A thought I had about "Demona" #4, coming up. (I've left out spoiler tags because the "Gargoyles"-related information in this post is entirely from the solicitation, which has been up long enough that I assume we've all read it.)

The solicitation reports that this is set in Constantinople in 1195. I looked up what was going on there at the time in real history, and learned that the same year, the then-Emperor, Isaac II, was deposed, imprisoned, and blinded by his brother Alexius, who then seized the throne as Alexius III. I wonder whether this event might play some role in the background of these events; obviously, neither the overthrown Emperor nor his deposer will be the murder victim, but they might be involved in the story in other ways.

(Alexius III's usurpation had major consequences for Constantinople, a few years later. Isaac's son - also named Alexius - got away and went about seeking help to free his father and recover the throne. He finally persuaded a Crusading expedition to help, promising to finance their Crusade in return; they came to Constantinople in 1204, defeated Alexius III, and freed Isaac, who became co-Emperor with his son. But they weren't able to pay the Crusaders, thanks to an almost-empty treasury (Alexius III helped himself to a lot of its contents before fleeing), which led to a fall-out with their former allies; the Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204 in return, an extremely destructive sack. Reading the descriptions of it, I'd say that Demona and Angelika would be well-advised to leave Constantinople and head elsewhere (we know they eventually wind up in Japan) before that time, and that any gargoyles still in Constantinople (whether serving in the Varangian Guard like Magni and Modi or having some other role) were likely smashed in their stone sleep during the sack. (Indeed, we know from the solicitation to #5 that Magni was dead by the events in it; might he indeed have been a casualty of the Fourth Crusade's sack of Constantinople?)
Todd Jensen
posted @ Thu, Oct 23, 2025 9:42:21 am EDT from 68.99.93.213

Only semi-related to Gargoyles but I recently stumbled on this vid going through all the wild and whacky variations of Loch Ness Monster sightings down thru the ages...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKhSfH9OIK4

My personal fave is the "camel-monster" at about 3:15.
Algae
'Nuff said
posted @ Thu, Oct 23, 2025 7:01:35 am EDT from 88.87.179.191

Incidentally while I did get into Gargoyles first, got into the Marvel shows not too long after.

Also checked Bronx's first Chibiverse appearance and it's with a Fu-Dog (American Dragon Jake Long character who looks more like a regular dog).
Antiyonder
posted @ Wed, Oct 22, 2025 2:48:47 pm EDT from 71.95.123.133

TOOD> IIRC Malekith in the comics has a lot of traditional fairy tropes associated with him, such as weakness to iron and being able to enslave mortals by tricking them into eating "faerie food". He's also leads the Marvel version of the Wild Hunt.
Algae
'Nuff said
posted @ Wed, Oct 22, 2025 9:52:01 am EDT from 88.87.179.191

Good point about no longer needing the spoilers; I used them because the Norse mythology comments grew out of [SPOILER] Demona's use of Gungnir's spear-head against Diablo [/SPOILER]. But since we've moved away from that by now, I think we can drop them.

There was a chapter on Malekith in the book; I'll have to reread it and see if I can spot the Celtic elements.

I once found a collection of "Tales of Asgard" as a paperback book, and recognized a few of the Norse myths adapted for it, such as the story about Thor trying to smash Hymir's cup.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Wed, Oct 22, 2025 9:22:37 am EDT from 68.99.93.213

TODD> (don't think spoilers are necessary here) That Thor and Loki: Epic Tales from Marvel Mythology sounds rather neat. Kinda reminds me of those old Tales of Asgard back-up strips Kirby and Lee used to do for the old issues of the Marvel Thor comics. They were basically adaptations of existing Norse myths mixed in with original tales of Thor's childhood adventures.

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Tales_of_Asgard_Vol_1_1
Algae
'Nuff said
posted @ Wed, Oct 22, 2025 6:07:14 am EDT from 88.87.179.191

Todd> [SPOILER] I don't know if this needs spoilers anymore. Some of this has drifted pretty far from the Garg/FF comic.

The Frog Thor story is a classic from Walt Simonson, so much so that Marvel created another character just to play the role of a frog that has the power of Thor (incidentally they named the character Simon Walterson).

Now whether he was inspired by the Batrachomyomachia hasn't been confirmed but I did find a blog post interview where he talked about being inspired not just by the strangeness crafted by Lee and Kirby but also from animal fables, fairy tales and other transformation legends.

