Phoenician writes...

A happy anniversary! Hmmm, I should probably offer some context.

Not sure when you'll read this, but today marked the third year since "A Little Crazy" was released. I figured I would mark the occasion by submitting to the queue my initial S8 reaction from 2022, but a quick look at the archives revealed that I didn't make a habit of initial reactions until Gargoyles #5! So what follows is more contemporary, but I hope my enthusiasm for new canon is no less diluted. I'm not too worried about spoilers for a three year-old comic, but I will remain somewhat vague about future issues or story arcs:

I think this is the first time that I noted the lavender/purple font of the roar over the bandits' car. An indication that the roar was Goliath's? Could have been Angela too, I guess, but Elisa's comment of "No need. Backup's already here!" really steers the sound effect to the iconic Keith David growl.

Angela's panel of lifting the bandit out of the car jumps to Angela pulling the guy up to her eye-level mid-flight, which has to be a terrifying experience altogether, hehehe.

I love the look of Lexington as he screeches the car to a halt.

Totally forgot that there a Three Stooges reference in this issue. Time for another page for GargWiki d:

Morgan's talk with Matt is certainly a precursor of things to come for Elisa in this arc. While I'm curious which rule Elisa broke -- her working on her time off, or leaving before everything and everyone's been booked -- I'm realizing that as I type this that it's probably all of the above.

"Love on a Parapet" sounds like a future Daily Tattler headline after the events of Gargoyles #10.

I love the callback to "The Rock" with Elisa's line of "normalcy's overrated" and a flashback to your story behind Gnash's snogging line from Voices From the Eyrie. Love Lex making note of the Briticism, and Katana and Brooklyn's first canonical back-and-forth, gentle as it is (I can only image how they were forty years earlier centuries ago or to come). And with Broadway with Angela, the Three Musketeers are in their latest bout of growing pains.

But yes, just a fun script all around.

Given the revelation in the nature of Coldstone's narration in Gargoyles #12, I'm curious if Elisa will ever share a version of this story to someone like Maria Chavez. Obviously the tone in this issue is certainly more pleasant than what we will see in Gargoyles #11 (and the Captain would already know some details like how they but Brod and Dracon in the same cell for fun), but I suspect Chavez would eventually more substantive than Matt's assist in "Young At Heart".

I recall how I did not notice the Jogger injured from the Dracon Drug Lab explosion until other fans in the Comment Room pointed it out.

I like how Jack Dane is fully part of Brod's gang as a consigliere now. I also enjoy that Owen brings a cordless phone (it's not necessarily a cellphone folks) on a platter.

Coldstone's indifference with the humans makes sense . . . he was very much out of earshot when Goliath redefined the Manhattan Clan's "castle" at the end of "Reawakening" and he's been occupied with multiple personalities and tracking Coldsteel since then. So Goliath (re)minding his rookery brother their (for lack of a better term) mission statement feels natural . . . and a chance for Elisa to wonder if Goliath's been reading Batman comic books in the library d:

I wonder which guard told Dracon about Dominic and Dino being released. Love the uneasiness he carries (that Brod also notices) when he hears the news.

I almost forgot Talon was in this issue! Naturally this is the "Miracle Child" arc, but I image a new reader realizing how much Elisa understated her life as "a little crazy" by this point, lol.

Brendan and Margot arm-in-arm is probably the most affectionate I've ever seen those two, but their facial expressions have them wary about something, if not with each other. Their opinion of their whereabouts, perhaps?

It is wild to think about Thailog taking an interest in Maggie and Talon's baby after seeing the events of Gargoyles: Quest. And what a chilling moment in describing the kid as an orphan. "No. Not yet."

Anyways, those are my thoughts on Gargoyles #1: "A Little Crazy!" I know I ate this issue faster than the Archmage ate the Grimorum when it debuted, buying my physical copies but also ordering the digital so I could read it as soon as it was midnight (somewhere, that is. Pretty sure my time zone allowed me to read this on December 6th, 2022). I know I was also immediately enamored by George Kambadais artwork and I love that he's since returned for the (as of now) two Winter Specials.

It was a delight to see just how much has been covered in just three years' time. I'll probably post my (revisited) thoughts on Gargoyles #2 when that anniversary rolls around. Until then, I can't wait to read Demona #5 and the next Winter Special and whatever's planned to come in 2026 . . . Never the End!