I've just been rereading a book that I'd read as a boy but had almost forgotten about, "The Wonderful O" by James Thurber. It's a humorous story about a group of pirates who come to an island looking for treasure that was supposedly buried there, but all they find are lots of other things that have the letter O in their names (owls, oaks, toads, trout, etc.); the pirates hate the letter O (their leader's mother had gotten stuck in a porthole, and they couldn't pull her back in, so they had to push her out), and partly because of this, partly out of a way of venting their frustration at being unable to find the treasure, decide to abolish the letter O on that island (whose name, incidentally, is "Ooroo" - meaning four-fifths of its name is the very letter they loathe), not only banishing everything that's got an "o" in its name, but even erasing it from all written words and even forbidding the people on the island from saying any word with an "o" in it. However, the pirates eventually get their comeuppance, getting confronted by a host of legendary figures with O's in their names (such as Lancelot, Robin Hood, "Donalbane of Birnam Wood", and the original Goliath), and more - not to mention [SPOILER] the treasure isn't what they thought it was, in a manner similar to the denouement of "A Lighthouse at the Sea of Time" [/SPOILER].

Gargoyles got mentioned only once, as among the architectural features the pirates are smashing in their unsuccessful attempt to find the treasure, but I can't help thinking that the living kind would have been well-suited to keep company with the legendary figures above who confront the pirates. (And all six original members of the Manhattan clan have an "O" in their names.)
Todd Jensen
posted @ Thu, May 7, 2026 7:44:42 pm EDT from 68.99.93.213

Pardon the double post but finding out Ted Turner's death made me think of how he co-founded Cartoon Network from back in the day. Yeah, it started as mostly a re-run channel but it really did help propel a lot of creators and the sheer variety of programming it has (or had) really spoke to the depths animation has and the potential of it.

Kind of a shame that it's pretty much a by-gone era. When the people at the top were more than willing to invest heavily into the vast fields of entertainment. Maybe one day we'll get another Spielberg or Turner willing to put their money into the industry not just for the sake of making money but preserving media and encouraging new voices and talents. Who knows. Entertainment has changed so much in just the last 10 years, to say nothing of the last 30.
Matthew the Fedora Guy
You're Gonna Carry That Weight
posted @ Wed, May 6, 2026 7:47:40 pm EDT from 184.23.35.150

Sleeplesssongbird> To answer your question, I'm doing alright. Been working a lot which is part of the reason why I haven't had the energy to post anything lately. Sadly missed out on Free Comic Book Day but when I stopped by my local shop earlier this week there were still plenty of t-shirts available.
Matthew the Fedora Guy
You're Gonna Carry That Weight
posted @ Wed, May 6, 2026 7:35:11 pm EDT from 184.23.35.150

Hey everybody!

I'm responding to last week's messages as well as current once again. ^.^; Sorry again for the delay I am in the last quarter of trying to finish up medical classes and am trying to do some physical therapy around my work for a knee injury. Got to love when Life happens.

*I'm glad to hear it's nothing like what I feared from the sounds of it in regards to Greg's health. And I will definitely check out the podcast I would adore hearing the Trio's voices again.

*Happy to provide conversation Todd.

* It would be very interesting to hear news if they are planning something for a comic convention like the news about the Firefly reboot. :) How is everyone?
Sleeplesssongbird - [Opportunistic dot Cat at Gmail dot com]
-Cat.
posted @ Wed, May 6, 2026 10:30:27 am EDT from 217.216.107.205

TODD - Thanks. :) [SPOILER] It's funny, back when I was collaborating on Spectacular Gargoyles{/i] on Spring and [i]Age of Gargoyles on FF.net, I resisted the urge to reference "Yog-Sothothery" in my fics for a variety of reasons, despite HPL, CAS and a lot of their contemporaries having slipped into public domain in the ensuing decades. If I had known then what I know now, I'd probably have shown a lot less restraint. :P [/SPOILER]
Algae
'nuff said.
posted @ Tue, May 5, 2026 11:50:18 am EDT from 88.87.179.191

ALGAE - Thanks for the thoughts on [SPOILER] the Necronomicon, including the possibility that Shahrizad might have known Abdul Alhazred. (It reminds me of my own speculations, after she was called the "Dark Lady" in "Once Upon a Time There Were Three Brothers", that she might have known Shakespeare - and been the "Dark Lady of the Sonnets".)

