Anonymous: I wouldn't assume that a "regular" release of any of these editions is coming at all. It might, or they might remain Kickstarter-exclusives. Dynamite hasn't stated one way or the other.

I won't encourage people to spend money they don't have, and the shipping price for non US-residents is definitely steep. But I also would caution that if you're holding off for a hypothetical retail release in the future, you're rolling the dice at best.

Regardless, happy to see we're now past the milestones of $500,000 and 3000 individual backers!
Masterdramon - [kmc12009 at mymail dot pomona dot edu]
"If you run you gain one, but if you move forward you gain two." - Suletta Mercury
posted @ Sun, Feb 4, 2024 4:15:31 pm EST from 76.173.137.179

I'd like to support the kickstarter but I'm kinda worried about the additional shipping costs I'm seeing there. I'd like to get the 3 hardcovers, but apparently if you're in Europe that means having to pay up to an additional $106 on top of the regular $125 for the hardcovers.

$125 for 3 hardcovers is a good price, but having to pay almost as much for shipping is kinda nasty, to the point that I'm wondering whether it'd be best to just wait for those omnibus to release regularly and buy them then on Amazon once they get here without the massive shipping costs.

What do you guys think? Didn't really know any other place to ask.
Anonymous
posted @ Sun, Feb 4, 2024 9:59:38 am EST from 79.13.79.227

PHOENICIAN - Thanks for sharing that book with us.

I'd already come across a mention of the "Thousand and One Nights" being looked upon as low-brow in the Arabic-speaking world; I'd read about it at the start of a book I read many years ago called "Lands Beyond" by L. Sprague de Camp and Willy Ley about geographical legends, at the start of the chapter on the Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Sun, Feb 4, 2024 8:28:49 am EST from 174.72.60.154

Wow -- half a million. 1000% of the initial goal met. To be fair, the campaign's actually well past that, but I only just noticed the milestone was reached today. And backer-wise, nearly 1400 added in the last week alone! It's been exciting to watch, to say the least.

With a little over a week left, I do hope the message that even a dollar donation is wonderful support because it helps demonstrate the show's overall reach finds more fans, old and new alike.

To jump back into something related to the Gargoyles Universe itself, I have been reading The Arabian Nights: A Companion by Robert Irwin. The text can be described as essentially a historical background into the anthology that is often referred to as the One Thousand and One Nights, taking a thorough analysis into the origins of the stories that Scheherazade tells each night, plus the frame story itself. It is a dense work, to say the least, with an attention to detail that has made the experience of reading it thus far reminiscent of Shakespeare's Kings by John Julius Norwich, a work that has been mentioned by Todd Jensen in the past.

I've been placing sticky notes on pages with bits and details that I hope to add to Shari's Real World Background section on the GargWiki in the future, but one detail that I wanted to share sooner rather than later is that when it comes to one of the presumed Persian prototypes for the One Thousand and One Nights, the Hazar Afsaneh ('Thousand Stories'), it is believed (if the stories be true, to borrow the phrase) that the stories were composed for Humai, daughter of the legendary King Bahram. Supposedly, Scheherazade was the mother of this ancient Persian king.

This particular tidbit comes in a chapter dedicated to the critical analysis of the ancient geographical origins of the One Thousand and One Nights, challenging long-established premises that any story can be traced to one historical genesis, arguing that such thoughts ignore the simpler solution referred to as polygenesis; that stories with similar plots, archetypes, themes, motifs, and/or morals can be independently developed in multiple societies and cultures. While Irwin does believe that there are certainly tales in the collection that Scheherazade shares that clearly have traveled across the ancient world, translated and adapted, he maintains that to believe the entire One Thousand and One Nights or any of its possible progenitors has a single origin (with some 19th Century literary historians prescribing as far as India as the most likely candidate) ultimately robs the Middle East of a major literary contribution.

