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Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Comment Room Archive

Comments for the week ending June 17, 2012

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Laura: That would be because I work seven days a week now and have been pulling tons of overtime thanks to three of the five debates my candidate is having during the primary occuring this past week.

I'll be catching up on the queue today, but I genuinely haven't had time since last Monday. At all.

Masterdramon - [kmc12009@mymail.pomona.edu]
"Knock, knock, knockin' on Heaven's door..." - Bob Dylan

I notice it has been a while since the Ask Greg queue questions have been approved or booted. Ordinarily it wouldn't make a difference, but with the queue set to close soon, it is nice to have confirmation I haven't screwed up and submitted a bad question, (or have time to figure out what was wrong with it and fix it), before the closing.

It occurs to me to ask- Has there been a delay or is my computer somehow not seeing an update? I see new questions, so I'm probably fine, but it could be something separate.

Laur a 'ad astra' Sack

Does Miss Martian's arc remind anyone of [SPOILER] Willow memory-wiping Tara and then the rest of the gang [/SPOILER] in Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
J29
"Love makes you do the wacky."

Rebel: [SPOILER] I'm not sure about the what have they done part but the what have I done part is a given. Fortunately the League has head shrinkers to fall back on for her. [/SPOILER]
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]

Vinnie > Wouldn't surprise me. [SPOILER] "What have I...what have THEY done?" [/SPOILER]
Rebel

[SPOILER] Me, I'm expecting a certain ignorant telepath from Mars to brain fry Artemis by accident and then become consumed by guilt of what she's done. [/SPOILER]
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]

Tini: That makes perfect sense. Thanks!
Battle Beast - [Canada]
I did it! I watched all 485 Best picture nominees in 365 days!

[SPOILER] When the episode first started and they showed her death scene, I immediately thought, "Nah, she's not really dead; no way they'd spoil the end of the ep like that if she really was." But then I continued watching the episode and let me suspension-of-disbelief take over me and had pretty much bought that Artemis was dead. I concluded that by showing us her death so early in the episode, the writing team had actually done something really innovative--spoiled the episode's major development but making the episode enjoyable nonetheless by watching the journey to that ending.

But then in the end, it turns out that she's actually alive. As much as I like Artemis, I wanted her to actually be dead. And as much as I like Aqualad, I wanted him to actually be evil. Oh well.

But, I'm thinking L'Gann's capture may be setting up a B-plot that will run the entire season, with him and Tai (sp?) teaming up with the other captured humans to try and escape the Partner. This might be a good thing because maybe YJ fans can actually find something to like about L'Gann.

Prediction: If Young Justice goes on long enough, Miss Martian will become the Demona of Young Justice. I think she may turn out to be the first/only "good guy" to really turn bad. [/SPOILER]

Rebel

[SPOILER] I have not a single filament of doubt that Greg and Brandon are capable of killing off a major character. And for 30 minutes I was absolutely certain they'd just picked the character I liked the most on the whole show for that duty. I completely bought into everything. [/SPOILER]

Was that a Delta IV Heavy on the launch pad? An excellent, technically sound choice! Whoever is behind picking that deserves a cool and tasty beverage when they next walk into the office.

Gorebash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_IV_Heavy

@Battle Beast I took it as that "Young Justice" has been rebranded as "Young Jusice: Invasion".
Anthony Tini

What did Greg Weisman mean in hius latest post that Young Justice has been "rebranded"?
Battle Beast - [Canada]
I did it! I watched all 485 Best picture nominees in 365 days!

FTBM> I can't really comment on the SLG comic because I haven't gotten into it as much as the animated series, not for any reason, but just because I've only done a run-through of all the episodes/issues once since the comic came out, whereas I've been watching the episodes since I was 12, and I know them like the back of my hand now.

