Gargoyles Discussion

[UmbrellaFish]

In the fall of 1994, Gargoyles, premiered on The Disney Afternoon. It would spawn a loyal fanbase, and uncanon spin-off entitled, The Goliath Chronicles, canon and uncanon comic books, and much, much, much more!

Eleven years since Gargoyles was cancelled, it's still going strong! It has two DVDs, Gargoyles: The Complete First Season, and Gargoyles: The Second Season, Vol. 1. It also has a brand new comic book series to make a total of three canon seasons, excluding the uncanon, The Goliath Chronicles. There is also a yearly convention called The Gathering of the Gargoyles.

Here in this thread you can discuss the series, spin-offs, the comics, the creator himself, Greg Weisman, the characters (i.e. GOLIATH AND ELISA OR GOLIATH AND DEMONA?!?), DVDs (including Gargoyles: Season Two, Vol. 2), and a wide variety of other Gargoyles-related things.


So let’s begin!

[Siren]

First discussion:

How did you first find out about Gargoyles? What was the first episode you say? And what was your original impression?

I found out about it completely by accident. I was flipping through the channels after school when I stopped on the last episode of Awakenings. It was right near the end of it. When Demona had Goliath pinned the ground and Elisa came running out and knocked Demona off. I saw only a glimpse of Demona during that scene, loved how she looked. My first thought, "Is this Batman?" I thought of the Man-Bat. When I figured out it wasn't Batman, I thought it was by the same animators. Watched the rest of the episode and Buena Vista Television credits with the Disney castle came on and I was floored. Monsters, guns, violence, in a Disney cartoon! *gasp*
I was hooked instantly. Finally saw re-runs of the Awakenings, so I got the whole grasp on it. Since then, I have loved the series.

[TheValentineBros]

I hope they make a Disney movie. Better than Disney made a movie starring Don Knotts in "There's Way Too Many Ostriches."

Don Knotts: There's WAY too many ostriches. This is a terrible vacation.

[UmbrellaFish]

I found it out when I was pretty young. I know it was late, the first episode I saw, and I think it was a season one or two episode, although I must have seen more Goliath Chronicles episodes because when I later became more interested in the show I could vividly remember the Chronicles intro.

My first episode I can remember was "For it May Come True". I don't know which episode was my first, but I seem to remember that episode better than any others.

My impression? Don't remember. I'm sure I liked it. I remember drawing Goliath a lot, which I'm trying to do right now.

Friday I found out some of my friends were Gargoyles fans, too. I don't know many people with the same interests as me, so I was a little surprised!

[Siren]

Your the first fan I've known to know the series from TGC first. Surprised you still liked it. LOL

For those who may not known:
When Gargoyles reached the end of the second season, Disney got a new writing crew. Greg Weisman, co-creator of the show, already had some ideas of Season 3 written down. Disney took them and raped them before beating them to a bloody pulp to make The Goliath Chronicles, a spin-off. There is very little of TGC that is salvageable and only glimpses of what Greg originally intended. The Journey and Angels of the Night are probably closest to what Greg intended.
Its common knowledge in the Gargoyles Fandom to COMPLETELY dismiss TGC. To pretend it was just a nightmare and never happened. Greg Weisman is now penning HIS original and intended 3rd season in comic book form by Slave Labor.

I don't even want to discuss TGC any longer.

[UmbrellaFish]

Your the first fan I've known to know the series from TGC first. Surprised you still liked it. LOL

I probably saw a season one or two episode first, I vaguely remember the opening titles. I like to think it was Awakenings, but I'm not sure. I remember TGC episodes a lot better, though.


Anyway, let's talk about the comics.
I recently bought comics 1-5 off of Amazon. I plan to buy #6, #7, and Bad Guys, soon. They are very good, and it's great seeing the material that never would have been included 10 years ago when it aired on Disney. I'm not a comic-book person, though, so I'm new to the differentiating styles. Yet the story lines are great and I like some of the characters new designs. Overall, I’m mostly pleased with the comic books and “official” third season.


Happy Holidays

[disneyfella]

I remember jumping on the Gargoyles bandwagon at the very beginning. During the first season, "Gargoyes" was only shown on Fridays after school (except, of course, the Awakening 5 parter which was shown the first week, Mon-Fri). After that first season, "Gargoyles" was shown everday after school, and by end of the second season, I got lost in some of the mythology. That is not a comment on the show's quality, but rather my attention span. I have since grown up and watched all of the series again....not only bringing back vivid childhood memories, but entertaining on an adult level. I have tried to keep up with the latest comics series.....but I am still wanting to read the old Marvel series ( I know it is not considered canon, but the completist in me won't settle until I've read them all!).

