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.