Ed writes...

Hi Greg,

Since GARGOYLES came back, nobody has yet posted a ramble to Ask Greg as far as I can see and I'm not even sure if you're still looking for them - particularly with the queue so long. But hopefully it is, at least, nice to vicariously share someone discovering GARGOYLES #1. (And if not, since we could be years and many rambles hence by the time you get to this one... oops).

So here, adapted from my S8 first impressions, is my ramble...

NIGHTWATCH

Amazon have annoyed me since they took over ComiXology but I can't fault them here. Getting to my local comic shop before they close at 5.30 is tight on a Wednesday but Amazon delivering the book to my account so early is absolutely perfect for me. I can take a moment in the peace to read before the chaos of the day begins. It just makes for such a pleasant experience.

I also find e-comics my favourite way to read. I can zoom in, the backlit screen makes everything look good but George Kambadais' amazing art particularly benefits.

TEENAGE KICKS

What caught my attention on the preview images was the "all-ages" label. I see it's been adjusted to "teen".

I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I thought what the SLG series did with the little extra leeway was great, especially in the historical scenes.

That said, I was thinking if it was pushing to stay all-ages I might bring some issues into school for my class. I'm glad the rating has been clarified.

(Since writing this, I listened to VOICES FROM THE EYRIE #27 and it sounds like this book won't quite be as edgy as the SLG books so we'll see).

INSIDE COVER

Great stone aesthetic although I miss the punctuation. I guess new-fangled concepts like punctuation doesn't fit the old-school carved-in-stone look.

I've never heard the term "packager" before in comics and I'm grateful to Craig in the Comment Room for filling me in. Nate, from what I can tell, is doing an absolutely bang-up job of promoting the book.

CITY LIGHTS

I'm really in love with George Kambadais' colours. He does brightness so well. The lens flare is a difficult line to tread - one wrong move and he's JJ Abrams. But he manages it. Dark Age Scotland is given a genuinely fresh perspective with that bright sun on the sea and New York looks glorious. And he is master of the speed line.

The gargoyles all look themselves and yet also there's a real flair to the style. He's just such a great choice to make the book feel completely different and yet still quality.

(Which doesn't mean I still don't want to see the legends Christopher Jones, Karine Charlebois and Greg Guler back in the fold when the opportunity presents. Let's hope those spin-offs awaken as well...)

MOONLIGHTING

Of course it's a full moon. But since this is Gargoyles, it's also probably a trail of breadcrumbs to the actual date - or would be if we could pinpoint how far along Maggie was in "Clan-Building". Based on the moon calendar, my guesses were 20 April or 22 May.

Although I'm really curious to see those initial conversations with Brooklyn immediately post-dance and I kind of hope that one day we revisit that day, I do like that we've had a modest time jump. Small enough that it doesn't feel like we're catching up with radically different people which sometimes I feel can be the risk of a time jump - that you're arbitrarily distanced from the characters and have to rediscover them. But large enough that it feels like a great jump-on point.

DETECTIVE'S PERSONAL LOG

I absolutely love the choice to use Elisa as the POV character. Not only is it brilliant hearing the classic narration in Salli Richardson's voice (okay, only in my head, but still), but it feels fresh and yet also like such low-hanging fruit as the human lead is usually the access point to these kinds of shows - April discovering the turtles or the companion discovering the Doctor. In retrospect, 'Gargoyles' really stood apart in this sense -- it was always the story of the gargoyles and Elisa was, initially at least, just another threat to them. That worked brilliantly for the animated series but it makes this flip feel fresh and yet accessible in the best way.

Another VOICES revelation is that there will be different narrators for the next quite-a-few issues. Will be interesting.

TITLE TALK

Okay, a confession. I LOVE the original show's way of presenting titles. There's something about the font, the colour (including the "Hunter's Moon" variants), the use of capitals and inverted commas that's kind of ingrained in me - I just think the show had the best-looking titles in town. But I appreciate there's no sensible reason to resurrect them and frankly this feels much more fresh and modern and, as titles should be, low key. Also, some of the "Clan-Building" titles had an odd distortion where it looks like the aspect ratio had gone skew-whiff. This looks crisp and great.

There's no secret about Greg's penchant for one-word titles (in which I'm including where the only other word is "the").

