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Clan-Building #7: The Rock

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Charisma82 writes...

Wow, I feel like I am really slacking off by finally posting my 2nd half of Gargoyles #7 review after so long, but at least I finally got it done. I figured I ought to get it done and over with before I get issue #8 (which I have purchased online and should be getting in the near future). So here's the long awaited (well, by me anyways) 2nd half of #7 review.

Gargoyles: Clan-Building
Part 7: The Rock

Part 2 Pages 13-24

Page 13: Goliath finally gets it that not only is Broadway and Angela now a couple, but Brooklyn is feeling down in the dumps because of it. At least the big guy is understanding and tries to help him out by letting him stay in Manhattan, but to no avail. Broadway & Angela decide to stay as well, which kinda bothers me in a way. Goliath tells them to go on this mission, and then they up and tell him they're going to stay behind anyway. It bothers me that Goliath lets this slide, after he's given them a direct order. But I guess he's got other things on his mind, such as recovering still and the whole Elisa/Goliath relationship thing.

Page 14: I LOVE the last scene on this page with Macbeth in 1950. I love the lines, "Scotland Forever!" "SHHHH!" Besides this funny scene, we get to see Lex, Hudson, and Macbeth during a stakeout, but not much is happening for them yet.

Page 15: Another page dedicated to the story of Gathelus and his growing family. The artwork is still incredible. The picture on Thailog and Shari… it was very creepy and cool at the same time. Even before getting online to read people's responses to the picture, I immediately though of the picture looking like Goliath and Elisa, only Shari and Thailog's picture seems much darker. Props on such a great idea to reflect the 2 couples on each other.

Page 16: To answer Hudson's question, "Who exactly are we expecting?" Just about anybody… but especially Xanatos. Again, we get to see Xanatos working with the Coyote Diamond. He's making a deal with someone, and it is pretty easy to guess who when your eye slips to the page next to it. I liked how you had the Scarab Corporation logo in one of Xanatos' backgound shots.

Page 17: Xanatos gets the new and improved Coyote robot working again with the help of the Coyote Diamond and then we get a big shot of Coldsteel and the new robot, ready to do as Xanatos' commands. This should be interesting.

Page 18: Shari tells the story of the Coldstone trio. It was a nice touch to help those who did not watch the TV series understand what went on between the three gargoyle souls. Thailog looks really intense as he looks at his computer screen.

Page 19: A Goliath & Elisa moment. I really like how the scene is set up to look just like the scene from issue #5. Great idea on that.

Page 20: And here we get one of the big revealers: Maggie is officially pregnant. I had to explain this scene to my sister, because she didn't get it at first. Then we see Elisa throwing away normalcy to be with Goliath, after he was graciously trying to let her off the hook. I like how you put the Maggie/Talon scene right above this scene. Elisa sees that Maggie & Talon, who are definitely not normal, are happy together. I think it gave her an extra boost of confidence to go on without normalcy in her life. Besides, her life was never going to be normal anyways. She might as well be with the guy she loves.

Page 21: The close of the story for Gathelus. Shari and Thailog are playing chess. I just realized how this scene reflects on Fox & Xanatos. It's funny, Shari and Thailog might look like a dark version of Goliath and Elisa, but their intellect and trickery is much more like the Xanatos couple. All of these couples being compared to each other… wow, there are a lot of strong couples in this series.

Page 22: Macbeth checking out a mysterious shadow lead. I never noticed King Arthur's shadow at the middle of the page until just now. Huh. And of course, Macbeth can't go anywhere without his famous "lightning" gun.

Page 23: Macbeth is caught off guard by, no other than, King Arthur! The last panel on this page is my 2nd favorite one in the entire comic. My first thought was… "Oh no… Arthur doesn't know that Macbeth is one of the good guys!" I guess I totally blanked out the end of the episode "Pendragon". Then I remembered that they had left on good terms the last time they'd seen each other. So, as many are, and will wonder until #8 is read, why is Arthur being so hostile towards Macbeth?

