Ed Reynolds writes...

Let's see. I first discovered 'Gargoyles' when I was 11. I started posting at S8 when I was 13. And the first original material to be released since then was released on 28 March, which was my 23rd birthday. A great birthday present, though first I had to wait a week for it to cross the pond -- better than waiting 6-8 weeks from unreliable mail order companies like with #1 and #2 though. Now I've found a local comic trader, thankfully.

I didn't think a week would be too long to wait -- it's been eleven years since new material, right? I can wait 7 puny days, and I'd managed to keep quite cool waiting for #3 so far. But from the 28th, I was going out of my mind. Whenever I checked my e-mails I kept looking S8 up and crossing it out when I saw the words SPOILERS. I deleted S8 from my bookmarks and scrubbed my history so I couldn't be tempted to access it via the location bar. I found myself humming the theme tune. Real geekgasm.

So today, I went to the comic shop with my brother in tow (he was shopping for a card). I picked up my copy, handed it to my bro. He, of course, starts reading it and since he's got special needs spends roughly an hour engrossed in the comic, reading it at his own pace, digesting everything carefully, brow furrowed in deep concentration while I'm cursing myself for not ordering two copies. His conclusion is that "I really like Thailog!" (no spoiler, he's been saying that for the last decade) and he asked me "do you like that drawing?" (meaning the artwork) in such a way that suggests he's a little ambivalent about it. He's excited for #4 and more Demona, and he likes Matt Bluestone.

(On a personal note, it's the first time since we were kids that my bro and I have really been able to share this sort of thing. As kids, we used to watch the same cartoons, read the same comics, play the same games - and, of course, we watched 'Gargoyles' together. But obviously over the years we've drifted apart in that respect; a lot of the stuff I'm into these days goes over his head and a lot of the stuff he's into just doesn't excite me. Plus, he stopped wearing his hearing aid and cochlear implant a lot of the time as a teenager so striking up a conversation is a much more laboured effort. We just don't have that much to chat about these days. But we both love 'Gargoyles' and we had a really good geek-out chat about it earlier of the sort we haven't had for... well, years. His memory is actually much better than mine and he reminded me of a lot of things in "The Reckoning" I'd forgotten, not having seen the back half of S2 for many years. I told him about 'Bad Guys' and he's excited for it, though he hasn't quite grasped the concept. Thailog's the baddest guy in the universe, the comic's called 'Bad Guys', Thailog's got to be the star, right? Anyway, it's nice to have a genuine shared obsession, just like the old days and besides being delighted at the return of the comic as a fan, I'm particularly grateful for that.)

Anyway, cutting to the chase -- the issue is splendid. And only, like, 20% of that is pure bias. It's genuinely a good read -- especially considering it's the equivalent to the first act of an episode, the set-up.

- My absolute favourite bit: Xanatos's plan to have the great and good mix with gargoyles so they can't then deny their sentience! That is GENIUS -- vintage Xanatos. Man, you've kept that up your sleeve for a long time (and I'm glad you did).

- I love the news report at the start pointing out that gargoyles can't speak so you don't have anything to worry about from ones that do. It's interesting because it gives the Quarrymen a genuine reason to feel vindicated -- they know (or are told) that the gargoyles are sentient, and malevolent to boot.

- Cedric Harris, Tri Chung, Phil Travanti, nameless Labyrinth girl -- pretty awesome to get some new characters. Even more awesome when they have lines. Guess I'm going to have to voice cast them myself. Nifty that Travanti's featured before. One of the things that particularly excited me about the comic was that I knew that soon I'd be able to rewatch my DVDs with a new perspective on things. And already that's the case - I'll be able to identify and name one character. Lovely! Interesting to see the make-up of the Task Force. I'm sure Margot's not going to like the way it's being run. Hard to argue that it doesn't seem like the NYPD exactly have it as their top priority.