According to Irwin, the One Thousand and One Nights have largely been dismissed in the Arabic speaking world over the centuries as low-brow and poorly written (in comparison to the Arabic poetry contemporary to its time), and such disregard is evidently why the collection has not been as well preserved. But these tales (and the stories in its literary origins) have demonstrated how, ultimately, every civilization across the globe has generated their own stories (despite coincidental similarities) and each is guilty of borrowing stories from its neighbors across generations. Insightful stuff. To borrow from Goliath from "Outfoxed", that notion might not be new to me, but it is certainly worth revisiting.

So to sum up what I've read of this chapter so far (it is dense, lol), I am loving all the threads that Irwin is considering. (minor) [SPOILER] Though our encounter with her has been nonlinear, I feel the stories shared by Sharizad in Dark Ages and later Shari in Clan-Building are certainly in this sentiment and spirit. Not only in how she prefaces each story, which has certainly given us fans some pause when we think we find contradictions (like in the Rock of Ages arc), but also in how we now encounter characters like Prince Malcolm and Robbie that *know* she recites her tales with unsettling accuracy. Irwin calls this chapter "Ocean of Stories", and it seems like only Scheherazade knows how to navigate its stormy waters. And of course, with that visual, I now can't help but think of Jeffrey Robbins's oft-quoted final lines from "A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time". [/SPOILER] Eighty-odd pages in, and Irwin has traced several possible origins to Scheherazade's frame story, and even pointed out which tales were only added by Europeans to pad the collection to satisfy those that wanted a complete 1,001 nights (one of the few details I already knew before picking up this book).

I find it fitting to continue these thoughts on another night. But, it probably won't be tomorrow. I'll need to read more first d:
Phoenician
Gus: "I always forget you're there." Hooty: "I forget I'm here toooooo."
posted @ Sun, Feb 4, 2024 1:25:37 am EST from 54.183.216.197

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur as a reminder returns tomorrow.

Looking forward to it.
Antiyonder
posted @ Thu, Feb 1, 2024 11:47:15 pm EST from 71.84.183.196

Well as far as I can tell it's already past 600k, so that's pretty darn sweet.
Alex (Aldrius)
posted @ Thu, Feb 1, 2024 11:32:03 pm EST from 70.48.45.192

If any of you haven't had the chance to catch Hazbin Hotel I'd highly recommend doing so, the first season just closed out today.

As a bonus, Keith David really gets to show off his singing pipes with the fun ditty "Loser, Baby." Fair Warning, the lyrics are very much NSFW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sVoglgJjRg
Matthew
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!
posted @ Thu, Feb 1, 2024 9:23:43 pm EST from 64.85.245.77

The Dynamite Kickstarter just crossed $400,000 and 2500 individual backers!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dynamiteent/30th-anniversary-disney-gargoyles-collections-are-here

If this momentum continues, we might cross $500,000 when all is said and done. Let's keep spreading the word, y'all!
Masterdramon - [kmc12009 at mymail dot pomona dot edu]
"If you run you gain one, but if you move forward you gain two." - Suletta Mercury
posted @ Wed, Jan 31, 2024 2:19:48 am EST from 76.173.137.179

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPo0pG0ErSc
Not sure if this has been posted yet. But here's a Greg Weisman interview that my friend sent! Starts at 1:02:00
Kate
posted @ Tue, Jan 30, 2024 7:51:22 pm EST from 208.102.156.56

Thanks for the latest review, Blaise.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Tue, Jan 30, 2024 7:23:39 pm EST from 174.72.60.154

Thanks Todd and Alex, I'll be adding more to it probably on the last week of each month. And I'd love to read your short story, Alex.

Blaise> The D&D references were a nice touch.
Matthew
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!
posted @ Tue, Jan 30, 2024 2:44:45 pm EST from 64.85.245.77

Blaise> Awesome thoughts. Thanks for sharing. Love the RPG references. Ha
Matt
"And, thus, given no choice, we waited..." - Alesand, "The Reach"
posted @ Tue, Jan 30, 2024 10:05:36 am EST from 204.184.178.1

I love it Matthew. Especially the non-traditional rhyming scheme. I always love to see alternative structures.