At a very (very) quick tot counting chapter titles and books:
Season 1 was 40% one-worders
Season 2 was 64% one-worders
Season 3 85% one-worders

In Season 4, so far: 0% one-worders. What's happened to Greg?! (I love "Here in Manhattan" as a title mind you).

LETTER OF THE LORE

Shout out to Jeff Eckleberry. Lettering is thankless if you do it right and disastrous if it goes wrong. There were a couple of times on the SLG book where it stood out for the wrong reasons (at least in my printings). This issue is perfect -- even though there are a few tricky things to pull off like the Eyrie building panel with two different narrators. And I'm not sure outline-less captions always work for me as a general rule but it suits the art in this issue really well. Superb job.

GNASH

If it's been months I kinda feel bad for Gnash if people are misnaming him. Perhaps his parents prefer Nashville (sentimental reasons?). You'd think Lex would have learned after the Angie thing and a few months is plenty of time for him to get used to a new name. Neither of them look happy at being left by Broadway and Brooklyn.

Lots of subtle revelations here. Gnash has seemingly spent a fair bit of time recently in the UK - or around people who use that slang. Or perhaps just around people who like the sixth 'Harry Potter'. And we have confirmation (I'm not sure it was in "Clan-Building" that Katana is from feudal Japan). I love the "don't ask".

SISTER ACT

It's interesting that Elisa considers them sisters since she is effectively Angela's step-mother. And to be honest, even on the World Tour, I kind of looked at them more of a family unit. Of course, Elisa's a relatively young woman so she's not going to think of herself as a mother figure to an adult conceived a thousand years plus years ago. But I wonder if Angela would see it the same way.

SPINNING PLATES

Owen is just kinda standing there. It's great to see him but he's literally just holding an empty plate and staring. I feel like I'm missing something really obvious...? (It's later been clarified by more eagle-eyed Phoenician in the S8 CR).

THUG LIFE

Great to see Glasses and Jack Dane. Good thing I rewatched "Turf" recently for the first time in years as I forgot Jack Dane had partnered with Brod.

"We made them share a cell because we thought it'd be funny" - does Elisa have any control over prisoner placement?

YOU WERE ONLY MEANT TO BLOW THE BLOODY DOORS OFF

Apparently the book was too exciting because the middle pages of the comic fell out of their staples as soon as I got there. A bit disappointing - I've never had that happen with a new comic before and if it were my first read-through I'd be a bit more taken out of it.

Since then, someone else in the room has reported an issue with the Nakayama copy and the stapling. However, I bought a second Nakayama copy and the inside pages are fine, and the other copies I have are fine too.

The covers are incredible. In any other situation, I'd feel this kind of thing is a bit of a rip-off but in the case of 'Gargoyles' where the breadth of fan interest has, historically, not always been there but the depth certainly has, giving fans a value reason to buy multiple copies just makes sense. I'm not able to support (or frankly, even locate) all of these but my favourite is George Kambadais'. I do like it when there's cohesion between the cover art and the interiors but also it's just a great image. However, the Nakayama and Fleeks variants are runners-up.

STONE COLD

I wasn't sure how Coldstone and Coldfire would go down as we've really seen very little of them as characters outside their Othello/Desdemona/Iago plotline. I like how Coldstone is willing to advocate the "wrong" (or at least the selfish) choice. And Coldfire is more sympathetic but as far as I can tell is responsible for the fire and thus potentially the civilian casualty (who we've since realised is our beloved Jogger - and Todd ID'd the paramedics as from "Deadly Force" which is the deepest of deep cuts. Anyway, it makes me concerned whether or not the Coldduo are really cut out for the kind of work the gargoyles do. Hmm.

I think Coldstone will be proved right though: there is a problem if the gargoyles are only seen by the "bad guys" and don't have any wider representation. I wonder where this will go and I feel like this could have a bigger resonance across the "Here in Manhattan" arc.

BACK TO THE BACKSTORY

I love the way the recap narration here keeps us in the action. This was one of the things that jangled me a bit with previous recaps in Clan-Building #1, #3 and back in the original show in episodes like "Outfoxed" and "The Cage". In "Nightwatch" especially it felt like Goliath telling Elisa something she already knew so the audience could listen in. This feels so much more elegant.

