Wes’s Guide to Gargoyles: Gargoyles Dark Ages #1

Welcome my friends to Gargoyles Dark Ages, a comic that shows us the origins of our favorite clan of Gargoyles and how they came entwined with the humans of castle Wyvern in the first place. I feel I should just cut to the chase here, this series is already several issues deep and I’m only getting to it now. The truth is, I have been hesitant to cover this title for the simple reason that, well, I don’t especially like prequels. Mind you, there are exceptions to this. I wouldn’t have stuck it out for ten seasons of Smallville if there wasn’t. However, whenever I find myself confronted with a prequel, the same issue always comes to mind. That being, we already know how it’s going to end. Let’s use the Star Wars prequel trilogy as an example. I know, picking on the prequels, could I be anymore cliche? Trust me, it will help me illustrate my point. It’s safe to assume that a significant bulk of the people seeing the prequels were already Star Wars fans to begin with and are therefore already quite familiar with the series. Well, if that’s the case, then it’s hard to get invested in the rise of Anakin Skywalker since we know that he’s destined to fall to the dark side. We cannot invest ourselves in Anakin and Padme’s romance since we know it’s doomed to end in tragedy. And any time Anakin and Obi-Wan find themselves in a fight for their lives, the tension is greatly diminished since we know that both survive to appear in A New Hope. Bringing it back to Gargoyles, this comic already has a lot of the same problems since anyone familiar with the franchise knows that only seven of these Gargoyles (ten if you count the Coldstone trio) are going to survive to the present, so we already have it in the back of our minds that any new characters were introduced to are inevitably going to die, be it in the massacre of Castle Wyvern or some time before that, but either way, every character in this comic outside of our main seven has a ticking clock above their head, and that knowledge is quite distracting. However, do the issues I cited preclude the possibility of a good story being told along the way. Well let’s find out.

We open with Hudson in the modern day, well, 1997, but still technically modern compared to medieval Scotland, where the old Gargoyle states that the more things change the more they stay the same before we quickly cut to 971 AD where a much younger, but still quite old Hudson sees to men on horseback approaching his clan’s nesting grounds. Oh, I should probably get this out of the way too. Technically this character is not called Hudson yet, nor have any of the other characters we know and love acquired their names at this point. However, to avoid confusion, I have opted to use the names that we all recognize for the characters we already know and for any new Gargoyles, I’ll be using the names that Greg Weisman was nice enough to provide us with before a manifestation of sentient putrescence poorly masquerading as a human being got ahold of his Twitter account or, failing that, making a name up on the spot.

Anywho, the two riders approach the clan when they’re stopped by a Gargoyle who you may recognize as Cold Stone, or Othello if you prefer. One of the riders insists he comes in peace and asks to speak with the clan’s leader, whom he seems to be familiar with. Othello says he remembers the speaker, but not his companion, but the rider insists that he can also be trusted. Reluctantly, Othello bids the two humans to follow him. Hudson welcomes the visitors, but makes it clear that he does not fully trust them as he asks them to state their business. The rider identifies himself as Robert, and his companion as Prince Malcolm, who you may remember as Prince Jackass from way back in my original Gargoyles retrospective. You know, the guy who told his daughter bedtime stories of the big scary Gargoyles, traumatizing her to the point where she grew up with an irrational prejudice against the entire Gargoyle race until a series of tragic events forced her to flee to a magical island where the fairy king Oberon is her asshole landlord? That guy. Hudson already does not recognize the authority of human royalty and is clearly offended when Malcolm asks for name. These humans are trying his patience, so Hudson demands they get to their point.

Malcolm says he has come to propose an alliance against the tyrannical King Cullen. See, even though Malcolm is the royal by blood, his older brother, the previous king, was assassinated in a coup allowing the villainous Cullen to assume the throne, and Malcolm and his brother Kenneth are looking to take it back and want the Gargoyles’ help. Hudson isn’t quite sure why he should care, but Robert reminds him that the people of his village respects the clan and has honored their daylight sanctity, something that a bully like Cullen would not be likely to do. Malcolm says that if his clan joins their cause in the night, then Scotland will repay that debt by ensuring their protection during the day. Hudson asks that he be given time to consider their proposal.

Once Robert and Malcolm are out of earshot, Hudson turns to his mate, whom we’ll be calling Verity, and wonders if they should get involved in human affairs. Verity responds with a very familiar sentiment: “In my experience, human problems tend to become Gargoyle problems sooner or later.” It’s definitely no coincidence that Goliath is in the background as Verity says these words. Hudson’s second in command, a red haired Gargoyle whom we’ll be calling Lefty, agrees with Verity, but also reminds his leader that if they get involved, the clan will no doubt suffer casualties, and wonders if that’s a risk he’s willing to take. A shot time later, Hudson and Malcolm are seen shaking hands as the Gargoyle leader tells the human prince that he has his alliance.

Before going off to meet with their new human allies to plan their strategy, Hudson has a moment alone with his beloved mate. Hudson wonders if he’s made a horrible mistake by agreeing to this alliance, but his beloved reassures him that this was the right call.

After a brief scene where Hudson reminds his new ally’s that Gargoyles can attack from the air which can give them a pretty big advantage over the enemy, we see Hudson forbidding the younger generation of the clan from taking part in the battle, something that seems to enrage one particular female Gargoyle whom we’ll be calling Hippolyta who walks off in a huff. Goliath takes a more tactful approach, reminding his mentor that they are warriors, trained and battle ready and would be of great use in the coming conflict. Hudson agrees with Goliath’s words, but knows that this whole thing could very easily go sideways and should the worst come to pass, he’s going to need warriors still alive to protect their home.

It’s dusk the following evening and Malcolm and Kenneth ride out to meet Cullen’s forces on the field of battle, the Gargoyles, asleep in stone, already waiting for them. The battle seems about even until the sun goes down and the Gargoyles attack. And so our comic ends with Hippolyta and Demona getting antsy and deciding to disobey Hudson’s orders by joining the fight anyway.

I’ll freely admit, there’s nothing here that’s objectively bad. The story is interesting and the character moments, particularly the ones between Hudson and Verity, are a definite highlight. However, the issues I listed with prequels still managed to rear their ugly heads. This battle for the throne has no tension to it because anyone who has seen the show already knows that the Gargoyles win. I will continue to read, review and support this series since it is still well written and I am always grateful for whatever new Gargoyles content I can get my hands on, but this is definitely not as strong as the other Gargoyles series we’ve been covering.