Page 24: So, this was my favorite scene in the entire comic. New gargoyles! And they look so cool! I love their designs, and I can't wait to learn more about them in the next comic. I didn't notice Griff at the bottom of the page until my 2nd or 3rd read through. Yeah Griff! He's one of my favorites in the Gargoyles universe, and I can't wait to hear more about him in future comics.

There it is. I finally got it done. Hopefully I'll be doing one of these for #8 very soon. I have to mention that this comic was so good, that my sister even came in and started talking to me and asking questions about it, which she doesn't usually do. It has to be a really great comic if it got my sister talking to me about it. Thanks for the great job!

Thank you for your time and all that you do.

-Charisma82

Greg responds...

And thank you!

Response recorded on April 21, 2008

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Sabina writes...

Ha, I finally got Gargoyles #7. Took long enough, atleast it brought the TPB with it. :)

The new stories are quite interesting and it's nice to see how everything is set up and interwoven.
I hope the comic will be around for a long time.

Goliath looks rather seductive on the TPB's back.

Greetings,
Sabina

Greg responds...

That's a Hedgecock Goliath on the back, I believe. (Going from memory here. Don't have the book in front of me.)

Response recorded on February 07, 2008

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Woods writes...

In the Rock Hudson and Lexington wake up at 7:45 this is accounted to jet lag but in New York it would only be 2:45pm, so wouldn't have made more sense for Hudson and Lex to wake at elevenish in London

Greg responds...

Even after less than one night, they are already starting to adjust to the new timezone. That's how attuned to the biorhythms of the planet the ancient race of gargoyles are.

Response recorded on February 05, 2008

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Charisma82 writes...

Hey! Okay, first off, WOW! I loved The Rock! I had been excited about this comic ever since the teaser on Garg Wiki was put up about the synopsis of the story. I couldn't wait to see how you would incorporate all those characters into this issue. I was very pleased to see how you did it. It all fit great! And another biggie that lets me know that this issue was fantastic is that my sister (likes to read the comics, but really isn't into the whole Gargoyles obsession I'm into) was actually psyched after reading it and came in and talked to me about some parts of the story. All right, enough on that, now it's time to get to my page by page report on issue # 7, The Rock.

Gargoyles: Clan-Building
Part 7: The Rock

Part 1 Pages 1-12

Cover: Before I get to the pages, I have to comment on the cover. I've never commented on the cover before on the other issues because most of them never really tied in with what was really going on in the comic, but this one did. When I first looked at this comic's cover I paused a moment in thought. Why would Greg have the gargoyles asleep at night when that was already done before in the TV series? Then I thought that maybe the rock that was supposed to be in this issue was magical in some way that made gargoyles turn to stone at night. Then I noticed Big Ben in the background. It didn't click right away about the jet lag thing, so I still pondered over this when I started to read the comic. I completely forgot about the cover until the end of the comic when I remembered it and then put 2 and 2 together about them being in a different time zone. Well, better late than never I suppose.

Page 1: It starts out well enough. We see Macbeth hanging out, waiting for Goliath to wake up with Owen (who no doubt escorted Macbeth up to the tower). We get a close up on both Macbeth and Goliath. The only thing that really stood out to me on this page was the caption that read "November 2, 4:50PM EST." When I saw that I thought, "Great… we're going to have to do some thinking in this issue if Greg's going to be putting up times and dates."

Page 2: My next thought was, "Even better… the dates and times are out of order!" The first couple of pages with the different dates and times were interesting. I found it to be more fun the second time I went through the comic because then I could flip through and read the scenes in the order they really went in time wise. It was a fun little twist you stuck in there. This second page felt more of a "Next time on Gargoyles…" page. We see that a bomb is involved at some future point as well as Lexington naming something "Amp". I didn't know about the in-joke there until I read about it online. I'd forgotten that Amp was a name that was going to be used for the TV show. I like the picture of Xanatos here. He looks cool with the Coyote Diamond. I was really glad to see the Coyote Diamond. You and Xanatos have a knack for not wasting things.

Page 3: I really liked how these stories that happened a long time ago were incorporated into this comic. I love the art style to it. I already knew about the story of Jacob, but I didn't know how you were going to connect it in with the Gargoyles Universe. Thailog looks like he's enjoying his bath time.

