Ed Reynolds writes...

GARGOYLES #1.

My review/ramble.

But first, a moment of glee. It's 'Gargoyles'! In a comic! By Greg! For real! Magnificent! Big, big, big thanks to all the people who made it happen.

'NIGHTWATCH'

I think I always kind of overlooked 'The Journey'. I always liked it, but it was always a bit of an odd duck, stapled onto the front of a season I didn't care for, a second ending after 'Hunter's Moon' which was an immensely satisfying conclusion. So now it's been many, many years since I saw the episode and although I can still rattle off most of the lines by heart, I'm still coming at it with something of a fresh perspective and, to some extent, seeing it as a creature in its own right rather than 'the last one before TGC' or 'the one after the Hunters'. A few things strike me.

Most obviously, 'Nightwatch' is really very dark indeed. Well, obviously. But there's no talk of journeys or Vinnie's redemption at this point, and read with David Hedgecock and Will Terrell's gloomy take on the city, it really does feel much more oppressive than the optimistic world Elisa introduced Goliath back in '94. It also puts the world tour in perspective a little for me, as seen against the long period where the show had been becoming much brighter and more optimistic than it had been before - the clan isn't alone! Goliath has a daughter! Heroes are awakening to their destiny! - the darker turn seems fitting and I'm interested to see how everything develops once the initial shock fades.

Right now in this issue there's a sense that the walls are coming in. No Faeries or robots or magic or many of the more fantastical elements of the show. No grand romantic statements from the leads, just affection in small ways - comforting each other. And the story says a lot about humans, and humans under fire. Fear, knee-jerk panic, anger, prejudice. It's very raw - especially since we don't have the balance offered by Vinnie's decision yet. It's also a little eerie to return to this story for the first time since some of the major terrorist attacks of the last few years: the story is, after all, in the wake of a major attack on a New York building, and I think the script captures that heady uncertainty of a long, dark night where the news is on loop and the world's turned upside down and everything doesn't seem quite so safe any more.

Despite what might have been a very choppy narrative, all the plots are beautifully intertwined: the newsreaders, the Quarrymen, the cops, the gargoyles, Xanatos and Elisa. Most of the supporting characters have only a couple of lines but each suggests a completely different take on "the gargoyles issue". The people investigating it, the people hiding the gargoyles, the people concerned for their families, the people hunting the gargoyles for vengeance, for pleasure, or worry, for a sense of social activism, out of a concern about science, the gargoyles wanting to keep a low profile, wanting to go about their business, and so on. Different characters, different viewpoints, different loyalties and agendas and levels of information - it's just incredibly sharp stuff. And the people who seemed to be comedy extras in past episodes are now active and outspoken and shaping events: in fact, thanks to the Nightwatch framing the gargoyles are presented as intruders into their life stories instead of the other way around as it's seemed in the past. It's intricate and marvelous.

The Hedgecock/Terrell Gargoylesverse feels a little murkier than we're used to. Part of this is the less distinct backgrounds in places, the more sketchy style; partly the colouring. It's a great interpretation of this script which fits the post-'Hunter's Moon' New York: a little stunned, a little on edge, a little depressed. But I can't help but think back to 'Awakening' and Elisa's comments on the beauty in the city. Although this episode is very bleak, I hope that at some stage when the shock of the gargoyles revelation dies down we'll get to see New York in a context that's a little less 'Gotham'.

But it's still lovely. The colours are moody and ominous, the art revels in the small scenes - I love Matt & Chavez and Elisa & Cagney; and the emotions of the characters in their normal conversations. The action seems to be very tightly framed with lots of close-ups, which gives the emotional stuff a lot of clout (which I love), though the fight scene felt perhaps a bit cramped in places and in the 'louder' scenes the characters seem slightly exaggerated in places.

All in all, I was very impressed by how much 'Nightwatch' got under my skin, even all these years after having seen 'The Journey'. While I always liked the episode, I would definitely rate this issue alongside my very favourites from the first two seasons for its sheer complexity and ambition and its sense of fear and confusion and hurt and a hundred emotions jumbled up.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

- Adapting 'The Journey' works really well as a starting point. There's a lot going on in it and I wasn't sure it wouldn't become overwhelming to a new or casual fan of the sort I'm trying to hook on the comic. But I think most of the roles are pretty obvious (benefactor, cops, etc.) even if you're just looking with no pre-conceived ideas. A couple of the continuity references might be more of a stretch (I wonder what people who haven't seen 'Vendettas' will make of the banana cream pie!). But we only really see much of Goliath and Elisa at this point, and the social situation the gargoyles are being flung into is well-realised and a compelling entry point.