He even mentioned that Celtic myth was a big inspiration for the villain he created, Malekith the Accursed (a tyrannical Dark Elf from Svartalfheim). Plus he also created Beta Ray Bill, for reference an alien whose head resembles a horse skull but also is noble enough to wield Mjolnir with the same skill as Thor. And drew inspiration from Norse myth by having his people's home be a victim of Surtur the Fire Giant. [/SPOILER]
Matthew the Fedora Guy
You're Gonna Carry That Weight
posted @ Wed, Oct 22, 2025 2:17:09 am EDT from 184.23.35.150

Todd > I've seen a few reviews on reddit from the perspective of Marvel fans who are passingly familiar with Gargoyles, or who watched it as kids but haven't kept up. Not a lot, but a few. They've been mostly very positive. The only complaint I've seen is that [SPOILER] the story feels more like a general Marvel crossover than a specifically Fantastic Four crossover, since none of the team members have much of an arc...I expect that will change in the Dynamite crossover issue, given the solicitation description. [/SPOILER] I'd be curious to know how this issue sold in comparison to the Dynamite issues.
Craig
posted @ Tue, Oct 21, 2025 9:10:13 pm EDT from 69.118.30.106

MATTHEW - [SPOILER] Thanks. I suppose, though, that Marvel never had Gungnir broken in half (though Wagner did, and thereby set a precedent).

Incidentally, Marvel recently came out with a retelling of the Norse myths - in printed text rather than graphic novel format - a somewhat oddball one that used for a framing device Thor and Loki telling the Avengers those same stories (Loki tells most of them, but Thor occasionally tells one; for example, he recounted the story of the building of the walls of Asgard, which led to Loki becoming Sleipnir's mother; Loki retaliated by telling how Thor had to disguise himself as Freya to recover his hammer from the giant Thrym). Most of the tales in it were the regular Norse myths (which showed a very strong influence from the d'Aulaires' "Norse Gods and Giants"), though they also included what were apparently a few retellings of Marvel stories about Thor and Loki, including an account of how Loki was responsible, in a way, for the Avengers (he was imprisoned on a remote island and decided to get Thor to come there by manipulating the Hulk into attacking a train, only to wind up unexpectedly getting not only Thor involved, but several other super-heroes as well), and another about Thor getting turned into a frog and helping the frogs of New York in a fight against the local rats (reading it, I wondered whether someone at Marvel had been inspired by the ancient Greek mock-epic about the war between the frogs and the mice). The book's titled "Thor and Loki: Epic Tales from Marvel Mythology", by Delilah S. Dawson. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Tue, Oct 21, 2025 9:03:51 pm EDT from 68.99.93.213

Todd> [SPOILER] Yes, Gungnir has appeared in the comics, fairly frequently. In fact most of the weapons and relics of Norse myth have shown up in some form or another. Much like Thor's hammer Mjolnir, Gungnir is depicted as being made of the metal Uru. [/SPOILER]
Matthew the Fedora Guy
You're Gonna Carry That Weight
posted @ Tue, Oct 21, 2025 8:08:43 pm EDT from 184.23.35.150

The comments/reviews of "Fantastic Four/Gargoyles" here, of course, have been from the point of view of "Gargoyles" fans with varying degrees of acquaintance with the Fantastic Four and other Marvel figures. But I wonder if there've been a few people, at least, who've read the crossover who were big Marvel/Fantastic Four fans but had little or no familiarity with "Gargoyles". It would be good to read their perspectives on it.

One other thought. [SPOILER] Demona used the spear-head of Gungnir to defeat Diablo. It struck me that here, in a "Gargoyles" crossover with Marvel properties, Demona wielded an object from Norse mythology - appropriate, given the prominent role Norse mythology has in Marvel (though there were no allusions to the Marvel take on the Norse myths in the issue - understandably, given that it'd be difficult, as people here have pointed out, to reconcile the Odin of "Gargoyles" with the Odin of Marvel). Though I wonder whether Gungnir ever got a mention in Marvel; Mjolnir features in it, obviously, but has Gungnir done the same? I've some mild familiarity with the Marvel take on Norse mythology - enough to know, for example, that in it, Thor and Loki are portrayed as rival siblings - but not enough to be able to answer that question. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Tue, Oct 21, 2025 7:48:15 pm EDT from 68.99.93.213

Antiyonder: We do have a "Requested Images" section on the GargWiki's Community Portal. That's probably the more efficient space to discuss this :--)

Craig: My kickstarter order was mixed; some meant for me, some meant for others. So I don't expect a delivery anytime soon. But it is great to see others finally have their trades!
Phoenician
Gus: "I always forget you're there." Hooty: "I forget I'm here toooooo."
posted @ Tue, Oct 21, 2025 9:04:29 am EDT from 68.2.64.232

Sixth

So I've taken pics from shows and such officially uploaded onto YT.

So far just to share trivia (i.e. a show referencing another show or ip), so I was wondering if I maybe upload a pic onto GargWiki of Lexington's cameo on that Broken Karaoke video Sidekicks.