- 36/32 makes a great linking element -- a really simple way of establishing what the Illuminati are (without even getting bogged down even with what they're called). But what's the significance? I thought it was their own ID numbers at first, but obviously not. Some way of recognising each other, but do the numbers have greater significance? And how often do they change? I have a really cool thought for what it might be... but it might qualify as an idea so I'm not going to mention it here!

- I love Angela. She's still the one who can look at people's behaviour from an outside angle and ask the question "is this a good thing?" And poor old Brooklyn. I love that two issues in a row he's been knocked back without him ever really being a consideration. Lex is the only beat in the comic that feels slightly wasted - partly because I can't quite imagine anyone actually saying "no poisonous stickpins" without feeling very silly and mainly because it feels like the same scene we had between these characters last issue.

- Castaway's so much fun. The character's reputation is sort of maligned by his TGC characterisation, but he's cautious as well as scary. Also? I LOVE that you used the word "clouting". Clouting! I don't hear that word enough. I must use it more often in day to day conversation.

- Man, I love Hacker. I was always sad he was one of the few characters from the pre-Avalon stories not to return later in Season 2. Duskrider Q nailed it a few questions ago when he described him as "unimposing but charismatic". His playing one side off against the other is too much fun and very well done. All this is stuff that's been spilt on Ask Greg but I still got a real buzz out of it playing out. I took from the issue that none of the motives are entirely genuine. I have to wonder how much Xanatos already knows, or guesses, about Hacker's double-dealing.

- The distinction between a "husband" and a "mate" is really good. Really sharp: not just a species thing, it suggests a lot of cultural issues to me. A husband implies a whole range of issues -- legal, social, economic -- while a mate seems to represent something much simpler in some ways, or at least more specific to the gargoyles' way of life.

- The 'distanced' page does feel a little bit jarring in pacing, and while I can't begrudge David Hedgecock the time saved doing two versions of the same panel to link scenes, I would have liked to have seen a slightly different angle. I appreciate you wanted to make the continuity between the two scenes clear though. The conversation is good and the issues are interesting. Some people seem to think that Elisa's being cold with all this, but I think it all feels quite realistic. Painful, but truthful.

- The Elisa/Morgan stuff I liked. This is where I sort of miss Keith David and Salli Richardson to give us added spin on the lines: does he believe her? Is he taking it as kind of a contrived excuse for a knock-back? It feels to me like Elisa is worried that's how he's taken it. I really like Elisa and Morgan together. As I said in the comment room during the debate about whether you'd go for Jason or Morgan in this story, I kind of hoped you'd go with Morgan because he represents a genuine shot at normalcy for her.

- Demona returns to St. Damien's. A big surprise: I hadn't expected to see it again. But there's something inside the Praying Gargoyle. I feel like this has been spilt before but luckily I don't recall the details.

- The promise Jason demands of Elisa is what nudges her to talk to Goliath. But I feel like Jason knew (or guessed) what he was doing to her there and masked that by talking about himself. I still think he's kind of a jerk. But maybe I'm being too hard on him. Maybe he was just being selfless. Great character. Well, they all are.

- A lot of characters here. I'd kind of expected the cast to settle down immediately after "The Journey", as with "Vendettas" and "Turf" after "The Gathering". I'm in two minds really. I like meeting everyone again, and it's a great call for the first story back, but it also means it feels more like a buffet than a proper meal. I can't wait to dig deep into some characters, flashbacks and all. I expect the moment you do something very tight and narrowly focused I'm going to be whining "but we haven't seen X, Y and Z for five months!!"

- The exposition pages are a necessary evil I suppose, but they do break the flow a bit. Have you considered replacing them with some kind of introductory page separate from the comic, akin to the "Previously on Gargoyles..." segment? I know you did this a few times ("The Cage" for one) but it all seems to slow the narrative down. Also, boiling it down that much doesn't really do justice to the thing. Oh well.

