On the latest crossover [SPOILER] , I've skimmed it so far, but found it rather fun (if, again, not one of the deeper "Gargoyles" stories).

We got a couple of extra Marvel characters that weren't mentioned in the solicitations, whom I'd heard a little about before the crossover came out: Mole-Man (the main thing I know about him is that he was the Fantastic Four's first super-villain) and Lockjaw. (I thought it a pity that Lockjaw didn't get to meet Bronx and Fu-Dog, by the way.) We also got another Marvel character going by the name of "Gargoyle" (I'd heard a bit about him as well).

Brooklyn has clashed with Coldsteel during his Timedancing (maybe even in the 2198 setting). I'm assuming that this element will become canon (though the Marvel crossover elements obviously won't).

More to say about it later, when I've digested it more fully, but it made another amusing read. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Wed, Nov 12, 2025 7:47:48 am EST from 68.99.93.213

Careful, two releases in two weeks. I'm starting to feel a little spoiled.
Anyway, some quick thoughts on Gargoyles X Fantastic Four.

[SPOILER] Hoo boy, and I thought the last crossover was packed. Besides our main cast of characters we've got Gnash, Frankie and Val taking a big part of the action. And jeez, there's so many villains and threats I'm pretty sure I missed a few things. Let's see, we've got Mole Man, his servants the moloids, Kaiju from Underearth, Yuri Topolov's Gargoyle and his son, the Titanium Man armors showed up and frikkin Annihilus too.

Oh, and the bestest boy on the moon Lockjaw showed up as well, I feel like I'm going to have to do Marvel profiles just like when I reviewed Young Justice.

This is another action packed piece which I honestly don't mind. We've had a lot of story and plot in the Demona series so I don't mind that we get an issue dedicated mostly to action. One thing that really helps is because they skipped out on the obligatory "heroes fight each other when they first meet" bit it allows them to go straight to cooperation and everyone doing what they do best. Reed science-ing a solution, Thing and Torch trading jabs, the kids getting into trouble but also getting out of it and the mom's being the real heroes of the story.

I love the team up between the moms of the group, Sue, Elisa and Katana. It's a different dynamic than what we usually see in Gargoyles and seeing Katana in action once again raises questions about her creation and whether Greg drew inspiration from other fictional mothers. It's great to see her and Sue getting along, I can only imagine the headache-inducing stories involving their kids that they swapped.

A couple things I've noticed. We've had Isaac's Gargoyle, Topolov's Gargoyle, Dragon Man, and now Annihilus. A lot of characters that evoke Disney's Gargoyles and while it's a neat little nod, I can't help but wonder if Greg included them because they might've been an inspiration. Maybe something worth asking on the Q&A. Another is Annihilus dropping the "meatbag" insult that Red Volcano liked to use in Young Justice. Another cute reference.

I didn't see Gorgolla the Living Gargoyle in the lineup of underground monsters. Shame. That would've been quite the deep pull. Maybe in the next crossover. [/SPOILER]

That's all for now, hope everyone had a good read. I can't wait for the next one.
Matthew the Fedora Guy
You're Gonna Carry That Weight
posted @ Wed, Nov 12, 2025 5:46:45 am EST from 184.23.35.150

****Blaise rushes into the Room, a stack of papers and other notes in his arms. He trips and they go flying everywhere. He dashes about collecting them as he speaks.**** Trying to get all my thoughts on the latest issue of "Demona: Better Angels" down before tomorrow's "Gargoyles x Fantastic Four" release. I've got them pretty much lined up, but before that:

KICKSTARTER FOR "DISNEY AFTERNOON REWIND"> If somebody's already posted about this, I must have missed it (sorry!). There is a Kickstarter ending this Friday for "The Disney Afternoon REWIND" board games. It appears to be a board game system with six themes, each based on a Disney Afternoon property. These include "Ducktales" (OG 1980's), "Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers", "Talespin", "Darkwing Duck", "Goof Troop" and, of course, "Gargoyles". I'm not sure how many folks here already know of it or are interested, but just in case, I figured I'd leave the link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maestromedia/the-disney-afternoon-rewind

