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Review -- Gargoyles #5
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Merlin Missy
Merlin Missy has been active in online fandom since 1994. She likes fanfics with plots and happy endings. 
By Merlin Missy
Published on 07/19/2007
 
Send in the clones ...

Kissage!

I've been on the edge of my seat waiting for this issue, and it does not disappoint.  Last month, Greg Weisman left us with a nasty cliffhanger: Goliath stabbed, the clones turned, and Owen about to hand Delilah over to Thailog.  This month, we resolve some of those threads, and we get entangled in even more.

 

Happiness is when the clones choose to go where they're wanted and needed and respected.  Extra kudos for making that text with Delilah yelling at both Goliath and Thailog about the same thing.  The choice Brentwood made to align himself with Thailog is interesting, and not one that I initially would have expected, but it makes sense from a standard (not necessarily gargoyle) psychological POV; small guys often hang out with the big guys who can protect them.  ("Dude, you're really making me look bad," was way funny.  "Choice must extend to those who choose unwisely," was thought-provoking and heartbreaking a little.)  We'll see where that leads both of them down the line.

 

I loved the interwoven Illuminati threads.  The explanations of the numbers made for good reading with the reveal at the end.  I hope the Hudson and Jeffrey Robbins scenes are going somewhere, and that the somewhere has nothing to do with "The Dying of the Light."  Like any other fan of the series, seeing Elisa and Goliath sharing a kiss after the mutual declaration of affection made me go "Awwww," though really, the scene suffers from being ten years overdue.  But we'll let them have it, just this once. ;)

 

What can I say about the art?  It is lovely this time around.  I know Karine Charlebois is only filling in for now, but she's been drawing these characters for over a decade, and they actually look like themselves.  SuperBrooklyn wouldn't have had half the impact without the visual cue all the way back to "Yo, taxi!"  Plus, the little shoutout on page one to Mary and Finella worked fantastically, even as it raises questions of whether it's a visual gag or a hint of things to come once the "Timedancer" series gets going.  For those of us who are me and have trouble parsing fight scenes at the best of times, the on-model characters are an extra help while trying to figure out who's who.  I think my favorite panel, other than Margot with SuperBrooklyn, was the wordless moment between Owen and Delilah, the expression on her face, and the line of how he stood.  (Don't ask me why.)

 

The next issue marks the halfway point of "Clan-Building," and will probably be laying groundwork for "Bad Guys" this Fall.  We have a double agent in the Labyrinth, a meeting with Duval, and that little problem with making sure Goliath lives until morning.  We'll get to the results of Thailog and Sevarius' genetic sampling in due time, I'm sure.