Page 4: Macbeth asks the gargoyles for a favor. Goliath looks like he's asked a very annoying question, Broadway looks scary, Angela looks really angry, Lex looks bored, Brooklyn looks normal, and Hudson looks sad. But Bronx seems happy enough. Besides their weird looks, which really had nothing to do with anything else in the comic, we get to see Macbeth being crowned king from back in 1040. I'm glad you had the coronation held outdoors in the comic book and explained why you did that on Ask Greg. I hadn't known that the TV series had messed up and that it wasn't supposed to be in a castle. I'm glad you got the chance to set things straight.

Page 5: The first time I read this page, I read it so quickly that I thought it was Macbeth asking Goliath if he had minions. I found that odd, and re-read the page to find out that I had gotten their lines mixed up. The thought of Goliath having minions… huh…

Page 6: We jump ahead to see that Macbeth is boarding a plane with some extra cargo. I find it funny that people don't ask Macbeth if his parents really liked Shakespeare and named him after some of his characters, since his cover name is Lennox Macduff. He's got to be teased by some people about it.

Page 7: We go back to see that Owen is reporting to Xanatos about the gargoyles' new travel plans, yet Xanatos is still a couple steps ahead of the game… or he's lying about being prepared because he was too occupied with Fox and her decision to buy new shoes. I'm going with the first idea though. Speaking of shoes, we get to see Fox, Xanatos, and Alex in London, where she is thinking about buying new shoes.

Page 8: Another story done in cool art. I hadn't heard about this story before. I found it interesting how you connected the Gathelus story with that of Moses and Jacob's.

Page 9: It's Claw! And Al! Yet, neither of them says anything. I wasn't even thinking of Maggie being pregnant when I read this page. One thing that threw me were the clones in the background turned to stone. I thought that it was the Manhattan clan. I was trying to figure out why all of them would've gone with Elisa down into the Labyrinth. I finally figured out that it wasn't them, though. It was also cool to see Dr. Sato.

Page 10: A funny page. I wish you had put in the bathroom break. And you want to know the sad part? It didn't even dawn on me about this relating to the front cover. I must've really been into the comic.

Page 11: By this time, I'd kinda figured that Lex and Hudson were the only Manhattan gargoyles with Macbeth, unless the others were secretly being hidden for some twisting story plot… but I have my doubts on that. And you got to love jet lag.

Page 12: Once again, great drawing style for more of the story told by Shari. We see Thailog and Brentwood doing some digging. I wondered if they were looking for the crystal that Demona found in the demolished building, but I'm not so sure. I don't know how that crystal would tie into this story line, plus there's the fact that Demona has it, and I don't think Thailog is the kinda guy to let someone beat him to his prize. And I'm wondering right now, where you came up with Shari's name. Is she named after a person you know/knew, or was it a random name choice?

That's the first half. Hopefully I'll get to the 2nd half sooner than later.

Thank you for your time and all that you do.

-Charisma82

Greg responds...

You too.

Response recorded on January 31, 2008

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Phil writes...

I didn't get this in before the last cutoff, but here's my ramble/review/response to "The Rock". Many people already commented on it, so I'm going to delve into something that hasn't been gone into in-depth: the non-linear structure. (I posted this a couple of weeks ago in the comment room, but here it is at "Ask Greg", too.)

When I first read the story, I didn't get the point of not telling it chronologically. I enjoyed the issue and thought it might be the best one yet, but the structure was distracting and kept me from fully getting into it. However, having faith in your skills, I analyzed the issue and have come to the conclusion that you're a creative genius. Basically, the story is told in order, not chronologically, but logically, revealing to the readers what they need to know as they need to know it, and not before.

****SPOILERS****

The first few pages serve two purposes: 1) to warn us right up front about the structure of the story, and 2) to hook us like a barbed fishing hook. By the end of page two we can't put the book down even if we wanted to. But by the end of page three, I was starting to wonder how this all fits together. What does Jacob's stone have to do with anything? Macbeth answers on the next page. "It's called the Stone of Destiny."

Page four begins the meat of the story. Macbeth asks the gargoyles to help protect the Stone. There's a one-panel flashback to illustrate his connection to the Stone. Everything progresses chronologically for a few pages until...

