Comment Room : Gargoyles : Station Eight

****There is the sound of something tapping on the walls before, eventually, a hole opens in one of the walls and Blaise makes his way into the room with a little hammer in one hand and a smartphone in the other.****
FINALLY!! I've had my thoughts on the latest comic written up and waiting to post for over a week, but every time I tried to access the Comment Room I kept getting a 403/Forbidden error. I've discovered that this only seems to happen whenever I try to access the Room from my home internet or most Wi-Fi networks, though. I'm using my phone's network (4G, yeah, it's old) and an emailed copy of my notes to post this now.
Hopefully I'll be able to get all I want to say out while I have access. And there is A LOT to talk about with this issue (sorry for the wall of text). And I've read the whole thing on my Kindle app as we are still waiting for physical copies here.... Sounds like Dynamite is finally cutting themselves loose from Diamond's sinking ship, though, so hopefully this will be one of the last delays. Anyway, on with the comic!

FOOLS RUSH IN...>[SPOILER] One thing that I love about Frank’s art is the details that just enrich the whole experience, like the central panel of the first page where the Weird Sisters morph from their gargoyle crone forms on Angelika's side to the human hag forms on Domnall's side (*literally* in the case of Pheobe who is right in the middle). Granted, it is possible to miss some of these on a first read (especially on a smartphone), but that's what re-reads and commenting about it here is for.

And yes, this issue has narration, and it is provided in part by the as-yet-unnamed Angelika in this intro and Domnall, son of Canmore, throughout. Here in the opening, we see how both Demona and Canmore have...creatively told their pasts to their children. Demona's has a bit less creativity, just leaving out that the "betrayal" that destroyed her second clan was *her* betraying her human allies. Canmore (now officially crowned Malcolm III of Scotland, so that's finally in there) is a lot more extravagant, painting Demona as an actual "demon straight from Hell" and not only teaching his children to hate gargoyles as "minions" of the Demon, but warning them to guard against the "Demon's inevitable return." This fascinates me because in "City of Stone" Canmore didn't seem to view Demona as separate from other gargoyles (saying "her kind" in reference to them) but has told his children she was some kind of demonic master of them that will someday return. I wonder how much of that is an actual belief of his formed over the decades, or if this was his way of keeping his kids "in line" as it were. A particularly darker version of Prince Malcolm's use of gargoyles to get young Katharine to behave. I tend to think it's a bit more of the latter because (jumping ahead) when Canmore sees Demona again, he outright says "I thought you were dead," as opposed to something like "I knew you’d return." Of course, we have another layer to this: Domnall himself as narrator. Given what we see of him towards the end of the issue, I find myself wondering how much of his father's tales he's remembering correctly. Memory is a funny thing. Still, no reason to tie myself in knots doubting him now. On with the issue!

We return to the...uh, "flashback-present" (I guess?) of 1093, roughly 36 years after Demona's betrayal of Macbeth. She's wearing the armor (or at least a similar make) that we saw in the preview, leading me once again to believe she chose to wore it during the locket retrieval because she had worn it when she first met her other daughter (but no, *Goliath* is the "sentimental fool"...). I had missed Hadrian's Wall initially, but that is a great detail in the artwork and helps, along with the small caption saying "Northumbria," to establish setting.

A never-before-seen clan of gargoyles! And after this issue, never seen again but for one. :-(
Regardless, here near the border between England and Scotland we get a nice mix of gargoyle designs, especially with the very English looking Second-in-Command. The leader's design is also striking to me just because he has a very toothsome face (I don't recall seeing gums like that too often). And I love the detail that he remembers the term "Rhydderch" but hasn’t heard it in decades (language moves on...). And as others have commented, this clan appears to farm, growing roughage. I wonder how much of this is for food and how much they might use for trading. But if Mowbray's remark of them keeping to themselves is true, then they probably don’t trade much. At any rate, Demona is happy to see other living gargoyles (and I think it is a sincere happiness, uncolored as of yet by thoughts of converting them to her viewpoint), and one young blonde hatchling (or would it be "rookling"?) is very interested in the newcomer.

