Jarrod writes...

Hi Again Greg!

In Gargoyle Society, You have stated that Clans would use Banishment as a form of Punishment. You have stated that Iago was Banished before the Massacre, but then came back to the clan, and I believe you have mentioned that it was because he set Othello against Goliath over Desdemona. Did Gargoyles who were banished, and without a clan have a lower chance of survival than those in a clan? Would clans let other nearby clans know about those who were banished so that they would not assist them during their Banishment. (Of course this would only apply if there were nearby clans.) Would Temporarily Banished Gargoyles always return to the Clan at the end of their sentence? Or would the majority stay away and find a new Clan, Home, or Protectorate? What sort of things would constitute a Banishable Offense?

Thanks for Reading, Writing, and Answering!

Jess writes...

In my previous post I referred to your upcoming Spiderman cartoon as Ultimate Spiderman instead of Spectacular Spiderman by accident. Whoops! Once again I plead midterms, because they ate my brain. With ketchup.

JanAlexandra writes...

Where was Fox's former residence before she moved into Eyrie Building(except Rikers Island:-)?

Chip writes...

Not so much a question, but an answer. Some time ago someone wondered why the Emir bothered to translate the Ancient Egyptian Papyrus of Thoth into English (or Arabic, since Avalon seemed to be translating everything for them) instead of reading it in Egyptian.

The Egyptian language has not been spoken aloud in 1,500 years. The Egyptians did not have Heiroglyphs for vowels so no one knows how the words were really pronounced. Cat and Cut, Ham and Home. They'd all be spelled the same in Egyptian and context was the only way to tell them apart.

If he hadn't translated it, the spell could have gone terribly wrong. Ironically it did anyway. Jackal-Anubis anyone?

Anyway that's my two cents, hope it helps.

-Chip

Chip writes...

AAAAHHHH! Coldsteel's back in town.

Coldstone and Coldfire can't be far behind. I often wondered why Xanatos would create such a powerful body for "Iago" but I realized, Remembered in this issue that Xanatos may not be directly working against Goliath, that doesn't make him friendly. (My mind flashed back to "Our enemies conspire together for control of this body")

On to the comic...I think that that was THE weirdest Avalonian arrival I have ever seen. (Though I'm sure that Tom prolly went through a few odd ones in his quest for Goliath over the centuries)

Sangpo wouldn't know a yeti if it bit him on the butt :) Master Dawa was a very amusing monk, and mentally I picked out a set of voice actors I like to "play" them in my head.

The red and white eyes told me it was Coldstone. (That and the fact that I realized that this was the "lost" Marvel Comics story)

The misprinted scene was distracting for me, but I was able to descern from the dialog what was supposed to be happening. I hope that you post that address for the replacement comic or something.
"Biological Son" that's what did it. I think that Coldstone might have been willing, and certainly wanted to come with G and the Avalon crew, but the thought of putting his children in danger...it was just too much for him. So he posed as Iago.

Shambala!!! I know that here in the west we call it Shangri-la! Did anything interesting happen there, or did Elisa take them straight back to Avalon.

Thailog's amusment amuses me. That Shari girl is scary, she knows just how to get his goat right before he turns to stone. On a side note, for some reason he didn't see his Toga as part of him so it didn't go stone? He'll have to get a new one at sunset, and they can't be cheap.

Guess that's all for now, at least on Reunion. Can't wait for Bad Guys. (Mid November?)

Kerry writes...

Hi Greg. ^_^ First off, I want to thank you for your incredible patience and willingness to deal with us and get Gargoyles in some form back into circulation. I think you're doing a great job.

If you could clarify something for me, I'd very much appreciate it. I'm not trying to catch you out or nitpick, I'm just kind of confused about one aspect of the Mayan clan's pendants: how they affect the wearers' aging process.

In September 2000, you stated that the cost of wearing a pendant was that the gargoyle aged at the human rate. A year later, you said that the pendant compensated, but I'm not quite sure what that means. The only other reference I can find states that the pendants partially compensate the wearers for their lack of sleep. Would you be willing to shed a little more light on this?

If the gargoyles do age faster, does that speed up their breeding cycles too, or is that something else the pendants compensate for? I know that in the current situation it's not as much of an issue, but I also know that the four wearers aren't always each other's mates.

