Algernon writes...

Sorry this took me so long, I've been up to my neck in exams. Fortunately that's all behind me now and I can finally play catch up with these reviews.

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The Uncertainty Principle
First off, I liked that this was a Halloween episode. It's always been my favorite holiday and it's particularly appropriate considering who this weeks villain is.

Speaking of which, this episode really did a good job of illustrating what always made the Green Goblin such a menacing villain. Behind that apparently deranged visage there lurks a cold and calculating intellect. Steven Blum's voice work was again top notch. I especially liked the "lets see which breaks first" line, the Goblin has an appropriately ghoulish sense of humor.

On the civilian front we see Harry descent into self-destruction reach a climax. A pity that Pete's too busy trading punches with costumed lunatics to really notice. Fortunately Gwen's still there to try and save Harry from himself. I have to admit I never really cared for the comic book incarnation of miss Stacy but you guys have done a great job of investing the character with a lot of strength, nicely done. On a lighter note, was anybody else suprised by how comfortable Flash seemed in that cheerleader outfit?

As for the mystery of the Goblin, personally I think that this "revelation" still leaves too many questions unanswered. How did Harry get his hands on the goblin juice in the first place? What the heck is Norman hiding behind that secret passage? I definitely think we haven't heard the last of the Green Goblin.

Anonymous writes...

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Peaseblossom writes...

You have created such a fantastical universe with so much depth. Kudos to you. I've heard Xanatos mention the Star of Arabia (during Her Brother's Keeper I do believe.) My question is what is the star of arabia and how did Xanatos acquire it?

dph writes...

My Review of Bad Guys Issue #3
I loved seeing the battle continue in the present and am looking forward to learning how we got to that point. Matrix attaching himself to Dingo is always interesting.

Then, we flash back to two weeks ago in Paris, where the team has been training for a month. Dingo's right, the team wasn't exactly slackers, but on the other hand, I have to wonder how much dependency Dingo had placed on Matrix in battle. I appreciate the use of the different font for Matrix's speech. It seems appropriate in its own way. It's interesting to see the depth of emotion in the memory of Hunter. Despite being black & white, I clearly see and feel the emotions in the expressions of the Canmore children following the defeat of their father. Seeing them head into the catacombs after Demona makes sense and I am looking forward to seeing how that confrontation ended. It's nice to see that Dingo has done his homework and learned that he's not the only one who has to be careful in New York, New York. The team landing on top of a hotel is again laying more pipework for how connected Hunter's boss really is. It's nice to see the briefing on Sevarius and confirmation on Sevarius's activities. I'm beginning to suspect that Hunter's boss is no ordinary person. All the info that Hunter has repeated from her boss leads me to the conclusion that the boss belongs to the one of the most exclusive groups on the entire planet. I confess that I never really thought Sevarius raising capital to achieve some end. It's nice to see what the team is doing on their time off. That Robyn Canmore could get inside a prison without anyone going after her says a lot about her boss. One would think all the staff around Jason would have committed to memory the face of his siblings for future purposes. I appreciate the humor in the names of the player in hockey game, even though only one name caught my eye right away. That both Jason and Robyn recognized Jon right away makes me wonder how Jon Canmore is going to stay out of jail. Robyn's confrontation with Jon was interesting and makes me wonder if she's ever going to report Jon Castaway's little secret to her boss. I'm a little surprised to see that Dingo and Matrix left early to go after Sevarius on their own. I wonder if Robyn Canmore will be able to see that what she encountered isn't a gargoyle but a mutate.

Chip writes...

I was just curious...is there anything that happens on the Gargoyles Timeline on March 23 (of any year)?

Greg Bishansky writes...

For GargWiki purposes, what are the dates of the events of Bad Guys #1 and #2?

KingCobra_582 writes...

Gargoyles: Bad Guys #3

**SPOILERS**

Like last time, I'll just keep my review simple and to the point. There were so many good things (beside the fact that it came out so soon after #2 did) about it.

It starts off like the last 2 issues did. A present day (well, if present day was still 1996) battle that jumps back into flashback mode. This time, it's Robyn's turn, and she does it well. Never thought I'd say this, but her presence alone made this a great issue.

Great way to start the next bit of action. Go back REALLY far, to 1980 and in Paris. Having seen Hunter's Moon Part 3 too many times to count, I knew what was coming, but thanks for adding more to it. I was in suspense when young Robyn and Jon encounters Demona.

For some reason, Matrix just being a puddle on his hotel bed cracked me up. I dunno why.

I loved the interaction between the Canmore siblings, especially between Robyn and Jason. That line about Jason trying to work his 'ass off'. Hell, I never would've expected THAT to get Disney's approval. Nice little surprise.

And while I'm thinking about it, nice little touches with the 'hockey players' (Bader, Spiner, Bennett, Belushi, Tagawa, Devane, Cummings, Cumming, and Cleverdon) there as well. Gave me a few chuckles. Very amusing.

The scene with Robyn and Jon, though, I didn't like so much. It wasn't a bad scene, and I definitely felt their bond ("If the hunter's not hunting demons... I've got no time for her.") breaking. The expression on Robyn's face spoke volumes. And the panel(s) with the closing/closed Quarrymen door? How symbolic. The problem I had with it was how short it was. Could've been longer.

I can just imagine Jon's reaction to his own sister working with a Gargoyle.

Hmmm, what does their mission have to do with Sevarius, exactly?

And, for that matter, why is Fang attacking them?

So many questions, so few answers.

Great story, good plot developments, and nice usage of flashbacks. Definitely the best BG issue yet. Can't wait for issue #4.

End review.

See you at the Gathering next month.

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.