We now cut to Edinburgh Castle and resume Domnall's narration. Normally with "Gargoyles" only Period and Place is identified by captions, not People. However, with so many named characters in this issue, particularly among Malcolm's *many* children, I do not look down on Domnall's narration breaking with that practice. Seriously, two stepsons and two sons from the first wife (with a third not shown or mentioned here, from what I've read elsewhere), and eight kids from the second wife (six sons and two daughters)! I keep forgetting just how big families could get, especially when you couldn't be sure how many would survive to adulthood. At least there’s some color coding, with the stepsons having brown hair, the first two sons having black like their father, and the children from the second marriage being mostly blonde (like their mother, I guess?). That is some interesting genetics, but it helps keep characters straight!
Domnall’s narration notes that Canmore would summon them all not just as "dinner guests" but "primarily as an audience," which says a lot to me about how he rules. He can do things for show and to make an impression. Here he is saying that all the princes will accompany him to England for...educational purposes, let's say. The stepsons, joint Earls of Orkney, can apparently just say "no" to this, but the rest of the princes will go, even over the objections of their mother, Queen Margaret. Of course, her oldest son, Crown Prince Edward, is champing at the bit go, and Canmore says he was no older than his youngest (Dauid) when he went to battle with Duncan (I love Margaret's sarcastic "and look how that turned out..."), so only the princesses will remain at home. I will say I find it interesting that Canmore passed over his original firstborn son, Donnchad (named for Duncan) for his firstborn with Margaret, and amusing that they seemed to want to keep to certain naming conventions (his first two sons' names begin with "D" and his first four with Margaret all begin with "Ed") but this is where I can start to feel weird speculating at motivations and characterizations for fictional versions of historical personages. The real people really did these things in real life, and trying to puzzle them out like I would completely original creations whose life histories are made from scratch can feel...reductive, I guess. So, I'll just leave it there.
Oh yeah, and Canmore's brother, Donalbain, is here, too. He at least tries to mollify Margaret by saying he will look after her "brood" (nice word choice!).

Back among the Northumbria Clan, Demona's earlier happiness has given way somewhat to disdain, as she watches the clan and calls them "sheep." And when a certain precocious gargoyle child surprises Demona by asking her a question (as children do), Demona nearly goes into rage mode--no glowing eyes (that way we can see the reflection in them when she turns), but her sword is out and she figuratively bites the hatchling's head off for sneaking up on her. Said hatchling however is *very* unfazed by this and just elaborates on her question: why does a gargoyle, with claws, use a sword? And it’s because of Brooklyn, and I love how he's brought into this, with his reflection on the blade and his epithet of "the Gargoyle of the Sword" coming back. Not to mention the whole "vanished in flame" bit. Very mythical. But Demona mentions that she learned the worth of the weapon from him, and I found myself wondering what exactly that worth might be. That it's easier to cut someone's hand off with a sword than your claws?

We return to Canmore and Co. at Bamburgh Castle, where they speak with the Earl there, Robert de Mowbray. Apparently, King Malcolm III of Scotland is willing to play the heavy for the English King William Rufus and "teach lessons" to vassals that "failed to show sufficient loyalty" to the latter. He even spouts an "I don’t like it any more than you" and promises to do "no real harm" by only attacking the peasants. Mowbray doesn’t like any of this, and Arkil Morel, Steward of the castle, at least asks if they should warn the villagers. Mowbray is playing his own game, however, and will allow these deaths to happen just to justify what he plans to do next. Yeah, as others have said, none of these people come off well here (including Domnall who, if he has any misgivings about this, doesn’t voice them).
Oh, and Canmore notices the gargoyle clan in the distance...

Before dawn on November 13, 1093 (very specific, so something is happening today!), the young hatchling is exploring some small caves (dang, I'd be claustrophobic there) but pokes her head out just in time to hear Demona exhorting the leader of the Northumbria Clan to scatter the clan during the day for safety (like her old system of cells). However, clans stay together, and these gargoyles have never been hunted or harmed by the local humans before, so they choose to ignore Demona’s urging and she leaves in frustration. But the little gargoyle seems to be considering her words.
It's kind of funny: Demona is right here, but for the wrong reasons. She doesn't know that Canmore, a Hunter, is nearby, she just thinks humans killing gargoyles is inevitable. Likewise, the clan don't know that there are humans from outside Northumbria that would want to wipe them out upon learning about them. Any other day, they would be safe. But this is not any other day...

We see a burning village as Canmore and his family look upon their handiwork from a nearby hill. Edward seems...unreasonably gleeful here, calling it a "triumph" (the Heir to the Throne, everyone!), which is a sentiment that Donalbain seems to disagree with. Likewise, Edmund can’t find triumph in the strong victimizing the weak, and Edelred calls it an offense against heaven. These three are not at all happy with these proceedings, though they seem to have still participated in them. That is a question, though: how much could they have done against their King and family in this instance? They do seem to be outnumbered, with Canmore (and all his soldiers we don't really focus on) and Edward on the "pillage and burn" side along with at least Donnchad--sure, he calls it a "necessary evil," but he's smiling while saying it...
Everyone else is silent, including Domnall, so hard to tell what they think.
But Canmore is not done yet, and leads his band to the roosting place of the Northumbria Clan.