Anything you can tell me would be fantastic, but if you'd rather clear it up in the comics, that's fine too. I can wait. ;P

lonewolf writes...

what made brooklyn wan't to bring fu-dog with him

Shannon 'Shan' Muir writes...

Greg, a timeline question. When you laid out Alex's timeline, did you know at the time the series was being done at what point he wound up being conceived (i.e. was that intentional) or is that something you figured out later as you put the bigger timeline together? Not that it matters per se, but with all the fiction I've been doing of late of my own projects being so timeline oriented due to the massive amount of intertwined events and the epic scope, these are the kind of issues I've struggled with myself and wonder how much was done originally and how much you learn along the way. This is just a very specific example I can cite. Also, you pointed out before (in the "Eyes of the Beholder" ramble) there was enough about Fox and Xanatos' relationship that you are surprised that you got away with at all. Thanks.

Queen of Night writes...

Hi Greg,

I forgot a question that I meant to ask (that random #4 at the bottom of the post).

Coldstone is made from the shattered pieces of Othello, Desdemona, and Iago. Other than the Shakespear reference how was it possible that the pieces of these specific gargoyles to be used and no others? How did Demona get them anyway? I'm sure she didn't carry pieces of her rookery siblingings with her through the centuries.

Thanks!

Battle Beast writes...

Greg:

I never even noticed the errors in Issue #6. However, I know we all want as great quality as we can get in the book.

I appreciate EVERYTHIGN you do for the fandom, and just to have Issue #6 (Number SIX yet!) in my hands is wonderful enough! I can take an error or three. With issues comming out, I can live again! (Bad pun, I know.)

From the very bottom of my fandom heart, here is a fond THANK YOU for all you have done for us this past year!

Antiyonder writes...

Thanks for informing us about #6. I do not blame you in the slightest, nor does it ruin my enjoyment of the story. It's pretty interesting to finally have "The Lost Marvel Tale". In all seriousness, I managed to obtain all of Marvel Comics Gargoyles.

Comments and Questions:
1. Angela's opening line reminds me of Hudson's line from Avalon Part 1. Not sure if that was the intent, but nice.
2. Probably answered my own question, but Dawa also known as The Zen Master, correct?
3. Like some of the other comments, I liked Dawa's line "If that doesn't work, I'll translate later".
4. I had a feeling, Coldstone was going to find out about the rookery eggs when I heard about this story. It was still worth reading, especially since we have his relation to Gabe as offical canon now.
5. Aside from the scenes taking place in the present day, are there any other differences between the story when it was first written to the finished product (Any scenes dropped)?

Good job on the story. Also, Gordon's artwork was pretty good as well.

bluewyvern writes...

Hi, Greg,

I just bought the Season 1 DVD and watched Awakening for the first time in years. Delightful as ever, but I found myself very confused by Demona's behavior.

I understand her anger at Goliath for what she saw as his short-sightedness, thwarting her plans to get the clan away from the castle and exposing them to the massacre, and her fury that he refused to support her. The confrontation at bazooka-point made sense. She failed to sway him, and at that point he became her enemy. But why was she scheming against the clan from the start? They had only just awakened, she hadn't really clashed with Goliath yet and she should have seen herself as still belonging to them -- why lie to and deceive them? Why the sinister "I'm up to something evil" look when she first saw Goliath? Shouldn't her reaction have been pure joy at being reunited with gargoyles after being alone for so long? Sure, the centuries made her bitter, but apart from revenge against humans all she ever wanted was the company of fellow gargoyles again, and they hadn't yet shown that they were against her.

It doesn't make sense to me that she would be cooperating with a human and deceiving the other gargoyles, who should have been more precious to her than anything. I can see her being wary about revealing all her history right away, thus the lie about her awakening. But what could her motivation possibly have been for colluding with Xanatos to bring the Steel Clan online? A replacement for gargoyles, to benefit humans and make gargoyles truly disposable? How does this possibly suit her ends? I was truly shocked when she proposed siccing the robots on the gargoyles. Even if she suspected that Goliath wouldn't join her and she was angry with him for his naivete, what beef could she have with the others? She wants to destroy humanity and preserve the gargoyle race at all costs. What on earth was she thinking, standing back with Xanatos and Owen and watching as the clan fought for their lives?

Thanks for taking the time to answer. I thought I had Demona pretty well sussed, but I can't make any sense of this.