I've been rewriting and editing a short story of mine lately, I dunno if anyone here'd be interested in reading it.
Alex (Aldrius)
posted @ Tue, Jan 30, 2024 1:03:46 am EST from 70.48.45.192

****A gold dragon flies into the Room, being ridden by Blaise.**** Given the latest issue, I figured it was fitting I bring old Coren along.

Okay, so it's a little late (not as much as some of my previous rambles), but here it is:
THE DREAM> [SPOILER] We begin with Prince Malcolm and Huds--er, Mentor doing what supervisor’s typically do: stand around and bark orders at the people doing the actual work! Seriously, though, it is fun seeing the beginnings of the friendships that will develop between Malcolm and Mentor as well as between Goliath and Robbie. The future Captain once again shows his kinship with the gargoyles, choosing to work alongside them and revel in this “dream,” as Goliath calls it, of the two peoples working together.

Meanwhile, up on the cliff, Lefty is with the Trio as Lex (that can be short for “Alexander,” too!) wonders why they don’t use the same mechanisms as the humans, particularly the wheel system. Love to see Lex’s affinity for technology showcased. Of course, he apparently has sight in a world that needs bifocals: even though Lex notes that the wheel would be more efficient, Lefty writes it off as something only the humans need because they are not as strong as gargoyles (well, they do say “necessity is the mother of invention”), and Lex’s brothers only see something to play on. Unfortunately, their play breaks the thing and brings it crashing down. Lefty runs interference with Brother Valdez (love how Greg uses untranslated Spanish to get away with some light swearing: “What the hell is happening here?!”), also shielding the man from the falling wreckage, while the Trio beat a fleet retreat. Lex’s “But I didn’t do anything” is both a fun “kid” sort of response but also a good indication of how these three tend to be lumped together automatically (something that will come up a couple decades later when Broadway gets sent to the Rookery along with Brooklyn and Lex).

But where’s their sister Antiope? She’s with Alesand, waiting for the Trio to help her take the young human flying like they had promised (apparently, the kids don’t distinguish between “flying” and “gliding” yet). The Trio (or at least “Caesar” and “Charlemagne”) are only too happy to oblige and get far away from the scene of their latest misadventure (loved Charlemagne’s suspiciously specific denials). As for Alesand, after an initial startle from a sudden take-off, she is living her own dream and enjoying the flight, hugging Antiope at the end (though as Charlemagne points out, Antiope wasn’t one of the two who were holding Alesand during the glide). One thing that struck me: Alesand points out her village from the sky, and also her Gran’s cottage. I could be reading more into this than is there, but does this mean Alesand’s grandmother (Robbie’s mother) lives apart from the rest of the village?

Anyway, the kids are now outside a large cave entrance and decide to explore. Antiope is the one who suggests entering the cave, although Caesar is quick to second it (and grab a torch as they proceed--nice that one’s available). They come upon a doorway that is very familiar to us, the viewers of the show from way back when...and Antiope and Caesar have some fun dialogue. The interplay of the Trio is familiar (albeit aged down, naturally), so it’s fun to see the additional dynamic that their sister brings. She seems to share the penchant for sarcastic observations that Brooklyn will be associated with later, as well as the sense of adventure. A big revelation, though, as the kids look at the hieroglyphics, is that Lex already knows how to read. I feel like a lot of us thought that Demona/Angel would have been the first of the clan to learn to read, but it turns out that Lex knew before her. Wonder if there are any other members of the Wyvern clan who already know how to read, too. Love how eager Alesand is to learn how to read (and how eager Lex is to teach).