But as for Macbeth knowing the history of Demona's relationship with the clan, I always imagined he knew some details, as some info would had to have come out during the years Demona was fighting for him while he was king. Of course, the details he does know are most likely severely skewed in her favor. I doubt she would even admit the betrayal of her clan to herself, let alone the Walmart clan, or Macbeth.

But that said, I think he does have an idea that the Manhattan clan is Demona's old clan. Something about his comment in "City of Stone, Part 4" about "all those robots and gargoyles taking off from the world's tallest building," and the way gargoyle sightings were rare before Xanatos put up the building, makes me think that he must have some idea of what's going on. Especially if Demona ever gave him any of the details of the clan being turned to stone until the castle rose above the clouds. She might not have known the terms herself while she was serving him, but you never know. She had that run-in with Brooklyn, and Mary and Finella knew the terms. Plus, he and Demona seem to have learned a lot about each other in all the years he's been hunting her. The guy's not an idiot. I think he would have put together some of the pieces by now. And I think on some level, it actually made a lot of sense to him in "Enter Macbeth," when Goliath started laughing and told him Demona was their enemy. He knew how she'd betrayed him, and how vile she could be. I think on some level, he must've been saying to himself "Figures!" when Goliath said that.

So right now, I think he has enough hints and bits and pieces that he may not know the whole story, but he at least has an idea that they're her original clan. Plus, let's not forget he's met Angela before, and it's apparently easy for in-show characters to recognize that she looks like a cross between Goliath and Demona.

Arlo
Gargoyles need not apply.

@GregB - yeah, I see things starting to get a lot MORE personal, re: Demona, for Broadway then they already were, due to Angela, but at the same time, Angela's feelings towards Demona are more complex, and will probably remain so, so at the same time I could see Broadway possibly holding back on expressing his potential views fully, again due to Angela.

Following on that, does anyone wonder if Macbeth and Hudson had any chats about their common (now) enemy whilst on their Stone adventure? Or you think they both would have speaking avoided all that? Is Macbeth even aware of the full history between Demona and Goliath's clan?

FTBM2010

Greg B>

Except perhaps Brooklyn, due to time travel.

Also, on Brave, the Formspring Brooklyn has hinted for a while that he's seen it, and it's his favorite Pixar movie...So...LOL.

Chip - [Sir_Griff723@yahoo.com]
The premise of your question is flawed. You were never human. But you WERE heroes.~~Red Tornado

At this point, Demona is a bitter enemy of the clan. It's highly unlikely any of them will live long enough to see her redeem herself.

If anything, I expect Broadway to really come to hate Demona. Every terrible thing Demona does will hurt Angela, and he'll hate seeing Angela hurt. So yeah, mother-in-law from hell.

Greg Bishansky - [<--- Greg's Blog of Clue-by-Fours]
"Brave words for a man who hides his face behind a hood." - Goliath, "The Journey."

@J29 - "Pragmatic" was kind of a follow on to your point that he's not ideologically driven as much as the others (and yes, seems to have a more open, non-judgemental nature as a result or at least alongside that). I thought that was a good observation. And LOL about Brave - really looking forward to that film myself.
FTBM2010

I think pragmatic is definitely a good word to use. He's almost similar to Xanatos in that he very rarely takes stuff personally unless it's something immediate and direct (like the Pack.)

And, theory that has nothing to do with anything-Clearly Brave is going to be the Clan + Macbeth's favorite Pixar movie. You know they would all end up getting tix to the same midnight showing and it would be awkward and they'd silently agree not to sit next to each other.

I have too many thoughts.

J29
"Love makes you do the wacky."