Canmore walks among the sleeping gargoyles, talks about it feeling like old times and saying he will enjoy this as he puts on the Hunter's mask. There is no tactical reason for him to do this: he just wants to murder gargoyles. There's been some discussion here in the past about how Duncan and Canmore wiped out gargoyle clans more as collateral damage over their fighting for the crown of Scotland, however they both held hatred for gargoyles beyond that. Even before Duncan thought Macbeth would use gargoyle aid to take the crown from him, he was going to just smash gargoyles to pieces upon finding them. I don't know why he hated them so much already at that point (he couldn't have been *too* fond of Gillecomgain to want revenge for him), but I can imagine Canmore already inheriting some of that hatred from his father even before Demona and her clan fighting his father's army in 1040, which would only have intensified it. He really meant it when he said gargoyles "did not deserve to live." Bottom line: though not descended from him, Canmore proves to be a very appropriate inheritor of Gillecomgain's mantle.
Strangely enough, in a move similar to the Captain's, Donalbain stops Canmore's hand, decries the upcoming murder as "wanton and unnecessary," and mentions appreciating the gargoyle clans of Ireland where he had been exiled. It doesn't do any good, though, as Canmore coldly orders Donalbain to let go and the latter resignedly walks away from the upcoming massacre, either accompanied or escorted away by Edward. And we hear the death of gargoyles as we see two particular ones sleeping in hiding. Demona must really like that sword, too, as it looks like stone!

The sun is setting and Canmore and Co. are making their way back. He must be feeling pretty good about now, which makes it so satisfying when he gets surprised by the ambush Mowbray has set up at Alnwick. At the same time, the sun sets and Demona awakens. I love the contrasting panels of Mowbray’s "Now" with Demona’s "No...". I really do feel for Demona here: as bad as she is (or will be), living through this many mass slaughters is not something I would wish on anyone. Still she is always more comfortable with rage, seeing how quickly her eyes start glowing once she hears crying nearby. Meanwhile, Edward actually does something *not* petulant or sadistic for once and pushes his father out of the path of arrows, dying himself instead. Well, I guess that's *one* good thing you can say about him.

Events are split between two columns on this page, so I'll do one side at a time. First, the human side:
Canmore bravely runs away from the battle and the corpse of son, calling out for his family/guards/anybody to save him. You manage to live as a king for 35 years, you probably start to feel a bit invincible, and once disabused of that notion it probably comes as something of a shock. So yeah, not surprised he's falling apart here and probably wishing for his brown pants now. He does knock one of his attackers down on the way out, though.
Morel reports on Canmore escaping, but Mowbray shuts that down. Canmore must die, both to keep him from retaliating in force and to plunge Scotland into chaos (since the Heir is dead already). He orders Morel to seek and destroy.
Domnall sees an opening to follow the king, though, and Donnchad (who seems to have lost his facial hair here...) yells at him to go protect their father.

Back at the clan's...rookery....
Wow. I hadn't expected this. Though logically this sort of thing would have to have happened throughout history, this is the first time we're really seeing it. And if you think about it, there would have to have been more rooklings the same age as our curious blonde one, too. Canmore was a lot more thorough than Hakon was, that's for sure. And that same young gargoyle's crying seems to have gotten through Demona's rage enough for the older gargoyle to have a flash of empathy.
But as soon as the rookling turns around, she (futilely) attacks Demona in a rage, saying it's all her fault. Demona, confused, says that these horrors were not her doing, and she is actually more right than wrong here (for once). But it turns out that the rookling wasn't talking about the massacre, but about listening to Demona's warning and hiding, and thus surviving to deal with all of this death. I can't help but think about Goliath's own suicidal thoughts in "Awakening" here.
But whatever empathy Demona has is now pushed beneath her vengeful rage as she coldly tells the young one that survival is all that matters and shoves her aside as she takes off for vengeance (and that gliding off for vengeance bit is something else that reminds me of Goliath after the massacre in "Awakening"--I'm loving seeing these parallels, or echoes, or whatever you want to call them).