After pausing to remark on the Super Villain Lair (tm) façade (got to admit, I would like more indication as to who is speaking in that last panel), the kids make their way to another familiar set piece: the monoliths from “Shadows of the Past”. They can’t read the glyphs (or “chicken scratches” as Caesar calls them) here either, though Lex wants to, a sentiment which leads Charlemagne to complain about how “they’ll just come up with new chicken scratches to confuse you” (given that most writing was not necessarily in the vernacular at this time, I can understand this sentiment, and perhaps his dismissiveness regarding reading for so long). More interesting, though, is Antiope’s reaction: she is focused on the structure (transfixed, perhaps) before blurting out that it’s a “Ghost Cage” and then almost immediately after trying to brush that off and saying “let’s get out of here.” So many unanswered questions....

The kids move deeper than we’ve ever seen in the show now (love Alesand’s “Are we lost?” bit) and find something huge (both physically and metaphorically--for us, at any rate): an honest to goodness, flaming dragon! Or stone dragon, at the moment. Either way, it’s sleeping on a horde of gold! Alesand, however, has failed her Perception check and needs to be told to hide immediately.

We cut back to outside the cave now for some scenes:
*Chomp and Chaw are pulling something as Valdez talks to Malcolm and Mentor about needing more stone from the quarry (won't that term have ugly connotations for the clan in the far future of the 1990's).
*Nicolas is talking about wanting to be an actor to the Player King and Queen, instead of a weaver like the one his parents apprenticed him to. The PK doesn’t dismiss being a weaver, though, while the PQ seems to be adjusting her sword belt (she doesn’t look happy, though). Also, someone is watching from behind some rocks on the left side of the panel. I agree that this is probably a young Mary.
*Desdemona is continuing her tutelage under Sacrifice (with yet another little one watching them from the left side of panel; this looks like Schnozz). Desdemona appears to have succeeded in opening her mind up to what the night can tell her, feeling the Wind and letting “her share her knowledge with” Des.
*And, of course, the Archmage is continuing to teach Angel to read (with a young Magus peeking in through the tent flaps, once again on the left side of the panel). Boy, the Archmage sure has a sour face here! But he prompts Angel with the correct word (let’s just assume everything is translated into Modern English for our benefit). Others have commented on the thematic significance of the fable she’s reading, so I don’t have much to add on that front. I will say, however, that I think Demona is the sort of person who can be either the scorpion or the frog depending on the circumstances.

Back to the kids and Alesand has finally hidden, and just in time, too, because the dragon wakes up...EXACTLY LIKE A GARGOYLE! Well, it looks like there’s no preliminary cracking before bursting from the stone shell, instead it’s like the dragon goes right to the stone explosion, but that might just be the way the panels flow to me. At any rate, stone explodes and the dragon roars.

And we cut back to the same scenes outside the cave:
*Malcolm seems to have heard something while Valdez seems a bit more proactive, excusing himself.
*The PK and PQ draw their swords, which are very real (much to Nicolas’s surprise).
*Desdemona’s newly forged connection to the wind let’s her know that SOMETHING “very, very old” has just appeared on the scene (love how the line is structured here, and not surprised that it was used as the quote at the front of the issue).
*Demona doesn’t notice anything (she’s reading a new fable about “Belling the Cat”--symbolism pending), but the Archmage twigs it immediately. Calling it both a problem and an opportunity.

But back to the dragon: he(?) speaks! YES! I have always loved dragons (part of my love for gargoyles is connected to that), and I am so happy to see a real, living, speaking dragon in gargoyles. What’s more, it appears that dragons are related to gargoyles, as the dragon (love the special colored and outlined text bubbles he has) calls the kids “little cousins.” Turns out the Wyvern Clan is the dragon’s clan, whose ancestors he brought to Wyvern hill to “protect my lands, my treasure..and my rest.” Charlemagne, the insightful one, ponders who they’re supposed to be protecting them from and the dragon drops the bombshell that their foes are “the human vermin.” Unfortunately, Lex’s Intelligence stat is higher than his Wisdom and he just blurts out that they’ve made an alliance with the humans, much to Caesar and Antiope’s fear and frustration and the dragon’s anger. He rants about humans being on his hill, and I guess his name is Wyvern (confirmed in the Voices from the Eyrie podcast) even though he’s a dragon. I mean, I would make more fun but one of the major recurring characters in “Gargoyles” is a woman named Fox and I personally know a young person named Crow, so...[shrug]. At any rate, the kids try to talk Wyvern down from his rage, with Lex trying to reason that the alliance makes a lot of sense. Wyvern, however, is of the opinion that, in his “not inconsiderable experience” humans are a plague not just on their kind (“stone flesh” as he calls them) but on the whole world...and he decides to eat the human he smells in his lair right now!