Sorry, I meant to add in the Lexington part that in addition to what I already mentioned, he has a pretty sensitive bent as well but it seems like it has to take something pretty direct to bring out strong feelings in him - like the Pack, for example. His seeming ambivalence towards Demona probably just points to a lack of a strong existing relationship between them prior to the Massacre, so it's not so much of a direct betrayal to him, emotionally.
FTBM2010

Lexington also strikes me as a "wait and see" type, ready to hold back and take his cues from whoever the leader is. Although that could be construed as passive/indecisive, I think he also has a pretty strong pragmatic bent. He seems to have a mind more geared toward logical responses - like in Hunter's Moon when they were trapped on the airship, Brooklyn and Goliath especially were pretty emotional, but it was Lexington and, in a role reversal for her, Demona who were the quickest to say "we must exit this bad situation now so everyone settle down" and then immediately put their heads to doing so.

I would be interested in seeing, now that his Timedances are over, how Brooklyn's attitude towards Demona has changed, if at all. And just how he's coping with being back in his own time, now that he's been in the future, period.

FTBM2010

Regarding the Demona - Lexington discussion>
As mentioned, Lexington does seem to take things less personally (excluding the pack) and more about ideals (which could be argued as to why he took the pack thing so seriously). But as an extension of this, he does seem to have a strong desire to have his thoughts accepted by authority figures. Example, when everyone decides on their names, they announce their names rather frankly and directly. Lexington, on the other hand, is the only one who seems unsure and then asks for approval from Goliath as to how he likes it / is it acceptable. Or when he builds stuff (the motorcycle, the helicopter) he is clearly proud of his work but does seem to keep waiting for others to acknowledge it as being good before he is ready to actually move on with the discussion. in general he never seems to be sure of his choices (he says stuff like "how about ..." "i don't know if we should ..." "i think ...." rather than direct action statements). With the exception of the Pack, I can't recall him ever really questioning authority where as brooklyn and broadway have have a few times in terms of going off on their own or thinking things from another perspective.

Taking his desire for approval/acceptance from authority further, I would think that once Goliath views Demona as an enemy of the clan rather than part of it, Lexington would think it as fact and just go with it.

Anyway, just my take on it.


The Broadway vs Demona relationship, however, is a complete unexplored possibility to me. Broadway seems the most naive (innocently so)... kind of like the 'gentle giant' sort of thing. making a guess based on nothing else, i think broadway might feel a little hurt by her betrayal. not heart-wrentching hurt like angela or goliath, but just hurt.

Some Geek
http://www.squidoo.com/thegeeklens-cartoons

J29> Great thoughts on Lexington. Thanks for sharing! When I wrote my post earlier today I was thinking about The Pack and Future Tense and Brentwood but couldn't see how exactly they tied in. You nailed it. Kudos.
Matt - [Saint Louis, Missouri, USA]
"It's almost as if he is trying to keep us offguard while something else is happening." - Goliath, "The Price"

I feel like most of the clan was initially in a similar place to [SPOILER] Thor [/SPOILER] re [SPOILER] Loki when he first showed up [/SPOILER] in the recent film [SPOILER] The Avengers. [/SPOILER]

[SPOILER] "You give up this poisonous dream and you *come home*!" [/SPOILER]

And then as she progressively did worse and worse things they kind of started to emotionally disengage for their own emotional/mental well-being.

Lexington's an interesting case because he seems to be less morally concerned in general. IIRC we've only seen him get upset over personal slights and injuries rather than larger idealistic concepts. But on the flipside of having a less rigid personal code is that it also makes him less judgemental. He's the first one to want to reach out and find common ground with humans other than Elisa.

But we also see that trait have neagative implications in the episode [SPOILER] "Future Tense" [/SPOILER] and with [SPOILER] his clone [/SPOILER] in the comics.

J29
"Love makes you do the wacky."

I imagine Hudson is sad about Demona, but, like you said, not too surprised or anything. And now he views her as someone completly untrustworthy and disloyal to both the Clan and the Gargoyle Way. Does he think or hope she'll change. Well, she is his daughter. I imagine he does hope for change, but I doubt he expects it or thinks it likely.

