TRADE NEWS!!!!!

Today, I e-mailed Dan Vado at SLG, asking about the two trades. Here's his response:

Hey Greg,

I was going to be emailing you this week.

Gargoyles I have scheduled for July, and that looks good for Comic-Con. Bad Guys I have scheduled for August and it a possibility for comic-con, but not a lock.

The Gargoyles trade will be in the May issue of Previews, I cannot stress enough that the fans really need to come out of the wood work on this one (not that they were in the wood work, but you know). They need to be "annoying" (i.e. pushy with retailers) as they can be because with the economy what it is right now nothing short of a huge groundswell of apparent demand wll get some of these guys (comic retailers and regular booksellers alike) to even buy a single copy. I am not a fan of getting people to be annoying, but this is going to be a case where it is needed.

Likewise Bad Guys (June Previews) will need an even BIGGER boost. I separated them because I did not want them to cannibilize each other sales-wise.

There you go, hope all is well with you...

Dan

So that's the news, both the good and the scary. I know I sound like a broken record. I know the fans shouldn't HAVE to be responsible for this, but if the fans don't, who will? I'll do my part. And Dan will do his, relative to his limited economic resources. But we NEED the fans to really step up and do two things:

(1) SPREAD THE WORD!!!! Please make sure EVERYBODY knows about these trades (and Volume 1 too).

(2) HARASS YOUR RETAILERS!! Make sure they KNOW how much you want these books. Pre-order them!! Put them on your pull lists!! Talk them up to every employee of every store!

Please!!

Remember, if these trades do well, we might be back with more original stories sooner than later. If they don't, it'll make it MUCH harder for SLG to justify risking more on the property, much harder to convince Disney that the property is viable and much harder to convince any other publisher to give us a shot.

Thanks,

gdw

Latest bit of news...

Hey gang,

Back from WonderCon. Had a nice Spidey panel, among other things. (I enjoyed the screening of the Wonder Woman direct to DVD.)

Also talked to Dan Vado. He assures me that the two trades (GARGOYLES: CLAN-BUILDING, VOLUME TWO and GARGOYLES: BAD GUYS: REDEMPTION) will both be out in time for this summer's Comic-Con in San Diego.

UPDATE as of January 2009

Hey gang,

Today's my last day at Sony. I'm packing boxes. (Well, actually, I'm doing this and procrastinating on the packing, but you get the idea.) The last of the Spidey crew is laid off tomorrow, when we deliver the last episode of Season Two. The fact that we're all leaving does not preclude us all from coming back to do a third season, of course. But we've been told that the EARLIEST we could get a pick-up is March, when the series premieres on Disney XD. If I'm available, believe me, I'll be back. But I'm hustling up work now, so we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, the second season has already premiered in Canada. Hope you Canadian fans are enjoying it. We're really proud of the work done on all 26 episodes.

Meanwhile, on the TRADE PAPERBACK front... As of today, ALL OF THE CREATIVE WORK on the GARGOYLES: BAD GUYS REDEMPTION trade is completed. Totally done. As for the Gargoyles trade, there is ONE lettering error that still needs to get corrected, and THEN ALL OF THE CREATIVE WORK on GARGOYLES CLAN-BUILDING VOLUME II will be done. I do NOT yet know when either trade will be released. That's a Dan Vado question. But I'll post info here as soon as I have it. I will NOT be responding to every rumor or speculation. I'm only going to post when I know something definitive. But believe me, I have no interest in keeping this info from you. When I know, you'll know.

It's been brought to my attention that there's a Goliath sculpt out there that looks pretty darn cool...
http://www.toyark.com/news/attachment.php?do=fullview&attachmentid=3072
http://www.toyark.com/news/disney-toy-news-38/bowen-releasing-new-gargoyles-goliath-statue-722/
As usual, I would never ask fans to spend money they need for necessities, but if you do have disposable income, then nothing helps the property more than dollars spent on products based on it.

Also, IGN's recently presented us with a few nice little honors. Spidey won Best Hero of 2008 (Spidey beats Jack Bauer!) and Best Animated series of 2008... plus we were nominated for Best New Series too. Also in their top 100 animated shows of all time, Gargoyles received #45 and Spectacular Spider-Man was #30. I might quibble about some of the included shows and some of the rankings (Jonny Quest was ROBBED!!!!), but it's nice to have both shows in the top 50.

Check out:
http://bestof.ign.com/2008/tv/15.html
http://bestof.ign.com/2008/tv/5.html
http://tv.ign.com/top-100-animated-tv-series/45.html
http://tv.ign.com/top-100-animated-tv-series/30.html

Finally, preparations are well under way for the Thirteenth Annual Gathering of the Gargoyles in Los Angeles (G2009). This year, it's Goliath meets the Spectacular Spider-Man, as we'll be having panels and guests from BOTH shows! Confirmed guests include myself, Vic Cook, Thom Adcox, Keith David, Josh Keaton (voice of Spidey/Pete) and Phil LaMarr (voice of Rand Robertson, Joe Robertson and Fancy Dan). And that's just the tip of the guest iceberg. Expect a metric ton of pros (writers, artists, voice directors, actors, production people) to sign on over the next few months. The ratio of fan to pro at this convention will top anything you can find anywhere. Don't miss it!

http://www.gatheringofthegargoyles.com/

And that's it for now. We'll reopen ASK GREG for questions and comments when Spidey premieres in the U.S. in March or when one or both of the trades are released, whichever comes first.

Take care,

Greg Weisman

CLARIFICATION

CLARIFICATION

Hey gang,

There seems to be some confusion about where things stand with the comic books, so I'm going to try again to clear things up. The SLG license expired on 8-31-08. That means there will be no more individual comic book issues on either Gargoyles or Bad Guys.

However, SLG does still have the right to put all existing material out in the Trade Paperback format. They are also allowed to include Bonus Material in these trades.

Gargoyles: Clan-Building, Volume One will remain available, and as soon as possible, we will be putting out Gargoyles: Clan-Building, Volume Two and Gargoyles: Bad Guys: Redemption out in trade.

Gargoyles: Clan-Building, Volume Two will include (obviously) Gargoyles issues #7-8, but it will ALSO include what would have been issues #9-12, including the covers, as QUOTE-UNQUOTE Bonus Material. You WILL get to see the end of the Clan-Building arc. Currently, issue #9 is done except for a few minor lettering corrections. Issue #10 is being pencilled as we speak. Issue #11 has been scripted, and we are looking for the right artist to pencil it. Issue #12 is being scripted now. The trade will come out when ALL this material is complete and approved.

The Gargoyles: Bad Guys: Redemption trade will include (obviously) Bad Guys issues #1-4, but it will ALSO include what would have been issues #5-6, including the covers, as QUOTE-UNQUOTE Bonus Material. You will get to see the end of the Redemption limited series. Currently, issue #5 is done except for a few minor art corrections and the lettering. Issue #6 is scripted, and Karine will begin roughing it out shortly. The trade will come out when ALL this material is complete and approved.

Hope that clears things up.

Greg