Gargoyles Comic Reprints: Thoughts, Reactions, & Mini-Review (Part One)
Covering: SLG run, issues 1 & 2 (“Nightwatch” and “The Journey”)
For context, I've never read these comics before! I'm very excited to finally experience the canonical Season 3 :D
Terrible photos of the hardcover editions plus rambling commentary below. Under the cut to spare your dash!
These issues are making me realize that (perhaps) I should actually watch “The Journey” again. I haven’t seen it since it originally aired. The comic version is obviously very similar, but it would be nice to hear it voice acted one more time (not that I can’t hear everyone perfectly clearly in my head, but... y’know).
Not too much to say about Issue 1, other than
HE!!!!!!!!
And a nice looking Fox, too! Heheh :D
There’s a lot of assumed familiarity with the story and characters in these issues. Honestly, I kind of like that! The art and dialogue rewards you for paying attention and making reasonable assumptions—not great in all cases, but as a product specifically for fans, it’s rarely feels like much of a problem (your opinion WILL be different if you're not intimately familiar with the first 65 episodes of the show, though. Very much NOT beginner-friendly!). For example: without it being explicitly said, Banquo and Fleance are clearly Castaway’s hired security goons at the Quarryman interest meeting—even though I didn’t really notice them on my first read-through, I found them on the second. And then it becomes a reasonable assumption to say that they’re the two masked Quarrymen who were stalking the Eyrie building and the ones who found Goliath on Elisa’s balcony. Even with their faces covered, all signs point to yes.
(Biggest complaint about these issues from an artistic standpoint: they're very dark! Not enough contrast and too much black-on-black, which kind of obscures the action).
OK, one more thing to say about Issue 1: this is a nice panel. A quiet moment for Elisa to stare at her sleeping boyfriend (also: I will always love her apartment. SO COOL!!)
DYING and LOSING MY MIND at Issue 2 right out of the gate, because again:
HE!!!!!!!!!!!
I could have sworn he was introduced as a professor in TGC put me in whatever class he’s teaching I’m taking so many notes!!!!!!! Ahem. Maybe my teenage brain conflated “scholar” with “professor.” But dammit, I want to read his book soooooooo badddddddddd DX
THIS PANEL IS EVERYTHING. THE TURTLENECK. THE BLAZER. THE EXPRESSION. THE TENTED FINGERS. Frame it and put it on my wall. I’m sooooooooooo normal about this old man!!!!!!!!!!!! X3
And Margot is such a bitch!! I love her. I'm saying it here (again) that this is such an excellent combination of characters for a televised debate XD The juxtaposition of what she’s saying as we cut to other scenes in the issue is so rich in irony. Delicious.
This is such a good Lex face, too. THE SARCASM! THE DISDAIN!!!! I wonder if Fox's desire to bury the hatchet is a statement that can be taken entirely at face value, or carries multiple layers of hidden agendas. The gargoyles are currently indebted to the Xanatos family and still useful as pawns, up to and including free childcare >:)
“No names! Quarrymen must be anonymous!”
This creates SUCH an interesting parallel with Wyvern gargoyle culture, since those gargs don’t traditionally have names. Of course, Castaway immediately ruins it in a few pages by referring to Vinnie by name. John, you… you’re not the brightest bulb on the Canmore family Christmas tree, are you? Which (perhaps) makes its point by how blatantly it draws attention to itself. “Dream of me, Goliath! Dream of me!” is such a cool and ominous parting shot... but damn, despite having a fairly strong start in these issues, John is not the hot stuff he thinks he is. He can be charismatic and menacing, but he's inconsistent at best. Demona parallels? (Demona will always be infinitely cooler and more interesting, though).
Aaaaand ending with a shouting match between Macbeth and Margot… priceless.
That's enough rambling from me for the moment! Gotta ration the canon as best I can. Next time, I might take a look at some of the Marvel issues.
