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Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Comment Room Archive

Comments for the week ending January 27, 2013

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Daniel- I said it before I'll say it again. TGC is a Mockumentary brought back from the future by Brooklyn to torture the Quarrymen. Everyone give Brooklyn your thanks. ;)
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]

Daniel, because "The Goliath Chronicles" are not canon. Series creator, Greg Weisman, had nothing to do with the third season. So when he wrote some new comics a few years ago, he ignored the third season and picked up from where "Hunter's Moon" left off.
Greg Bishansky - [<--- Greg's Blog of Clue-by-Fours]
"For every two dozen Phantom Menaces, there is a Return of the King. For every two-bit Shyamalan, a Stanley Kubrick is born. For every poor soul who groans during an Adam Sandler-funded Rob Schneider vehicle, there is a child crying life-affirming tears when Bambi's mom is shot. Somewhere out there, a film student is finding out what Rosebud means for the first time. A man is pausing as Fredo prays the Hail Mary on a boat over Lake Tahoe. A woman grasps her heart as Bogie's love flies off into the foggy night. All it takes is one moment to change a person. And that one moment... no matter how fleeting... is worth a thousand Transformers."

Comet I noticed you said forget season 3 and read the comics why Is that ?
Daniel antonaros - [dan_antonaros@yahoo.com]
Daniel A

I wasn't sure what the correct span of time was before it became appropriate.

But thanks for your answer.

Arlo
Gargoyles need not apply.

*I'm pretty sure the YJ calender was based on 2010 or so, so if you accepted that the shooting occurred during the five year gap (assuming it happened at all), it would've been during the five years that is mostly evoked due to Tula's death. So unless Tula died in Connecticut, I'm doubting it'd be brought up.

That's what I get for editing my posts while tired. My intended, complete sentence.

Harlan Phoenix

Young Justice had a five year gap of time. If the shooting occurred in the distinctly fictional universe that is clearly not the same planet as ours, logic points to it being an irrelevant detail during aforementioned five year gap. I'm pretty sure the YJ calender was based on 2010 or so, so if you accepted that the shooting occurred during the five year gap (assuming it happened at all).

Regardless of how someone would feel about a 9/11 story, there's a clear objective reason for it: Gargoyles has always skewed on the side of mirroring history as close as it could within its fantastical setting and 9/11 happens in the city the grand majority of the series takes place in. While it's a technically avoidable story, it's also a massive event that would severely impact everyone and presumably Weisman feels a strong reason for its planned explicit inclusion.

The Connecticut shooting has no relevancy to what's essentially the story of a fantasy universe's multi-generational war to decide the course of its own evolution. Gotham's location has no significance on ANYTHING.

And yes, it's tasteless to ask.

Harlan Phoenix

Sorry, I meant Young Justice.

And to be clear, I'm wondering if the show would address the shooting, not the NWO stuff.

The main reason this sparked my curiosity is because we've asked how Greg would handle 9/11 if Gargoyles had continued, and we got off the easy way because the Gargs would have been asleep when it took place. But in this day and age, with more and more shootings, I am kind of curious how a show that didn't have that excuse - like Superman, for instance - would handle it if it took place while the show was still on. Superman, in particular, is a compelling one to wonder about since with his super speed, it's very difficult to explain why he couldn't get there fast enough. Even if you manage to explain one tragedy away with, say, a dramatic kryptonite kidnapping, how would you explain the subsequent ones (e.g. couldn't stop the Colorado shooting, then couldn't stop the CT shooting several months later)?

I am rather curious to know how, say, Lois & Clark would have handled it if these sorts of events had been as rampant while that show was on the air.

And I am also genuinely surprised that I didn't see anything about this in the CR archives. Everyone I knew was tweeting/offering their condolences back then, and so on. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right archive?

Arlo
Gargoyles need not apply.

I don't know which show you're talking about.

Also, no.