OK, now with that out of the way:
FALLEN FROM THE RANKS...>[SPOILER] We are back in Constantinople (not Istanbul...sorry, I couldn't resist), and specifically the Great Palace. This is a very unique occurrence as far as Angelika is concerned, because she can count "on one hand" the number of times Demona has *willingly* returned to a place they had left (and gargoyles have less digits than humans to begin with...). So Angelika's twigged that Demona is up to something (there's a big surprise), and points out that she always finds out the scheme eventually (giving us a slight indication of their life and interactions off-panel from us) so Demona might as well just tell her now. During this we get our first look at Angelika in the current time of 1195 (as the next page will inform us) and see...the daughter is now older than the mother. Yeah, Angelika has entered the later part of middle age now (50+ physically, and something I'm closer to now than I'd like to think). I mean, we could calculate her age from the solicitation, but just seeing her as she is now, especially when we first saw her as just a little kid? It has a greater impact on me than even seeing her as a teenager or adult in her prime. One can only imagine how this is hitting Demona.
Oh, yeah! Demona. She doesn’t tell Angelika anything, just smiles mysteriously and gives an affectionate gesture to the head, much to older/younger gargoyle's annoyance.

Inside the palace, we see the current Emperor, Isaac Angelos, and his court gathered to listen to a Storyteller at night. And yeah, the Storyteller is familiar to us, though never named in the dialogue. As for the Emperor, I admit that I am not as well versed in the history of old Constantinople as others so the later mentions of the coup caught me by surprise. Regardless, right now Magni and Modi still stand guard on either side of the current Emperor as the Storyteller begins her tale and we see who all is listening in: Angelika is by herself on a balcony while on the floor a crowd of people--wait, is that Puck?! It kind of looks like him...but I could be mistaken. Anyway, moving on...

We find out where Demona is on the next page: she's in the Treasury talking to the Treasurer--sorry, *Archivist*, Abu Jafar Ahmad Ibn Yusuf Ibn Al-Kammad (how many generations back do you need to say your fathers, I wonder). She is surprisingly pleasant in conversation with him, too! She draws particular attention to the Eye of Odin, mentioning a bit of her previous history with it, causing Abu to remark on the surprising longevity of gargoyles, presumably because she still looks so young even compared to the two gargoyles of the Varangian Guard who have been there as long as the Eye themselves. I don't know if Demona had the lie ready or just thought it up on the spot, but she tells him that gargoyle lifespans depend on "the position of the stars when [they] hatch." This influences him as an astronomer (something Demona already seems to know) to gaze out the window with wonder at the night sky. The lies don't stop there, either, as Demona tells Abu to call her "Angel." So yeah, she's definitely up to something and it involves charming him in some way.

Back in the throne room, the Storyteller is closing her story (apparently an earlier version of what we now know as the tale of "Aladdin") on a cliffhanger, much to the consternation of the Emperor. Once again, she indicates she "must" do this, generating more of our intrigue into just what her deal is. The Emperor, however, takes her refusal to continue the story much better than his brother Alexios, who first berates the Storyteller for contradicting the Emperor before backing down at the Emperor's request, albeit in a very passive-aggressive manner. So yeah, he doesn't seem to like his brother and I'm sensing treachery in the wind from him.