My love for Gargoyles has NOT waned at all, and I will be attending the Gathering of the Gargoyles for the first time next summer in Chicago. I look forward to seeing where Greg takes us all through his universe.

[MickeyMousePal]

The way that I found out about Gargoyles was from a KCAL Kids Club magazine that I receive in the summer of 1994. I remember that Gargoyles was shown once a week on Fridays. With The Schnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show being on Monday and Bonkers (never really liked Bonkers) being on Tuesdays to Thursdays. Gargoyles was one of my favorite shows growing up others are Spider-Man: TAS, X-Men: TAS, Batman: TAS, TMNT and Aladdin. I was glad that the following two years Gargoyles was shown five days a week. Never really got into The Goliath Chronicles but I did see some episodes on Saturday mornings before it got off television. I feel really sad that Gargoyles Season Two Volume 2 never made it on DVD, but at least Disney still airs Gargoyles on Jetix (which took off air some Disney afternoon shows). I guess I became a big Gargoyle fan because of the action, mythology and magic. Macbeth was one of my favorite characters of the show and John Rhys-Davies delivers his voice perfectly. Bottom-line Disney take out the whole series one DVD already.

[Siren]

The comic series is great. I know there has been heavy criticisms on the artwork and some of it is warranted. But I am more focused on the actual story telling. In all truth, I would have preferred a series of novels or novelettes over the comic, because you can fit much more into a regular book than a comic. But I am certainly not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Clan Building will soon be in a graphic novel form to buy as a paperback. And I am so glad to see Bag Guys being done. I haven't bought #6 or #7 or Bad Guys #1 yet, only because of Christmas. After Christmas I'll get them. Shipping costs and Christmas are causing me to wait till I can get a few at a time, so I don't spend more on shipping than the actual book.

Back to the criticism of the art, one of my pet peeves is when fans are so very heavy handed on the art. No, its not always spectacular, but we have our series back! I am afraid if Disney sees too much negativity, they will can the series. I rather have stick figure Gargoyles and a great story, than none at all. So when I talk about the books, I put most my attention on the story. Focus on the art last.

And yes, they get away with a lot more in the comic than in the TV series. Blood, violence, cursing....its a whole new Gargoyles. And in all truth, how Gargoyles was really always intended. It was rated Y7. And though some episodes could pass by on that, some should have been rated more like Y14. The comic world allows for Greg to stretch his own wings and write it for its core audience.

[CJ]

I found "Gargoyles" completely by accident during the summer of 2000. I had been channel surfing, when I stopped on Toon Disney. The very first episode I saw was the "Goliath Chronicles" episode "Angels in the Night". I thought it was interesting, and I was willing to give the show a chance. Luckily, Toon Disney began airing the episodes in order starting the very next night. I was hooked after seeing all the "Awakenings" episodes.

As for the comics, I don't let the weakness of some of the art bother me, I'm more interested in the stories. I've never been a reader of comic books before, but I'm enjoying the "Gargoyles" comics. Like Siren, I'm just glad to have new stories back.

[Chernabog_Rocks]

I recieved the Gargoyles Movie w/set top game for Christmas waaaaay back. The "movie" was just the first five episodes but it came with a game that starts afterwards you get a board and stuff to play with but I've lost all those things After that I started watching the show but stopped after a while until I picked up the dvd's. lol my Gargoyles history in a nutshell.

[Escapay]

First off, I searched and all the threads I found were about the DVDs and were nearly four years old, so I thought this thread would be acceptable, but if not, feel free to merge it with another thread.

I found two threads about the series*, but they're both so short and disposable and not really geared toward discussing the series the way that this thread is that I'm not surprised you chose to start a new thread. (See, UDers? UmbrellaFish acknowledged that he/she found threads that he/she knew to be unsuitable, and thus, had a good reason to start a new thread! Pink elephant for UmbrellaFish! )

*I have a question about the gargoyles series by anger is pointless, created July 14, 2005 - this one is a seven-post thread asking how many episodes were in the series.

Looking for information on "Gargoyles" by Blissey02, created January 5, 2005 - this is a two-post thread asking for a site about Gargoyles.

If Ceej feels like merging, that's her call, but I think this thread can stand on its own without the extra baggage from two smaller threads. I'd list all the threads regarding the DVD, but there's too many, and I doubt even if they all were merged into a "Great Big Gargoyles on DVD Thread", someone is bound to start a new thread later on asking when Season Two, Volume Two will be released!