- The Art & Lois scene is new to me and it's very effective. It's funny because I saw the previews for this which ended with Goliath flying into a rage and although I was excited to read it, I had no preconceptions about what might follow. I just didn't really think about it, I wanted to wait and see it 'for real'. But somehow I found myself pleasantly surprised by Goliath's solution. It's not a new solution for him ('Deadly Force' and other episodes obviously spring to mind), but it's an effective one, a peaceful one, a dignified one, and it really gets to the nub of Goliath's character at a very early point. I like that even after feeling I've known the character for a decade, he can still pleasantly surprise me by, literally, his grace under fire.

- The monstrous Quarrymen-designed gargoyle amused me. Didn't the TGC version have an actual replica of Goliath or something? I always assumed Jon Canmore had it for some reason, or the Illuminati had provided it or something along those lines, but it seems more credible that the Quarrymen mock-up would just be a plain old scary monster. So now I'm guessing they used Goliath in the TGC version to save the cost of drawing up a new stone model? It also explains why the Quarrymen didn't recognise Goliath on the rooftop later (though Banquo ought to have, I'd have thought).

- Grigori, not Gregorino? Or is Vinnie just assuming an alias in case the Quarrymen are as unsavoury as he seems to fear even at this early stage? In any case, I like the name Grigori. It's got the in-joke, but it's not intrusive.

- Speaking of the Quarrymen, I always had trouble making out the line "no way you're fighting this hard if stone-face weren't the real thing..." in the cartoon. It sounded like "heart of stone" something. I think I worked it out eventually (or perhaps through Blaqthorne & Crimson Fury's transcript) but it's nice to see it in the text. And Banquo nearly said 'whore'. I guess this scene was one of the punch-to-the-face moments that was possible in S2 but which TGC got stopped from doing.

- The titles took a long while to grab me. I now quite like 'Nightwatch'; it seems to resonate on a lot of levels. 'Clan-Building' is kind of dull still. I admit, the traditionalist in me would kind of like it to be "The Journey" Part 1 & 2... 'just like 'real' episodes!'. Going to have to get used to the fact that it's a comic now. 'The Journey' was one of my favourite titles in the series, and although I realise it would probably not make much sense for #1 (since it's only really explained right at the end), I still really like it. I hope Part 2 is called 'The Journey'. Also, the nerd in me misses the nice, blue title font - it always gave me that 'new episode buzz' in the good old days, especially when a "part one" or something popped up after the first titles, and so it has a strong sentimental value. Okay, okay, I'll shut up about the titles now.

- Greg Guler's cover is ace. The colours are wonderful too. Deep and crisp and gorgeous.

- Also, on the colouring front, I especially liked the transition from day to sunset to night, with a darker twilight than the show sometimes had. There's a lot more red used in the comic as a whole than I remember of the cartoon and that gives a different flavour to scenes like the Quarrymen mob scene especially - maybe it makes it a little too on-the-nose, I'm not sure. I kind of liked my recollection of it with cool colours predominating -- the banality of evil or something like that.

- I felt the sweatdrop on Art was a bit on the cartoony side. I think 'Gargoyles' works best when it's kind of understated.

- I really love the page where Goliath flies over the head of Vinnie. A really memorable, iconic image. The original cartoon did this sort of thing a lot but with cuts and silhouettes and odd angles; the shape of an animation frame obviously isn't really useful for this sort of thing. This image is to me a nice encapsulation of... well, the series. Gargoyles trying to live their lives watching over humans who are blundering around uncertainly in the dark.

- One thing that I'm unsure about is the portrayal of Castaway, just in terms of artwork. He's very animated here - his hands-on-hips introduction, his psychotic expressions. This is where it's a case of me being used to one interpretation (the cartoon's) and suddenly questioning what I had assumed: how stable is Castaway? He's obviously not such a fruitcake that he puts off scared citizens from joining a violent organisation, but then again he set up the Quarrymen in the first place. Jon Canmore seemed to keep things close to his chest and then snapped. Does Castaway return to Canmore's very repressed attitude, or will his anger always be as close to the surface as some scenes here? My memories of the cartoon are quite different from the tone of the art here; the latter much angrier and more forceful and animated, the former slicker and more comforting. Incidentally, this is one of the best and most powerful speeches in the series. I just love the way the theme of community and 'aloneness' is threaded through the series.

- And one bare-faced quibble on the 'About Greg Weisman' page... it's 'Talespin', not 'Tail Spin'! Grr! :)

I just hope that by the time this post reaches the front of the queue the comic is a runaway success! Keep up the great work. :)

Todd Jensen writes...