I think Broadway's main problems with Demona are her actions towards Elisa and how she affects Angela. Maybe these even cause him a little conflict. On the Elisa side of things, she is a major threat and enemy, but from the Angela side of things she is a former clan-mate. I think he hopes Demona will reform as much as Angela does, but he probably doubts Demona will reform far more than Angela does.

Lexington is the real mystery. Obviously, he knows she is an enemy. But he seems less concerned with her on a personal level. While Goliath, Hudson, Brooklyn and Angela all have strong personal connections and experiences and feelings about Demona and even Broadway has some of these feelings through the others, Lexington seems a bit distant from the personal aspect of the animosity. Note that in "The Price" when Goliath mentions seeking out Demona for help, Lexington only gives him a curious and mildly surprised look, but is willing to go along with it. Any of the other members of the Clan would've had much stronger reactions, I imagine.

Matt - [Saint Louis, Missouri, USA]
"It's almost as if he is trying to keep us offguard while something else is happening." - Goliath, "The Price"

Couldn't find this in the archives, although I have a hard time believing it's never been asked: how do you think Broadway, Hudson, and Lexington all feel toward Demona?

I ask because I recall an answer where Greg said he didn't think Hudson was surprised at Demona's betrayal of the clan because he'd seen her slowly go down the "dark side," so to speak. So he was disappointed in her, but not surprised.

When I think back to the present-day scenes from "Long Way Till Morning," where Goliath keeps trying to reach out to her, I have to think it must be a much more complicated experience for the clan than I realized when I first watched the episode when I was 12 years old. They must all feel sad at losing another member of their clan, their family, and with Goliath still trying to reach out to her, I'd have to think they must feel almost divided in a way, even though they'd never condone the things she's done. A part of them must hate seeing her and Goliath apart like this, and I'd think they must even want to try to understand her side of things, even if they never can. (All this, of course, excludes Brooklyn, who understandably feels very betrayed by her.)

So I have to wonder, how do you think those members of the clan whose feelings towards her haven't been fully explored - namely, Hudson, Broadway, and Lexington - feel about her? Do you think they still miss her and hope she'll return one day, or have they just seen too much destruction to ever be able to forgive her? Do you think they still care at all, or have they fully let her go, with everything she's done and all the times she's come after Elisa? Also, do you think their feelings towards her change over the course of the series?

Arlo
Gargoyles need not apply.

Anthony: YJ will be in reruns through at least the end of this month (that's how far the schedule has been announced). There are rumors that it will be in repeats until September... but all that is speculation and rumor. All that is definite is that it'll be repeats through the end of june (at minimum).
Some Geek
http://www.squidoo.com/thegeeklens-cartoons

So whats the newest news on Gargoyles coming back, in any format. Show, comics, movie, novel ect.? I having been on here in a while. And is it true that there are plans for the series being released on DVD?
Anonymous

I'm seeing a re-run this Saturday and next for YJ:I on TVGuide.com. :( On the bright side, TVGuide.com did take my e-mail into consideration and ordered the episodes correctly on their site. :)
Anthony Tini
"Sorry you did it, or sorry you got caught? After all we'd been through, how could you think I wouldn't recognize your touch inside my mind? Didn't you know what that touch meant to me? And to have you pervert it like that; guess I was kidding myself..."

Hey, I've just received a free Minecraft Giftcode!
You can get one too!

>> minecraftcodes.me <<

Nihcolnjcd - [isau@ijds.com]
schhjgjjiihuyiin

MASTERDRAMON - I only glanced at that one, but I'll have to read it properly. I always felt some sympathy for Pius Thicknesse, since he was only working for Voldemort because he'd been Imperiused. I hope the good guys went easy on him after the Battle of Hogwarts.
Todd Jensen
I'm a Hufflepuff!

Todd> Considering Gordo went into that very argument about the Atlanteans, I'd say that's quite the likely position.
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!

Sorry; that was me. Involuntarily logged out for the third time in a week.
Todd Jensen
I'm a Hufflepuff!