Antiyonder writes...

Since it was brought back up, I too am sorry about your cat. Had a few cats we've had to say goodbye to ourselves.

The One Known As Mochi writes...

After searching through the archives for a couple of hours (while reading your ramblings on Future Tense...one of my favorite episodes, and also some past con journals from various people), I couldn't find the answer to a question I had in mind. My question is in regards to Hudson.

Knowing that Hudson is fond of Celebrity Hockey, would there be any particular celebrity he would want to see play?

By the way, Future Tense did a great job of keeping my jaw on the floor. I had to clean up a puddle of drool as a result. LOL. Aside from Future Tense, City of Stone and Deadly Force were also my favorite episodes. Want to know my top ten episodes? :D

Todd Jensen writes...

I should probably have mentioned this much earlier, too, but I'm sorry about the passing of your cat Bigtime. Especially since I remember what it's like to lose a cat whom you've lived with for a long time.

Charles Logan writes...

In the sixth and latest issue of the new gargoyles comic the same page is used twice. This page is the one where Goliath and Coldstone meet up in the cave and Coldstone throws Goliath over his shoulder. The first time we see this page the dialogue does not seem to correspond with the picture, was this a mistake? Will you be reprinting the comic with the correct pages and dialogue? If not will we be able to see the page online? Should questions about the comic be left at AskGreg or will there be a place to do this at Creature Comics? I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the new adventures of the gargoyles and cannot wait to start reading Bad Guys. I read somewhere that Bad Guys might become a new animated series, is this true?

David writes...

I just read your apology for Gargoyles #6. Yes, I think it was the weakest comic thus far, and yes, I'm glad to know it's not unnoticed by SLG and yourself. But that being said, you seemed really down about it, and I wanted to give you at least one fan's response to your apology. I really appreciate your integrity,(Nice to know you stand by Renard's words!)and I won't pretend that the issue was as well done as the others. That being said, it's in a very very large part of you that we have an issue #6. Or an issue #1, or anything after Hunter's Moon Part Three. You mention not expecting our unlimited patience, but you need to know, you already had mine. Ten years from the last good episode of Gargoyles, you came through in spades. You did the impossible, and you brought Gargoyles back to me, and all the Garg fans out there. Thanks to your hard work, I finally got to see Goliath and Elisa proclaim their love for each other. A moment that brought me closer to tears then anything else in years. Thanks to you I've seen a little more of what would happen to the Manhattan Clan after finally reclaiming their old home, and forcing an alliance of sorts with Xanatos. I saw more of the Illuminati, and perhaps the best Thailog story to date. And soon, thanks to you, I'll see Bad Guys, and quite possibly the other Gargoyles spin offs that I honestly never thought would happen after the show's cancellation. As I write this I see that a lot of that is, in fact, thanks to YOUR "unlimited patience" as well as your refusal to give in and let Gargoyles die. Believe me, if you never write another Gargoyles story again, I'll consider these six issues a worthy return on my patience. Please know that all you have done for Gargoyles and it's fans is far from unnoticed. And while I can only speak for myself, I think all Gargoyles fans would agree me. So what? You stumbled a little along the way bringing us something we had all but given up hope of ever seeing. YOUR "unlimited patience" has shown us the impossible is possible. Why would we give you anything short of our own in return?

dph writes...

I do not know if you realize this or not, but you have done "This day in Gargoyles' Universe History" for over 6 months now. Thank you for doing this for us, the fans.

dph writes...

My review of issue #6

Where do I begin? This is obviously an immediate follow-up to the previous issue, which I enjoy. I enjoyed seeing Thailog in yet another change of clothes. It seemed quite plausible for the Society to be aware of the travelers' trips around the world and put together that Avalon was sending them places. I found the entry point for the travelers to be quite . . entertaining. It was also nice for humans to be treating gargoyles with respect, even if that was an order. It was nice to see Coldstone's reaction to seeing Angela and Coldstone's natural curiosity about how he was found. It's nice to know that Angela recognizes Coldstone as Gabriel's hatchling. At this point, it's nice follow-up to High Noon that Coldstone does not want to rejoin his clan out of fear of causing them injury. The way that he convinces them that the evil one has taken over is quite good. It's interesting the way that Coldstone brought them down. Then it's nice to learn where they really were as well as nice to add another mythic place to the gargoyle's universe. Also, it's very nice for Thailog to be outsmarted for once, showing that he can be. The ending with Coldsteel was quite interesting and also quite trusting of David Xanatos.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. When I picked up comic book, I inquired about being the only one in my area who ordered Gargoyles comics. I had a pleasant surprise to find there was one other. Next time I go to the comic book store, I plan on leaving contact information so this other person can contact me.