There break in the story for travel time, so page seven introduces the villain of the story. Xanatos is aware of what's going on, but he's unconcerned. We see that he's in London with his family. And speaking of family...

Gathelus and Scota are introduced and the backstory of the Stone progresses. By the end of the page, Scota is obviously pregnant. And speaking of pregnant...

Page nine advances some (not just one, but several) subplots from previous stories. Dr. Sato's presence emphasizes that the mutates are creatures of biology, and not magic. And speaking of biology...

The main story continues. We're reminded that gargoyles are biological creatures; they suffer from jetlag. Macbeth says there are ten days until the Stone is moved, which prompts a flashback to Gathelus and Scota moving the Stone. Then ten days later, Hudson and Lex are on the job.

By this time we're wondering, where are the others? Page thirteen gives us an answer while advancing another subplot and setting up future Clan-Building.

Back to the main story again on page fourteen. Although everything looks secure, Macbeth's not so confident, and we see another one-panel flashback to illustrate why and to reinforce his connection to the Stone.

There's another break in the action of the main story, so it's a good time for Shari to take up another page and provide more backstory. But after that we're back to London. Hudson asks, "Who exactly are we expecting?" And the answer is given.

The villain part of the story is filled in with Xanatos, Coyote, and Coldsteel. At this point, some newbies might ask, who is this "Coldsteel"? Shari is right there to answer on the next page and at the same time set up some more future Clan-Building. "It's really a timeless love story..."

Which leads right into Goliath and Elisa. They've got a beautiful scene, and since Goliath doesn't vocalize everything that's in his heart we're treated to a flashback of a happily expectant couple to say what he left unsaid. He and Elisa give in to true love, but...

Sometimes true love ends in tragedy. Gathelus dies, and Scota's life crumbles. Her sons carry on.

That almost wraps up the story. The only thing left is to return to Macbeth and the main plot to set up the cliffhanger that will bring us all back in two months. Make that "cliffhangers, plural," since Macbeth and Arthur would have been cliffhanger enough. But you double the suspense by bringing in the London Clan, too. Plus there are the teases back on page two that leave us anticipating more.

****END SPOILERS****

The non-linear structure is fascinating to me. Although everything seems to jump around randomly, each panel and page logically connects to the ones around it in thought or theme, if not chronology. That's not to say I'd want every issue to be like this; it takes a lot of thought and study to understand it all. But as an experimental or occasional format, there's a lot to like.

And before I close, a few words about Shari. Somehow I think that if you had worked on season three back in 1996, Shari would not exist as we know her. But with a ten-year gap there's a lot of backstory to exposit, and I have seen too many times when characters awkwardly discuss things they already know just to inform the reader or viewer. So introducing a storyteller like Shari and connecting her to Thailog (who was in a surprisingly few episodes) is such an elegant solution to that problem. And of course you don't just abandon her in her expository role; there's a lot more to her than that.

Anyway, there's my ramble, better late than never.

Greg responds...

Hey Phil, you can call me a "creative genius" anytime you want!!

"That's not to say I'd want every issue to be like this; it takes a lot of thought and study to understand it all. But as an experimental or occasional format, there's a lot to like."

That's not to say I'd want every issue to be like this; it takes a lot of thought and study to WRITE it all.

Anyway, I love your analysis, because among other things... YOU GOT IT! All that thought, study, time, hair-pulling and packages of index cards feel worth it now.

Response recorded on January 25, 2008

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Rachel N. writes...

Season's Greetings, Greg!

I'd just like to share some comments on Gargoyles #7 "The Rock". Another great chapter in the "Clan-Building" series...though I have to say following this particular storyline as it bounced around to different dates and times was a bit confusing at first, but I also think it was effective overall. Great to have Macbeth back in the series, and I liked the origin tale of the Stone of Destiny (incorporating Old Testament Biblical figures Jacob and Moses) - very cool!