Demona very quickly finds Canmore, who has probably identified a new "worst night of my life so far." He pulls out the Hunter's mask in an attempt to throw off Demona by taunting her about it haunting her dreams, or in other words:
"Canmore uses Psychological Warfare! It's not very effective..."
Yeah, older Canmore against Demona ends about as quickly as you would expect. I think Demona's jibe about expecting some epic final battle is a little meta, too (in a good way). I love that full page image of her taking him down (even though, for obvious reasons, the fatal blow has to be obscured). I almost thought she was going to give him a Glasgow Grin there. This is another time where Demona is probably more...well, if not "heroic" then at least more fully aligned with the audience as I can't imagine anyone thinking Canmore didn’t finally get what he deserved here.

Of course, Domnall saw the whole thing (love the brief glimpse of him on horseback through the "frame" made by Canmore's sword on page 18) and narrates the fallout:
*The rookling pulls Demona away afterward and Morel claims credit for the kill, which he can easily do since Demona only used a sword to kill Canmore (ah, now that is a use for human weapons I can see Demona liking).
*Margaret dies of grief (we only saw a little of her, and I don’t know if she was as bad as her husband and eldest son, so I’ll feel sorry for her for now), and Donalbain and Donnchad start fighting over the crown themselves. Edmund sides with Donalbain (yeah, I would, too, out of all this lot), Edelred goes into the clergy (makes sense from his earlier line) and Edgar just outright declares himself the rightful king (he's got guts, this kid) and flees into English exile with his two younger brothers who, checking the histories, will each be king in turn themselves. A part of me wonders if the Weird Sisters would be secretly grateful that they didn’t have to pull the soothsaying act on this family: "All hail Malcolm Canmore, King of Scotland and brother of the king hereafter, and father of the king hereafter, and father of the king hereafter, and father of the king hereafter and father of the king hereafter...oh, no, he brought them all with him...[deep breath]--"
*The princesses were sent to a convent until they were of marriageable age (and don't they just look *thrilled* to be there).
*And Domnall...takes up the name Donald Canmore and the mask of the Hunter, starting the line in earnest. He mentions having ignored his father's warnings, and once again I find myself feeling that Canmore used "the Demon's" return as a way of influencing his children, and as they grew older some of them would sort of roll their eyes at it ("Yeah, yeah, Dad, we know..."). But now, Domnall, or Donald, saw "the Demon" actually return and kill his father. So, of course, he pledges himself and his descendants to destroy her and "all her gargoyle familiars." This is interesting, because going by the modern hunters it seems the family at some point recognized that Demona *is* a gargoyle just an "empowered" one (for lack of a better term) and kept the term "Demon" more as a name then actually thinking she’s a real demon. At the very least, Robyn seems to act this way to my eyes. I guess a little drift over 903 years is understandable.

Back among the bodies of the clan, Demona wishes she had killed all Canmore's line and blames the rookling for pulling her away (you could have fought her off if you wanted, Demona, but I'd like to think maybe you were willing to get *her* away from danger, just this once at least). When the child says she was trying to save Demona's life, Demona gets a wonderfully cocky look as she talks about her immortality. The rookling then asks if they should perform a Wind Ceremony, but Demona (just like before in "Tyrants") dismisses the idea of such a thing. Not for vengeance this time, though, but apparently because she just wants to be away from "this cursed place." The funeral rites bring her no comfort, and aren't necessary for survival, so why bother? Oh, and she's just going to abandon this kid, too, because she "cannot be burdened with [her] care." (Are you watching this, Demona Apologists?!)

But the rookling follows her anyway (she was going to leave you behind, girl!), pulling the “just going in the same direction” line. I don’t think either are fooled, though, and Demona was smiling as soon as the kid showed up, so she’s not exactly adverse to having company after all. I look forward to seeing how their relationship develops over the next five issues.

Oh, and (like the Trio later on) the kid chooses her own name: Angelika, apparently using Demona’s name as inspiration. I find myself fascinated at her reasoning for this, as it seems to set her up as a contrast to Demona, but we know she will look upon the older gargoyle as a mother. I can only wonder what the future has in store for these two (outside of the solicitations, of course).

A lot happened in this issue, resulting in A LOT of writing (sorry, everybody!). I can’t wait for the next issue, though I know I’ll have to. [/SPOILER]

Okay, there we are. Hopefully this posts with no issues.
****Blaise crosses his fingers...and pops out of existence.****
Blaise
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."--The Doctor
posted @ Mon, Jun 30, 2025 7:57:55 pm EDT from 174.243.147.158

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