friend made our way back across the city back to his place, where we enjoyed dinner there.

Hey, it’s day one . . . the fun’s just getting started.

Matt writes...

Just to be clear for the sake of the GargWiki,

The six gargoyles and two beasts that Demona initially talks to in "Tyrants", they are all originally from the Wyvern Clan, right? Meaning they all hatched at Wyvern, moved away when the Wyvern Clan split and eventually all joined Demona's Clan as a single cell. Is that right?

And I believe you said this at the Gathering, but I want to clarify something else along these lines: I think you said that each cell was divided up by location and that each cell had its origins with a specific clan. Is that right?

Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

Greetings Greg,

I have a quick question about one of the gargoyle models in The Gathering. Since you have revealed some interesting tidbits about the City of Stone and comics models it seems like the time to ask this:

There is a female gargoyle model who appears in the throne room scene in The Gathering, seen on the left in this scene next to a gorgon-like Child of Oberon: http://gargoyles.dracandros.com/Image:The_Gathering2.jpg

There are some gargoyles in the scene serving as Honor Guard, but this female is not, and from the way she seems to be chatting with the Child of Oberon, and since the Third Race can look however they want, I have never been confident I know what she is.

Was she intended to be a gargoyle, or a Child of Oberon who is in a gargoyle shape?

Thanks!

Matt writes...

Just wondering about the origin of a couple of monikers.

1. Where did the nickname "The Grim" come from for Kenneth? Why did you use it?

2. What is the origin of "True", the young female in Demona's Clan. Meaning, why do you call her "True"?

vgmaster831 writes...

Dear Greg Weisman,

How exactly did Boudicca get beack to Avalon after "The Gathering: Part 1"? If I am not mistaken, she is not seen throughout the rest of "The Gathering".

Your brand new fan,
vgmaster831

Greg Bishansky writes...

Since you said to ask these questions here,

What are Falstaff and Fiona Canmore's Illuminati numbers?

Full Gathering journal coming soon, I promise.

Blaise writes...

GATHERING OF THE GARGOYLES
CON-JOURNAL

DAY 4
MONDAY AUGUST 24, 2009

And so we come at last to the last day of the last Gathering. There were several reasons why I felt a bit down that morning, but that very fact of finality was a very strong one. Fortunately, both Guardian and Gside were there to offer me sympathetic pats on either shoulder.
I had arrived at 9AM and was surprised to see almost no one by the Mandarin room when the past three days were always fairly poppin' by about that time. At first I was by myself, but then Gside arrived and soon after Guardian. After discussing various subjects, we were slowly joined by A Fan, then Gorebash, Abby and VickyUK arrived pretty much one after the other. I was sad to learn Gore would have to leave before closing ceremonies, as would A Fan. For my part, I was glad I would be able to attend since it felt like something I HAD to take part in.

I attended the "Gargoyles" and "Bad Guys" comic book Q&A panel. I wish I could have gone to both that and the "Future of the 'Gargoyles' fandom" panel, but they were both at the same time, and I hadn't attended the comic panel back in 2006, so I had to go with this one. A number of questions about plot developments and art styles were answered (and a few questions were actually raised). I remember asking Karine and Greg Guler who were there favorite characters to design. Karine felt she had way too many to choose from, but was particularly fond of the new mutate designs she had done. Greg G. didn't think he had designed any real "new" characters (except a few extras, but he liked the Porter) until Greg W. indicated that he designed The Grim (AKA, Kenneth III). Interesting note, they made him blonde in order to contrast him from Findlaech and Maol Chalvim (since they all have pretty much the same general style in beards). Also, Greg admitted that he fairly quickly dispensed with his idea of "nothing in the comic that wouldn't be in the animated series." He's pretty sure they wouldn't have been able to pull off Brooklyn cutting off Valmont's hand on TV (and even in the comic, he specifically instructed that they never show the "stump" of the severed appendage).

After that panel, I took one last look in the Dealer's Room, but they were already packing everything up. I briefly sampled Karine's "Animating with Flash" panel, which looked very well done and informative with excellent visual aids, but I found I had little interest in flash, and went to the "Gargoyles Biology & Culture" panel. I don't know why only the front half of the room had light, but apparently someone fell asleep in the dark half and began to snore. Greg, Jade Griffin and Matt Parker didn't notice (or at least pretended not to) and someone else woke the first person up. I remember asking about how most gargoyles have four digits per appendage, but now we've seen Katana, who has three per appendage. And of course Sora, who had the usual 4 per hand, but only 3 per foot. Apparently, the Ishimura clan (or all Japanese) gargoyles are just unique in that way. Just like how the Mayan clan can have snake-like lower bodies, and the Loch Ness clan can have "dolphinesque" lower bodies. Funny thing...I remember from Crispin Freeman's panel on dragons, that in China, the dragon is usually shown with four toes on each foot, unless it is the Imperial dragon (only for the emperor), which has five toes per foot. But in Japan, the dragon is usually shown with THREE toes per foot. Hmmmmm. Okay maybe I'm over thinking things.

At last, we came to Closing Ceremonies. This was it. The End (at least for the time being). The usual awards for art were given out (and we had some really great ones this year). And then Greg Weisman began making a final speech, and had to constantly fight back tears during it. A lot of jokes came flying just so we had some laughter to try to counteract the water works. Actually, laughter and tears were pretty much the theme of closing ceremonies. Thom Adcox, god, you could tell he loved the Gatherings just as much as anyone. For over an hour, various members of the con staff, as well as Greg W. and Thom, began telling stories about their first Gathering, and how much being a part of this brought joy to their lives. There was a whole lotta hugging going on! Greg W. emphasized how many things (the DVDs, the comics), were directly attributable to the Gathering. We even had a few members of the audience tell their stories (and get handed tissues).
I think...no, I know nobody wanted this (the ceremonies, the Gathering, anything) to end. But it had to eventually, and it did.

We all said our good-byes (and I discovered that Guardian actually lives within the LA area as well). I hung around for a bit, but there was really not much left to help pack, and I was getting hungry. So I made my way out of the Gathering and back to the real world.

That's my con-journal, but I do have a few final thoughts of my own that I'll post later on.

Ageist writes...

====SPOILERS FROM CLAN-BUILDING 2====

A lot of new faces were seen in Demona's clan in CB2 - and it sounds like some interesting facts were given out about the whole clan's relationships to Wyvern clan members during this last Gathering. So a couple questions:

1) Were all of the Gargates seen in the cell that Demona's Second/True/etc were part of from the Wyvern Split clan?

2) What year were these Gargates born in?
a - Demona's Second's Mate/Sacrifice
b - "Bro" the red Gargoyle Brooklyn spoke with.
c - Brooklyn's bioBrother, seen behind Brook and "Bro"
d - the little Green gargoyle standing next to True.
e - Bronx's parents

3) Was Sacrifice related biologically to any other Gargoyle we've seen from Wyvern? If so which?

4) The little Blue Gargoyle from City of Stone was not seen here (that I found). Where was he?

Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

Greetings Greg,

No con journal from me obviously, just questions inspired by Clan-Building Volume 2.

============CAUTION: MAYBE SPOILER-ISH================================
I have a question (or two), which I really hope you are willing to answer. In a response years ago, you suggested that the Stone of Destiny might be either a magical object, or a Child of Oberon. However, the new trade paperback has seriously called these possibilities into question. Neither of them look very probable to me at this point.

So my question is:
Is the Stone of Destiny (or the Spirit of Destiny) one of the Third Race after all?
Is it a magical talisman?
============CAUTION: MAYBE SPOILER-ISH================================

As always, thanks a bunch for answering fan questions!