- I'm kind of curious about Al's friend. Their last exchange makes me think there's more to that plot that meets the eye... "It's not that..." ... but what? Hmmmmmm.

- Thailog! Well, I was spoilt by the #4 press releases for that much. The character's marvellous, but he's never captured my heart to quite the degree that many of the other antagonists on the show did so I'm probably not quite as excited as others. I didn't notice until I read Matt's review the 'trick or treat' mirroring device at the top and tail of the issue. So cool.

Anyway, the issue is fantastic. The writing is wonderful. It's lean but jam-packed with great character moments and things to speculate about. Magnificent.

Only thing I'm not looking forward to is that torturous wait after the next issue release but before it arrives in the UK. Have you considered making the comic available online like some of SLG's other comics? No replacement for the real paper issues but it would be so lovely to be able to read the comics along with others in the fandom, and I know other people have trouble getting hold of them. I realise there are all sorts of reasons why this might not be advisable, particularly if it dents off-the-shelf sales. At any rate, I guess it's a good test of my willpower.

Many thanks for your benevolent labours, Greg, and to all your co-conspirators on the comic. Keep up the fantastic work.

Charisma82 writes...

Here's my 3rd question about Matt:

3) Was it a good or a bad experience that led him to wanting to find out more about the Illuminate? Or did he just wake up one day and figured he needed to look for them?

Thank you for your time and patience.

-Charisma82

Charisma82 writes...

Again, in case the 1st question was erased, I keep trying to ask these questions about Matt, but they aren't going through, so now I'm sending them in 1 at a time to find out which one(s) are the reason for them not getting to you. Here's the 2nd question about Matt:

2) How old was he when he decided to start looking for ways to prove the Illuminate exist?

Thank you in advance for your answer and your time.

-Charisma82

Charisma82 writes...

Okay, for some reason every time I send a certain set of questions in, they get taken out. I don't know what is wrong with them, so I'll send in each question by themselves so I can figure out which one is the one that can't be put through to you. Here is the 1st of the questions. They deal with Matthew Bluestone.

1) What made Matt want to trace down the Illuminate in the first place?

Thank you for your time.

-Charisma82

Charisma82 writes...

Hey! Here's the second part of my page-to-page ramble of the 3rd Gargoyles comic book.

Gargoyles: Clan-Building
Part Three: Invitation Only

Part 2 Pages 13-24

Page 13: Goliath is still speechless. Elisa is trying to be as nice as she can about the whole situation. I really like Goliath's line, "You do not want a mate. You want a husband." There is a difference between the two to him. Why did Elisa mention Delilah? If I'd been her, I wouldn't have hinted towards her.

Page 14: Nice cameo appearance of Demona. Another plot for another time.

Page 15: Lex and Broadway are really pumped up for the party. What obligation did they have to the Labyrinth clan? I didn't know they checked up with them regularly. And by the way… how do you spell Labyrinth? Because my spell check says it is spelled L-A-B-Y-R-I-N-T-H, but in the comic book it is spelled L-A-B-R-Y-I-N-T-H. The girl that is with Al looks like a rugged Elisa to me. I don't know why. I also like how the kid has a "G" on his shirt. What's it stand for? I think I know, but then again I could be wrong.

Page 16: I like that Al has a job. He pushes the button. Hey… that's an important job. It's too bad we didn't get to hear the girl's name. I would've liked to have heard it. It's good to see the mutates again. Brooklyn and Goliath look so enthused to be there. Again with Brooklyn's wings being under his arms. It needs to stop.

Page 17: It's good to see the clones again, especially Delilah. I like her better, probably because she's not an exact clone of a certain person, but more like 2 people… actually 1 person and 1 gargoyle. It's interesting that Talon doesn't say anything to Goliath about staying with Xanatos. You'd think they'd be at odds with that.

