Must be Tuesday in the Labyrinth: “Gargoyles” (Vol. 3) #2

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

Story: Greg Weisman

Art: George Kambadais

Cover Artist for my copy: Lesley “Leirix” Li

Release Date (Physical): January 25, 2022

The first issue of this newest era of Gargoyles was not, I thought, a success, with little to remind me of why I loved these characters in the first place and even less to convince potential new readers why they should.  Were I of a mind to be generous, I’d argue that its flaws were a result of having to introduce too many characters too quickly—never mind that there’s no reason why the book had to—which leaves space for following books to do better once that task is done. Is that the case, though?

Technically, yes.

With the task of reintroducing the main cast now done, Gargoyles now has time to actually begin developing the two stories it had hinted at.  Unfortunately, the first and more immediate of the two, the one about Derek Maza and Maggie the Cat’s offspring and Thailog’s interest in said offspring, continues to be the least interesting of the two, a rather baffling introductory arc, and a solid illustration of my problems with Greg Weisman as a writer.

Derek and Maggie’s relationship has never been one I’ve been particularly invested in: while both characters have individually been interesting in the past, tying them together romantically hasn’t really strengthened either—I could not tell you what their dynamic as a couple is, or why they are together aside from each being the other’s only viable hetero partner of the same species (which would be an interesting thing to explore; it has not been explored). The same can be said of the pregnancy: it’s existed for probably a grand total of ten pages, if that, none of which have been spent on how either Derek or Maggie actually feel about the idea of being parents to a mutate-or-human child. And that’s really disappointing, given how thorny and weighty and full of dramatic potential an issue it is, and how many thoughts and feelings and ideas Maggie and Derek would undoubtedly have about it all. Not only is going through with the pregnancy subjecting the two to all the trials and tribulations of childbirth and parenthood, it can also be considered an investment in retaining mutates, as well as a doubling down on whatever commitment they’ve made towards each other. These are important things! Too important to be left off-panel, if we’re meant to care about these characters.

Thailog’s kidnapping, meanwhile, feels not only thin, but as I mentioned last time, repetitive. His last two plots also involved using the Labyrinth to fill out his ranks, and the repetition hasn’t served any real purpose; he’s still exactly who he was in “The Reckoning”, and the various iterations have provided little to no insight on why he’s so dead set on creating his own clan. In addition, the fact that this is now the third time he’s used the Labyrinth as a punching bag undermines the last story beat, making our heroes seem genre blind in a way I feel they no longer were.

Full disclosure: When first writing this, I did so having misremembered what had happened—I’m not the most attentive reader, reading something for the first time—and believing that it was Talon who’d unilaterally decided Xanatos must be guilty of kidnapping Maggie. That is not the case, and what actually happens is just as disappointing, if not more so, albeit in drastically different ways. The first makes it seem like Talon learned nothing from “Kingdom”; the second feels like a huge missed opportunity, and like another worrying indicator that the book’s storytelling priorities do not align with mine.

I do not see the dramatic potential of Talon and the Manhattan clan confronting Xanatos with threats of violence. We’ve seen that before, and it’s not something I’m interested in seeing again, especially since the story has already told us Xanatos is a red herring. One could argue that this is simply a way to reintroduce Xanatos into the fold, but it that’s the case, it feels sloppy, and once again raises the question of who this book is for—longtime fans know who Xanatos is and don’t need him to be reintroduced immediately. On the other hand, the discussion that must have occurred before coming to a consensus that Xanatos was responsible—and that the best way to do something about it was a direct confrontation—does have dramatic potential, and would have been an excellent way to sharpen the differences between the characters and show how they think. It’s not there, with just a caption to move us from one scene to the next.

This is not anyone’s first rodeo. The characters involved in this story—most visibly, Talon, Goliath, Elisa, Angela, Broadway, and Coldfire—all know Xanatos, and have had drastically different experiences with him. Make them hash those experiences out! Make them have a big fight! Have Elisa and Broadway note that the evidence is circumstantial at best! Have Angela, who’s had the fewest number of negative experiences with Xanatos, attempt to defend him! Acknowledge that Coldfire has every reason to have some pretty complex feelings about the person who brought her back to life as a robot! HAVE TALON POINT OUT THAT THE GARGOYLES ARE BEHOLDEN TO XANATOS, AND THAT IT’S REALLY GODDAMN WEIRD FOR THEM AND HIS SISTER TO GO TO PARTIES HOSTED BY THE PERSON WHO TURNED HIM INTO A MUTATE, AND THAT HE HAS EVERY RIGHT TO FEEL SOME KIND OF WAY ABOUT IT.

But no, apparently none of those conversations—those character-building bits—are as interesting as seeing Talon and company be wrong about Xanatos (again) confront him directly (again), and, almost certainly, gain nothing from it (again). Is it any wonder my confidence in Weisman’s character-writing skills is at an ebb?

And heck, it’s not even that they’re wrong, necessarily, for suspecting Xanatos. Without the knowledge that there’s a mole in the Labyrinth, he’s clearly the most likely suspect. But please: have them show some growth. Have them examine the scene for evidence that isn’t circumstantial. Have them consider potential motives that aren’t “it’s Xanatos”.  Have them consider multiple potential courses of action and determine whether or not they’re be effective. Have somebody mention that there’s one other person with a history of using the Labyrinth for his own ends.  All of these things would not only deepen the characters, it would make them seem smarter—a win-win.