Another "what-if" if the "Young Justice" and "Gargoyles" universes coverged (which, as I said, is extremely unlikely, and would be a lot harder to do than the "Spectacular Spider-Man" crossover).

Anybody besides me think that G. Gordon Godfrey wouldn't be any more keen on gargoyles than he is on aliens (and would probably be convinced that the gargoyles *were* alien creatures)?

Anonymous

Ross: Wow. Thanks again, then. :)

I'm pretty proud of "Sleepwalking," if for no other reason than that it was the first fic on FF.Net ever to focus on Pius Thicknesse, LOL.

I'm quite glad that you enjoyed it.

Masterdramon - [kmc12009@mymail.pomona.edu]
"Knock, knock, knockin' on Heaven's door..." - Bob Dylan

Masterdramon> You're welcome. I also really enjoyed your Harry Potter one-shot.
Ross
Hufflepuff pride, yo.

Short version: Shrug of God is when the creator doesn't give an answer while Sure Why Not?/Ascended Fanon is when the fans come up with their own answer that is later incorperated into canon. At least that's my understanding.
J29
"Love makes you do the wacky."

Algernon> The Shrug of God page at TV Tropes says that it should not be confused with Sure, Why Not?, which is a redirect to Ascended Fanon.

Greg does use Shrug of God a lot, though.

Supermorff

Masterdramon - Lionel Luthor was easily the best thing about that show. By far. So I don't think that's such a bad thing. I don't think that Lex's father is ever going to come up, though.
Aldrius

A few more thoughts about the four episodes of "Young Justice" that I recently saw:

[SPOILER] Did anyone else who saw "Targets" think of the scene between Goliath and Xanatos at the castle in "The Edge" when they saw the interaction between Red Arrow and Luthor? I thought that it had much the same tone: the hero angry, the "villain" calm and amused.

I'd already picked up on the truth about Roy before I saw this episode - and it gave extra significance to the moment when Sportsmaster says Red Arrow ought to be called "Broken Arrow". What made the scene all the better was that it was handled in such a way that, if I hadn't known about those two words being a code-word, I wouldn't have suspected that anything unusual had gone on at that moment. (Clearly, it's the kind of moment that you need to see again once you've seen the first season all the way through.)

Hearing somebody other than David Warner voice Ra's al-Ghul might take a little adjusting to, but I thought the new actor handled him well. [/SPOILER]


By the way, Masterdramon, I forgot to mention this before, but I liked your incorporating the bit from the "Young Justice" comic (it was at the end of the first trade paperback, which I bought a few months ago) about [SPOILER] Superboy's containment at Cadmus Labs cracking - the nightmare about Superman going rogue, demolishing the Daily Planet, and killing Lois Lane and Perry White was one of the most memorable moments in the comic [/SPOILER].

Todd Jensen
I'm a Hufflepuff!

TODD> I believe that's what TV Tropes calls a "Shrug of God".
Algernon

"More or less" would be the right term for it, since his reply was "Sure, why not?"
Todd Jensen
I'm a Hufflepuff!

Todd: Those were all indeed little in-jokes. Parasite has no known connection to Cadmus in this series, and Livewire/Titano have not appeared, but as Parasite's powers in this setting have not yet been explained I found it a harmless enough bit of fun.

Plus, Titano's a giant ape with Kryptonite vision. Given Superboy's catchphrase of "I hate monkeys"...well, it practically writes itself. XD

As for the other point...to be honest, I in fact loathe "Smallville" and everything associated with that show. As such, I would've much preferred to use the pre-Crisis comics name of "Jules Luthor"...but Greg's more-or-less said it's Lionel on Earth-16, so my hands were tied on that one:

http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=13499

Still, as I've never seen the "Smallville" Lionel Luthor in action, I certainly didn't borrow any of Lex's backstory or musings from it. That's all either ripped from the comics or made up by me.