Plus, it's just never as exciting seeing something the second time around. There's no need here to see a Sevarius flashback for the purposes of this issue so we get to see Brendan and Margot instead because... well, of course we do! (Seriously, I got so distracted by the pair of them I missed that this sequence was about the drain at first).

And more cameos - love seeing Erin, Benny and Thug in colour! And always great to see Shari back. (It must be a little weird for the real Erin and Benny that their 'mutate selves' are still, give or take, the same age as they were when they first 'debuted').

QUIET PLEASE FOR THE MAIN EVENT

One of the clever by-products of Elisa narrating the story is that the tone shifts when it goes "quiet" and we're not in her head. Thailog doesn't need an introduction or a name - he's totally the bad guy. And yet the re-use of the close-up mouth angle just emphasises he's a clone.

Thailog's final lines are pretty chilling but I wonder if there's something else happening. I just can't imagine Thailog taking to the languid pace of raising a child. Surely the accelerated pace of clone ageing is more his speed? Yes, a child born to mutates is significant, but he has the mutates' designer almost literally on his right hand. Is it just the link to Elisa that makes him want this specific child? Or is this a distraction? What a bastard.

CLIFF-LOUNGING

No mega cliffhanger for this one - not on the final page anyway. That's fine. I really love how this is kind of a chill issue, just surveying the lay of the land.

9.09% BIGGER!

I admit, I never expected this one to be 24 pages, even though the SLG books were. 22 or even 20 seems to have been such a standard for a long time (admittedly I don't currently read any other comics regularly). I am, of course, delighted.

All told -- I love it. Yes, it's very heavy on introductions but it never feels clogged with it. Everything moves along at a nice pace, we get to see where the clan and key allies are at this point in their lives. Everything feels fresh and modern and accessible. The art is amazing. The dialogue is great.

It pulls off the incredible feat of both feeling like the original series while also feeling like a modern regeneration of it. Just stunning.

Thank you to everyone involved, congratulations Greg and fingers crossed that this is the start of a truly epic reawakening.

Anonymous writes...

In the comics, the six most notable human members of the Green Lantern Corps, in order, are as follows:

Harold "Hal" Jordan
John Marshall Stewart
Guy Darrin Gardner
Kyle Rayner
Simon Baz
Jessica Viviana Cruz

As such, given that it has been indicated that there are FOUR Green Lantern in the Justice League as of Season 4 of Young Justice, this would mean that Kyle Rayner DEFINITELY has to be the FOURTH Green Lantern whom Aquaman (Orin) had indirectly mentioned, correct? If so, then when exactly did he join the Justice League and what is his designation number?

Anonymous writes...

Questions in relation to the Earth-16 version of Ice:

1. In regards to Ice's real name (Tora Olasfsdotter), why is her last name spelled out as Olafsdotter, and NOT as Olafsdottir; considering it seems like it is apparently based on Icelandic naming tradition?

2. Since Ice's last name clearly indicates that Olaf is the name of her father, has Olaf ever also gone by the name Marius; like in the comics? Also, is he currently deceased; like in the comics, and if so, how old was he when he died?

3. Is Ice's mother's name Elsa? Also, assuming she is still alive; like in the comics, how old is she as of the end of Season 4?

4. Is Ice's sister's full name Nikolina Olafsdotter OR Nikolina Olafsdottir? Also, is she is Ice's older sister or younger sister? Finally, assuming she is still alive; like in the comics, how old is she as of the end of Season 4?

5. Is Ice's citizenship identified as Norwegian?

6. Was Ice's as-of-yet-unnamed paternal grandfather an evil person; just like how he was depicted in the comics? Also, is he currently deceased; like in the comics, and if so, how old was he when he died?

7. Was Ice and her sister born into a Norwegian Romani clan; like in the comics?

Anonymous writes...

how did the light react when they heard of the anti light

Brian Smith writes...

Hi Greg, love your work!

The trailer for Across The Spider-Verse dropped and it looks like it's got every version of Spidey in it. Well... almost.

You know how Andrew Garfield said he wasn't the werewolf? I'm wondering if your version is the werewolf this time... and I'm obviously talking about the werewolf we saw in the trailer, duh!

Rachel writes...

Dear Greg,

I know this isn't what AskGreg is for but I didn't know any other way to contact you.
My name's Rachel Bierman. Big fan of your work! I'm a college student who wishes to get into the publishing industry after graduation next year and part of my efforts to make connections and put my name out there is to create a book blog where I review books and interview authors.

