Gargoyles: Clan Building, Volume 2

Gargoyles: Clan Building

by Greg Weisman, Dave Hedgecock (Illustrator), Greg Guler (Illustrator)

They own the night! Clan Building Volume Two collects issue #7-8 of the Disney / SLG Gargoyles comic book series, and includes unpublished material from issues #9-12, completing the Clan Building saga.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Comic Book, Magic

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 2009

About the author

Greg Weisman (BA Stanford, MPW U.S.C.) has been a storyteller all his life. His first professional work was as an Editor for DC Comics, where he also wrote Captain Atom.

Greg worked at Walt Disney Television Animation from 1989 through 1996. In 1991, Greg created and developed a new series for Disney: GARGOYLES, becoming Supervising Producer and Supervising Story Editor of that series.

In 1998, Greg became a full-time Freelancer. He wrote the new Gargoyles and Gargoyles: Bad Guys comic books for SLG Publishing, while producing, writing, story editing and voice acting for Sony’s The Spectacular Spider-Man. He then moved over to Warner Bros., where he produced, story edited, wrote and voice acted on the new series, Young Justice, as well as writing the companion Young Justice monthly comic book for DC.

Greg was a writer and Executive Producer on the first season of Star Wars Rebels for Lucasfilm and Disney, and he’s also writing the spin-off comic Star Wars Kanan: The Last Padawan. His first novel, Rain of the Ghosts, was published in 2013; its sequel, Spirits of Ash and Foam, arrived in bookstores in 2014.

Reviews

[Ken-ichi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't really expecting much given the relative disappointment of the first volume, but I just re-watched the series (again), and was in need of a fix. Probably the most annoying thing about this one was the inane time shifting. Jumping forward and backward in time in every single panel is just jarring, and after a few pages (!) of this, I just began ignoring the time stamps. Telling the story from multiple different perspective is fine, and leads to the nice simultaneous climaxes (that sounds wrong) for each thread, but the constant jumping was way too much.

This volume also felt like a giant exercise in fan service. Almost every character with a direct relationship to the Manhattan clan shows up, mostly for no reason at all. What the hell were the Coldstone trio doing there? Macbeth seemed entirely inconsequential aside from being a means to get Lex & Hudson to London. And suddenly there are like a billion gargoyles in London? What the hell?

The many stories about the Stone of Destiny were interesting, and the beginning of Brooklyn's Timedancer storyline was actually pretty well done (though cheesy Star Wars cover? please). I think the whole thing might not have been that bad if it were slowed down and thinned out. I think it should have been about 4 times as long. And drawn by Wendy Pini.

Definitely would not recommend this to any but the most tragically addicted and/or nostalgic fans of the series, who, like me, just want to hang out with Goliath, Elisa, and the clan just a little longer.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, this comic has amazing artwork, and sometimes I caught myself just sitting and staring at pictures. I like how Greg Weisman brings old characters from the series back and introduces new ones. Constant time jumping in the story about Stone of Destiny is a bit confusing, but the story itself is very interesting, and the ending really surprised me. Since Brooklyn is my favourite, it was especially good to read about his Timedancing adventure, which links the past with the present, covers missing spots of 'Gargoyles' story and ends with one of the most epic battles in its history.

[jcw3-john · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two arcs of equal length in this volume - the Stone of Destiny arc is great - its kind of achronic nature is really clever and well done - the Stone itself is attached to an especially excellent moment at the end. Brooklyn's arc with the Phoenix Gate is mostly just somewhere between good and okay, but I was sufficiently charmed by Brooklyn himself and the continuity porn Gargoyles is famous for that I didn't mind it so much.

I read the single issues, and there were some art oddities, some grammar/wording errors like 'insure' being used when they probably meant 'ensure', there are still some pacing issues from all the stuff Weisman wants to spotlight but he's fighting the limitations of the comics medium. 9/10 - I'm a softie for Gargoyles as a franchise so I'm probably being overly generous, but it is what it is.

[Tiffany Lynn Kramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like others have said the time jumping felt messy. Had thingd been given more time to unfold it would have worked out better but as it is the events read like a series of half cooked ideas being thrown together in the hopes that something good will emerge.
Despite that I still wish I could have seen this taking place in the animated series and I'm still holding out hope that more adventures will come.

[K.Q. · Rating 1 out of 5]

The art got better and more consistent in these stories but everything was told in a really inane way, from time jumps to fairy tales. I never cared for the Timedancer concept back when it was first conceived and seeing it realized was just as boring as I'd thought it'd be. Poor Brooklyn, he was always my favourite and this story is just dull.

Meh.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I need to rewatch the cartoon series... which I would gladly do, to remember where all the characters come from.

[Raymond Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brooklyn's story was nice, the stone story was just confusing. The jumps around in time made it hard to follow.

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Members of the clan are sent on missions across the world and across time.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally I enjoy stories told in a non-linear way, and can follow multiple timelines and character arcs simultaneously, but as others have said, this wasn't well executed. Too many sharp jumps, not enough focus on any one time or place for long enough, and just extraneous ideas and stories that could have been cut or merged in better with a few main storylines. A lot of the parts that I actually found compelling and wanted to read more of weren't satisfactorily resolved and could have used more "screentime". I realise some of this was paving the way for stories which were slated to be told in future comics that never got made, but it was still a bit of a disappointment after how good the original TV series was.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book from one of those mom-and-pop comic book stores that are getting rare, but apparently DO still exist. The guy behind the counter (reasonably cute) tried to flirt with me, but I just grabbed this and dashed out as soon as I'd paid for it because I had been waiting for THIRTEEN YEARS to hear these stories.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad end to the series, though I would have rather spent time with the characters in the present than Brooklyn's journey to the past. I hope some day they can make more comics because I will always have a soft spot for this show ":)

[Fantazy]

Pure AWESOME !!
Worth getting it !!
Greg Weisman I could learn a LOT from you *w*

[Alyssa Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun continuation of the story, but nothing special.

[Callie Stuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

This graphic novel jumped around a lot and at times was very confusing to keep up with.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kinda want a spinoff devoted to the wacky adventures of Macbeth and Arthur.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this trade completes Weisman's vision for Gargoyles, but I didn't like it. Just not enough focus on the characters I enjoyed and too much focus on new introductions.