Kalara writes...

Mr. Weismen I just got finished reading the Clan Building Vol 2 comic and I've got to say thank you. I felt the magic all over again. For us fans who have all been waiting years for this comic it was well worth the wait. The history and adventure in the story arcs were awesome. If felt the magic of Gargoyles all over again. Thank you for your dedication to the fans and keeping the dream alive for us all over the years. Thanks much no questions just wanted to give some praise to a job well done.

Matt writes...

My Review For Gargoyles #10, "The Gate"...

- Having the next chapter a page turn away but forcing myself to refrain from proceeding until I write up a review is really good motivation for writing said review. So even though I'm not feeling well and just want to read the next chapter and go to sleep, I'm gonna write up my #10 review instead. Who knew I could be so disciplined?

- So, lets start with the cover for this one. A cool cover, though I wonder if it is a bit bland. I'm not sure it would do a great job of catching the eye and bringing in new fans, though I suppose that criticism is moot given that it never hit the stands anyway. Being an old fan (and knowing what the Phoenix Gate is and why Brooklyn's hand is reaching for it), I thought it was very cool. Very exciting.

- Beyond the cover we find ourselves in a new adventure quite separate from the last couple chapters. A different setting, a different bunch of lead characters and, most strikingly, a different artist. Like many others I've greatly anticipated Greg Guler's art in this issue. And, to no one's surprise, he didn't dissapoint. Like Karine Charlebois, Guler's style here really echoes the TV series. This, of course, isn't a shock since Guler designed many of these characters for the series in the first place. It's impossible not to like Guler's work here since it feels so Gargoyles. That doesn't mean I don't like Hedgecock's (or other artists') work on the book, because many people know I liked Hedgecock's work a lot. But one thing I greatly enjoyed about Hedgecock is that he kept well-known characters recognizable while still maintaining his own style. With Guler, the style is the same style as the show. I think both are great, honestly. The ironic thing I noticed immediately when reading this chapter is that some characters not directly designed by Guler (such as Broadway) are spot on, while others he did work on extensively (like Angela) seem a little off at times. All of it looks great though.

- So our story starts back in Manhattan where the oh so melancholy Brooklyn endures the Broadway-Angela relationship. This must be especially tough with Lex and Hudson off in London. Clearly, Brook wants them back for their company. He seems so lonely. I wonder how much he hangs out with Goliath. Who else can he hang out with? How many times in these reviews have I said "Poor Brooklyn"?

- Anyway, the three young gargs are hanging out and a portal opens and out pops the fiery Gate. I wonder if this is where the Gate immediately came after Goliath tossed it in "Future Tense". And if so, why here and why now? Did Goliath's mind have some influence? Or did the Gate come here and now completely on its own accord? Hard to know, though the events that happen next make me suspect the latter. Before anyone has a chance to do anything, the Gate seems to... evaporate or something and out from the ashes (how neat is that?) comes one huge flaming Phoenix. Woah! Thats a big bird. I wonder what nearby New Yorkers thought of that pyrotechnic display. I really like how the Phoenix seems to single out Brook. I wonder why, but no one gets any answers here. The bird gobbles him up as if it didn't have a moment to spare (haha). This leads to one of my favorite moments in this chapter; Broadway and Angela. Now, having the general idea of this moment spoiled to me nearly ten years ago, I've had a lot of time to imagine how it goes down. In ways I'm not too far off, in other ways I was surprised how I reacted. As I suspected, Broadway and Angela do what they can to rescue Brook from the flames and are not successful, but after he is gone and the flames have died out we get one great little panel. Broadway says, "We've... we've lost him..." And Angela responds, "Maybe forever..." How chilling that was! I'm serious, the first time I read it, I got chills from Angela's line. And I think I know how this sort of ends even! Broadway has this sad moment of fear and helplessness and frustration and Angela responds with this great line that contains this mix of pragmatism and sorrow. Like she is trying to comfort Broadway, reassure herself, but ultimately face reality all at once. Leave it to Greg Weisman to deliver such powerful moments in such little dialogue. I mean I am really impressed. A couple frames to look at and no voice actors and I still totally feel for these characters. Great stuff. Really great.