Two major plot points that stood out in a great way:
- Dr. Sato examining a pregnant Maggie. I certainly didn't see Maggie's pregnancy coming, but I think it's wonderful! Derek/Talon will be a father, Peter and Diane Maza will be grandparents, and Elisa will be an aunt. Gotta love that! :-)
- Elisa and Goliath getting back together (I loved the dialogue between them in those scenes), and I always love seeing them smooch...it's a beautiful sight!

Also, it'll be interesting to see what develops with the "team-up" of Xanatos, the Coyote robot (now with the Coyote Diamond inside him), and Coldsteel. And I gotta say I really like the design of the two "new" UK clan gargoyles (the female boar gargoyle and the male white stag gargoyle) Can't wait to find out more about them!

Many thanks to all who work on these Gargoyle comics - I love them! Bring on #8! :-)

Greg responds...

Thanks. I'll pass on the kind words to the rest of the team!

Response recorded on January 23, 2008

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The One Known As Mochi writes...

So... Last week, I finally managed to pick up #6 (the corrected version), #7 and Bad Guys #1. I knowingly overdrew my checking account getting these issues (don't worry, I won't do that again...$30 overdraft charges aren't always fun to deal with...) and I was eager to catch up with everyone else. I'll briefly share my thoughts on these issues.

Gargoyles #6
I almost laughed when Goliath, Elisa, Bronx and Angela ended up in a huge pot of...whatever was boiling in there... Bronx looks good in a sherpa (it is a sherpa, right?). It seems Avalon has sent them to find Coldstone and reunite the clan. They end up waking up upon a lake and whether or not they were successful has yet to be known. Coldsteel working for Xanatos... That's surprise for me. It made me wonder what Coldsteel had been doing since he disappeared after being seperated from Coldstone's body.

Gargoyles #7
Now I see why all those dates and times were withheld. Lots of skipping around in terms of time. Made for interesting reading I have to admit. I'm wondering if issue #8 will reveal what happened on the morning of November 15... Fox is shopping for shoes...and curiosity as to why is killing me a little. Shari is quite a story teller. Perhaps her knowledge is why she ranks high in the Illuminati? I'm wondering what Xanatos has planned, especially since the Stone of Destiny might be involved... The page with Macbeth waiting for Lexington and Hudson to wake up was funny. I know jetlag is not a fun thing to experience... I noticed Angela whispers something to Broadway... Perhaps it's alluding to something that will be revealed later? Wow...Macbeth tried to steal the stone back in 1950. Very interesting... Another Coyote and Coldsteel...helping Xanatos... Definitely lots of foreshadowing present in this issue. "...and normalcy is over-rated." So true... So very true... It's good to see Goliath and Elisa patching up things. Maggie is pregnant! Yay! Is she getting a baby shower? King Arthur! Good to see him make an appearance, although having him hold a sword to Macbeth's neck has me wanting to read #8 to see what happens. The London Clan makes an appearance too. Again, can't wait for #8 to be released...

Bad Guys #1
After reading through it the first time, I found myself having mixed reactions from the content (it's not that bad though). I liked seeing Matrix with a boombox. It seemed very apropos for him. Hmm...I'm curious as to who attacked the group... The Tazmanian Tiger was something I wasn't expecting. I'll admit, it's something new, but it didn't distract me too much. In a way, he looked like Batman in a tiger suit...at least that's what first came to mind when I first read through it. I'm glad there was a panel that shows where Dingo was being "inserted." Otherwise, I would've had to imagine where...and it would be very, VERY awry just to think about that... I liked Dingo's reaction to it though. The song lyrics... I'm wondering if that's alluding to some foreshadowing... Perhaps I'm reading too much into it? I won't know until the next issue... Nicely written lyrics, by the way... So far, I think it's off to a good start and I hope it gets better from here.

I guess I should mention now that I'll soon be a proud owner of the Season 1 DVD box set! I haven't ordered it just yet, but I will be after Christmas. In two weeks, Season 2 Volume 1... I can't wait!

Greg responds...

Cool.

Response recorded on January 23, 2008

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The Tigress writes...

My review for issue #7.

I won't cover every little thing since I don't have the time, but I will address the things that stuck out at me the most.

I was able to pick up issue 7 from a comic shop in Seattle and I have to say, what a fantastic issue! So far I think this is my favorite, with issue 5 being a close second. I've been a huge Gargoyles fan since the 6th grade and I'm so happy that the series is being continued in a new format with all new canon.