Harlan Phoenix

Been away a while, and surprised not to find anything about the Newtown shooting in the comment room archives or in the Unanswered Questions. Maybe they just got deleted for being inappropriate?

Doing a Google search, I found that some people pointed out Gotham City in the show is located in Southwest Connecticut so they concluded there's a NWO conspiracy going on that Greg Weisman should know about. I'm more interested in finding out whether the shooting has been discussed here at all while I was gone, and the topic of how the show would address this, if at all.

Or were people who raised the issue chased away for having bad taste?

Arlo
Gargoyles need not apply.

Sorry to change the subject, but something has been on my mind lately...

I find it unbelievable that the Normans would send ambassadors to Scotland in 975. At that time the Normans hadn't even conquered England, and wouldn't for another 90 years, so it seems odd that they would send ambassadors through England to Scotland.

Is there any historical evidence of diplomatic relations between Normandy and Scotland in the late 900s?

Paul - [nampahcfluap@yahoo.com]

http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=18304

Ok, this person isn't even trying to hide the fact that he/she is giving ideas.

Antiyonder

Todd -- Here in Phoenix, PBS started airing them tonight, showing the first two hours. I caught the first hour, focusing on Macbeth, especially since the guide description listed it as "The True Story behind 'Macbeth.'" [SPOILER] Host Ethan Hawke did a decent job, looking into Shakespeare's characters and the various scholarly and historical interpretations in order to better perform them. Really only about, say, seven-or-so minutes went into discussing the historical 11th century Macbeth.

Even with so little time put into the "true story" (cue Selene's "ALL THINGS ARE TRUE," hehe), I was grateful that they did set the record straight that King Duncan wasn't killed in his bed but in the heat of battle and that its typical that the historians from Malcolm to James VI made sure to paint the defeated Macbeth as the villain (cue King Arthur's "Few things are accurate," lol).

Overall, I did enjoy seeing clips and conversations from the various productions of Macbeth from both sides of the Atlantic (and by no means do I feel it was an exhaustive list). [/SPOILER]


All in all, not a bad way to spend a Friday evening :)

Young Justice: As always, definitely looking forward to tomorrow morning, and after grabbing my copy of Players, Chapter Five this week it'll be a nice change of pace from hiatuses to "double-dip" into Earth-16 d:

Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka

PBS is starting a series on Shakespeare's plays this Sunday, to run for the next three weeks. The first of the six episodes (airing this Sunday, at least, here in St. Louis) will be about "Macbeth". The other five will be the comedies - focusing on the heroines, "Richard II", the "Henry IV" plays and "Henry V", "Hamlet", and "The Tempest".
Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are great finders

Matt> That totally helped. Just what I was thinking. Thanks!
Comet
Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Just a heads up, but a recent Disney Parks blog entry asked folks which "retired" characters they'd like to see for meet & greets in the parks again. I think if enough of us ask for Goliath, we might see him for Halloween or the upcoming 20th Anniversary. http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/01/long-lost-disney-friends-return-for-limited-time-magic-at-walt-disney-world-resort/
Matt - [reginald_q_bumbershoot@hotmail.com]

Tetrapod literally means "four-footed". If a snake is considered a Tetrapod based solely on ancestry, I don't see why a gargoyle wouldn't. You wouldn't question a beast being a Tetrapod, and gargoyles are somewhat closely related to beasts. And all gargates are descended from Tetrapods anyway.

The gargoyle wings are an evolutionary add-on. Like a monkey's prehensile tail or the gliding wings of the "flying dragon" species you mentioned, these add-ons do not negate or change their Tetrapod status, though from a literal perspective you could say that it does. In other words, snakes and gargoyles are Tetrapods, but not tetrapods.

Matt - [Saint Louis, Missouri, USA]
"Thats three down and two to go..." -Sevarius, "The Reckoning"

sorry for triple posting, I would edit if I could. :S

.... well, there's a special type of lizard that has rib-wings not connected to their arms and legs, and these are definitely tetrapods.
Also the wings of insects don't count as limbs and insects are still defined by having 6 legs. Although that example may be far-fetched since insects aren't related to Gargoyles in the slightest.

