Blaise writes...

GARGOYLES: BAD GUYS
ESTRANGED

I suppose I should get my negative points out of the way first--or rather, my one big negative point: there just weren't enough pages.
Like everyone else, I just wanted to see so much more of the Canmore siblings. What we got was good, don't get me wrong, but it just doesn't feel like enough. Oh well....

I was a little surprised that we didn't pick up the "Now" teaser with Yama being saved from his predicament (that's probably kicking off the NEXT issue), but when I saw Robyn was a focus, I knew her danger would be the new "present cliffhanger."

Back to the main story in the past. We get a cross-section glimpse of the Redemption Squad's hideout beneath the Eiffel Tower. Some pad--even comes complete with its own "danger room." I loved Matrix as a little helicopter. I also enjoyed Yama's statements about appreciating the "discipline of training" but being more interested in reclaiming honor.

Yeah, seeing Charles Canmore's mangled body in a pool of his own blood (even if from a high-angle distance shot) was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser. Actually, there were a fair amount of more "mature" elements here that would never have made it into the TV show. I mean, Robyn calls Dingo a "damn fool" and Jason says "ass" not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES inside of two pages. The edge seems a lot sharper in this series.

I'm glad we finally got to see the lost "catacombs sequence" (modified to take place after Charles's death). Kudos to Chris Jones on Robyn's "terrified" expression--the panel of her face surrounded by tumbling skulls is especially memorable.

Dingo's been doing his homework. Robyn now has a very scary (rather than scared) expression on her face in the flashback to her blowing up the Clock Tower.

"Casablanca Hotel"...okay, there's got to be some significance to this, but color me clueless.

Wow, when Robyn says "Briefing in ten," she really means "in ten." We get a little slide show about Sevarius (including a shot of Wolf the mutate). Apparently his "Fred" disguise didn't fool...whoever the hell was spying on him. More and more we're getting additional pipe laying regarding the true boss here.
Given Yama's reaction to "Bushido Concepts" I can probably guess who's head of that company (and it's nice that we finally know the name). Also, the origin of the two thylacines is explained (or at least hinted at).

It's interesting to compare and contrast the members in their various rooms. Yama's the only one (besides the absent Robyn) with his curtains open to let in the sun. I noticed he was still facing inward, as per his customs. I also noticed he removed most of his clothing, something we have not seen him do before. I believe this is because the clothes in question are actually his Redemption Squad uniform, and as such, he does not yet consider them as "his" clothes. Meanwhile Matrix is a puddle, and Dingo's watching celebrity hockey while surrounded by empty bottles (just what was he drinking--beer or root beer?).

The conversation with Jason went well. I actually like the description of the whole "ass-for-legs bargain" he made with God, as well as the parallel shots of Jason hugging Robyn in the past with Robyn hugging Jason in the present. Jason's canny enough to realize that Robyn's now working for someone, so good on him.

Mr. Greg Weisman, you are just having too darn much fun with the voice-actor names. ;-)
I especially liked the bit about Cumming (John Castaway's voice from "The Journey") being blindsided by Cleverdon (Jon's voice in "Hunter's Moon"--as well as Castaway's voice in his other two TGC appearances).

I share Robyn's surprise at her fugitive brother appearing on TV, bold as you please (and I liked the shocked looks on her and Jason's faces). Robyn actually chastises John for calling the gargoyles demons--something I found very interesting. Even stranger, though, is that John doesn't outright...well, "demonize" her for doing so. He's confrontational, yes, but he's...well, he's not the raving lunatic we got in his last two TGC appearances, that's for sure. The contrast between his adult self's determination to kill all gargoyles and his child self's plea to "forget the gargoyles" was well done. And I loved his "I'm not Jonny Canmore/I'm John Castaway now" bit. As I read this, I heard him speaking in his original Scottish voice up until this line, at which point he shifted into his Castaway voice for the remainder of the scene.

I must say, John's got some very good ears on him. I, too, can appreciate the irony of Robyn holding a conversation with a gargoyle while in the same room as John Castaway. He also seems to have a reaction to hearing Robyn referred to as "Hunter." It's sad the way he just casually disregards her at the end. The Quarrymen door closing on a picture of a young and happy Robyn and Jon is especially poignant.