Finally got my copy of Gargoyles #1 (I'd ordered from Amazon.com, and it took them longer to get a copy to send me than I'd expected) in the mail today. I thought that I'd give you my thoughts on it.

While most of the material was familiar to me from "The Journey" (of course, it's been nine years since I last saw it - I never taped any of the Goliath Chronicles), there were some new things that I liked in it, such as Matt's meeting with Chavez and Goliath's encounter with Art. (The latter gave us another one of those rare moments when Goliath displays a sense of humor, when he lets Art keep his gun - now twisted into a spiral shape.) And, on the smaller level, Vinnie's remarks during Castaway's Quarrymen recruitment speech (I was particularly amused by his "Well, I don't got kids" line).

I'll probably be saying this again when/if you do a ramble on "The Journey", but I get a big kick out of Castaway's speech and all the ironies in it. First, he talks about how his audience is struggling with such problems as "violence, racism, injustice..." - while signing them up for an organization that typifies all three. Then he asks them "Are you afraid these creatures will attack while you sleep?... Are you afraid they will steal your children away?" When reading those lines, I find myself remembering two things: first, gargoyles clearly fear also that humans will attack them in their stone sleep (and they have even better reason for that fear - a sleeping human has some possibility of waking up in time to save himself or herself, but a sleeping gargoyle is doomed unless the would-be gargoyle-killer made the mistake of attempting to smash him or her at sunset), and second, in "The Reckoning", Demona views Princess Katharine and the Magus taking the gargoyle eggs away to Avalon as "steal[ing] our young". And finally, Castaway constantly uses the word "alone" in his speech - when I remember where I last heard that word in "Gargoyles" in a significant moment, it's definitely chilling. Kudos to you for writing that part.

I'm assuming, also, that you've got more liberal S&P on the comic than you did on television, in light of what Banquo called Elisa (no wonder she interrupts him with a punch and "shut up"!).

I'm looking forward to #2, and hope that the comic has a long run.

Alex Garg writes...

Hey Greg,

Thanks for rambling again (at the time of this post)! Always enjoyable.

No Gathering 2006 report I'm afraid. I was stuck back East starting a new job (well, returning to an old job) and helping to pump water out from my home's flooded basement (my understanding is that L.A. doesn't have to worry about getting 14 inches of rain in three days - we here in the Mid-Atlantic do).

Fun stuff, let me tell you.

However, I'm glad y'all had a good time and I'm pretty darn sure I'll be able to make '07 (though by the time you read this, we'll have probably known the outcome of this prediction for some time).

Anyway, rambling aside, I do have something of potential value to offer - my personal review of the comic, which after weeks of hunting for (all places in my area which ordered it sold out of no fewer than two orders, and the place I asked to order it from, um, forgot to and then, in a CYA move, insisted that the comic was not coming out in June) and eventually waiting for two weeks after ordering direct from SLG, "Gargoyles #1" is in my hands.

On the whole, I like it. I think you did a good job of adapting what we saw on screen to the pages and providing a way for new fans to get acquainted with what's going on. Of course, what's fun for me is seeing in print what I had the honor of acting out as ART back in Montreal during Radio Play, but I digress. The story's well-paced and moves along nicely, but I'm going to hold back on really looking at the writing aspect until *very* new material starts coming out. I have THE JOURNEY so internalized that I don't think I can be objective in a review of it.

As for the art, I think it's clear that David is still working with getting the models down, but some panels particularly demonstrated that he has the ability to nail it down. He seems to be more comfortable with up-close work than whole characters or multiple characters, but it's clear that he has the potential to pull it off. Right now, consistency is the major issue I have - some panels are great, others not so. I don't think it's off-putting by most measures, though I suspect those with a keener eye for art would be able to find more to take issue with. However, I'm going to remain optimistic that the art will improve with each issue.

I like the comic, I'm glad it's out, but again I'll wait until we're really in "uncharted" territory before I roll out deeper reviews (and might even, for once, have questions to ask).

And... that's all. Take care and I'll hopefully see you in '07 (or '08 if you get this closer in that neighborhood). :)

P.S.: Oh, in answer to your question on my '04 journal, "How did Leo get home?" He stayed in Montreal another day or two and flew out from there.

Now I'm done.

Blair writes...

Hi! Before I ask my question, I just want to ask what the chances of a fourth season are. But thats not my question. If there were to be a fourth season, when and where would it take place? WOuld it take place right after the last episode, or many years into the future? Also, instead of making a fourth season, would Disney ever redo the whole series? Thank you so very much! :)

Lady Talais writes...