A chase ensues. Some fun bits for me:
*Charlemagne showing considerable bravery and loyalty to Alesand (if not much sense) by yelling at Wyvern not to eat their friend.
*Discovering that dragons can indeed breathe fire.
*Caesar showing a bit of leadership (and “swashbuckler hero” aspects) instructing Antiope to get Alesand out while the Trio lure the dragon away (to Lex’s incredulity).

Charlemagne tries the “why don’t you pick on someone your own size” bit, only substituting “eat” for “pick on” much to Wyvern’s amusement. The dragon’s expressions on this page are great: he’s not perpetually scowling but actually showing more emotions, like surprise or even concern. He doesn’t want to hurt the gargoyles, let alone eat them (a little too close to cannibalism for his comfort), but he will not let them stop him. Lex tries one last time with an Intimidation or Deception roll, mentioning that the folks at the castle know the kids are in the caves and if anything happens to them--
Except Wyvern is no longer listening. He’s still stuck on the mention of a castle! (Poor Lex just keeps putting his foot in his mouth with this guy.) Well, Wyvern explodes out of the cave and jets off toward the construction site.

As Wyvern flies off, Angel heads into the cave (let’s see what that opportunity is) and Malcolm and Mentor have the last lines:
MENTOR: By the dragon..
MALCOLM: It’s a dragon..

For anyone who ever complains about Greg's series "always ending with cliffhangers"...those aren't cliffhangers. THIS is a cliffhanger. I’m looking forward to the final issue of “Alliance”! [/SPOILER]


Good time to be a "Gargoyles" fan right now. New content, an ongoing podcast, CONvergence coming up, a Kickstarter that is fully funded and still collecting backers, and Greg Weisman is back on Twitter! (Though, for that latter, I share his reluctance and trepidation.)
****Obeying Blaise's gesture and spoken instruction, the gold dragon flies out of the Room with him.****
Blaise
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."--The Doctor
posted @ Tue, Jan 30, 2024 12:23:03 am EST from 45.48.54.221

Thank you for the poem, Matthew. (And just in time, since January only has two days left after this one, too.)
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Jan 29, 2024 6:46:46 pm EST from 174.72.60.154

So as part of my New Year's Resolution of writing more I decided I would try writing more poetry; I used to a lot more of that back in the day. Well, inspired by Todd's previous posts from writers far better than I am, I'm doing a multi-part poem on each of the months.


A Year on the Streets.

January

A new year breaks, the same night falls.
My old bones croak and groan,
My sozzled neighbor swears and moans,
And the bitter, whispering wind calls.

How I wish I could fly away.
To southern climes on carefree wings,
To flee from chilling, gnawing things.
And ne’er be far from break of day.

Rain or snow, endure the storm.
Hidden in homes or hiding in parks.
‘Neath roof or road or rotted tarp.
We huddle tight and pray “Stay warm!”

How I wish the night was done.
No time to weep, no time for sorrow.
Stay warm, keep strong to see tomorrow.
Live to see the sun.
Matthew
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!
posted @ Mon, Jan 29, 2024 5:21:34 pm EST from 64.85.245.77

Third
Phil - [p1anderson at yahoo dot com]
posted @ Mon, Jan 29, 2024 3:30:59 pm EST from 50.192.123.171

Second!
Matt
"And, thus, given no choice, we waited..." - Alesand, "The Reach"
posted @ Mon, Jan 29, 2024 8:23:12 am EST from 47.233.90.133

First.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, Jan 29, 2024 8:07:41 am EST from 174.72.60.154