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Annonymous writes...

After Gargoyles #7 came out, someone asked on here if you could post the descriptions you gave to the artists of some of the new characters, and you were able to provide some.

With a lot more issues out, would you be willing to post more of these descriptions for more of the new characters? I'd love to compare your words to the artists's final products for anyone, but especially Katana, Fu-Dog, Nashville, Sacrifice, Falstaff and his crew, the top tier Illuminati, etc.

Greg responds...

Maybe this'll hold you over for now:

NEW CHARACTERS â€" (in order of appearance)
• FALSTAFF a.k.a. JOHN OLDCASTLE â€" (Age 60.) Falstaff is a huge man, very tall and seemingly very fat (though it’s mostly muscle like a sumo wrestler). He’s Caucasian with a full head of snow-white hair and a big white beard and mustache. He’s almost always smiling, and there’s something jolly, even Santa-esque about him. But he’s actually quite dangerous. He affects a medieval style of dress. John also appears at age 31 in flashback. Back then, John had bristly jet black hair, beard and mustache. He was broad-shouldered and beefy back then, but not at all fat. He wore normal clothes for the time (1968). He had a kind expression on his face. In a montage sequence, he ages from 31 to 48, gaining weight and grey hair along the way. (See page 22 for the details.)
• DOLL â€" (Age 20.) A pretty, tall, slim Asian girl wearing a lot of make-up â€" almost a cross between kabuki and goth. She’s got very long limbs, and she’s a contortionist. Her clothes are strategically placed tatters. She’s barefoot. Think of an Asian Daryl Hannah in Blade Runner.
• BARDOLPH â€" (Age 44.) African male, bald with many burn scars all over his face, hands, etc. One eye is almost closed over with scarring. Like most of Falstaff’s crew, he wears Renaissance Fair garb. He breathes fire.
• QUICKLY â€" (Age 29.) Caucasian woman with long loose blonde hair. She wears a loose fitting Renaissance-style sundress, but she’s actually wearing it over a sports bra and long thigh length running shorts. She wears what appear to be boots, but there’s no heel. There really camouflaged track shoes. She has super-speed.
• POINTS â€" (Age 25.) Hispanic male with long dark hair and a Fu Manchu mustache. In Renaissance garb. He is a master of all bladed, sharp things. He has multiple swords, knives, daggers, etc., including short throwing blades, a samurai sword, a broadsword, a rapier, etc.
• PISTOL â€" (Age 52.) Caucasian male with a grey crewcut in Renaissance garb. He is a master of firearms, and has multiple holsters, containing pistols, guns, a sawed-off shotgun, a sniper’s rifle, a grenade-launcher, etc. He NEVER smiles. In a montage sequence, we see him at age 40, looking much the same, but with darker hair. (See page 22 for details.)

MARIAH MONMOUTH â€" (Age 26 in 1968.) Dingo/Harry’s mother. A pretty young thing â€" or we would have thought so if we had seen her under different circumstances. She was something of a free spirit and flower-child, with long hair and hippy clothes.

Response recorded on June 28, 2010

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Algernon writes...

Hey Greg,

I finally got the Clan Building Vol. 2 and Bad Guys TPB and I'm loving the hell out of them, expect reviews soon.

Anyway, there's a small point of debate you might be able to resolve for the Gargwiki. In the latter part of the "Redemption" story arc, two of Falstaff's minions -Mistress Quickly and Bardolph- seem to possess superhuman abilities. Namely superspeed and fire breathing respectively. Are these two characters intended to be superhuman or are they merely regular humans with extrodinary though non-super skills?

Greg responds...

It's a sliding scale, so where extraordinary stops and super-human begins is being left intentionally vague. But they're not mutants or anything.

Response recorded on May 07, 2010

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Todd Jensen writes...

I finally got my copy of "Bad Guys" today, and here's my review of the final two chapters in it, as a single post (they blended so well, I thought, that I decided to review them together).

I'll start with one word: Falstaff! I'd hoped, after Dingo's real name was revealed, that he'd get into "Bad Guys" in some way, and I was right. And as a bonus, we not only get Falstaff, but also his familiar gang (Mistress Quickly, Bardolph, Pistol, Doll, and Points [sic] - was his name deliberately changed from "Poins"?). I was delighted that in the last chapters of the comic, we'd get some fresh Shakespeare into "Gargoyles" - this time, you make use of the history plays for the first time.

And I got a big laugh out of Falstaff's original name being "Oldcastle", and his headquarters being named "Eastcheap". Not to mention, also, young Harry saying about his mother Mariah "She's the wind." Though the laughter quickly dried up after I saw, at the end of Chapter Five, what *really* happened to her.

I get a kick out of the way Fang's sitting at the conference table when Hunter's telling them about their new mission.

Was Bardolph's fire-breathing ability inspired by all the jokes about his Shakespearean namesake's fiery complexion in the Henry IV plays?

When Falstaff says that the Illuminati want to save the world, I couldn't help thinking that he might be right about that. We learned in "Gargoyles" #9 that the Illuminati's goals (at least, from Peredur's perspective) had something to do with Arthur's anticipated return, most likely to help him out when that happens - certainly a worthy aim. But of course, as Monsieur le Maire brings up in his phone conversation with the Director, the Society's taking the attitude of letting the ends justify the means (enrolling people like Xanatos, Thailog, and Mace Malone, running the Hotel Cabal, supporting the Quarrymen, stealing a national treasure like the Stone of Destiny, etc.).

Incidentally, even if you hadn't mentioned that the Director was at odds with the Illuminati in "Ask Greg", I think we'd have suspected that the Redemption Squad would be facing them at some point. The conversation between Hunter and Castaway in "Estranged" about who each other's financial backers are, and the Casablanca Hotel (whose name echoes the Hotel Cabal's), set up enough of a parallel to the Illuminati Society that a clash would *have* to take place. (Your philosophy about what makes a good antagonist at work, clearly.)

So Fiona Canmore's a member of the Illuminati. It's not a total shock (I'd seen speculations about it before), but a fun surprise, all the same - and so logical, too, in light of Hunter's identity. Thailog's cameo was fun as well (especially Yama's initial belief that the color on the monitor's gone wrong).

Despite Fang's many bad habits, I was impressed that he helped alert his teammates to the Illuminati's nature through his comments on Thailog, and his part in the battle that followed. Maybe, just maybe, there's hope for him yet.

I was delighted when Dingo urged his teammates not to destroy the island, because of all the artwork and historical artifacts stored there (it reminded me a bit of Broadway and Hudson urging Goliath not to burn the Scrolls of Merlin). Another reason why I've grown fond of the guy.

I liked the ending - Falstaff gets away and the Redemption Squad have only managed to capture one of his gang, but that wasn't the real issue. The real issue was their search for redemption, as Yama points out. (I liked the leavening of humor here - Matrix still displaying his single-minded interest in law and order; even Yama is amused here - and his turning to stone in mid-speech, to Fang's exasperation.)

Thanks for the spin-off, Greg. I hadn't initially expected to like "Bad Guys" (I thought it would be just another conventional action series), but I really enjoyed it a lot - especially with Falstaff and his gang, as I said above. And thanks for the eighteen new chapters in the Gargoyles Universe that you gave us with the comics. I hope that they shan't be the last - but even if they were, they've enriched us all the more.

Greg responds...

Yes, Poins was deliberately changed to Points to fit his skills... and Bardolph's ability was indeed inspired by the "hellfire" within that the Shakespearean Bardolph is always described as having.

Response recorded on February 24, 2010