Page 18: A nice recap of how the mutates were created. Sevarius looks creepy with half his face behind the liquid stuff and Talon looks gross with bumps all over him. Al leaves out Fang's name. Interesting…

Page 19: Another recap of how the mutates ended up underground, how Thailog was created, and how the clones came into being. I like how Al calls Xanatos "Rich Dude."

Page 20: Poor Brooklyn. I wasn't expecting him to go for Delilah, but then again, who else is he going to find to go with him to the party? Goliath totally took that away from him. Brooklyn doesn't look too happy about that. I have a feeling that this incident is going to add to Brooklyn's Angela/Broadway ordeal. Delilah's response to Goliath seems almost like she's following his command and not deciding for herself. Could that have to do with him looking like her former master?

Page 21: I didn't get that Chaz from this page was the Chaz from Fang's old group until I read it somewhere. It's a good thing that John can show some restraint and not go as far as harming innocent people to help his obsession with destroying gargoyles. Yet another appearance from Martin Hacker. He didn't even knock.

Page 22: Another close up on Hacker's face along with John's. So far, I get the feeling that John is the only one who doesn't mind that Hacker is there to visit him, unlike Matt who is disgusted with him, and Xanatos who tolerates him. Again, Hacker is playing another guy. Three guys to mix up in the same day… what a job. The first time I read this page, my eye shifted to the next page and saw the silhouette of Thailog. I thought that maybe John was referring to Thailog as the project that Hacker was there to check on and that the Quarrymen had captured Goliath's clone. That's what I get for glancing at the other page.

Page 23: And here Al goes to accomplish his job… yet he lets in one gargoyle that you'd never want to face unless it was daytime. I hope Al can run fast. I also hope that Talon is ready for a fight. I love Thailog's shadowy appearance.

Page 24: THAILOG!!! Hey, that's exactly what Talon said, after me of course. The smile… I could've done without. It's weird. Besides that… IT'S THAILOG!!! Shooting at the wall?

Well, that's it. Thanks for such a great comic book. I can't wait for #4 and for BAD GUYS.

Thank you for your time and patience.

-Charisma82

Charisma82 writes...

Hey! I've wanted to do rambles on all the gargoyles' episodes, and have only gotten around to the first one. So I wouldn't forget anything, I wrote my ramble as I watched the episode instead of summing it all up and highlighting certain things. I did the same thing with the Gargoyles Comic Book #3: Invitation Only. I went through page by page and wrote about each one. I did this so I wouldn't forget anything. So, since it is kinda long, here are the first 12 pages.

Gargoyles: Clan-Building
Part Three: Invitation Only

Part 1 Pages 1-12

Page 1: At first glance, I thought that the invitation on the table had been sent to Washington and that I was looking at the president's desk, or something like that, until I looked at the next page. I really like the mask next to the invitation. I also like how Alexander's name was included on the invitation. I wonder what he'll be doing while his parents are at their party. Will he be with them or somewhere else… (I'm not lingering off here to sound mysterious, I just didn't know what else to put).

Page 2: I love Alexander's costume. I also like the quote, "Sure, Manhattan may be infested with real monsters, but it's not like the beasties can talk, right?" People are really trying to make them look like horrible monsters, and to do that, they make them look unintelligent and degrade them. But then again, how many of these people have really met one?

Page 3: I like that Matt is in charge of the taskforce and not Elisa. It gives him a bigger role to play and it doesn't make Elisa look like the biggest Gargoyle fan out there. I'm not saying that's bad, but it's better to lay low and not have stupid people ruining her life because they know she's a gargoyle lover (talking about the average Joe out there who wants to vandalize stuff and needs a good reason to do so). I also like being introduced to new characters. I hope to see more of the new detectives.

Page 4: I like Morgan's line, "Uh, detective… I mean… Elisa…" It's weird to hear his voice in my head say her name, cause he's always calling her detective. I was also I bit weirded out with him asking Elisa out. I just can't see the 2 of them together or thinking that Morgan has a thing for her. I always saw him as an older mentor type to her. Him actually calling it a date made it even… well… weirder.

