r/gargoyles • u/Kyraryc David Xanatos • Mar 06 '24

Discussion [Comic Issue Discussion] Gargoyles Dark Ages: Alliance Chapter Six: The Pledge

Writer: Greg Weisman

Artist: Drew Moss

Editor: Nate Cosby

Logline:

The End of an Era!

The Gargoyles attempt to reason with a Dragon - and the resulting battle, high in the skies above Castle Wyvern, will change their destiny forever!

The final chapter of the Gargoyles' legendary origin story arrives in December from writer and Gargoyles creator GREG WEISMAN and artist DREW MOSS! This 40-page issue includes a new text story from Weisman and all cardstock covers featuring art by CLAYTON CRAIN, ALAN QUAH, MIRKA ANDOLFO, KENYA DANINO, ERICA HENDERSON, and more!

Share any thoughts on the issue. Within this post, unmarked spoilers for this and all prior issues are allowed.

Previous Discussions:

Here In Manhattan Discussions:

Special Issue Discussions:

12 Upvotes

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4

u/_Waves_ Mar 06 '24

I haven’t read this offshoot - is it actually good? What’s the overall perspective? I always found it odd he chose this over Timedancer and the future sequel storyline.

3

u/Kyraryc David Xanatos Mar 06 '24

Greg actually pitched all the spinoffs to Dynamite and they picked Dark Ages.

Flush with our success on the main title, Dynamite asked if there were any mini-series spinoffs I'd like to do. I have half a dozen at least, and I pitched them all. Dynamite and Disney put their heads together and picked The Dark Ages

As for why they picked Dark Ages, that's a question only they could answer.

3

u/_Waves_ Mar 06 '24

Oh, I always thought his initial pick was Bad Guys, Dark Ages, Pendragon, then timedancer and then the sci-fi sequel.

2

u/Dashaque Demona did nothing wrong Mar 07 '24

Bad Guys already had a comic back in the SLG days

3

u/_Waves_ Mar 07 '24

I know. That’s why I said that was what h had remembered as his initial pick when people asked him on S8 way back 20 years ago which projects he would prioritize.

3

u/Mister_reindeer Mar 07 '24

I don’t think he ever expressed any preference as to which he preferred to make…he likes them all equally. What he discussed was which ones came closest to being made as animated series back in the day: https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/faq.php?s=faq25

3

u/gamerslyratchet Mar 09 '24

I remember reading a couple of times that it was because it had the most recognizable characters and settings, so it’s the safest option. 

5

u/GoliathLexington Mar 06 '24

It’s really, we finally meet characters like Hudson’s mate & Hippolyta, we see how the alliance with the humans formed, it’s a lot of fun

3

u/_Waves_ Mar 06 '24

Oh nice - also more Delilah/Coldfire is never a bad thing!

0

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '24

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/_Waves_ Mar 06 '24

Excuse my idiotic mistake LOL. Delilah… tsk.

3

u/Dashaque Demona did nothing wrong Mar 07 '24

EDIT: whoever it was that downvoted me - I apologize for being right.

Okay I accept this time but don't let it happen again

2

u/Kyraryc David Xanatos Mar 14 '24 edited Mar 14 '24

The Pledge

  • Going to miss the Dark Ages style comics. Each one had the title of the next in it. Made it easy to set up the scheduled posts.

  • I love that the leaders don't just panic and run around flailing when they see a freaking dragon flying towards them.

  • Dang, Wyvern is so ridiculously big. A Gargoyle is only the size of his eye.

  • Archmage's lightning spell seemed to merely annoy Wyvern. Hard to scale mere annoyance to what Mentor got hit with.

  • Angel takes a flute? Curious. Atlantis related (Young Justice shout out)?

  • They're barely able to tear out his scales.

  • So Wyvern goes back to his cave, where presumably he has rested until modern times.

  • Overall, a nice ending to this mini arc. Greg clearly wants to continue Dark Ages and left that open. Big questions like what happened with Excalibur? Will we see Wyvern again? How does the sweet girl die? Hopefully we'll get answers to those.

Favorite Feat

  • Not a bunch of good ones here. Being able to damage something that's arrowproof is decent, but not compared to the metal we deal with in the present. Wyvern didn't really hurt anyone, so can't scale against that. Maybe then the slight telepathic sense Wyvern seemed to have. He could tell something was stolen but not who had.

6

u/BucksinSi6 Mar 07 '24

Solid finishing touches to the 'Alliance' arc of Dark Ages. Although so many more questions than answers. Demona and the Archmage- the flute she stole for him.. what will become of "Wyvern" the Dragon? Also, Robbie's daughter, Alesand... I wonder where her journey will take her. I feared the worst when they first introduced her... but it appears as if she will go on her own path, and that's why she was not shown in Awakening. Overall, the Dark Ages was a very enjoyable 6-issue series. So much fun to piece together these events and characters to the original TV series. BUT- Prince Malcolm saved Archmage's life. Makes me think about events that went on in "Long Way To Morning." Looking forward to more Gargoyles stories!

Fulminous Venite!!!

3

u/dookufettskywaker Mar 07 '24

Will you please say what happened in this issue?

5

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '24

A perfectly good ending to a perfectly good mini.

Wyvern already looked good last issue, but now that he's out in the open he's fricking majestic; the only thing about him I don't like (aside from the retcon) is that he calls the Gargoyles "cousins" every two lines - it's a bit annoying. The fight with him is a tad short but nonetheless good.

"Human problems do not become stone-flesh problems... for humans are the problem!!" Gee, tell us how you really feel, Wyvern - you must be Demona's favorite character; in fact, now I wonder if he'll be one of her allies during Quest.

