Gargoyles (Disney) General Discussion

Gargoyles: Dark Ages #6 came out this week. It was an enjoyable wrap to the mini-series. It really only wraps up the main story with the children and Wyvern the Dragon, while leaving other potential stories open, like Angel stealing Puck's flute for the Archmage, Antiope's odd knowledge of the dragon's cave, and ongoing rivalries with Othello and Hyppolyta. This can be a bit disappointing, but it makes sense since Dark Ages was meant to be a spin-off series and its setting up future potential stories to explore at a future date. These hooks feel less like "cliffhangers" and more like small tastes to future stories.

It's a wise decision to focus on Wyvern's attack, since it gets great moments, mainly the gargoyles, humans, and the Archmage's magic costing him an eye. Drew Moss does a great job establishing the dragon's scale with multiple spreads. Even with the clan's feats, it's clearly impossible for them to defeat him. His retreat may seem like anti-climatic, but it seemed like the realistic outcome.

The one subplot that intrigued enough to mention is the Player King and Queen stealing Excalibur from Wyvern's cave and running to Castle Carbonek, with Brother Valdez following behind. It raises more questions about them. They mentioned Shahrizad staying behind and finding her way back, but I wonder if the other performers are actually in on their true goals or are not part of the proto-Illuminati.

The ending with everyone sitting around for one of Shahrizad's stories was cute enough, but even better when the final segment of Tale of the Three Brothers retold the beginning of this series. A little disappointed they didn't end it with Hudson reminiscing in 1997, to REALLY go full circle. Also, I imagine that line about good stories never truly ending is not going to sit well with some people.

All in all, a pretty good run for the spin-off I was least interested in at the start.

After a little over a year since Here in Manhattan started, the conclusion has finally arrived. As the clan reunites after a successful court hearing and a rescue mission, Dino Dracon makes one last desperate bid to rule New York's underworld by trying to pit the crime families and the police against each other by staging bombings throughout the city, including a summit where his father Dominic attends. He's foiled by the Manhattan Clan (and Antoinette Dracon's tip) and he is presumed dead.

I'll get one of my two negatives out of the way and save the other one for near the end of this review. I will say, I think most of these resolutions were kind of rushed. The solicits and the previous issue's cover made it seem like we'd get Broadway and Angela's Commitment Ceremony, but here we just get the couple asking other clan members to be their equivalents of best man/maid of honor. At least Brooklyn and Katana asking the others to be communal parents to "Egwardo" is a nice surprise, if again underdeveloped, Elisa and Goliath's long-awaited conversation gets a bit more play, but it still lacks some weight. Same with Goliath's sudden promotion to the Gargoyle Task Force. I don't even think Renard's death or Goliath's new fortune came up at all.

Dino went down due to his anger and recklessness taking over. I guess that makes him an underwhelming antagonist to this arc. On one hand, I was interested in the criminal underworld getting its own Xanatos or Demona. On the other hand, I think Dino wanting to grow out of his personal weaknesses to be a bigger threat makes him more interesting and dynamic. Still, he didn't have much of presence, especially compared to Wyvern in Gargoyles: Dark Ages, who did much more with the little time he had. I personally don't buy Dino's death, so maybe he'll get his chance to learn and strike back next time.

The issue brought up an interesting point about the Manhattan Clan essentially being its own faction alongside the crime families and the police. I don't know that I entirely agree with it, but I don't want to dismiss it either. I did like how all of the gargoyles' good deeds throughout the story arc culminated in them calling in enough favors from the crime lords to get a strong pull in the summit. It was a strong way to tie everything together.

It took me some time to warm up to George Kambadais's art work, but it grew on me over time. While I think most of his humans looked too similar to each other and I can never agree on his Elisa, the gargoyles have looked consistently great. I want to give a special shout-out to Dino's increasingly deranged demeanor and a few cool group shots of the Manhattan Clan.

And now, my other negative involves the big reveal at the end. Now, I guessed that Antoinette wasn't as virtuous as she seemed and might've tried to take over from Dino by the end, and it's true. But her working with Coldstone, and then both working with Demona, completely caught me off-guard. Now, this is a pretty strong plot twist. It's seeded numerous times throughout the arc yet subtle enough until the big gut punch. It makes sense and it even explains some "plot holes" (Antoinette knowing so much about the clan, etc.) It even segues PERFECTLY into the upcoming Gargoyles Quest series.

That being said, I don't like Coldstone being a traitor. Up until this point, I liked that he provided a more cynical perspective to the rest of the clan. He even made some good points at times, like pointing out the recklessness of Goliath remaining in prison for his time in court. I think it keeps the clan diverse and grounded. So this reveal oversimplifies the conflict, which is something I've praised this show on NOT doing. The guy who disagrees with Goliath MUST be a villain, or in this case, a reluctant traitor. Maybe further developments (and I'd be surprised if Quest didn't touch on it) might change my mind, but for now, I'm not sure on this.

Two questions remain: So the secret message for this series is "AIM TRUE MY NYC". Anyone can guess the meaning of it? Who would say that? I've seen speculation that the order is reversed and should be "NYC, MY TRUE AIM", which I guess would make sense for either Dino, Antoinette, or Demona. Second question: Who hired Tobe Crest? It's most likely to be Xanatos or Renard, but it stood out to me how this wasn't clarified at all.