I would love to interview you if you're able to. To make it easy I can just email you the questions and you can type out your replies when you have time in your schedule. It would cover your comics, and your Rain of Ghosts series and future endevours.

If yes, you can email me at rrbierman@gmail.com. If you no, you can still email me the rejection. I'd love to hear back from you if you have time but I understand if you don't.

You can see what the inteverview would be like here: https://rachelreadsreviews434255182.wordpress.com/category/interview/

And my post on your works here: https://rachelreadsreviews434255182.wordpress.com/2022/11/27/author-highlight-greg-weisman/

Have a good day,
Sincerely,
Rachel Bierman

Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

#1. What is the gargoyle tradition in regards with dealing with the death of one of their own; in comparison to various human traditions?

#2. Is the gargoyle version of "death by natural causes" like a permanent form of stone sleep; in which very old gargoyles who have reached the natural end of their lives one day turn to stone when the sun rises, but don't wake up when the sun sets? If not, then what actually happens?

#3. Do gargoyles establish parent-child and other familial relationships among generations of their own kind in the modern era; all the way up to the year 2198?

#4. Did Brooklyn became the permanent leader of the Manhattan Clan AFTER Goliath's death (which happens at some point between 2004 and 2198)? If so, how long did Brooklyn held this position before it eventually was passed on to his own successor?

#5. Between 2004 and 2198, was there ever a civil war amongst the gargoyle clans; between those who sided with the humans and those who hated the humans?

#6. Between 2004 and 2198, did Elisa Maza died of natural causes, or did she died in the line of duty, or did she died of a broken heart (assuming Goliath's death was the cause of it)?

Anonymous writes...

1. Do the following individuals from the comics also exist in the Earth-16 universe?

Samuel "Sam" Kent - Father of Jonathan Kent, father-in-law of Martha Kent, adoptive paternal grandfather of Clark Kent.

Harry Kent - Brother of Jonathan Kent, brother-in-law of Martha Kent, and adoptive paternal uncle of Clark Kent.

Sarah "Sal" Kent - Wife of Harry Kent, sister-in-law of Jonathan and Martha Kent, and adoptive paternal aunt of Clark Kent.

Bert Clark - Brother of Martha Kent, brother-in-law of Jonathan Kent, and adoptive maternal uncle of Clark Kent.

Daniel "Dan" Fordman - First husband of Martha Kent; he passed away due to lung cancer.

Eliza Fordman - Sister of Daniel "Dan" Fordman, and former sister-in-law of Martha Kent.

2. Are the following biological relationships correct in relation to Kal-El/Clark Kent in the Earth-16 universe?

Don-El - Biological paternal great-great-grandfather

Ter-El - Biological paternal great-grandfather

Seyg-El - Biological paternal grandfather

Lor-Van - Biological maternal grandfather

In-Ze - Biological paternal great-uncle

Zor-El - Biological paternal uncle

Alura El - Biological paternal aunt

Kara Zor-El - Biological paternal cousin

In case you are confused as to why I put "adoptive paternal/maternal" and "biological paternal/maternal," I am trying to make sure it makes sense from Clark's point-of-view in regards to his biological and adoptive families.

Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

1. In the Earth-16 universe, are the following relationships below correct in regards to the family of Soranik Natu?

Thaal Sinestro (biological father)
Arin Sur (biological mother)
Abin Sur (biological maternal uncle)
Amon Sur (biological maternal cousin)
Dgibb Natu (adoptive father)
Karoll Natu (adoptive mother)

2. Is Soranik Natu's birth name Soranik Sinestro?

3. As of the time of her first appearance, how old is Soranik Natu?

4. Since Soranik's father is from Korugar, and her mother is from Ungar, this makes Soranik a Korugaran/Ungaran hybrid, correct?

5. When exactly did Soranik Natu join the Green Lantern Corps?

6. At the point of time of her appearance during the credits scene of "Rescue and Search," does Soranik know who her biological parents are; even though she is adopted? is she also aware who her maternal biological uncle and cousin are?

Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

I just want to let you know that the comic book "Dark Crisis: Big Bang" has an updated list of worlds in the DC Multiverse. Sadly, "Young Justice" is NOT on the list.