Todd Jensen writes...

My thoughts/review on #6.

It's unfortunate that this one was plagued with production errors (especially the wrong pictures on one page), and I hope that future issues won't have that problem. But you've already covered that part, so I won't say more about it.

The flashback story felt a little hurried, in order to get it into one issue, but was still interesting. Master Dawa made a good new character; I especially liked his verbal wit with such lines as "Their souls are fortunate that their bodies are such lousy shots" and "Listen with your heart, Sangpo... if that doesn't work, I'll translate later."

The revelation that Iago hadn't taken over Coldstone's body, but that Coldstone pretended that he had to prevent Goliath from bringing him back to the clan (and thus potentially endangering the other gargoyles when Iago *did* succeed in taking over Coldstone again), was also well-handled.

And I was amused by the opening of the flashback, with the skiff arriving in a laundry pot, since it reminded me of a few discussions that I'd seen in Gargoyles forums as to how small a body of water Avalon could transport one to.

While the "present-day" part of the story wasn't advanced much, we still got some enjoyable tidbits. It seems that Thailog has finally met his match in Shari, something which makes this new character all the more interesting. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how things go between Xanatos and Coldsteel. (It seems that his motives for providing robotic bodies for the other two souls inside Coldstone weren't as altruistic as he claimed. Though, knowing Xanatos, that shouldn't be such a surprise.)

At any rate, a good story; I just wish that there hadn't been as many production errors. And I hope that we don't see any (or none of this magnitude) in future issues.

Sanguinarius writes...

I thought I'd follow up on another questioner's comment, on the huge problem with issue 6. If you've seen a print copy of it (not sure if you get one gratis or not), pages 12 and 16 are identical, picture-wise: only the dialogue and captions differ. And considering the dialogue for page 12, it's obvious that this was not intentional. I realize it's not your department, but I figured you'd know who to inform. I just hope SLG hasn't started printing the trade paperback yet, with that mistake still in it...

I should probably ask a question, since that's what this board is for... But I don't have any questions (at least no sane ones) at the moment. But thank you so much for whatever backdoor dealings you engaged in to get Gargoyles stories going again! I'm absolutely loving the series, especially with the offhand comment of adding another specie-of-legend to the mix with the Yeti... The mythology you've created is what made me fall in love with Gargoyles originally, and I'm very very glad to see you haven't lost your touch in the meantime. Thanks again!

Shannon 'Shan' Muir writes...

Hi Greg,

Originally I promised I wasn't going to review 3 - 5 until I saw them as a group, and go figure when I finished this was RIGHT when the queue closed. So here it is, though with added time of reflection.

REVIEW OF GARGOYLES ISSUES 3 - 5
by Shannon Muir

As I've stated previously, I didn't want to comment on the comics until I could see the whole story in one piece, which to me feels like I'm reading a half hour episode adapted to three comics with one comic per act. I'm largely going to talk about the story as I think it unfair to review three different artists artwork indepth in one piece. However, broadly speaking I liked issue #5 the best artwise and issue #4 the least (mainly because I couldn't follow the fight scenes in that style which in turn impacted my ability to follow story, though the style itself was interesting).

Now, here's a breakdown of each story arc and my observations --

THE ILLUMINATI: It's nice to finally get a sense of the Illuminati structure as more than just this nebulous organization represented by just a couple people in the show. Castaway, Bluestone, Xanatos, and Thailog all at lowest run almost implies some sort of "race to the top". Both Quincy and Shari I find extremely interesting, and Thailog being a member was a turn I didn't expect. Also that Shari's symbol isn't the ring like all the men wear. (What jewelry does Thailog have I wonder, though I know you can't/won't answer). There's enough here I'm interested in what is going on in their infrastructure. Thailog's goals are, however, at this point a little bit predictable. What is more of interest is the consequences of the pursuit of said goals with Sevarius.