-I'm really thrilled to find out that Dr. Sato is indeed someone to trust and has allied with the Gargoyles and mutates. You also did a really good job showing the readers that although he's more than willing to help them, but also that finding out about the Gargoyles and the mutates has been very taxing on him mentally.

-Finding out that Maggie is pregnant is very interesting and I look forward to see how this develops. (no pun intended) It's funny because I was actually very curious if Talon and Maggie were able to produce offspring/or were going to have offspring in the future. (Searched the archives one time and didn't find much info on that)

-When Goliath mentiones that he is "healed but not whole", I'm assuming that he means mentally he is not quite healed yet but that his physical injuries are fully healed by now. Since I'm on the topic of Goliath, I absolutely loved the Goliath/Elisa scene at the end of the comic. That almost gave me tears of joy to see. I also noticed how you wonderfully had the beginning set up to parallel the scene from issue 3 where Goliath and Elisa are sitting very far away from each other on each side of the castle balcony. I liked that. It actually made me nervous about the conversation, but then once I read through, I got this very good feeling of joy being able to see that Elisa indeed re-affirmed her change of heart and the end of issue 5. I've been pro "Goliath/Elisa" since I started watching the series in middle school. Props to Hedgecock for bringing out the great emotion and facial expressions of Goliath in those last panels.

-Loved the designs of the new London clan gargoyles we saw towards the end. I especially give you props for having a female gargoyle who isn't the stereotypical "elegant and beautiful" type. Not that I think the other females have that problem, in fact I always have been happy that most of the female gargoyles have a bit of musculature to their bodies and that they are just as capable of being great warriors as the males. This new female boar gargoyle expands even further on this.

-The art is quite decent in this issue for the most part. Hedgecock has improved quite a bit since issue 3 in terms of being on model, although there are still a few errors here and there. Most noteably is that he sometimes makes subjects heads too large for their bodies. I think someone else might have pointed this out before but I'm not sure. The coloring looked fantastic. I really love what Bobby Bevard brings to the table.

-It was also very nice to see Hudson and Lexington in a main role so to speak. The jetlag issue was briliant, and it perfectly explains what was going on in the cover of this issue. Pretty good trick there. :P

-Macbeth is becoming more and more interesting as the series goes on. It's good to see him on the side of the good guys now. I look forward to seeing what happens between him and King Aurthur in the next issue.

I know there's many more elements in this issue I could cover, but I am running out of time, however I'd like to say that I really hope Gargoyles stays alive for a long time to come, whether it be through comics/dvds/anything else. I purchased season 1 and season 2 volume 1 dvds, and all of the comics including Bad Guys 1 up to this point to help support Gargoyles. Sad about Season 2 volume 2 but I am not giving up hope on it, and will buy it first thing if they ever decide to release it.

Keep up the great work!

Greg responds...

The Goliath/Elisa scene actually REVERSED the scene from issue #3, panel by panel, pretty much. Glad you liked it.

I think Goliath is still tired, as I think I mentioned before.

Response recorded on January 22, 2008

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Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

