dph writes...

A few questions posed after reading gargoyles comic issue #5:

1)Are there more members in the Illuminati Society ranked below David Xanatos or ranked above David Xanatos? I counted potentially 630 people ranked above. For more members to be ranked below David Xanatos than above would mean there are at least *15* more levels below David Xanatos.

2)Are there always a constant number of people at each rank? In other words, the only way to advance in rank (aside from doing more for the Society) is if somebody higher ranked than you was promoted, demoted, or died.

3)When Matt Bluestone first joined the Society during Revelations, was he at the same rank that he is as of issue #5?

4)On page 1, is that Lady Finella and Mary (the mother of Tom)?

5)Are the 8 dna samples that Thailog collected from the following characters (in order of collection): Goliath, Broadway, Angela, Lexington, Elisa Maza, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Hudson?

6)Did Thailog retreat into Nightstone Unlimited at the end?
6a)If so, does this mean the partnership between Thailog and Demona isn't over?

7)Did Thailog join the Society before Demona and Thailog went back to Manhattan?

dph writes...

My review for the comic

I'm getting better at this.

Reading the last page turned made me feel like the gargoyles universe was turned upside down. I'd have to rate the revelation at the end with Thailog being a member of the Illuminati Society as topping Owen being Puck. It took a while for that revelation to really sink in.

I like the nice cameos that you keep coming out with, especially sneaking people in on page 1. It was nice to see Morgan knew what was going on. I really do wonder how you would pull Thailog's action sequences off if you had to live with today's s&p. Good thing you don't. It's nice to know the Illuminati Society isn't racist, with a #2 being black. As Todd 1st commented in the s8 cr, from the top down to Xanatos's level, there are potentially 666 members of the Illumaniti Society. Brooklyn's costume turned out to be interesting. Jeffery Robbins turned out to be a nice guy, especially after figuring out who/what Hudson really was and not rejecting their friendship. I wonder if Hudson will ever get around to telling Robbins some backstory. Xanatos's interaction with Quincy seemed very realistic. I wonder why they dragged Xanatos to the White House to receive his '1st real assignment from the Illuminati'. The action sequences seemed realistic with Thailog, the clones, and the gargoyles. Deliliah's characterization was great and saved the day. Goliath's line "Choice must extend to those who choose unwisely" echoes of the experiences with Talon being duped by Xanatos. Nice to know that somewhere in those floors is a fully fuctional infirmary. Somehow, I doubt that infirmary is open to the general public. It's nice to Goliath and Elisa coming out with the truth. I admit I went to back to count where Thailog got all 8 dna samples. And then we get to the last page. The conversation at the end that seemingly turned the gargoyles universe upside down for me. I can't figure out which rule that page broke that did that for me.

Can't wait for issue #6

Meg writes...

Gargoyles #5: "Bash"
First of all, I consider myself lucky to even have a copy of the issue right now. Somehow I missed that it was coming out today, so you can imagine my shock when I got online on my lunch break and found it was out! After I got off work I called my local comic store and although they don't usually reserve any comics for customers, the man I spoke to was nice enough to set aside the last copy for me until I could make it down. So. That was exciting, especially as I think this is far and away the best issue to date.
-Is that Mary and Finella I spy on page 1, talking to Dr. Sato? It's beginning to feel a lot like a Timedance....
-Poor, poor Brooklyn. His "Oh, you GOTTA be kiddin' me" was perfect. The irony of Delilah shacking up with Malibu is almost too delicious for words. (I also love his series of expressions over those three panels.) I loved his costume, too; at first it made me blink, but then I realized it's perfect. Brook's life dream is to be the admired, adored hero, be perfect, and get the girl. Is Fox a good judge of character, or what? ;)
-Speaking of Delilah, you GO girl! Calling out Goliath AND Thailog in the space of like thirty seconds. That's cojones, man.
-Brentwood being the only clone to stay with Thailog is very, very interesting. I wonder what makes Thailog's intelligence stand out to him, and also why he values it so much. And, of course, knowing what we know, we have to wonder what Brentwood's decision says about Lex/the future....
-I have to admit, though, I'm unsure if Hollywood/Burbank/Malibu have REALLY grasped the concept of free will, or if Delilah has just become their "alpha" leader. (Although, admittedly, only Malibu--for obvious reasons--clearly defers his decision to Delilah.)
-I like in general the concept that free will must be extended even to those who choose unwisely.
-I have to admit, the Illuminati plot didn't interest me at first, but it's getting better and better.
-Brentwood's right about one thing: Thailog is one smart dude. I wonder how many times the gargs are going to have blood stolen from them and used to create nefarious clones before they figure out to wear like full-body suits or something. It's interesting that he didn't want to kill Goliath/the others, as he certainly could have; you wonder if that's some of Xanatos' pragmatism (don't waste what might in the future be a resource) or some of his own inner arrogance/sadism shining through.
-Man, is Angela her parents' daughter or what? Language AND fury.
-Morgan continues to be an absolutely stand-up guy. I hope he finds someone eventually.
-I wonder why Sevarius is in cahoots with Thailog. There must be more going on there than meets the eye. I also wonder if Thailog knows that Xanatos was not at the party....
-Goliath and Elisa: Awwww. 'Nuff said.
-I love how one of Xanatos' Goon Squad walks through the party bold as brass and Elisa notices.
-Also wonder what Brendan's seeing the battle bodes for him/Margot and the gargs.
-Loved the Hudson/Robbins interaction. Just a ton of love for both characters. I love that Robbins knew but made Hudson say it, and I just, yeah. Love the whole scene.
-Gar-girl. Hee.
-Thailog's annoyed "MY minions" remark was great. I can just imagine the indignation in his voice.
-Art: I really liked the art this issue. Stylistically, it's the closest to the show the comic has come, and while it's not totally perfect (what art ever is), I really liked it and now am looking even more forward to seeing Charlebois pencil the BAD GUYS LS.