But now Angelika has landed and the Emperor is not ignorant of the meaning she holds for Magni, so he gives his gargoyle guards the rest of the night off. Magni goes to greet Angelika immediately, but she asks him to wait (I love the “Querido” term of endearment from her here) as she goes to speak to the Storyteller.
Once more, we have parallel columns depicting two simultaneous conversations: one between Angelika and the Storyteller and one between Modi and...a random blonde guy? Hang on...[flips back to crowd scene on page 3]...okay, THERE he is! I was so distracted by They-Might-Be-Puck that I completely glanced over the obviously important blonde guy in front. I wonder who he is? Anyway, he’s asking Modi, who he sees has "a position of authority" in the court, if the gargoyle feels that his kind are "safe" in this place and time. An interesting question, and one that brings to my mind old Malcolm Canmore's question to Mowbray about still having gargoyles near his castle back in "Fools Rush In...". Is Blondie friend or foe to gargoyles? Either way, Modi brings up sleeping in an Iron Box (wow, still?) and says that "no gargoyle is safe in this world." It seems he has *feelings* about this.
The other conversation seems much more pleasant, with Angelika speaking to the Storyteller about being interested in her craft, finding stories "as essential to our souls as breathing" (reminds me of Hudson's "breathing the air" proverb), something the Storyteller says is "a verity" (there's that word again), especially for herself (another hint). She then holds Angelika's hand and eagerly says the gargoyle must have very interesting stories that should not be lost, even referring to Angelika by name. Maybe she heard Magni say it a moment ago? Or does she already have some idea of who Angelika is and what stories she has? Still hard to tell what all this one knows.

We briefly visit Demona as she finishes her conversation with Abu. She’s still quite pleasant, and he’s complimentary saying she, "Angel," is aptly named. I don't think the irony is lost on her.

Atop a wall, the two lovers (what would have been the medieval gargoyle equivalent of high school sweethearts when they parted, I'm sure) properly reunite. Nice to know that the years have not dulled their affection for each other. Magni voices regret at the lost time while Angelika wisely says to focus on the now and make the most of their time together. I love this exchange in particular:
ANGELIKA: Life is short. That's what I've learned with Demona.
MAGNI: Unaging Demona?
ANGELIKA: I didn't say I learned it *from* her.
It's nice to know that others have noted Demona’s unchanging appearance (though I doubt everyone would be as wry about it as Magni), and to get another glimpse at the idiosyncacies of the relationship between Demona and Angelika. I like how there is affection toward Demona from Angelika, but not a blindness to her faults.

Unfortunately, the tender moment (with Magni even calling Angelika "My Angel," and what would Demona think of THAT?) is interrupted by the alarm bell. Abu the Archivist has been murdered. The Storyteller, an old friend of the old man, had discovered his body when she came to visit him. Alexios is quick to blame a thief, with Modi responding that the foolish robber wouldn’t make it out of the palace. He also mentions it will take some time to discover what’s missing...only for Magni to immediately clock that the Eye of Odin itself is gone. Alexios was apparently within earshot when Demona was having her conversation about the Eye with Abu, and immediately points the finger at her. Exercising remarkable restraint for her, Demona admits the conversation, but pulls the whole "if I’d wanted it I would have taken it earlier" routine (here "earlier" being 87 years ago) and that she wouldn't have needed to kill a "harmless" old man to do it (honestly, that almost feels kind coming from her). Modi, however, is more quick to suspect the "young Scotsman" who was asking questions as a culprit. Wait, Blondie was a Scotsman? Well, OK then. Either way the Emperor says to arrest both the strange Scotsman and Demona, and the only thing stopping Demona from fighting everyone in the room is Angelika's quiet plea. Demona allows her sword to be taken (smugly noting she doesn't need it) and to be led to the cells. I like that Modi is apologetic about it while Alexios is...well, just a jerk about it. As everyone else leaves the room, our two "consulting detectives" for this mystery story, Angelika and the Storyteller, remain behind to investigate. Love the Storyteller's line here about mysteries being stories "with a yet-to-be-told ending" and her being very good at stories.

In the cells, the Scotsman is very upset at being locked up (naturally), and even moreso with his sword being taken away. Apparently, he had a lot of difficulty forging the thing. He also bemoans getting into these situations (we are just racking up "Noodle Incidents" here!). Of course, then he meets his neighbor in the cells, Demona, and...recognizes her?! Or at least he says she looks familiar, something which she attempts to twist into being prejudiced against gargoyles though he claims otherwise. I don't know if she believes him, but she calls him the exception anyway, and he seems to care about gargoyles still being scapegoated. He's also properly afraid when she easily bends the bars as a show of what she'll do if she's not released an hour before sunrise.
Honestly, though, Demona is being very civil and pleasant this issue! I mean, all things considered. I do wonder about the Scotsman, though. Who is he? An iconoclastic Canmore, perhaps?