"Ding-bat"? Never heard Dingo called that before. I like it. :D

You'd think Robyn would have learned that when you're searching for something underground, you do NOT split up! I do find it a little funny, though, that so far the one member of the team she seems to have the best (or at least the easiest) working relationship with is the gargoyle.

The final page where Robyn's "current" predicament with Fang echoes her past one with Demona is just cool. I don't think we've seen Hunter with that terrified of an expression on her face (her adult, masked face, anyway).

Three last notes: 1) Chris Jones did an excellent job with the art, leaving me with only a few nits (Jason's face looked a little off to me in one panel), but overall showing solid work. 2) I agree with whoever said that the cover for this one looks like it came from the desk of the Director--who apparently prefers to use "-eisman" brand legal pads. It looks like that mug shot of Robyn was taken fairly soon after the final battle of "Hunter's Moon." And 3) Demona may finally get her first line in the comic canon here, but she's always obscured in shadow. Still, it just shows what a strong presence she holds via the impression she leaves.

Having such a short wait between issues #2 and #3 has kind of spoiled me, because now I don't want to wait for issue #4.

Matt writes...

My Review For Bad Guys #3, "Estranged"...

I greatly enjoyed this issue. We really got into Hunter as a character and it was a lot of fun and very interesting. In "The Lost", we got this great broken romance between Yama and Sora, now we see what love and conflict can do between siblings. I couldn't help but think of my family as Hunter was reminiscing and encountering her own. Like the Canmore kids, I too am the product of a boy-girl-boy birth order (as is my friend Ryan who is going to attending the Gathering with me in a month or so). I can appreciate how the relationship between Jon and Robyn changed from their childhood into their adulthood as it is very much like my relationship with my sister. I don't want to get too personal with this review, but suffice to say that "Estranged", much to my surprise, got me thinking about my siblings and made me get a little sad and made me want to call them up and chat. A very poignant and touching issue. Kudos to Greg on the great writing.

- I think the cover by Greg Guler and Robby Bevard is the best Bad Guys cover to date. It seems to be the most dynamic, I guess. And the coloring is gorgeous.

- And lets not forget the main artist for this issue. Christopher Jones does a great job filling in for Karine Charlebois. I particularly liked how he drew Hunter throughout the issue, most especially during the scene with Castaway. Hunter's silent and sad stare after John tells her he has no time for her is just breathtaking. Great stuff. I hope we see Christopher's work again either in Gargoyles or in a spinoff book.

- So, on to the story itself. We start back in the future at "Robot Island". Part of me was expecting to find out what Yama's fate would be after the cliffhanger (so to speak) from last issue, but instead we go back to see what Hunter, Dingo and Matrix are up to. Hunter does some more of her crazy-fun acrobatics and takes out a 'bot only to be snatched like teammate Yama was. Guess we'll have to wait and see how they both escape now.

- But we are off for a flashback in Paris mixed in with a flash(way)back in Paris. One of the best things about the Gargoyles comics has been the leeway we've seen on certain words and visuals. This issue contains a couple creepy glimpses of Charles Canmore that probably would never have been seen in the television series. We also have Jason throwing the word "ass" around a bit, which seemed so natural and realistic and is only remarkable because such language would've never gotten on the air. One more reason I often wonder if Gargoyles is more suited for comics.

- I like the extension on the Notre Dame scene from what we saw in "Hunter's Moon". The body of their father, the journey into the Catacombs, The Demon crawling across piles of human skulls attacking children. You can feel the creepiness and understand why these kids were so traumatized into devoting their life towards hunting gargoyles.

- The mission briefing scene was great. The thing about Sevarius is that in most shows/comics he would be a useful plot device. Fun and all, sure, but just there to enable the plot. But Gargoyles makes him more than just the "mad scientist type". He is a person with his own goals and motivations and all his work for others in the series has really been to raise cash for his own schemes. As for what he is up to, again, we'll have to wait and see...

- The Celebrity Hockey bit was fun. I laughed out loud in particular at "Puck's recovered by Spiner... Bennett checks him... loose puck!" Greg sure knows how to have fun.

