Ed Reynolds writes...

Hiya Greg. The comics take a while to reach me and I don't always manage to get the reviews in before the queue closes, but the comic's really going from strength to strength. Anyway, my BG #1 review...

BAD GUYS #1

'Bad Guys' doesn't instantly grab me. I love the universe and I trust the creators, but I don't yet feel close to the characters. I care about Hudson and Demona and Macbeth because we've been through so much with them, and with these guys we've known them for a long time but relatively shallowly. I'm really excited for the comic to peel back the layers on the characters in the same way the original series has done with the 'Gargoyles' leads. Glad to see Dingo used as a starting point for this reason; he's already the most familiar, and the most intriguing (though my favourite is Fang!). The Harry Monmouth tease is lovely. I got into 'Gargoyles' first off because of the 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' characters so I can't wait to see this angle developed.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't take a while to adjust to the lack of colour. Nothing against B&W as a form, I'm all for it; but colour, to me, is in the DNA of this universe. But the art's really great. The beautiful Sydney panorama, the exquisite fight scenes and the lovely stuff of Dingo in flight. Oh, love the logo too. The paper actually feels a bit more solid than the parent title, if less glossy. There seems to be an errant red dot in the middle of the cover but perhaps that's just my copy.

So the story. I love the structure here. The opening section reminded me of 'Awakening', although it's a standard thing with television pilots (and a few comic #1s) to start in the middle and flash back. Often, I don't like the effect. Occasionally it works really well, but sometimes it feels like an in-story trailer. But that final panel of the flash-forward -- "redemption" metaphorically and literally dead in the water -- is fantastic. Same with the "redemption taking off" image at the end. And then there's the music. Threw me at first, but it actually gives the thing a real linking thread and a sense of pace. I've found a clip of part of it on youtube but by now I prefer to run my own music to it in my head -- truth be told I always like to score things I read (and write) in my head anyway as I go. The explosion panel is particularly powerful contrasting with the music. It's an interesting experiment. Not sure it would work too often, but I think it sets the tone quite effectively. And I just like innovation with the narrative.

There are plenty of great moments as always. The helicopter gag was the funniest; Matrix's spine-insertation the creepiest.

One thing nags me though. The masked supervillain -- concept and execution. Concept-wise, it interests me how this guy was in a position to do something like this, and I love the idea of Dingo living this weird idealised hero v villain world. But in a period fast developing DNA testing and biometrics and CCTV, would anyone really go blowing up downtown Sydney and then walking around in a highly recognisable suit? In the Marvel universe, I wouldn't blink twice, but in 'Gargoyles' it seems startling. Not what I'd have expected.

One of the things I often have trouble tracking with the universe is what the perception of the man on the street is to everything that goes on in the stories. Yeah, the Vinnies and the Brendans are people who have had exceptional encounters. What about people who live in Oregon or Melborne or Cardiff -- nowhere that's a hotbed of activity in the universe (yet, anyway). How is their experience of the world different from ours? What's known about advances in technology on robots and cloning and artificial intelligence? And how astonished should they be at a guy in a mask blowing up a bank only to be accosted by an ex-con TV superstar in a metal suit which allows him to fly? Not very, is the impression I get from this comic. And that surprises me a little.

Overall, it's an enjoyable read, but hasn't yet got under my skin quite like the parent comic. And that's fine -- I'm not going anywhere and I have nothing but faith it's going somewhere amazing. I do suspect it's one of those I'll enjoy best in trade since we're only yet dipping a toe into the waters of 'Bad Guys'.

Thanks to everyone who worked on it -- Greg, Karine and David, as well as Greg & Stephanie and the SLG editorial people!

Anonymous writes...

I've always wondered, out of all the words out there, how did you ever come up with using and sticking with "jalapeña" as a catchphrase?

Rebel writes...

Hi Greg, this is something I meant to ask in my earlier comment, but I forgot to. For the comic, how much direction do you give to your artists in coming up with the designs for new canon characters?