The victim was stabbed in the back, so our Detectives speak to Modi, asking to look at Demona's sword. It is bloodless, though the Storyteller points out it could have just been cleaned after, prompting Modi to remark how clever that would have been. When Modi is asked to present the Scotsman's sword, on the other hand, the blade he shows has blood on it. Wait, is that the Scotsman's sword? It looks different...
Well, Modi goes off to free Demona (well before the timeline she gave) and our Detectives are left feeling dissatisfied. Neither seems ready to accept this as the end of the mystery.

Others seem to want the whole business over and done with, however, as the Scotsman is brought to the throne room for questioning and execution, with him proclaiming his innocence and ignorance. I love the "I’ve never laid eyes on your damn'd Eye!" line. And hey! We get some more light cussing in "Gargoyles"! Well, Modi brushes off the Scotsman not having the Eye on him by saying it's probably stashed somewhere in the palace and the Emperor is fine to have the poor kid executed then and there. All the Scotsman can do is whisper, "I’m sorry, Princess...".
And with that, the lightbulb goes off above my head. IT'S TOM! Of course, everything makes sense now. Including the earlier gag about Tom's difficulties forging the sword. He probably recognized Demona but talked himself out of it because it's been 200+ years since the Wyvern massacre. Even if she survived that, there's no way she'd still be alive now, so it couldn't possibly be her, right?

Before Tom can be beheaded with an axe, however, the Storyteller manages to appeal to the Emperor, and in particular a sense of poetic justice, by saying it would be more fitting for the culprit to be beheaded by his own bloody sword. Modi moves to do so, but this time Magni stops the execution (poor Tom's going through one heck of a wringer tonight) by recognizing the sword as Modi's. Turns out the sword currently on Modi's belt is Tom's own (all of the details are in the artwork for those who look and I love that), showing that Modi switched them and revealing him as the killer. His earlier comment about cleaning the sword being "clever" takes new meaning now.

Of course, now that the killer has been revealed, it's time for the Motive Rant, and Modi's is all about how Isaac Angelos, the man who betrayed the previous Komnenos emperor and usurped the throne, is not worthy of loyalty. "Betrayal" has always been a hot button issue for gargoyles, so it's not surprising that Modi would resent serving a usurper. Tellingly, Magni does not argue his brother on that issue but instead points out how Modi murdered an innocent man, and framed and was about to execute another innocent man, and that's harder to justify. Modi doesn't even try, just silently rages.
When the Emperor demands the Eye, Modi says he's returning it to the Northmen and flees. The Emperor is all for pursuit, but Alexios calls to let Modi go, surprisingly enough, saying that the gargoyle served their family faithfully for 10 years, and that none of their human guards could catch him in the air and it would be unfair to demand Magni hunt his own brother. Really, this is uncommonly kind and understanding of Alexios from what we’ve seen of him so fa--wwwwwaaaaaAAAAAIIIIIIITAMINUTE!! He was behind all this, wasn't he? The "Man Behind the Gargoyle," as it were. And I think the Storyteller figures that, too, if her expression in the foreground is any indication.

Sure enough, at the post-reveal epilogue, while Magni wonders why Modi developed an interest in the Eye *now* after all these decades, the Storyteller opines that he may have been "suborned to the job," and muses about telling the Emperor the story of Cain and Abel next--a meaning that Magni, to his credit, picks up on immediately. Yeah, some more things slot into place with this little revelation. It was a good show Alexios and Modi put on when Abu's body was first discovered, and I find myself wondering if things like the murder of Abu and potential murder of Tom might have been Alexios' instructions and not something Modi was happy about, hence Modi's rage at Magni bringing them up at the end. Did they intend to not "discover" the loss of the Eye until days later for their "full accounting" to take place, only for Magni immediately throw a wrench in that plan? And how exactly did Alexios "suborn" Modi? I guess some questions still remain....

