Gargoyles Clan-Building – Chapter Twelve: “Phoenix” Review

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It’s the final chapter of Gargoyles Clan-Building. Brooklyn faces the army of Constantine, while the Grim and the king fight. Demona and her clan arrive, but can they win when the enemy has the Grimorum Arcanorum? And will Brooklyn ever get back to 1997?

Miss last week’s? Read Tyrants review.

Spoilers are in the 20/20 moments. Info from Ask Greg is in the According to Greg bits. 

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Gargoyles Clan-Building: Chapter Twelve: “Phoenix”

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Reason(s) for existence:  To finish up the story of Constantine vs the Grim. To further Brooklyn’s time dancing. To show the Grimorum’s history.

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Main antagonist(s): Constantine and Co

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Time(s):  1997 AD, 997 AD

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Location(s):  Scotland; NYC, NY, USA

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Here it is, guys, the last volume of Clan-Building. We get a heck of a cover. It’s a take off on the old Star Wars cover, with Brooklyn holding a sword instead of a light saber, and Constantine’s face in the background.

1997 AD

Goliath is dreaming or thinking to himself.

997 AD

Wait, I guess it was Brooklyn thinking this? Anyway, he’s out there battling guys in chain mail while he’s having these nostalgic thoughts of home. Funny, he’s thinking of the good new days while he’s in the bad old days. He’s bringing us up to speed on what’s going on.

Brooklyn decides that in order to be sent home by the Phoenix Gate, he has to keep the Grimorum Arcanorum safe and make sure the Grim wins. So, just like on the Avalon tour where they had to complete their objectives to move on, he has to do these things before the wormhole will open or the next time jump or whatever.

Brother Valmont takes the Grimorum.

Valmont wants to use this as a way of opening the way to Avalon. I don’t think that would have been a very good idea.

Mary drives the horse Magus on, knocking Valmont onto the ground. But he still has the book. Good job.

Brooklyn is feeling a little bad because he brought the gargoyles out. What he’s done might end in their demise. He also knows that Demona is going to betray them. He can’t do anything about it, though. Remember, the timeline is immutable.

Demona tells Brooklyn not to trust humans.

Constantine tells the Grim not to trust the Gargoyles – for the sun will soon rise.

Gillecomgain finds Bodhe. Gillecomgain is going to kill Bodhe. His first swing misses.

Constantine tells Gillecomgain that this is the Hunter’s Moon, and Gillecomgain  should be the Hunter for his King.

Macbeth’s dad is fighting with Gillecomgain’s dad. The guys are bros, btw. Gillecomgain’s dad is pissed that the oldest son of the Morays had nothing given to him land/title-wise. Why? His mother was a peasant.

Macbeth’s dad says he offered to share the patrimony, but apparently this wasn’t good enough. Gillecomgain’s dad wants it all.

Meanwhile, Valmont is ripping off a spell from the Grimorum. He’s going to rain death. But he is stopped by Maol Chalvim. Not in time, though; arrows still fall out of the heavens. It’s a pretty good area-effect spell. And it works quite well to take down your airborne aggressors. One of the gargoyles dies, the mate of the gargoyle with the armor chest plate.

Magus the horse also dies.

Valmont gets his hand sliced off by Brooklyn. It’s the hand that’s holding the Grimorum.

Demona snags the book and is able to change the spell.

Macbeth’s dad has to kill Gillecomgain’s dad. Rather, Macbeth’s uncle. No wonder Gillecomgain has a grudge against him! But wait, it wasn’t Mac’s dad; it was the arrows. Gillecomgain does not believe it.

Gillecomgain wants to make something of it, but Constantine and the Grim’s battle interferes.

The Grim and Constantine go at it, with Constantine threatening the Grim’s son. The Grim gets Constantine down.

You may or may not know this, but Mary and Finella traveled to 1970 and gave it to Xanatos. It was from the Grimorum that Xanatos learned about Castle Wyvern and was then fascinated enough to raise it above the clouds and break the spell on the gargoyles.

The Phoenix returns. Brooklyn asks for Demona’s half of the Phoenix Gate, which she says she’ll give. Demona now holds the Grimorum, but Brook says he’ll “hold” it. Hah, good trick!

Finella and Mary want to accompany Brooklyn. Might as well.

1997 AD

Angela and Broadway are still on top of the building, as the fire subsides. Then Brooklyn returns; the time dance is over.

Hudson returns with Lexington. They were over in the UK. Coldfire and the Coldstone are with them. They will rejoin the clan at last.

Broadway arrives and says that Brooklyn is back. And is he ever! He spent 40 years bouncing back and forth across the time stream. He picked up a few extra people along the way. His mate is Katana, his son is Nashville and the dog is Fu-dog.

Brooklyn looks like he did in Puck’s prophecy / dream Future Tense. Except his left eye is missing. Also, he has a katana along with his sword, and a few futuristic weapons. His boy has a US Navy shirt on. Well anyway,  it says USN on it. Oh, they also have an egg called Eguardo. I really hope they change the name once it hatches.

They all greet each other. I wonder what House Xanatos thinks of this? I’m sure David will be thrilled. He loves having his own personal clan of gargoyles. And I’m sure he’ll want to hear all about what Brooklyn did, since this will give valuable insight into what he should do. Who doesn’t want to hear the real history of things, and the future?

Elisa shows up. She doesn’t have time to hear the whole explanation about the clan. Jackal busted Wolf and Hyena out of Rikers Island. Wait, how are they still alive? They were supposed to have been killed back in the Sphinx in Egypt. And why the heck are they in Rikers? Does Rikers even have the ability to keep them in a cell? As far as Jackal and Hyena, you just pull their batteries, right?

Anyway they’re in Times Square now.

So, that’s…

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Final Thoughts

Pretty cool I guess. I’m not sure I like the idea of the time dancing. I’ve already talked about that. But it’s good to see the clan getting bigger.

Greg Weisman never intended the story to end. He knows that even though a certain arc may end, the characters will go on. If they’re still alive, of course. And beyond that, the world goes on. In his mind, we continue with Gargoyles 2198, and a number of other spin-offs. None have ever come into real being as a series or in the comic, though.

Let’s talk about Brooklyn. He’ll make an even better leader now than he did, what with 40 years of experience. It will be a bit of a readjustment, though, and since he’s now a different person. Imagine knowing your friend 20 – if we’re counting those 40 years as including stone sleep – or 40 years older. But you haven’t aged at all. Assuming they don’t get hit by a car or something. It’s a very odd thing to think about it. You’ve essentially missed decades of their life, but they’ve not missed any of yours. That means they’ll die sooner too.

So what’s next? What do we look at? I have some scans of the other comic, the one that happened earlier and that doesn’t really follow the Gargoyles storyline a whole lot. It’s almost like fanfic or an alternate world. It’s all right. The villains and antagonist are pretty stereotypical, though. Xanatos acts out of character. He also wears purple. I’m not sure how I feel about purple. I think I’ll just stick with his black. He also has a secret hideout that’s sort of like a Bond villain’s. I don’t know. It’s just not the Xanatos that I know and love. But he does look pretty cool even in purple. And Owens in it. So of course I’m happy about that. Demona is a little bit weirder than normal.

Tune in Tuesday: I’ll figure something out.

Thoughts? Comment!