ELISA AND GOLIATH: I have to be honest, this was the arc that I liked the least. To me, the question of Elisa's family plans opened on the castle rampart is a "tentpole" question that should launch a much larger arc and not be thrown away in the equivalent of a half-hour episode. The fact Elisa flirted with Jason, and did take Morgan on the date, cannot be erased in one night no matter how life-threatening. Couples have conflicts but they also need to work through them, and issues of this magnitude take time. I hear rumors later issues will continue with this theme, but even what I've seen here seems just too fast. I know comics by nature need to be time compressed to some extent, but still.

I for one hope that though Elisa's re-recognized her feelings for Goliath in the heat of a pressure moment, the struggles don't end here. Those are some powerful words Elisa told Goliath back at the castle in Issue 3 about the life she wanted, and I truly feel some more examination of this is required instead of a simple daytime soap opera-esque "we'll find a way to work it out" and let it rest until it resolves itself. It has always been one of GARGOYLES' hallmarks to deal with tough issues head on and give them the treatment they deserve - whether it is single epsiodes with undertones of social issues like DEADLY FORCE or LIGHTHOUSE or the complicated psychcological examination of Demona and Macbeth of CITY OF STONE. That, to me, is what makes GARGOYLES... well, GARGOYLES.

As is, it feels like this was "rushed through" to take Elisa and Goliath to some sort of "next level" in their relationship in order to move along other plot elements. I strongly hope this isn't the case.

BROOKLYN, BROADWAY AND ANGELA: Poor Brooklyn just feels alientated by everyone. This was done in plausible contexts that made sense. I know what it is ultimately to lead to (in the most general of senses, as we've been told before), but the question is how long will things go until we get there? I hope they don't drag out but go at a natural pace. As to Broadway and Angela, I think they are handled very subtly in the background, their relationship is reconfirmed as a contrast longside Brooklyn's alienation.

LEXINGTON: Not too much to say here as Lexington is Lexington. However, what is key is his confrontation with his clone, it reveals a lot about his character as he confronts his "dark side" when the clone chooses Thailog over siding with Delilah.

THE CLONES, THE MUTATES, AND THE POWER OF FREE WILL: Maggie standing up and Delilah taking charge were both turns I applauded and worked well, Delilah's especially though I would have liked to have overseen her hearing the conversation where Goliath mentions her. Though, where did Thailog learn about Norma Rae? It took a minute to remember where she overheard Goliath's comment. This was my second favorite arc to Hudson and Robbins (see below). However, we still don't know what happened to Maggie or to Claw. We see Shari at the end of Issue 5 talking to Thailog, and supposedly she took Claw with her when she left the Labrinyth in Issue 4. Where is he? Did I miss something? (I hope so.)

HUDSON AND ROBBINS: The smallest subplot in the arc but it accomplishes volumes in just a few pages. It got a major revelation out of the way - that Robbins has suspected Hudson's identity for some time - but it didn't feel rushed or forced. It felt like every step was completely appropriate and the handshake at the end before Hudson left was the perfect cap. A total contrast to the Elisa and Goliath arc. Even Gilly and Bronx resting together was a nice touch.

BRENDAN AND MARGOT: Margot was predictable but funny, yet the interesting part here is getting a better sense of Brendan. Timing makes it clear he got Dr. Sato to help Goliath, but did he realize Goliath was what he was or does he think Goliath was just a man in a really good costume? Again, you can't answer that one but I'm letting you know the answer interests me.

DEMONA: I know she's a setup for later, but she seems out of place in these three issues if taken together as one story. Not much to say as there's not much of her around. I am left wondering if that page might have been able to be done some other way or at some other point to have better been utilized for this story.

CAMEOS AT THE PARTY: Fun if you remember the show enough. I recognized some and had to research others. I flat out did not recognize the Judge and guessed who he was simply because I had to think of what episode used a Judge. Seems too off model to me, even compensating for the costume.

OVERALL: Would I keep reading at this point? There's enough to keep me interested, but how Elisa and Goliath play out may be a real sticking point. We'll see.

ADDENDUM REGARDING ISSUE #6:I don't have Issue 6 yet (got stuck too late at work to go out the day it came out), and to be honest after hearing about the technical art gaffe I may just hold out for the trade in hope it gets corrected there and I can follow the story properly, especially since it is a stand-alone. I haven't decided. If I do get it and the queue doesn't close, I'll consider a review.