- And what about our poor Brooklyn? Well, he seems to barely have time to catch his breath before he faces danger yet again. This chapter just keeps moving forward, which contrasts greatly with the last three issues. As fun and interesting as the non-linear storytelling was, it really is a relief to get back to a more standard format. One big catch is that I seem to read through these issues even quicker. Anyway, Here we are again in the tenth century, much to the delight of many fans, I'm sure. Flashbacks and time travel and other adventures in the past really are one of the great things about Gargoyles. It is no surprise to me that nearly all the multi-part episodes contain them as they seem to be bursting beyond the seams of a normal length tale. There is so much neat stuff going on in (the year of our lord) 997 that I barely know where to start. Some of the cool things that come to mind include the use of tenth century 'slang' and viewpoints, the natural alliance of Gillecomgain and Constantine, the appearance of one of Constantine's aforementioned sorcerers, and Mary and Finella's continued life on the run. All these characters are so fascinating. I look at Finella and wonder if she has ever seen a real gargoyle before. She seems so amazed that they actually bleed. I love that Constantine is a jerk, but a smart one, he knows his enemies will seek the help of gargoyles and moves to destroy them. I like how he kills the gargoyles out of strategy and maybe a bit of evil joy, while Gillecomgain's destruction of them is pure anger and vengeance.

- And how about the gargoyles themselves? Naturally, I'm thrilled to see a new bunch of Scottish gargoyles, especially since they include females and a beast! They didn't last long though, and boy is Demona pissed about that. Of course, she hasn't been named Demona yet, right? But damn isn't she getting an awful lot of non-speaking cameos in the comic. Isn't this the fourth or fifth book we've seen her, but not heard from her? I know thats about to change, but it strikes me as interesting. Like Greg is baiting along those diehard Demona fans! Haha.

- And as for Brooklyn himself, we see here so clearly how he, more than many other Gargoyles characters can lead his own spinoff. He is a warrior and has issues and aspirations and problems and a keen mind. But most of all he has that sarcastic humor we all love him for. He really had me laughing out loud in this one. Kudos Greg! Some great lines: "Okay, now that I've set back human-gargoyle relations for the next millennium..." and "Look, I know you've never seen Star Trek or Quantum Leap, but I need you to understand - I'm from the future." Great, great stuff.

- One other scene I want to point out is the meeting between the rightful heirs of the Scottish throne. There is a lot of cool stuff going on here. You've got this new character called "The Grim". The moniker is such a contrast to how he seems to actually be. I like him. He seems wise and kind and good-natured. A really good guy in a really ugly world. I love how he knows from his own family history that gargoyles can be powerful allies. He makes me wish that his wisdom and optimism about gargoyles would lead to a good future between the species, though we know this is not to be. Not yet. The other three characters are not new at all. We've got Maol Chalvim just as brooding as ever. Findlaech, who has always been such a great mix of "look at the bright side" and "face reality". And then young Bodhe. Bodhe was a fun surprise. I was surprised he was the Grim's son, I was surprised at his relative youth next to his future friend Findlaech, and most of all I was surprised by his eagerness to follow his father into battle. This is very different from the somewhat cowardly man we know he grows to be. I have to wonder what changes him down the road?

- One final note before I wrap this review up. The "wanted posters" that Constantine is displaying all over Scotland... they seem to have been drawn by the same artists that are designing the characters in Spectacular Spider-Man. Tom especially has a strong resemblance to Peter Parker. I find myself looking for the mole... Anyway, kinda funny. I guess now that references to the other show goes both ways.

- This issue was just awesome. One of the best of the ten chapters, in my humble opinion. The art, the plot, the writing all of it was perfection. My only gripe would be the cover, but one message of this series has always been to not judge a book by its cover and that axiom certainly bears truth for me here. This chapter really leaves me desperate for more, so I'm off to read #11!

lil c writes...

am i going 2 have a gurl

Todd Jensen writes...

Thanks for the second act of "A Handful of Thorns". I enjoyed it, especially all the in-jokes (Brooklyn's spin-off remarks, the Green Goblin thinking of calling up Disney about the gargoyles, Elisa repeating her "street pizza" line from "Awakening Part One", Demona's remark about the stage being crowded enough, etc.). You must really have had a blast writing it.

So how good would a couple of gargoyle beasts be at looking after an egg? (At least nobody is going to try stealing it with Bronx and Fu-Dog on guard duty!)

On the more serious note, I liked your exploring of the impact of Brooklyn's Timedancing adventures upon the trio.

A great cliffhanger ending (I hope it won't offend any of the readers). I'll admit that I would expect the Spear of Destiny to be in a different location in the Gargoyles Universe - I won't say where, because it would break the "no original ideas" - but I've read enough about the medieval legends concerning that same spear to guess.

Looking forward to Act Three (I hope the weekend won't seem too slow).

Anonymous writes...

In the comics are we ever going to find out what happened to Brooklyn in his 40 years of time travel?

Matt writes...

SPOILERS!

My Review For Gargoyles #9, "Rock of Ages"...