Comet
Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

But something for my private inquiries: do Gargoyles still count as tetrapods? They are the only known type of animals that has wings AND arms, but since the wings are not evolved from arms but instead probably from ribs and/or vertebrae, does this change anything?
I think they can still be considered tetrapods despite their extreme modification.

Comet
Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Daniel antonaros> You should use some punctuation in your text, it's quite hard to read.
Did you know there were comics from SLG? You should read these and forget "season 3".

Comet
Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

I concider my self a gargoyle addict I have Goliath tattooed on my arm seaseon 1 DVD season 2 both parts DVD part 2 bought off someone who copied episodes off tv and season 3 also off tv however there's so many great ideas left that gargoyles can be used for release the rest of the seasons on DVD perfect opportunity for a film and kingdom hearts leaves the gate wide open for gargoyles can be used in a video game other then the classic game what Greg wisemen needs to do should do is put it back on tv re introduce it to a new generation get the ball rolling again new episodes the fans never forgot the show a film would bring in adults teens everyone the fans are still very loyal and we as fans deserve more for our undying loyalty then the un finished release of the DVDs gargoyles to me today is more relevant then any thing television has had to offer since.
Daniel antonaros - [dan_antonaros@yahoo.com]
Daniel A

@Greg http://global3.memecdn.com/Stop-Liking-What-I-Dont-Like_o_115105.jpg

Don't know if anyone has already posted this, and this is only loosely on Hobbit topic, but I ran across this interview the other day from Sept with John Rhys-Davies that I thought was a fun read. He brings up "MacBeth" on his own and says somethings I think garg fans would appreciate: http://www.avclub.com/articles/john-rhysdavies-on-indiana-jones-and-why-he-wanted,85044/

FTBM

I didn't find it boring at all. I loved every second of it.
Greg Bishansky - [<--- Greg's Blog of Clue-by-Fours]
"For every two dozen Phantom Menaces, there is a Return of the King. For every two-bit Shyamalan, a Stanley Kubrick is born. For every poor soul who groans during an Adam Sandler-funded Rob Schneider vehicle, there is a child crying life-affirming tears when Bambi's mom is shot. Somewhere out there, a film student is finding out what Rosebud means for the first time. A man is pausing as Fredo prays the Hail Mary on a boat over Lake Tahoe. A woman grasps her heart as Bogie's love flies off into the foggy night. All it takes is one moment to change a person. And that one moment... no matter how fleeting... is worth a thousand Transformers."

@GregB The video won't load for me.

Anyway my problem with the film wasn't the length per se (and I was initially thrilled Jackson wanted to do a trilogy using ancillary material), but rather the execution. It's possible my expectations going in were too high, but I've never felt *bored* by anything Tolkein-related before. The Gollum Bilbo riddle scene was pretty great though.

/And now I can't stop imagining what del Toro might have done...

FTBM

One bit in "The Hobbit" movie that surprised me was the depiction of Dale, which looked evocative of the Mongols or Tatars; I'd always imagined it, when I read the book, as more evocative of the Old Norse or of Anglo-Saxon England. Of course, it *is* in the east of Middle-earth....

I wonder whether the notion of Bilbo receiving the dwarves at Bag End in his dressing-gown was an in-joke to another movie role Martin Freeman's played. (Speaking of which, I also took an interest in Radagast, since I knew he was being played by Sylvester McCoy, whom I remembered from "Doctor Who".)

One change I'm iffy about: Bilbo running out from Bag End after the dwarves on his own, instead of being pushed after them by Gandalf. I can see why they made the change; being shoved out the door isn't as impressive as choosing to join up. But I think it makes Bilbo assume heroic initiative too quickly and early, so that we don't get as much of a sense of his growth as the story proceeds.

Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are great finders

I was wondering, has anyone here besides me and Todd read the entire "History of Middle-Earth" series?
Spen

Young Justice> I liked this week's episode a lot too. I really thought[SPOILER] Green Beetle is very cool and I look forward to seeing more of him. I hope he is a good guy, but I'm still not convinced they should trust him. [/SPOILER]

The Hobbit> I'm a big Tolkien fan also. I read "The Hobbit" many, many times in childhood. I didn't read the "Lord Of The Rings" until shortly before those movies came out and I loved both the books and the movies. I've owned "The Silmarillion" for years, but was a bit daunted by it until I read it for the first time a couple months ago and loved it too. [SPOILER] Who else thinks that the Arkenstone is the Silmaril that was cast into the Earth? It was my first and immediate thought when I read about the Silmaril's fates. [/SPOILER]
As for "The Hobbit" movie. Well, I looked forward to it a lot and I suppose for the most part I enjoyed it. But there were things about it that let me down too. I've always been fond of the druid-like Radagast and was excited to see his potential on the big screen but I'm worried that he moved too much into Jar Jar Binks territory. The Great Goblin also seemed a bit over the top. And putting Azog on the trail of Thorin And Company does add more tension, but having read the book so many times (and knowing Azog and Bolg's true place in the history) made it seem... off.
In fact, i've noticed that those who have never read the book seemed to enjoy the movie a good deal more than those who have read it. I guess Greg B is the exception there.
I will say that I did enjoy "The Hobbit" more the second time around and I'm still very excited about the next two installments. Some of the most crucial scenes (like the flashbacks to the coming of Smaug and the Orc-Dwarf war and all of the Gollum stuff) were very well done.

Matt - [Saint Louis, Missouri, USA]
"Thats three down and two to go..." -Sevarius, "The Reckoning"

This week's episode of Young Justice was one of the funniest episodes of the series so far in my opinion.
Rebel

As a huge fan of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" and a huge fan who has read all of the appendices in "The Lord of the Rings",read "The Quest for Erebor" in the "Unfinished Tales" and has read "The Silmarillion" not once, not twice, but thrice... I loved every second of "The Hobbit" and was happy to see that material presented on the silver screen.

This sums up my feelings on the length of the movie:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/6717-Is-The-Hobbit-Too-Long

Greg Bishansky - [<--- Greg's Blog of Clue-by-Fours]
"For every two dozen Phantom Menaces, there is a Return of the King. For every two-bit Shyamalan, a Stanley Kubrick is born. For every poor soul who groans during an Adam Sandler-funded Rob Schneider vehicle, there is a child crying life-affirming tears when Bambi's mom is shot. Somewhere out there, a film student is finding out what Rosebud means for the first time. A man is pausing as Fredo prays the Hail Mary on a boat over Lake Tahoe. A woman grasps her heart as Bogie's love flies off into the foggy night. All it takes is one moment to change a person. And that one moment... no matter how fleeting... is worth a thousand Transformers."

@Anthony As a fan of the Hobbit since childhood (and the LOTR movie+book trilogy both) so much this. Was gifted with a screener of Hobbit #1 and am not a particularly happy camper. But the skit made me laugh.
FTBM

SUPERMORFF - That, with some additional complications. Tolkien definitely had the Elvish languages in mind when he wrote "The Silmarillion". "The Hobbit", on the other hand, began as a bedtime story for his sons, which incorporated a few references to "The Silmarillion" as in-jokes of a sort (such as Sting, Glamdring, and Orcrist all coming from Gondolin). After "The Hobbit" was published, Tolkien wanted to get back to "The Silmarillion", but his publishers wanted him to write a sequel to "The Hobbit" instead, and argued that "The Silmarillion" wouldn't sell all that well (which, Tolkien admitted, they had a point about, because it was indeed largely intended as a backdrop for the Elvish languages). So he began writing the sequel, but his heart was in "The Silmarillion", so gradually the story shifted from some new hobbits going off on a series of adventures to the more epic tone of the war wtih Sauron, Aragorn becoming King of Gondor, the departure of the Elves, the coming of the Dominion of Men, and so on. "The Lord of the Rings" wound up perhaps more a sequel to "The Silmarillion" than to "The Hobbit" (though the opening chapters are more closely linked to "The Hobbit").
Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are great finders

Speaking of LotR, I thought this was chuckle worthy:

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/more-hobbit/1429006/

Anthony Tini

More staggering: he created Middle-Earth to support the languages, not the other way around.
Supermorff

Supermorff> You are correct. Like I said, it was in the same "spirit" as using Quenya.