Magni takes some comfort in the idea that Alexios at least didn't get the Eye...but Angelika has started to piece together her own mystery that she's been trying to figure out since page 1. Demona was indeed up to something, which also involved spending a lot of time with "a smith in Antioch" (and I can't help but wish we had gotten a mention of that earlier so we, the audience, had one more piece of evidence to work with). Turns out Demona had a copy of the Eye of Odin made (and considering it would have been made from her memory, it's a damn good copy) and switched it for the real one when Abu was looking out the window. Demona's smile here seems to veer from sneakily triumphant to...surprisingly adorable? At least to me.
But as for why she stole the Eye, and why now instead of 87 years ago? Demona's been doing some studying of "old lessons," as she calls them, and has figured out that the Eye is a talisman of power. She doesn't exactly want it for herself, though, but instead for Angelika to wear in the hope that its power will grant her immortality. And there it is. Demona again confronting the specter of mortality, this time in her daughter. And once again, her solution is not acceptance but denial. Very emphatic, magical denial.

There is a pause as Angelika considers the Eye in her hand. Magni clearly has Thoughts (capital "T") on this based on his expressions in the background, but lets Angelika make her own choice. Well, the first thing she does is basically propose to Magni and finally ask him to join her and Demona on their journeys as Angelika's mate. Just as this question is a reverse of Magni's asking Angelika to stay from the end of "Fortune Favors the Brave...", Magni's answer is the opposite of Angelika's: he says "yes." With both the Komnenos dynasty and his brother gone, Magni has no reason to stay. Like Matt, I feel a little sad that they never got the chance to have eggs, but they are together now at least. Besides, Angelika was right that they shouldn't dwell on old regrets and old wishes, and she continues to prove herself one of the wisest people in the room by rejecting the Eye and its gifts, including the promise of immortality. Demona starts to panic, but Angelika tries to reassure her (with her own affectionate gesture to the head) that all she wants is to grow old with the two gargoyles she loves the most. The Storyteller can't help but comment that she *likes* this story (and I find myself wondering if Shahrizad is not altogether happy with being immortal). And while Demona tries argue that this decision is irrational, Angelika makes it very clear that, while she loves Demona, she views immortality as a "curse" and will have no part of it. With that, to Demona's horror, Angelika hurls the Eye into the sea.

Also in the sea, a familiar skiff is piloted by Tom the Guardian as he speaks the incantation to take him back to Avalon. And who should be waiting for him to arrive but little Angela herself! Hey, we've got two daughters of Demona in this issue! By the math, she should be about 2 and half years old, and I will have to interact with more kids of that age before I can speak with any authority, but she certainly seems more developed (physically and mentally) than a human of that age, so that's another aspect of gargoyle biology in the canon. Well, it's a happy reunion (I'd imagine especially so from Tom's perspective given the near execution), but Tom says that it's not yet safe for gargoyles in the outside world. But that's OK, because "no one out there knows to miss you." That particular phrasing makes me now wonder if maybe Tom did recognize Demona and just played it down to avoid rousing her suspicions.

And the issue ends with a panel similar to the end of "Fortune Favors the Brave..." as the gargoyles glide away from Constantinople. This time, however, Magni is with them. And Demona is *not* smiling....

A fun little mystery, and an emotional rollercoaster. I look forward to seeing how the Demona miniseries ends next month, but at the same time I will miss seeing the adventures of her and Angelika. [/SPOILER]

OK, now to get ready for tomorrow's crossover issue!
****Blaise finishes gathering up his notes, folds himself into a paper airplane and flies out of the Room.****
Blaise
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."--The Doctor
posted @ Tue, Nov 11, 2025 7:09:23 pm EST from 45.48.46.39

With the second Fantastic Four crossover coming up on Wednesday, there are a couple of things that I think would be fun to see in it - though as long as it's a good story, it doesn't matter whether they get in or not. (I've mentioned them before, but am bringing them up again for this week.)

1. The Fantastic Four suggest that Goliath consider adding a G to his belt-buckle, as a counterpart to the numeral "4" on their outfits; Goliath doesn't think much of the idea, however.