The possibility of some of Lovecraft's creations showing up in the Gargoyles Universe becomes all the more tempting after one of the stories by his colleague Clark Ashton Smith was adapted into it.... [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Tue, May 5, 2026 9:18:16 am EDT from 68.99.93.213

Fourth!

I know I don’t post here as often as I used to, but I still lurk on the reg. I just felt compelled to share a thought loosely inspired by the recent and delightful DarkWing Duck crossover…

[SPOILER] It’s probably no secret that the Quackronomicon is intended as a riff on H.P. Lovecraft’s Necronomicon, the fictitious tome of forbidden lore originally complied by the equally fictitious ‘Mad Poet’, Abdul Alhazred.

According to the backstory assigned to him by Lovecraft, Alhazred lived in the Umayyad Caliphate during the early 700s C.E. He traveled as far afield as the crypts of Memphis in Egypt and the fabled lost city of Iram somewhere in the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula in search of occult lore, before finally settling in the city of Damascus to pen his infamous compendium. The Powers of Darkness apparently did not care for that, as Alhazred was reputedly torn apart by invisible demons in broad daylight sometime in 738 C.E.

I bring all this up because before he was a scholar of Things Man Was Not Meant To Know, Abdul Alhazred began existence as a childhood fansona of Lovecraft himself, inspired by reading _1001 Nights_ at the ripe old age of five. Which makes me wonder if, in the Gargoyles Universe, Shari is old enough to have met the ill fated poet? I’m also wonder if, given Greg’s already loosely incorporated ideas from non-canon crossovers into the canon, whether Demona might eventually come into contact with Alhazred’s cursed tome? [/SPOILER]
Algae
'nuff said.
posted @ Tue, May 5, 2026 7:00:52 am EDT from 88.87.179.191

Third.

I'd mentioned elsewhere, but not here, that Greg Weisman was announced last week as a guest at Fan Expo Chicago in August. While it's entirely possible he's just working and keeping visible generally, I suppose there's hope there that he'll be promoting something by then, like the new canon series. The announcement did not give any clues, being more along the lines of, "Look! It's famed comic creators..." than anything specific. But, perhaps, wrap your red yard around this thumbtack: the announcement does call out "Gargoyles" specifically (behind "Spectacular Spider-Man," but anyway).

Hey, sometimes you raise your expectations on anything you can get a foot on.
morrand - [morrand276 at gmail dot com]
posted @ Mon, May 4, 2026 2:20:35 pm EDT from 108.69.72.60

Second!

Dynamite's silence is frustrating. But as I said before, at this point, my assumption is that they're waiting for SDCC to make an announcement.

On the plus side, it seems the Marvel TPB is in stores now, with the SLG collections hopefully releasing tomorrow. And Here in Manhattan Vol. 2 scheduled for July. Given how efficient Dynamite was with releasing the Darkwing crossover (four issues in under two months!), hopefully we'll be looking at a more reliable release schedule once the new series does get underway.
Craig
posted @ Mon, May 4, 2026 1:28:43 pm EDT from 69.118.30.106

First! Again!

I'll admit, shortly after the last Winter Special was released, this was the week I had my eye on for the next canon release date. I figured that about a month after Darkwing concluded sounded right. I knew it was optimistic since we didn't have a solicitation yet, but I was hopeful. It's a bummer that we've gotten to this week and still don't even have a solicitation, much less a new story!

Patience....
Matt
"Okay... This is getting old." - Brooklyn, 1995
posted @ Mon, May 4, 2026 8:26:41 am EDT from 204.184.178.1