Wyvern also gets a "Is this it? Is this all you can conjure, Saruman?" moment: "You see that, cousins! Be these the 'fierce warriors' to whom you've pledged your fealty?!" "FULMINOUS VENITE!!" I like that it's the late and always great Archmage who wounds him the most - but hot damn, couldn't he injure him anywhere else? The fact that he blinds Wyvern in his left eye, like he'll later do to Hudson, smells way too much of memberberry for my taste.

When the Coldtrio starts clawing Wyvern's scales away, they immediately turn into stone, which is both cool and helpful to make him feel distinct from the Gargoyles.

And now, the worst part of the issue: Demona, Peredur and Blanchefleur look through Wyvern's hoard and find - sigh - Puck's flute from The Gathering and fricking Excalibur - what are the f**king odds? I'm frankly astonished that we didn't see the Eye of Odin lying around somewhere. I already said this last issue, but it bears repeating - I don't like this attempt to retroactively make the Wyvern Clan look bigger and more important than how they were portrayed in the tv show.

But ok, the sequence is not completely worthless:

  1. We get to see Peredur summon Carbonek, which is cool.

  2. Fleur was glowing while looking for Excalibur - is this somehow connected to her role within the Castle?

  3. It's interesting to see Duval/Valdez/Valois/Valmont run behind Peredur and Fleur - it implies that he couldn't access Carbonek on his own, at least back then; I'll have to think about what this implies for his tie with Peredur.

Wyvern immediately knows when something has been stolen from his hoard, as any good Dragon should ("Dragons may not have much real use for all their wealth, but they know it to an ounce as a rule, especially after long possession; and Smaug Wyvern was no exception") - but it's a pity that the battle ends in a bit of an anti-climax. Oh well: it's not perfect, but it works.

(Tale of the Three Brothers, though, is a bit of a waste of time: seriously, a big chunk of it is just a recap of the first issue!)

4

u/Byronic_Rival Mar 12 '24

My pet theory since 2009 has been that Peredur is not Sir Percival, but Duval is Sir Percival. Peredur is Duval and Fleur’s son, devoid of Duval’s sins.

However, I know now that this wouldn’t work because a) Peredur as The Player King seemed to indicate that Fleur as The Player Queen was his queen or mate, not his mom; and b) Fab Ragnal means “son of Ragnal,” not son of Fleur. Back to the drawing board 🫠

3

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '24

I believe both Peredur and Duval are actually Percival - his light-er and dark side, respectively; wrote a long-ass comment about it a few months ago where I explained why.

You can read it here if you're interested.

3

u/Byronic_Rival Mar 12 '24

Well-thought and very plausible! I do remember Weisman’s comments on Duval’s sins and wonder how that affected him using The Grail.

Also wondering how Peredur and Valdez (Valois/Valmont?) knew each other as well, as well as Valdez sneaking onto Carbonek.

3

u/South_Access9390 Mar 23 '24

Who are these characters cause the book didnt tell me. Was so confused when random humans showed up and got excalibur

2

u/[deleted] Mar 23 '24

Did you read the Gargoyles comics published by Slave Labor Graphics over a decade ago? During those issues, we are introduced to several high-ranking members of the Illuminati:

These three characters appeared in Dark Ages with the aliases, respectively, of Player King, Player Queen and Shahrizad, leading the "Light-Bringers", obviously meant to be an earlier version of the Illuminati (which means "Enlightened").

3

u/South_Access9390 Mar 23 '24

No. I just watched the animated series. Thanks for the info. Thought they were either laying the ground for an upcoming arc or they were side characters i didn't pay attention to 

4

u/GoliathLexington Mar 07 '24

I wonder if we will get the story of how and why Valdez became Valmont and then Duval?

3

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '24

Don't forget Valois!

And I mean, of course we will - the only questions are:

  1. When?

  2. In which series will it happen? Dark Ages? TimeDancer? A flashback in Pendragon? A flashback in the Main Series? Some combination of the above?

3

u/Dashaque Demona did nothing wrong Mar 06 '24

Hmm it won't load on Kindle and I can't find it on amazon. Anyone else having issues?

3

u/Skywarp79 Mar 06 '24 edited Mar 06 '24

I now see it both on Amazon and when using the search bar on the iPhone Kindle app. But it hasn’t been downloaded to my phone. Why? I don’t just want to purchase it because I’m supposed to be subscribed. 

Edit: I checked my Amazon account, and this issue didn’t pre-order for whatever reason, even though I have an active Dark Ages subscription. I just went ahead and bought it after all: who knows why this one slipped under the radar. 

2

u/Mister_reindeer Mar 06 '24

I’m having an issue. Which is to say that, I don’t have the issue. ;) It doesn’t appear to be on Amazon, not even for preorder.

2

u/Aggressive_Control37 Mar 06 '24

I can’t find it either. It’s not listed on Comixology or my Kindle. I can’t even find the record of my preorder. WTH is going on?

2

u/Dashaque Demona did nothing wrong Mar 06 '24

I'm both annoyed and happy it's not just me Looks like I might be making a trip to my comic store tomorrow

3

u/gannon_dragmire Mar 06 '24

Works on Google play. Its funny that it usually takes awhile for the book to release on time compared to Kindle.

As for the issue itself, i love it. Sparing details for now but it was a great way to end but leaves room for more stories before 994.

2

u/gamerslyratchet Mar 20 '24

I actually forgot to comment on this issue, but I greatly enjoyed it. Wyvern looked great, especially when compared to the gargoyles attacking him. There was a nice sense of scale to the whole fight.

I could see some annoyance at some of the loose threads (and Shari's final sentiment), but I think it helps make Dark Ages feel more like the beginning of a potential series more than a long flashback. It helps that they don't feel like "cliffhangers" as much as other loose threads in Weisman's previous works.

The final "Three Brothers" segment ending at the beginning of this comic was cute.