Page 5: I love this page. Matt totally distrusts Hacker, and acts like he'd rather stick his head in a trashcan instead of talk to him. He also acts disgusted with him. It's all good. I like how Hacker makes Matt use their code when Matt could've done without it. "Formalities must be observed." Matt's face is priceless when Hacker puts his arm around him. I should probably mention something about Hacker's speech about the world not being ready to have gargoyle and humans together yet, just to set myself up for when I mention his other speeches with Xanatos and Castaway. Well… I guess I just mentioned it.

Page 6: It's good to see Jason again. I miss not hearing his voice; it's a good thing I've got it stored up in my head. I didn't expect to see him handcuffed to his bead. I find it almost humorous, handcuffing a paralyzed guy to his bed. But then again, he's full of surprises. His conversation with Elisa is typical. He still holds a spark for her and she's second-guessing her relationship with Goliath. It had to come up eventually. It's also pretty clear that he doesn't want to see Elisa with a gargoyle. There's still some dislike going on there for the species, I think. I do hope that Jason finds someone else though. He deserves a second chance.

Page 7: More breaking out of stone. It's funny to see Elisa trying not to get hit with stone. It's interesting to see Angela and Broadway holding hands now. They don't seem worried to show that they like each other. I also like Brooklyn's look over from the corner.

Page 8: You can see more of Angela's naiveté here with her not knowing much about Halloween. Elisa looks reluctant to speak with Goliath, but goes on with it and confronts him.

Page 9: What a teaser! What did the gargoyles decide to dress up as? I can't wait to find out in the next comic. I really don't like that Brooklyn is folding his wings underneath his arms now. Is that going to be a new permanent thing? Are you trying to distinguish his look by doing this? It just doesn't look right. I like the hint at where Hudson and Bronx are going to be going. All I have to say is that I hope they are going where I think they're going. I also like how Lex is still weary of Fox. After Broadway tells Angela that no one will know that they are gargoyles, her follow up question is a good one. "And that's a good thing?"

Page 10: Now to the more emotional page. Goliath is taken off guard and backs away when Elisa says that their feelings "are not enough." She makes a good point. How can Goliath argue with her reasoning? The line, "Goliath, I want children…" was a big hit on him, I think. He is actually speechless after this.

Page 11: Again with Hacker and his "formalities". More number stuff. I like the up close looks on Hacker and Xanatos' faces when they give their numbers. Xanatos is as calm as ever and Hacker looks about the same. I had to go back and look at Matt's face when he said his number on page 5. He looks annoyed. Anyways, back to page 11. Hacker looks funny with the mask on his face. It's also interesting to hear Xanatos speak of a "phase one." Him and his plans and phases. Too bad Xanatos can't go to his party. I guess he won't be playing host.

Page 12: I almost missed this page and went right to page 13. It's a good thing I went back and looked. More of Hacker's teasing lies. He says one thing to Matt, and another to Xanatos. Exactly when is he telling the truth? Who knows except you, Greg? Xanatos seems to tolerate this guy. I get the feeling he doesn't like him much, though. It's just the way he talks to him.

Okay, so there's my ramble on the first half of the 3rd comic book. Hope you didn't fall asleep or anything like that.

Thank you for your time, your patience, and a great comic book.

-Charisma82

dph_of_rules writes...

A few weeks ago, we had a discussion in the s8 cr about the size of gargoyle clans and what would/might constitute a full gargoyle clan.

1)Do you have a formal definition of what a full gargoyle clan is (in terms of size and/or egg laying capacity)?
1a)If so, would you share that definition with us?

KirK writes...

What does the pyramid and the all seeing eye of the Illuminati represent?

KirK writes...

2 - In the gargoyle version of macbeth retold via City of Stone flashbacks, why is it that the character of hecate seen in the original play was never featured?