2. Gnash shares with Franklin and Valeria about Blackbeard being a gargoyle (as he'd done with Billy, Susan, and Terry at Halloween), but they reply that they've heard a different take on Blackbeard's true identity, also involving time travel.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Nov 10, 2025 7:36:36 pm EST from 68.99.93.213

And it'll probably be another FIVE days or so before I get to read Demona 4, as my shop has evidently returned to not getting them on time.

Grumble grumble.
morrand - [morrand276 at gmail dot com]
posted @ Mon, Nov 10, 2025 4:48:32 pm EST from 108.69.72.60

Yeah, Adbots don't count as FIRST.

Todd forgot to say SECOND.

Guess that makes me THIRD!

And this week we get the next crossover with the Fantastic FOUR.
Matt
"My daughter?! How dare you mock me! I have no daughter." - Demona, 1996
posted @ Mon, Nov 10, 2025 9:15:27 am EST from 204.184.178.1

A thought I had about [SPOILER] Tom's past visits to the outside world, inspired by our seeing one of them in "Demona" #4. I decided to look at the various years ending in "95" between 995 and 1995, which would have marked his various journeys. I've avoided serious speculating about what might have happened on those voyages (after all, Avalon could have sent him anywhere in the world, depending on where he needed to be), but took a look at the basics of "what would be happening then", including the adjacent events we already know about on the "Gargoyles" timeline (plus a few real-world history moments that haven't been mentioned yet in "Gargoyles", but which help us picture the settings better).

1095 - Two years after the death of Canmore, and Demona and Angelika meeting. Demona and Angelika would have presumably been in Spain at the time, fighting alongside El Cid. In actual history that year, Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade.

1295 - The year before Edward I carried off the Stone of Destiny. Angelika will be dead by this point (died twenty-one years earlier) and Demona alone again.

1395 - During the lifetime of Geoffrey Chaucer (who'd started on "The Canterbury Tales" a few years earlier) and the reign of Richard II of England (whose overthrow, the focus of Shakespeare's play about him, would be four years away). Still medieval times, but not for much longer.

1495 - A year which already features on the "Gargoyles" timeline: Demona stealing the Medici Tablet and having a confrontation with a Hunter (Stuart Canmore, according to "canon-in-training") mounted in a flying machine that had presumably been designed by Leonardo da Vinci. No sign of Tom during those events, so he might have been sent somewhere other than Florence by Avalon.

1595 - In the middle of Shakespeare's career; we don't know whether Avalon would have sent Tom to London or somewhere else, of course, and he might not have crossed paths with Shakespeare even if he had.

1695 - Colonial times in North America (just three years after the Salem witch trials). During the reigns of William III in Britain, Louis XIV in France, and Peter the Great in Russia.

1795 - The transition between the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era.

1895 - Late Victorian times. 1895 is often associated with Sherlock Holmes thanks to Holmes fan Vincent Starrett's famous description of the famous detective living in a world "where it is always 1895" - and since Sherlock Holmes was mentioned in "Gargoyles" (by Elisa in "The Hound of Ulster"), it's tempting to imagine Tom, on this venture, crossing paths with a Gargoyles Universe version of him.

This is definitely just a "barely begun sketch", but it does give a sense of the differences between the various settings in Tom's excursions. Maybe we'll get more stories about them someday. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Nov 10, 2025 8:14:14 am EST from 68.99.93.213

Taking the first this time around.
Ad bots don't count.
Matthew the Fedora Guy
You're Gonna Carry That Weight
posted @ Mon, Nov 10, 2025 3:08:38 am EST from 184.23.35.150

National Techtools is a tool and equipment supplier based in Junagadh, Gujarat, India. The company, founded in 2014, caters to both professionals and DIY enthusiasts with a range of products, including power tools, hand tools, and welding equipment.
nationabltechtools - [techtoolsnational02 at gmail dot com]
https://nationaltechtools.com
posted @ Mon, Nov 10, 2025 2:08:22 am EST from 103.113.217.202