- There were a lot of great little things that I loved in "Estranged". Yama's impatience to restore honor. Matrix as a mini-Redemption helicopter. Demona calling the Canmore kids "little hunters". The Clocktower in mid-restoration. The mention of Bushido Concepts and the Thylacines. Dingo relaxing in his hotel room. Yama sleeping in his underwear with his clothes and weapons neatly placed aside. And of course all the neat parallels throughout the issue ending in the great cliffhanger ending with Fang and Hunter. Great stuff. Very much looking forward to "Louse".

Arthur Jr. writes...

Hey Greg, I have a bunch of questions for you that are Spider-Man-related:

1. If "The Spectacular Spider" is successful, will there be any plans for a season where Spider-Man will meet other heroes and even help them face off against some of their enemies in the episode he first encounters them in?
2. Why use Montana of The Enforcers as the Shocker instead of Herman Schultz? That's what I've been wondering.
3. If Kingpin isn't going to be included in the show, what will this mean if there are plans for Silvermane, Owl, and Caesar Cicero since Kingpin is much powerful than them? I didn't mention Hammerhead since the series has him a servant of Tombstone and I'm not familiar with Top Man (whom Hammerhead succeeds over)!

Todd Jensen writes...

My thoughts on "Bad Guys" #3, which I bought yesterday.

First, I immediately recognized the Canmore trio's pursuit of Demona to the Parisian catacombs from the Hunter's Moon radio play at the 2001 Gathering. First Coco and Amp, now this - you definitely know how to hang on to the ideas that you weren't able to immediately use and bring them in eventually!

The catacombs flashback was well-handled - especially the way you compared and contrasted the Canmores' actions and interactions with each other in 1980 and the present. Also, Demona was truly nightmarish in those scenes.

Dingo turns the tables on Hunter when he reveals that he's discovered what *she's* wanted for in New York! (And I liked the glimpse of the clock tower being repaired.)

So Sevarius was behind those thylacines back in #1? Not that I'm surprised; I suspected that Anton would have something to do with them. After everything else that he's already done, bringing extinct animals back from the zoological graveyard, "Jurassic Park" style, would be just his kind of thing.

I also enjoyed the meetings between Robyn/Hunter and her brothers: Jason rebuilding his life, Castaway heading into the darkness. I'd especially looked forward to seeing more of Castaway, after his appearance in #3. His television commercial was well-done; he makes himself seem like a friendly, reasonable, reassuring man who just wants to help frightened people. He might be a madman, but he's a shrewd madman.

You mentioned once that the Director in "Bad Guys" was in opposition to the Illuminati; while that's still canon-in-training at the moment, there were a couple of moments in the comic that tied in with that. Hunter and Castaway both wonder about the other person's backer in exactly the same way ("I know it's not Canmore money"), and the name of the Hotel Casablanca echoes that of the Hotel Cabal.

The Celebrity Hockey scene was great! Lots of in-jokes there; among the best were "Puck's recovered by Spiner, Bennett checks him", and "Cumming is blindsided by Cleverdon!" You must have had a ball writing it.

Yama's description of Dingo being "bored" was another great moment.

And we end on a real cliffhanger (all the better because it ties in with the demons - both external and internal - in Hunter's past). Now I'm looking forward to #4 (and #9 of "Gargoyles", too).

Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

Bad Guys #3
Again, my scattered thoughts instead of a review.

I was expecting to learn how Robyn was recruited, and I'm still hoping to see it in a future issue. She's understandably not telling her brothers who she works for or how they found her, but this is the first indication I've seen that she is not the ultimate moving force of the Redemption Squad -- both on the cover and within the issue. We also see a little more about her thoughts about gargoyles. She isn't reading a script the Director gave her nor working under his/her orders, when she speaks with Castaway. She doesn't think of gargoyles as demons anymore, though that does not at all mean she has no prejudice or dislike for them, or that she'd willingly work with one if the Director wasn't blackmailing her. The details of hers and Jason's change of heart, which was only vaguely shown in Hunter's Moon, is not elaborated on. I still wish to know what managed to turn around the very strong convictions and emotions they had. She and Jason do not discuss gargoyles or hunting at all.