Jason Aiken writes...

Just picked up #5 from my LCS today, loved it!

The Clones Vs the Clan was pretty cool.. that sneaky Thailog got his share of genetic samples again. He's really a great character.

Also, the end bit with Brooklyn was funny... if I didn't know about the canon in training stuff I would be feeling extra sorry for the guy.

The Illuminati ranking system is pretty cool... And man.. what a surprise member! You really have to give it to those Gathering people for loyalty and keeping those tidbits under wraps.

Speaking of comics.. have you seen what they are doing to Captain Atom.. err Monarch in Countdown? If everything with him is resolved and he somehow returns to his status quo, would you consider pitching a Captain Atom mini or one-shot?

The era of DC Comics when you wrote for them is probably my favorite.. a lot of great stories being told in the individual books, without all the crossover stuff they try to force on people today.

Take care,

Jason

KingCobra_582 writes...

Issue #5.

Where to begin on how great it was? Hmmm... ah, the hell with it.

Vid The Kid and I picked it up at the usual place (where, By the way, we dropped off another set of Gathering 2008 flyers to help 'spread the word' and I was delighted to learn that the 1st set of flyers had all been picked up quickly.), along with a Star Trek comic. I read Gargoyles #5 on the way home and no words in the known English language could accurately describe how much enjoyment I got out of it.

The art was the best I'd seen since issue #1. Wait, no, scratch that. It was the best artwork I'd seen in the comic, period. Smoothly drawn and nicely colored, just as much as the cartoon itself was. I hope we can keep Karine and Stephanie around as artists for future issues!

Story-wise was great, but, then, who can expect any less when you're the one who wrote it? Nice twists at the end, (No, I still won't throw out spoilers b/c the comic just came out today) even though I already knew how it ended from being in the Radio Play, but I still loved them. They were clever, they made sense, and they opened doors for future story ideas. I can't wait to see more Thailog (one of my favorite characters) in action in future issues.

Another nice Hudson/Robbins scene there.

*slight spoiler* I was vaguely surprised that Goliath didn't have a reaction to Lex's costume, but he was preoccupied, so... *shrugs*

Another great issue, Greg. 15/10.

Or should that be 36/2? :P

Nice little bonus at the end. I didn't actually expect to make it into the letters column. Very kickass. :D

Though we never did get that soda... maybe in G2K8...

And maybe I should register for G2K9 as KC. I kind of like the sound of that. :P

Bring on issue #6!!

Greg Bishansky writes...

Gargoyles #5
Bash

Definitely the best issue of the series so far. Story wise, and art wise.

I've been sitting on this issue's story for nearly a month now, after those of us at the Gathering got a sneak preview through this year's Radio Play (I was Broadway).

Questions are answered, new questions are raised, and the end is very eerie but leaves you wanting to see what happens next.

Goliath and Elisa finally stop acting like idiots and finally say the words "I love you", and all it took was Goliath nearly dying to do it.

But, Thailog was the real star of this issue. He was all over the place. His plan was an interesting one, he didn't want to kill Goliath, he was there collecting DNA. DNA from each and every gargoyle. No longer he didn't care much about the clones, he's starting over. Personally, I think this will be less a clan and more an army... he's got a lot of gargoyle DNA for Sevarius to play with.

We sink in deeper with the Illuminati. Xanatos is now on a mission from the Society, at the behest of Quincy Hemings... chief steward of the White House (been on staff since the Teddy Roosevelt administration). His number in the Society is Two... as is Duval's (makes you wonder who One is).

Goth Girl in the Labyrinth finally gets a name... Shari. She also is a member of the Illuminati, her rank being Nine. And the big shocker... Thailog is a member... bottom of the barrel as Thirty Six with Matt Bluestone, John Castaway, and Xanatos. Shari is now Thailog's new executive assistant, and outranks him. This is going to be interesting.

As for the numbers... there are thirty six Thirty Sixes, thirty five Thirty Fives and so on and so fourth... all the way to two Twos and one One... do the math and there are six hundred sixty six members... or at least slots for members. Greg, you magnificent bastard.

The story was great, kept me on the edge of my seat, and that was with knowing what would happen.

Now, the art... for the first time since this comic started, I have to rave about the art. Karine did a beautiful job with the pencils... and Steph's coloring is gorgeous to look at. THIS should be the permanent art team. I know Karine will be doing the art for "Gargoyles: Bad Guys" this fall, but "Gargoyles" is the flagship book, and should have the best talent on it.

What I also did enjoy was the original cartoon was known for their Xanatos tags at the end of the episodes. You think Xanatos lost, but he reveals the subtle victory he achieved. Now Greg replaced the Xanatos tag with a Thailog tag... which in turn becomes an Illuminati tag.

The Bluelady writes...

Greg: good evening! Great fan of the Gargoyles from WAY-back. I haven't been able to find issue #5 ( June) of the Gargoyles comic. I noticed it isn't listed on the SLG site. Any news?

Hope to see many more years of The Gargoyles.

Have a great week

Katherine
The Bluelady