#7
I finally found a comic shop semi-near my apartment and figured out how to get there by bus. It's kinda creepy standing alone at a totally unfamiliar intersection after dark, but I got my comic the day it came out. And the store only had 2 left when I got there, that same day.

~~~~~~~~~~SPOILERS~~~~~~~~~~~
So yes, this is pretty hard to follow, it's hard to review the story when we don't have #8 and #9, but all that Withheld stuff will be useful now. Even though... we have the times right there in the comic. Here's my initial thoughts:

*I am happy to see Macbeth, and being friendly with the clan. He's my favorite 'antagonist' in the series. "Don't you have minions for this?" is a great line.

*Goliath has healed very nicely, there's not even a mark.

*Brooklyn wants to stay in NY to get a break from seeing Broadway and Angela holding hands and being all "OMG WE'RE IN LOVE!!" when they wake up in the evening. Then they decide to stay too. Poor Brooklyn. And I wonder what Angela whispered. I wouldn't feel sorry for Brooklyn because he is being jealous, except he still feels like there are no more females of his species left. Does he not realize there is a whole clan in England? I would have expected him to want to meet them, especially after he asked Goliath "When do we get our World Tour?"

*Jetlag and gargoyles, interesting. It is a nice way of demonstrating (like Broadway underground in the animated series) that gargoyles have a biological clock, that they don't just react to sunlight. And there's Macbeth, drinking lots of coffee to keep himself awake, and looking bored. He should have brought a book. I was wrong about thinking Lex was cold when he woke up, thanks for clearing that up. I'm not surprised they feel lousy.

*Hey look, its the little green guy from Demona's clan. I liked that character design. And there's Gruoch and Demona, too. But no Lulach.

*Maggie is pregnant! I guessed it from the way Dr. Sato says "condition" and the way she and Derek are looking at each other. I'm surprised it happened so soon. Are they going to get married then? Or at least have a ceremony, since the legal benefits won't be useful in the Labyrinth. It is nice to see Dr. Sato becoming an ally of both NY clans. I wonder how Maggie will explain all this to her folks in Ohio, though, because we haven't seen her contact them yet. And I'm eager to learn what their offspring will look like. Human, mutant, half-human and half-mutant... it could be anything.

*The conversation between Goliath and Elisa is interesting. The same panels and poses from #3 are deliberately repeated, the contrast is good. And I like her conclusion. "Normalcy is so overrated." She's thinking about Derek and how he seems to be gaining happiness in spite of not having a normal life. And she touches his hair, so he kisses her. :)

*Shari's watching Thailog take a bath!? Also, he has a surprisingly modern-looking computer for 1996, but what with all the cyborgs and super-robots and nanobots running around the Gargverse, I guess Thailog's rich enough to afford something "futuristic."

*I do wonder if the stories told of the Stone are true or not. Probably they are, but how did a handful of Greeks and Egyptians conquer all of Ireland? If that Stone is a Child of Oberon (as you once suggested it might be), it seems to be very patient with sitting around for long boring stretches of time being a rock. Then again, I don't think you intend it to be a Child of Oberon anymore, since it isn't at the Gathering.

*I wonder what are Thailog and Brentwood looking for, and where are they? Maybe we'll find out in #8.

*The new Coyote robot is one of the uglier ones in my opinion, though not as ugly as 4.0. Generally I think the one in Cloud Fathers (5.0?) was the sleekest-looking. That's not a critique of the penciller or the character design, but a critique of whoever (Xanatos?) designed the robot itself.

*I'm not surprised to see King Arthur, but I am surprised to see him do ~that~. Guess he and Macbeth have some more issues to work out yet! I wonder why he's so mad at Macbeth. And his motivations... it would be so bizarre if he was an antagonist in this story arc.

*New gargoyles! Plus Griff is back, I really like Griff. I am happy to see new gargoyles, as I've been very curious about non-Scottish clans, but I admit to being very disappointed with the new character designs. I am sorry to tell you this, but I dislike them. It doesn't make any biological sense that each one's heads just happens to ~exactly match~ his/her feet, when they aren't mammals nor related to those particular animals at all. I'm still very happy to see new gargoyles, though, but I was hoping for gargoyles that looked like they could have evolved, instead of like they were designed to look ~exactly~ like specific mammals. I still think that "chameleon genes" in general are plausible, and I ~love~ the variation in the other clans, but the London clan is no longer plausible for me (except Griff, who has mixed-together body parts). Each other gargoyle has his or her specific feet and tail cherry-picked to match ~perfectly~ his or her specific head, so that he/she looks like a winged, anthropomorphic/mutate version of one single, specific mammal, instead of a gargate that happens to remind humans of some animal. The white male has the face of a deer, and also antlers and a deer's cloven hooves (not horse-like hooves like Una), and they all match. The brown female has boar's hooves and a boar head to match. You have said that evolution and creation are supposed to be equally possible origins for gargoyles, but so far each London gargoyle (except Griff) is designed to look exactly like a single animal. I hope this isn't an indication that the rest of the clan will all be like this. They all live together and mate each other. Wouldn't offspring inherit a mix of their parents' traits?
But other than that, it is interesting to see the combination of wing-claws with the feather-like surface. Also surprising that some London gargoyles have the leathery wings instead. And that female has neat clothing. I agree with others who are happy to see a female who isn't thin or attractive by human standards.

Although the new gargoyle character designs bother me a lot, I'm still happy with lots of information and events, and I like this issue. TONS of teasers, and an intriguing storyline of which I look farward to learning more. Overall, the format is a confusing way to tell the story and I wonder why you are telling it this way, surely not only to mess with our heads (though I'm sure you enjoy that too!). Perhaps the next two issues will reveal the reason for the unusual format. As for the art, David Hedgecock is much better than before and this is the best colorist to be paired with him yet; Thailog's not black anymore, and the Mutates are tailless again. But Broadway is still off model in almost every panel and it bothers me. Everyone else looks really great, though, especially Goliath, Elisa, and Angela. It is true that sometimes Goliath's head is too big, but I didn't notice until other reviews pointed it out. I like this issue's art better than #6. I hope you guys stick with this art team from now on, Hedgecock is looking good and Robby Bevard brings out the best in his inks.
~~~~~~~~~~SPOILERS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greg responds...