Masterdramon - [kmc12009@mymail.pomona.edu]
"Knock, knock, knockin' on Heaven's door..." - Bob Dylan

MASTERDRAMON - A couple of questions about your story.

1. I noticed that in it, Cadmus Labs had projects going for the Parasite, Livewire, and Titanis, whom I remembered from WB's animated "Superman" series in the late 90's. I know that Parasite's shown up in "Young Justice" (though I haven't seen that episode yet), but I can't remember Livewire and Titanis doing the same. Was their inclusion a kind of "in-joke"?

2. I also noticed your mention of Lionel Luthor at the end - "Smallville" in-joke? (Though I don't know enough DC Comics lore to know if he was an invention of "Smallville" or a pre-existing comics character that it adapted).

A thought about "Terrors". I remember one of Greg Weisman's rambles about how a good villain echoes the hero's traits in some way, and citing Batman's villains for examples (the Joker wears a bizarre costume and operates outside the law, like Batman, but he represents chaos and Batman represents order; Two-Face echoes Batman's two identities, etc.). He said that Riddler was one of the less exciting villains here; his riddles do fit in with Batman's being a detective, but it's not as exciting as the other members of the rogues' gallery.

[SPOILER] In "Terrors", we see Riddler as the bottom-of-the-hierarchy villain in Belle Reve, whom all the other super-villains pick on. But he's the only one who escapes. I wonder if Greg had come to respect Riddler more by this time - enough to give him the last laugh at the episode's end. [/SPOILER]

Todd Jensen
I'm a Hufflepuff!

Christopher Eccleston!
Algernon

Eighth!

Also, my utmost thanks to Ross and Todd for the kind words about my fic yesterday. It means a lot.

Masterdramon - [kmc12009@mymail.pomona.edu]
"Knock, knock, knockin' on Heaven's door..." - Bob Dylan

Seventh.
Spen

Anytime.

Sorry, Chip. A belated "Fifth."

Arlo
Gargoyles need not apply.

6th...I...Think.
Chip - [Sir_Griff723@yahoo.com]
The premise of your question is flawed. You were never human. But you WERE heroes.~~Red Tornado

Arlo -- thanks!

that is it, exactly. My initial thought that it was City of Stone but when I put my DVD on, I didn't see that (maybe i got distracted and missed that scene since i was also working on something else at the same time.. anyway...), and when I went through other episodes that I thought it might have been in, I didn't see it either. So it was making me a little crazy.... glad to figure it out.
thank you very much :)

Some Geek
http://www.squidoo.com/thegeeklens-cartoons

Some Geek> That's the flashback scene from "City of Stone, Part 1."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-kN6Gpvx9E

Arlo
Gargoyles need not apply.

We interrupt this count down for a very random question...

So here's the thing. I have this mental image in my head of a scene, set at Castle Wyvern right before the Vikings attack (with Goliath and Hudson gone). In this image I have in my head, Demona (at the castle) is flying up behind Othello and Desdemona (who later become Coldstone and Coldfire) and is about to tell them / warn them about the vikings approach. but then she sees the vikings off in the far distance getting ready to attack and changes her mind, not warning them, and instead turns to fly behind the castle onto the beach.

Am I totally imagining this scene? Was it from an episode? Or one of the comics? or someone's fanfiction (though I really feel like I saw the visuals... so likely animated, or at least in comic form)? I just have it in my head and can't figure out what episode it is. Any thoughts? Or am I simply going insane? ;)

Thanks in advance

We now return you to your regularly scheduled countdown...

Some Geek
http://www.squidoo.com/thegeeklens-cartoons

4... for 99_4_, the year the clan was cursed to stone sleep
(okay that was a bit of a stretch, i admit it)

Some Geek
http://www.squidoo.com/thegeeklens-cartoons

(3rd)Third!!!
Vinnie - [tpeano29@hotmail.com]
Obama eats DOG!

(10+2)-10
Battle Beast - [Canada]
That is all I will say.

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