- Well. That was worth the wait. Okay, so I couldn't wait any longer and had SLG ship a couple copies of Gargoyles: Clan-Building Volume 2 to me directly (or rather to my workplace so I could get them even faster). Just to finally have it feels great. Ask my coworkers, I was bouncing off the walls today. And here is the funny part; I've only read half the book so far. I decided in advance not to just read through the whole thing in one big gulp, no matter how badly I want to. I know that over the next weeks, months, years, new Gargoyles material is going to be scarce if existent and I want to make this last. So, with that in mind, I'm reading one issue at a time, reviewing it and waiting til I've assimilated it pretty well before moving on. You have no idea how much temptation I have. So, the reviews for 9-12 will be given without any idea of what happens in the following issues (and hopefully there will be more beyond 12). Being that as it may, I'm happy that the first issue I read happens to be #9 as I witnessed the Radio Play in 2008 in which it was a part and thus received major spoilers. I was eager to actually see it though. And to see how the fractured timeline thing worked itself into the issue.

- So, without further ado... the cover. Gorgeous. Perfect. Lex and Hudson look great, but Griff is just awesome. I mean, I've always liked the guy, but this is just so cool. At no other time has Griff (or any other English gargoyle) looked so... well... gargoyle-like. Turn Griff to stone with that expression and you can see him on some building or church. He is scary and cool and so dynamic. I LOVE Griff on the cover.

- So, on with the story. It has always been difficult to review this story 'in order', but I'll do my best. (I sometimes think I should've written these reviews then randomly mixed up the paragraphs for effect.) So, with a few side-bars, we continue with the battle above Westminster while Arthur checks out the Stone inside. Lex wakes in Staghart's arms (*sigh*) and quickly takes control of the situation. Go Lexington; he is pretty impressive here. After waking from unconsciousness, he quickly gathers "the gist" of the situation, comes up with a plan and implements it to spectacular effect. Don't ask me why, but I especially liked the viewpoints of the Steel Clan and Iron Clan robots in infrared. I had fun deciphering their little codes. Great attention to detail with all that. 'ICR', 'SCR', 'Tracking:Lexington' and cool how they just identify Griff and Amp as "U.G.-1" and "U.G.-3" since they don't know their names. Neat. So after the ICR and SCR are taken care of (by Coyote, whoops). Coldsteel and Coyote make a quick exit. Coyote's light blast was cool, though I wonder why he didn't use it during the battle. Anyway, a fun end to a fun battle. And Coyote makes it away nearly unscathed, he must be thinking his luck has finally turned.... nah.

- So morning comes and the Stone is being moved and we move to the second airborne battle. This one was a lot of fun too. The way Coldsteel ties up Coldfire is just so darn suggestive, ya know? Coyote's chain-saw, Coldfire's head-butt and especially the way Coldstone takes out Coyote are great attacks that came as really fun surprises. It isn't always easy to keep these battles fresh and original, but Greg does a great job. Kudos there. And it isn't just the actions, the lines are superb. The dialogue of the whole scene is great and flows so well. Coldsteel has a lot of good ones, but Coldstone's "Define this!" got a laugh out of me, probably because when he said it I could just hear Mr. Worf saying to some Borg "Assimilate this!" in a similar situation. I have to admit that it struck me as odd that Coyote would refer to Xanatos as "David" when talking to Coldstone. He always called him "Xanatos" before, why the first name basis now? I also liked that Coldsteel's self-repair initiation seems to mention the Matrix technology. Kinda a cool little thing. Oh yeah, Coldstone running around the bottom of the river is cool too.

- Alright, on to the Stone itself. We get several more stories from Shari. I have to admit, these don't grab me the way they did in #7-8. Maybe it was that I was less familiar with the legends and characters mentioned or maybe I was too interested in the modern day stuff. I dunno. I imagine in time I'll become more familiar with these legends and historical figures. Gargoyles is always good for that, eh? One thing I immediately wondered is if the man behind Robert the Bruce is, in fact, Macbeth fighting on the sly for Scotland. Or is he the Irishman Cormac Maccarthy? Or is he some random dude who happens to look like Macbeth? Or is Cormac just one of Macbeth's alias'? Hard to say, though I suspect talk with the fans and some research will reveal more. Gargoyles sure has a way of making you hit the books. Kudos to Greg for that.

- Now we get to where I get a bit confused. So, we know the Illuminati wants the Stone. They get Xanatos to help. But I'm not sure I understand why, or what exactly Xanatos is up to here. The Stone is in the car being driven by some English military dude (presumably). Xanatos uses the shoe box to stall the convoy on the bridge. Coyote and Coldsteel head to the bridge but don't make it there. While the cars are stopped, Xanatos hits a button which flips the stone with a replica. Alright. The shoe box is found to not be a bomb and the convoy moves on to Scotland. But the same car (with this woman driving now) arrives at some warehouse a little later with the Stone and it is later taken to Carbonek. So... what happened? I'm afraid I didn't figure it out. And I really hate that. I'm not sure if I should feel dissapointed or just stupid. The whole plot leaves me with a lot of questions. The Stone itself seems to say it is every rock and that protecting, mending, stealing or hoarding it is utterly "pointless". Well, great. So that means it doesn't matter which Stone is real and which a fake. But I still want to know what Xanatos' plan was. Was he trying to obtain the Stone for himself while making both the Illuminati and the authorities believe they have the real stone in their possession? Why did he send the robots to attack the gargoyles the night before and what were Coldsteel and Coyote going to do had they reached the bridge? Why did Xanatos summon Coldfire and Coldstone? What happened to stone that was flipped in the car? How did the car get to be driven by the Illuminati woman? I've read the book several times over trying to understand this stuff and I hate to say I don't, but I just don't. *shrugs*