I am specifically referring to the two new London Gargoyles at the end of #7. I know you had mentioned before that the London gargs would look like unicorns, lions, or griffins. Did you change your mind recently, or had it always been your plan to make them look like other heraldry animals, and you were just teasing us? Did David Hedgecock talk you out of it? Did the two of you decide together what animals they would resemble, or had you already decided? If you chose beforehand, did you give him specific details about their appearance, or relatively vague details and let him come up with them himself? I would be interested to know any information you can tell me about this. I find the process of creating a character's look to be very interesting.

Also, feel free to volunteer information about the development of the designs of other new characters which have appeared in the comic. Shari, the Tasmanian tiger villain in Bad Guys, Coyote's new look, etc. Whatever comes to mind.

Diego González V. writes...

Hi Greg,

First, I want to thank you very much for give us a great, gorgeous show!!!

So now, my question... Any plans to do an international release of the SLG comic? I would like so much to see the comic in my local comic shop. I know this is more an SLG business than yours, btw, I want to know if you know something about this :)

I mean, it would be just great to read the comic in my native language, spanish (more accurately, "en chileno", hehehe)

Greetings from Chile, South America.
Diego González V., a fan who learned a lot of english thanks to Gargoyles and fanart about the show! So again, thank you :D

Rebel writes...

This isn't really a question as it is a review/comment/whatever. Anyway, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for deciding to have the London Gargoyles resemble more animals than just lions, unicorns, and griffins. For the last ten years or so, I had always assumed that the London clan gargoyles would resemble other animals of heraldry as well, such as bears, boars, wolves, foxes, stags, rams, bats, etc., and when I read in the wiki a few months ago that they would all look like unicorns, griffins, and lions, I was SO disappointed. I am so glad that this is not the case. The two new gargoyles are beautiful and I am looking forward to learning more about them in the next two issues, and possibly seeing some other London Clan members as well. Once again THANKS!

Also, I just wanted to mention that Hedgecock's art is greatly improving and is really, really good in this issue. There are still a few things that seem a little off, like for instance he often seems to make the characters' heads a little too big which makes them seem cartoony, and they sometimes look really angular instead of organic. But overall he's doing a great job. He's really good with facial expressions. I LOVE the look on Lex's face when they first wake up with jetlag! Also the pages where Shari is telling Thailog those stories are all really great. Of course the final page is beautiful as well. And he does a really awesome job with mechanical characters; the page with Coldsteel and Coyote is awesome! Anyway kudos to Hedgecock!

Overall #7 was a great issue. The non-linear format was great (incidentally, although I miss the cartoon it's worth noting that this non-linear format likely would not have worked as well on the TV show). Thanks for all you do.

Demonskrye writes...

Given that Bronx and Boudicca mated very shortly after their first meeting, I'm guessing gargoyle beasts are a lot more casual about mating than gargoyles are. So I have a few questions about gargoyle beast mates:

1) Do they mate for life?
2) Do they generally choose new mates if their mates dies before them?
3) Are they monogamous?
4) Di Bronx and Boudicca feel sad at all about being separated after they mated?

Anonymous writes...

You might say I'm a little obsessive with this website because of my interest in Gargoyles. I read a lot of other peoples questions in "Unanswered Questions" and then keep a watch to see when you answer them in "Latest Responses". I noticed that sometimes questions submitted in "Unanswered Questions" will be removed from the web site altogether without even a "not saying at this time" response from you. I figure these questions are removed because they don't follow the guidelines you made for the website. I figure its got to be really annoying when someone submits something you don't think is appropriate to answer and have to remove it from the website. Do you feel irritated when it happens?

Phil writes...

Back in 2004, you responded to a question about the call letters WVRN by explaining that a station owner can choose it's own call letters. You then suggested that it was a huge hint as to who owns WVRN. So just to confirm my suspicions, is WVRN a division of Xanatos Enterprises?

Ntripy writes...

Are the scrolls depicted in #7 just a creative way to present the story in the comic, or do they actually exist in the Gargoyles Universe?