The B-plot, fortunately, is much more intriguing. Also following up on last issue, we get more details about the current state of the Dracon crime family, with the return of Dominic Dracon—introduced and last seen in “The Silver Falcon”—and the introduction of Antoinette “Toni” Dracon, Tony Dracon’s sister. We also learn more of Tony’s as-of-yet unseen uncle, Dino, whom everyone’s afraid of. The beats so far feel a bit familiar, being reminiscent of the gang war arc in The Spectacular Spider-Man—also centered around the release of a previous gang boss—but it’s a good plot thread, and expands on the existing structure without feeling jammed in; they fill holes no one knew existed, which is something I always have time for. Sure, we hadn’t heard of Toni before, but there’s nothing that suggested she didn’t exist. Sure, the existence of more Dracons active in the business raises the question of why Glasses seemed to be the syndicate’s leader in “Turf”, but “seemed to” isn’t the same as “was”.

Dominic, we learn, has secured his release by pretending to have dementia, which is a good, solid, classic development (see The Sopranos, which got it from real life), and ties into his past appearance, where he impersonated CPA GF Benton. He wasn’t necessarily a favorite character, but I like him and I’m happy to have him back. As for Antoinette, gosh, I want to like her a lot.  Right now, though, I mostly feel like she deserves better, which is not something you want to think of a just-introduced character. In other words, I don’t like that the one thing that makes her stand out, is that she doesn’t like having her name shortened, and is vocally miffed when people do that, in a way that raises raising unflattering comparisons to Gnash, a teenager.

For a moment, it seems like Antoinette places a lot of stock on propriety and using people’s “correct” names: when Pal Joey refers to Dominic as “D.D.”—a name we’ve seen Dominic use—Antoinette corrects him and stresses that D.D.’s full name is Dominic Dracon, while also making a point of calling Joey “Joseph”. Yet, two panels later, she’s calling Dominic “Pop-pop” and Joseph “Joey”, indicating that she’s actually perfectly fine with nicknames. Another way we can interpret her insistence in names is that it is a way for her to assert authority and demand respect when her grip on both is tenuous, which would be a solid foundation for a character, except, that the final panel goes out of its way to show that her approach to this particular grievance is, again, not unlike that of a teenager’s, which isn’t great. Usually, if a story wants us to side with a character who feels disrespected, it is critical to first show that they’ve earned that respect. That’s not the case here: we’ve only seen her act as a sounding board to facilitate exposition, which doesn’t require the character to be smart or competent or even really a character.  It’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s not exactly promising, either.

And that sums up my feelings on the issue well enough. With expectations tempered by the first issue, my expectations are currently low enough that the comic can meet them easily, which is currently enough. I remain curious to see what will happen, but not invested.

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Random thoughts: 

• Like issue #1, this issue features narration by a character—this time Angela—and like issue #1, its purpose seems to be less about letting us get into that character’s head and more about allowing them to carry the weight of the exposition. Angela’s talk of her dreams could not be more generic, and her narration gives us no new insight into her character, aside from allowing us to surmise that she and Demona, interestingly, talked about the latter’s plans for the Manhattan clan way back in “Awakening”.
• The issue’s biggest surprise is easily the revelation that Mary—whom we last saw in the 10^th century—is living in the present day, and a part of the Manhattan and Labyrinth clans’ lives, which more or less confirms that her appearance in Gargoyles (Vol. 2) #5 alongside her contemporary Finella wasn’t just a cameo. That particular appearance also suggests that they didn’t make it to the 20^th century when Brooklyn did, although their journey is almost certainly related to his. In any case, I’m curious about her outfit, which evokes her traditional look without outright replicating it, and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense as a modern-day look except in quite specific contexts
• On that note, that Mary exists in the present day means that pretty much every named character from the year 994 segment of “Awakening” made it to the 20^th century in one way or another. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
• On another related note, it’s certainly something to note just how many people in Talon’s circle were at that party. Not counting the party crashers, there’s the Manhattan Clan, Elisa, Delilah, Dr. Sato, and now Mary. Again, where the hell is that discussion?
• The whole sequence in the rookery is just…hoo-boy. First, a lot of the dialogue feels unnatural, with the gargoyles acting as if their status quo were brand-new instead of, well, the status quo. Second, I don’t feel the scene is a good showcase for Katana, who is in theory the character it’s most attempting to service. I remember Weisman talking about how he’d envisioned her courtship dynamic with Brooklyn as akin to that of Benedick and Beatrice and…I’m not seeing it. I’m seeing more “henpecked husband and no-fun wife”. I also really don’t like how apparently Brooklyn got her to agree to name (or nickname) their second son Eggwardo without letting her in on the joke. First of all, how does that even work? Her English seems as good as anyone else’s, and it’s not exactly an obscure pun. Second, how is it just now that someone has suggested to her that it’s a weird name, or that she picks up on it, given, again, that she’s been part of the clan for months? Third and last, wouldn’t it have been better, in every way possible, to make Katana and Brooklyn to both be the sort of people who would find the name Eggwardo funny? Even—gasp—to make it her suggestion? On a different note, I’m really not sure what to make about having her sole interest so far be to watch over her egg. It’s the sort of character detail that really doesn’t work in isolation, when it just seems like it exists because she’s a woman and a mother so of course her only priority is her baby.

• While I remain unimpressed by the writing, I’m quite beginning to like the art. Kambadais is still not whom I’d have chosen, but his take is distinctive and he’s got a good handle on the book’s extremely large cast.
• For the record, I actually do quite like the idea of Tony Dracon’s sister being called Toni.