Greeting to you Mr' Wiseman,

I have been a major Gargoyles fan since the day it first aired and have spent much time in gargoyle chat rooms and on this site and others.
Now for my question, Recently I heared that there was talk of making another season picking up where season two left off and using your writing. Please is there any truth to this rummor? I was not happy with the changes that Disney made to gargoyles in third season and would love to see what you had written. Please could you let me know?

Sabina writes...

Good day,

Since yesterday I'm the proud owner of the first issue of the new Gargoyles comic (took some time to get it oversea).

I admit that the drawing style will take some getting used to, but after the tenth re-read it doesn't look as weird anymore.

Otherwise I adore the comic and the nicely thought out transitions, from the Quarrymen to Goliath and Elisa and back again, etc. The short recap was a very nice touch, I especially like the panel with Elisa, Angela and Goliath. Another favourite panel of mine is Cagney so sneakily waiting to pounce on his food.

And then the end of the comic Goliath shot and the laconic commentary by our favourite news anchor "Welcome Back". Welcome back indeed.

I'm eagerly awaiting the second issue, but the third even more. New things to read from the Gargoyles, I'm very happy and hope there'll be many more issues.

Greetings,
Sabina

Craig writes...

Just a few quick observations on the comic...

Loved the idea of having the Hunter icon on Castaway's suit (I'm pretty sure this detail wasn't in "The Journey"). For me, this gave Castaway's scene with Vinnie a whole new level. He looks at Vinnie as a younger version of himself--unsure about the gargoyles, maybe even slightly sympathetic. But he's sure that Vinnie, like himself, will "see the necessity" for violence soon enough.

Hedgecock's art has room for improvement (some off-model shots of Elisa--although in some of the closeups she's beautiful), but it draws me into the story much more than the mediocre animation on "The Journey." He gives the characters real personality, very "animated." And hats off to the colorist...great, moody atmosphere.

You've said that no animated show could get away with your "into-the-camera punches" these days...so in some ways, it's nice to be a comic book, eh? And Elisa gets the honor of delivering the first one. Good for her!

And that wing wound! Ouch. I like that you're upping the violence and language slightly without going overboard. All in all, a great effort. I'll be buying a few copies for friends. Good to have you back!

James writes...

Assuming the new Comic does well could time dancer or pendragon be made into comics also

Varjo Kage writes...

Hello Mr. Weisman,
First off I would like to say that I really appreciate the new comic book/graphic novel. No that's an understatement, I found the book to be Incredible! My Question is; is there going to be cross-overs or mentioning of the series that "could have been"? Timedance, Pendragon, Bad Guys or New Olympians is what I mean. Or could they be made into Miniseries/Maxiseries or even a series on their own? I would definately buy that.
Thank you for your Time.

Cheers,
Varjo Kage

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

I love it when Ask Greg reopens for questions! I know it'll be a few years before this gets read, but it adds to the vibrancy of the fandom.

Unfortunately I didn't get to the Gathering yet again- one of these days. Doesn't gall me as much as missing the last one in NYC, but at least I have my memories of the first two.

I looked through the new posts to see what others were saying about the comic. (There is less of a chance of saying something that has been said to death, but I don't want to lose the habit of checking first.) By in large the reviews are very good and I would have to agree. I couldn't get to my comic shop till Friday, but I read it and went through it with a fellow fan in great detail on the phone before sundown. (The rest of my weekly reading had to wait.) I won't say it was perfect, I had some serious concerns, but I was really happy.

First off, I must note this- The back says that the colorist is new to the field- what a fantastic start! There is nothing there that even hinted to anything novice like.

I have to be a little harder on the artist. It almost seems like the style switched halfway through. The first half struck me as more stylized, a little reminisent of craypas or those sidewalk chalk artists that wow you with what they can do. The second half was looser, even letting you see the pencil marks. My druthers would ask for the second style. The artist seemed far more comfortable with it. While the first page and sevel other panels throughout the begining were beautiful, other were rather awkward and boxy, especially in the none action scenes. (The artist drew some just plain fantastic fantastic action sceens.)

I did have a small quibble with the text...(though I feel like slime mentioning it here). Some of the lines that were lifted directly from the show didn't flow as well without Keith David's sonority. Goliath's formal speaking style sometimes needs that resonance. I have no fear of that being a problem in later books- all the sceens that started life in print read just fine while still conjuring that voice. I loved Goliath's 'discussion' with the shotgun wielding man. Though I have to ask- who has a shotgun in NYC?

Looking forward to issue 2- I do hope that independant Publisher doesn't mean Independate time frame :}