The Official Gargoyles Thread

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, The Goliath Chronicles definitely featured a dip in both visual and narrative quality from what had come before. Although, to be fair, in the animation department, there were two distinct levels of animation throughout the second and, to a lesser extent, first seasons, which probably means there was something like a primary and secondary team of animators. And there were at least as many episodes with the less-than-beautiful art style (probably done by a secondary animation team) as there were episodes with the jaw-dropping, incredible style that graced the first 5-episode arc of the first season--and the number with the former style only grew while the latter style was used less and less through season 2.

That said, I wouldn't have minded if Weisman found some way to integrate The Goliath Chronicles. Although they weren't anywhere near the quality of the earlier episodes, there was nothing in those episodes that a little spit and polish in the comic couldn't have brought the series as a whole back from, and there were a few interesting ideas put forth in TGC that could've done with some more developing in a long-term format like a comic series. Que sera sera, though. I'm basically indifferent to TGC's being cut out--could've been good if it were in, but it'll probably be good with it cut out, too.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Dang, it's been over a year since this thread was last touched. Oh well, I read Gargoyles: Bad Guys #2 and 3 tonight and felt compelled to comment. This series is awesome. Like, beyond even the parent series, up there with some of the best episodes of the Gargoyles cartoon awesome. The premise is essentially that Robyn Canmore, the female Hunter from the last few episodes of Gargoyles season 2, is attempting to atone for her misdeeds by putting together a crack team of ex-villains to act as a proactive covert unit, taking down bad guys before they can do any damage. I know, it's been done about a hundred times in comics, but it's pretty unique to the Gargoyles universe, and it works surprisingly well.

Her team consists of herself, Dingo, Matrix, Yama (of the Japanese Gargoyle clan), and Fang (of Talon's underground mutates). It's plagued by many of the same problems as the main Gargoyles series--it's abso-frickin'-lutely ridiculous with its delays (first issue came out in November '07, second came out in April '08), and it's not colored, which still strikes me as an odd choice for a comic based on an animated TV series--but, with art from Karine Charlebois, it certainly looks much better than anything in the Gargoyles series (how David Hedgecock continues to get work is a mystery to me; is he Weisman's buddy or something?). The second issue looks like a bona fide, professional comic, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for most of the Gargoyles series' issues.

The story is also great. I was skeptical about it at first, since I figured the villains in Gargoyles were never really as interesting as the Gargoyles themselves, but this series has done a great job of developing them into interesting characters in their own right. The issue with Robyn is the best so far, featuring her attempts to reconcile with her brothers, one of whom is trying to pull his life back together and the other of whom is utterly consumed by hatred for the Gargoyles. More than anything else, Gargoyles was always a show about the characters to me--relationships were established and we got to see them develop and change to an extent that we rarely do in American cartoons. Bad Guys features that same philosophy in spades, and it's all the more interesting for being done with characters about whom we knew relatively little. Unlike the Gargoyles themselves, these characters are mostly fresh territory, allowing Weisman to explore areas that he never could with the Gargoyles. What's more, this group is far from perfect. It's fun seeing them struggle against their very nature in some cases.

So, basically, if you're a Gargoyles fan and you're not reading Bad Guys for some reason, find the back issues. They're well worth your time. If you're anything like me, you'll quickly be wondering why they never got a stab at their own TV series.

 

[Hellstormer]

Wow I was looking through the threads and I saw a Gargoyles thread and I was thinking "Man where's this been. I totally need to subscribe." Imagine my surprise when i discovered I made it. Anyway I'm really enjoying Gargoyles its my favorite book on my pull. I recently had to cut down my pull list because of budgetary constraints and I kept it on. I don't think I'll get Bad Guys I'll just wait for the trade. Is it really that much better. I hear they're gonna be doing another spin off series Weisman originally planned. The one where Brooklyn travels to the future.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, Timedancer, I think that one's called. I'm excited for that. Brooklyn's practically been begging to branch out on his own since the end of season 2.

 

[The Question]

One spin off that was talked about that I'd be interested to see continued in comic form was the one about King Arthur. It would have followed Arthur, Macbeth, and Griff searching for Merlin (who would have been revealed to be the bastard child of Oberon and a human woman), and trying to create a new order of the round table to bring justice to the modern world.

 

[Hellstormer]

I always liked Griff. His clan made an appearance in a recent issue.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, Griff was awesome.

 

[Hellstormer]

MacBeath was always one of the BEST character so it'd be cool to see the two together.

The Mutates were cool too.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I wish Talon could've played more of a role in the show. I like him.

 

[boywonder13]

Reboot is getting a revival,

i wish they would do the same for Gargoyles

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I wish they'd just let Greg Weisman go back to work on a Gargoyles cartoon myself, or at least one of his Gargoyles spinoff ideas. I'm disappointed ReBoot is getting revamped by random newbs.

 

[Hellstormer]

I liked ReBoot for awhile then I started to loose interest. I just wish we could at least have the rest of the Gargoyles DVDs.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Much like Mainframe's other major shows, ReBoot got really interesting later in the series. Right around when Megabyte shot Bob into the Web.

 

[Hellstormer]

It was such an involved show. It would be nice to go back and watch some of it.

 

[Hellstormer]

Some sad news I just came across.
http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/archives.php?lid=49

If Disney didn't have to be such greedy bastards we could be looking forward to more amazing issues and more spin-offs. Its a true shame, but at least I'll be able to get a Bad Guys tpb (couldn't afford it on my pull). I really hope to see a huge backlash that results in more issues and more DVDs.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That sucks. I can't honestly say I'm too disappointed, though. Bad Guys was really, really good, but it was only ever going to be a mini-series. The Gargoyles comic itself had solid stories, but the art was usually unbearable. I hope we get a surprise in the form of Boom picking the Gargoyles license up, 'cause there's a good chance Mark Waid could get a better artist to accompany Weisman on the series.

More than anything else, I'm sad that I'll never get to see Timedancer. Again.

 

[Hellstormer]

What are Boom! and Kingdom Comics?

 

[Primal Slayer]

The newest revival of the series has come out

Picks up shortly after where the last series from 2006 ended.

 

[Slick]

Picked up issue #1 but I haven’t read it yet. Looking forward to it.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

They all look so badass. I must read.