Scapsta

[UmbrellaFish]

Pink elephant for UmbrellaFish! )

YAY!

Anyway, about the quality of the artwork, I'm not completely dissatisfied. I knew from the get-go it was going to be different. I'm just new to the alternating styles, and some I like better than others. My one problem with the comics and the artwork is Elisa. She looks different most of the time, kinda hard to tell it's her. And I guess you could say comic number five is the most (television series wise) on-model, though not the most artistic. Number one and two were the most artistic in my opinion and I enjoyed those the most. I also want to say that it is usually very easy to hear Keith David or Salli Richardson and the rest of the cast as their characters in the comic. In comic one, after the line, “We live again!” I hear the Gargoyles score immediately.

I want to see more Demona. I have decided she's my favorite character. She tied to so much, it's hard for me not to like her. Anybody who's read #6, #7, or Bad Guys #1, does Demona appear at all? She’s already made two (I think) appearances in #1-5, and I'm waiting to see what her appearance in #3 was about.


P.S. I plan to edit the first post as before I didn’t want to go to that much work for it to be merged.

[CJ]

I want to see more Demona. I have decided she's my favorite character. She tied to so much, it's hard for me not to like her. Anybody who's read #6, #7, or Bad Guys #1, does Demona appear at all? She’s already made two (I think) appearances in #1-5, and I'm waiting to see what her appearance in #3 was about.

I have issue #6, UmbrellaFish, Demona does not appear in it. I don't have issue #7 or Bad Guys #1 yet, but I plan to order them soon.

If Ceej feels like merging, that's her call, but I think this thread can stand on its own without the extra baggage from two smaller thread

I'm going to leave this one alone, as I too feel there is no need to add it to the other threads.

[PeterPanfan]

I really want to see this,but don't feel like watching it on Toon Disney at 3:30 AM or buying the DVD and it might turn out I don't like it.

What should I do?

[Chernabog_Rocks]

^ PeterPanfan: I'd suggest setting a tape and then watching it later, that's what I used to do with the Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Hercules shows when I was in school. Or.........you could try a video store and rent it if they carry it, some of the stores here carry season sets so that might be an option. Or of course Youtube might have some episodes although I don't think youtube is the best place to go since they're lowlife jerks.......Hope that helps

[MickeyMousePal]

PeterPanfan Wrote:

I really want to see this,but don't feel like watching it on Toon Disney at 3:30 AM or buying the DVD and it might turn out I don't like it.

What should I do?

You can check it out at the library if they have it.
Or you can record the episodes from Toon Disney and just put it on timer.

[Siren]

Now and then YouTube has an episode or more up. And they are low-lifes for posting the episodes in their entirety, but if it means making a new fan, then by all means, watch an episode or two there before you decide

[UmbrellaFish]

I just got Gargoyles #6, Gargoyles #7, and Bad Guys #1 in the mail yesterday.


WARNING: SPOILERS!!!





I love them! Great, great issues! Elisa looks on-model for the first time (At least in my opinion) in #6! It had a great plot line, and I found myself more intrigued in Coldstone than I had ever been before. I must be slow, but I never really noticed how much Gabriel looked like (is it) Othello. He always looked like a gargoyle I had seen before, but I never noticed the resemblance. I was at first a little afraid about it being an "Avalon World Tour memory" issue, but I loved it! Probably my favorite issue.

On to number seven, it was a great issue. It was nice to take a step back of the Goliath/Elisa relationship, and pay more attention to the whole clan. I've only read it once, and it was a somewhat confusing issue with the time switching around all the time. But, it was just great! I wonder what King Arthur and the London gargoyles (specifically the two new ones) are doing there. Cover is awesome too.

Okay, now to talk about Bad Guys #1. Just great. I was a little uneasy about this spin-off, and I just planned to buy the first issue, but it was great storytelling. I wonder though, were the black and white illustrations for monetary reasons, or did Greg Weisman specifically want it that way?


SPOILERS END NOW

All I want to say.



EDIT: WOO-HOO! 400TH POST! Only took me a year.

[UncleEd]

I'm not sure how I first found out about it but in our market it aired friday mornings the first year. I don't remember what show was on the rest of the week but I want to say it was Tomon and Pumbaa and Shnookums and Meat. Aladdin aired in the afternoons here and was on all 5 days.

I remember Gargoyles toys at the Disney Store in the fall of 1994 but I never watched until it replaced Aladdin in 1995.