- But moving on, we get to Carbonek. These characters are not what I expected. They are modern. Modern clothes, modern personalities, even beyond modern cybernetics. I guess it makes sense to think about it now, but I sure didn't expect it. The Stone's long dialogue to the four men is just awesome. So cool to think about. What a list. I especially love some of the references like the Megalith Dance and Uluru. Cool. And for the past year I've been thinking about the Stone's little comment to Duval about Arthur being awake and his reaction. This is really interesting stuff. I want to know how the Illuminati knew he'd sleep for another 200 years, but I suppose that is a story for another day. It is funny, for a long time we heard in the series a lot of characters (including Arthur himself) talk about how he'd been awakened early. I always suspected that they were wrong and that Arthur woke precisely when he was destined to and that no one knew what they were talking about. Looks like I might be wrong. And looks like Elisa might've really screwed up the future. Guess Samson will just have to do his best without Arthur.

- Okay, the "Hey" "Hey" Stone/Grail scene is just hilarious. It was hilarious during the Radio Play and it is hilarious in the book.

- So we come to the end of this tale. Which is really just the beginning. Hudson, Lexington, Coldstone and Coldfire decide to hang out with the London Clan a while and it sounds like the latter two might just rejoin the Manhattan Clan when Hudson and Lex return. We'll see. Meanwhile, it is fun to see Una and Leo (and presumably Pog) in the background. And Lunette gets her little line. Coldsteel is off again, but this time he is untraceable, or so Xanatos promises. Xanatos gets the Coyote Diamond back. I like the bit about being it's minder only.

- For the most part, I loved this chapter. Yes, Xanatos' scheme still alludes me, but I'm not worried too much about it. Though I don't understand how things happened exactly, I get the gist of it and know what the end results are. The book itself is filled with so much good stuff, that I'm willing to overlook this problem. And perhaps it is only a problem for me anyway and someone will explain it to me soon. Anyway, I'm off to read #10 now... SO EXCITED!

Todd Jensen writes...

In Act One of "Religious Studies 101: A Handful of Thorns", when Jameson's handing out assignments to everyone at the Daily Bugle, he sends Foswell to investigate the Dominic Dracon part of the story with the words "You know that world!" Now, while I'm not an expert on Spider-Man, I picked up from the discussions of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" in the Station 8 comment room that in the comics, Foswell had apparently lived a double life as a reporter and a crime boss. Was Jameson's line an in-joke about that?

Professor Mangle writes...

What does Disney's aquisition of Marvel mean for the future of Gargoyles?

Todd Jensen writes...

I read Act One of the Radio Play and enjoyed it (it might be second-best to actually hearing the voice actors reprise their roles, but I could still imagine their voices while reading it). I enjoyed the way you wove the two universes together. A few moments that especially stood out to me:

1. Peter's mention of the "Cliff Notes version" of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

2. Dominique reminiscing about the founder of Ravencroft (these kinds of speeches by spectacularly long-lived characters are generally a lot of fun).

3. The portrayal of Dominic Dracon as still crushed by the denouement of "The Silver Falcon". (I know that this isn't canon, but I think this is exactly the way he'd have gone after the marbles disappointment.)

4. Jonah Jameson getting Travis Marshall on the phone.

5. The meeting between Captain Stacy and Captain Chavez, especially Chavez's "Twilight Zone" remark.

6. The echo of "The Mirror" when Demona's smuggler delivers part of the Spear of Longinus to her home.

7. Demona's meta-reference to the first act at the end.

I look forward to the next instalment tomorrow.

Shawntae Howard writes...

Now that Marvel Comics, a company that once published a Gargoyles comic series, and Disney have now merged into one, would there be any chance that Marvel/Disney could bring back Gargoyles in some fashion? Since one of the reasons for Disney to aquire Marvel was to gain access to a market that catered more towards teenage boys, it seems that one of the only action series it produced on it's own could find a new home under this merger.

Also, has there been any update on the release of Season 2 vol.2, perhaps the best string of Gargolye episodes made, again, particularly now that Disney is one with Marvel it could be labeled under a Marvel logo (since again at one time an actual Marvel comic) and gain more fan/dollar support that way.