Seriously, the sheer number of languages that Tolkien created for Middle-Earth is just staggering.

Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

I think 'Caer' is Sindarin, not Quenya.
Supermorff

Obviously I don't speak Quenya myself, as Brainiac pointed out. But yes, I adore "The Lord of the Rings."
Greg Bishansky - [<--- Greg's Blog of Clue-by-Fours]
"For every two dozen Phantom Menaces, there is a Return of the King. For every two-bit Shyamalan, a Stanley Kubrick is born. For every poor soul who groans during an Adam Sandler-funded Rob Schneider vehicle, there is a child crying life-affirming tears when Bambi's mom is shot. Somewhere out there, a film student is finding out what Rosebud means for the first time. A man is pausing as Fredo prays the Hail Mary on a boat over Lake Tahoe. A woman grasps her heart as Bogie's love flies off into the foggy night. All it takes is one moment to change a person. And that one moment... no matter how fleeting... is worth a thousand Transformers."

Lest I come across as more knowledgable than I am, I had to look up the language myself. Much as I love Lord of the Rings, I don't speak conversational Quenya.

Yet. I should get on that...

Ross
"Oh villain! Villain! Smiling cursed villain! That one might smile and smile, and be a villain! Gooo VILLAIN! Whooooo! Yeah!" -- Sally Avril

Supermorff> Say it was in the same spirit as Greg and Ross using Quenya. Heh.

Hey Greg - next week, Quenya ordinals instead of cardinals?

Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

Brainiac> I didn't recognise that language so I had to look it up.

Now that I have looked it up, I don't know what to say about it.

Supermorff

Caer!
Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

Nueve! Nine! Neuf! And that's all the languages I know.
D. Taina
"The story is told -- though who can say if it be true..." -Shari

...B - Zero - Eight, that is.
Masterdramon - [kmc12009@mymail.pomona.edu]
"And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson...Jesus loves you more than you will know..." - Simon and Garfunkel

Errr...

RECOGNIZED: Zatanna, Zero - Eight!

Masterdramon - [kmc12009@mymail.pomona.edu]
"And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson...Jesus loves you more than you will know..." - Simon and Garfunkel

slow countdown is slow and I since I only speak 2 languages I'll simply post a good old fashioned SEVEN.
Comet
Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Mm, why not. Enque!
Ross
"Oh villain! Villain! Smiling cursed villain! That one might smile and smile, and be a villain! Gooo VILLAIN! Whooooo! Yeah!" -- Sally Avril

Lempe!!!
Greg Bishansky - [<--- Greg's Blog of Clue-by-Fours]
"For every two dozen Phantom Menaces, there is a Return of the King. For every two-bit Shyamalan, a Stanley Kubrick is born. For every poor soul who groans during an Adam Sandler-funded Rob Schneider vehicle, there is a child crying life-affirming tears when Bambi's mom is shot. Somewhere out there, a film student is finding out what Rosebud means for the first time. A man is pausing as Fredo prays the Hail Mary on a boat over Lake Tahoe. A woman grasps her heart as Bogie's love flies off into the foggy night. All it takes is one moment to change a person. And that one moment... no matter how fleeting... is worth a thousand Transformers."

FORE(4th)!!!!
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]

Third!
Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka

2nd.
Matt - [Saint Louis, Missouri, USA]
"Thats three down and two to go..." -Sevarius, "The Reckoning"

1st - "I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me." It's your week; make it a good one!
Anthony Tini