LONDON CLAN - Look, I understand what you're saying, but you're ignoring the NEEDS of creating a fictional universe here. I have to define parameters first -- the breadth of the possibilities. I assume you're not saying that if such and such a foot exists, it CAN'T appear with a so-called "matching" head. Leo's feet don't match a lion's, so I'm not sure why you're not including him with Griff as okay by your standards, in which case I've got two that are a mix and three that represent extremes. But you've only seen a smattering of London gargoyles anyway, not enough of a sample to judge. So, I simply request your patience until you've seen more than a handful to base your opinion on. I mean it's not like I haven't thought about all this. Haven't I earned a little trust at this point?

FORMAT - Okay, yeah, I enjoy messing with your heads, but that's definitely NOT the reason I'm telling this story this way. The ultimate reason why I felt it HAD to be told this way won't be clear -- assuming it's ever clear -- until issue #9, but I think even with this issue there are plenty of obvious advantages to telling this story this way. Information may not always be revealed chronologically, but sometimes that's not the best way to receive information. Content rather than strict chronology rules this story. What do you need to know? When do you need to know it? Besides, the story is MUCH more chronological (certainly across the three issues) than people probably realize. It's not at all random. Not at all. And when I didn't have a reason not to, I resorted to a strict timeline. And the dates and times are all there, so that the chronologically needy can still put it all together.

David and Robby are hopefully both here to stay.

Response recorded on January 21, 2008

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Vicky82 writes...

Greetings from England

Got Gargoyles 7 from Midtowncomics.com (2 copies) on Wednesday and I love it,

*********************SPOILERS******************************

Wow can't beleive it Maggie's pregnant, I'm guessing that Maggie due sometime in July 1997 but i got a feeling this aint going to be a easy pregnancy

Goliath chooses Brooklyn, Broadway, Angela and Lex to go to England with Macbeth but Brooklyn chooses to stay behind I guess to avoid Angela and Broadway but after Angela whisper something to Broadway (I love to know what she said) they stay behind too which Brooklyn doesn't seem happy about it.

I hope Brooklyn gets over Angela Choosing Broadway because I got this feeling he could get himself into trouble by doing something stupid before he goes on his Timedancing Journey.

Anyway Hudson goes with Lexington to Englan to help Macbeth

Elisa and Goliath kiss again (squeals)

As I live not far from London (30 miles north of London)It's great to see the Gargoyles in England

which Airport did you use was it Gatwick or Heathrow as they are the 2 main Airports just outside London, I wonder if Hudson and Lex are going to glide up the M1 next (thats one of our main Motorways)

Funny that I live in England but don't really know that much about the Stone of Destiny or the transporting it from London to Scotland in 1996 (14 years old at the time)

Interesting story about Gathelus and Scota that Shari is telling Thailog.

I like the 2 new Gargoyles.

Can't wait till issue 8 but first Bad Guys 2

Greg responds...

I'm thinking Gatwick...

Response recorded on January 21, 2008


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