Castaway essentially disowns her. I expected him to maybe try and convince her to join him, or something. It seems he already realizes she has abandoned the hunt against gargoyles. What a twisted and messed up man. He is deliberately pushing away the last people who care about him and can help him through hatred and fear (and secret guilt), but he is digging his own emotional hole. When he speaks of "feeling alone in a world that terrifies you" he's really talking about his own feelings.

Robyn's flashback is very dramatic and truly shows how terrifying the experience was for her. I think she must have been traumatized by this, not just from losing her father but also Demona's attack on her. Very well done.

At the end it looks like she thinks Fang is a gargoyle. And when she discusses Sevarius, there's no indication that she knows about the Labyrinth mutates. Dingo doesn't know about them, but the Director must if he's planning to recruit Fang. Or maybe Fang isn't part of the plan yet?

The hotel room scenes are nice characterizations. Matrix is just a puddle on the bed, which looks hilariously out of place, and I doubt that it actually sleeps. Yama takes off his clothes and weapons to sleep, which surprises me. I would expect that he'd consider these things his and would sleep with them. Then there's Dingo, staying up (after working out all night?) watching Celebrity Hockey, and by the empty bottles he's either drunk or hopped up on caffeine.

Jason seems to be in denial still about being paralyzed. After getting his spine completely severed, he can't possibly use his legs again.

I really love the exchange when Robyn finds out that Dingo left. He was "bored". Hehe. This I think is part of his and Robyn's difficulty getting along with each other, and possibly deliberately antagonizing each other. I see it also in the opening when she refuses to either give him orders or tell him her battle plan.

When Robyn exclaims "That's what I get for recruiting a" I wonder what the end of that sentence is. TV star? Actor? Felon? Man? Australian? Robot? Moron? Idiot? Superhero? Maybe finishing her sentence could become a contest.

Chip writes...

IF, and I emphasize the "if", Gargoyles: Bad Guys is collected into a Trade Paper Back would it be colored or remain in the black & white?

Greg Bishansky writes...

"Bad Guys" #3, "Estranged" picks up where #2 left off and brings us to the familiar territory of the "Gargoyles Universe" version of Manhattan. It's a comfortable setting that we know quite well, and still manages to not detract from the more global setting this book is going for.

Hunter gets a lot of, much needed, fleshing out. For us long time fans, we already knew who she was and where she came from. But for new readers, or those who've been gone for a while, this is something they needed. Especially with Season Two Volume Two not yet on the horizon. While the plot doesn't move at the pace the first two issues did, this issue is all about character development, and that is not a bad thing. Hunter was my favorite member of the team ever since I first saw the leica reel back in 1998.

I loved the flashback, and watching them chase the demon into the Paris catacombs. Very creepy and atmospheric. It also sets up her relationship with her two brothers quite well. Although, I think a brief flashback to Jon accidentally crippling Jason was needed to give newbies more of a glimpse into Jon... whoops, I mean John's pathos.

The scene with Hunter and Jason was touching, and Jason's attitude was commendable. Yeah, he's not happy to be paralyzed, but he's not whining about it. He cowboyed up and is making the best of it.

Hunter and John Castaway, I loved. But the scene was way too short, I wanted more. But then, I get the feeling Hunter did to. But, she got called away. Like a professional, the mission comes first. I do look forward to their next meeting, assuming there is one.

Let's see, who's playing Celebrity Hockey on TV? Why it's (Sheena) Easton, (Diedrich) Bader, (Brent) Spinder, (Jeff) Bennett, (Jim) Belushi, (Cary-Hiroyuki) Tagawa, (William) Devane, (Jim) Cummings, and (Scott) Cleverdon. Or rather, the voice actors for Hunter, Jason, Puck, Matrix (leica reel), Fang, Yama (leica reel), the Director (leica reel), Dingo, and John Castaway. Except for Puck and the Director, everyone of those characters appear in this issue.

Finally, we begin to see the plot thicken. We know Castaway is being funded by the Illuminati, but we get a very strong hint that Hunter has a boss, too. Someone's backing her, and as Castaway said, it's not Canmore money.

Good issue. Looking forward to the next one.