Best I can really do for pictures is a cellphone screenshot (No means of capturing pics from a TV or such).

But in the off chance it's good enough, I figure I could give a pic then for the other Gargoyles cast guest cameos. So, should I give the Sisekicks pic an upload?
Antiyonder
posted @ Tue, Oct 21, 2025 7:22:34 am EDT from 68.119.3.1

Fifth.

Funny that Todd mentions the advertising in the Fantastic Four/Gargoyles one-shot. I was just looking at the physical copy for the first time, and was making note of which ads Marvel chose to place (presumably indicating the properties where they felt they had the best chance of overlap with Gargoyles fans). There are a few Disney-themed ones: the Disney/Marvel "What If" mashup mentioned by Todd, as well as two Uncle Scrooge books. There are also ads for Epic Collection editions of the very earliest Fantastic Four and Avengers stories from the 1960s, a real "back to basics" approach at drawing in new readers. Most predominantly, there are several ads clearly targeted at a younger audience: a TPB of the cute kid-friendly character Jeff the Land Shark; the 'Mini Marvels' series (about child versions of the Marvel characters); and a series of Scholastic books with titles like 'Hulk Teach' and 'Days of Future Fun.' An ad for a Spider-Man collection is branded as "Perfect for Younger Readers," and even an ad for a Marvel Zombies entry is similarly billed as "Perfect for Younger Readers! Really!" It seems like Marvel is still viewing Gargoyles as a primarily kid-targeting property, which strikes me as an...interesting approach. It seems to me the audience is primarily adults at this point (although I can certainly understand that maybe they're hoping nostalgic parents will try to share the comics with their kids, as I've done with my nephew...so their perspective makes a little sense, I guess).

As to what morrand said last week about the amount of ads and the weight of the comic: the comic has the exact same amount of ads as the typical Dynamite issue (ten pages plus the cover ads), they're just distributed differently (being strewn throughout the story, instead of being put in at the end). That perhaps makes it SEEM like there are more, since you're seeing them constantly as you're flipping through the story. I find the Dynamite approach of putting the ads at the end classier and cleaner, although the Marvel approach certainly has a nostalgic pull for me as an old-school comics reader. The added heft you're feeling compared to the typical Dynamite issue is likely due simply to the fact that the story itself is longer (30pp. as opposed to the usual Dynamite 22pp.). To get REALLY into the weeds, the Dark Ages issues were the same 40-page length (including ads) as this F4 issue, and so were The Halloween Special and The Winter Special...and in fact, those probably feel heavier, since Dynamite has been using cardstock for the covers. BUT, those issues featured more ads than the F4 crossover does, so their stories made up slightly less of that 40-page length. In fact, the 30-page "Both Alike in Dignity..." is actually the longest single Gargoyles story we've gotten since WAY back in the very first SLG issue!

Yes, I'm a nerd. :)

In other comics-related news, I've seen that people are receiving their shipments of the Kickstarter TPBs finally. I backed the priciest option, so I imagine that will be some ways off for me. But has anyone in the Room received their books yet?
Craig
posted @ Tue, Oct 21, 2025 1:18:25 am EDT from 69.118.30.106

Thanks, Phoenician.

[SPOILER] I found it appropriate, incidentally, that the back of the comic had an advertisement for some re-imagining of various Marvel comics that Disney's been doing lately with classic Disney characters as the leads - like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck becoming a "Fantastic Four" group. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Oct 20, 2025 10:57:49 pm EDT from 68.99.93.213

Todd: [SPOILER] Yep. Not a local, but I was happy to walk across it when I visited the city for my second time in 2018.

Now, if the bridge in the background on the last panel of the last page is intended to be the Brooklyn Bridge . . . well, it's too far north. [/SPOILER]

Also, fourth.
Phoenician
Gus: "I always forget you're there." Hooty: "I forget I'm here toooooo."
posted @ Mon, Oct 20, 2025 10:27:23 pm EDT from 68.2.64.232

A question for those more familiar with New York than I am. [SPOILER] Does the Brooklyn Bridge really have a "pedestrian walk", like the one in the just-released crossover where the Grey Gargoyle was turning all those people - including Brendan and Margot - to stone? [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Oct 20, 2025 9:45:46 pm EDT from 68.99.93.213

Third!
Algae
'Nuff said
posted @ Mon, Oct 20, 2025 6:03:52 pm EDT from 86.45.213.223

Second
Phil
posted @ Mon, Oct 20, 2025 10:44:33 am EDT from 50.192.123.171

First.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Oct 20, 2025 8:31:51 am EDT from 68.99.93.213