The villainous Dr Phobos has completed the Medusa Device. Now everyone – villain and hero alike – descend on the island to take possession of it. But none of them are going down without a fight.
Miss last week’s? Read Blood from a Stone review.
Gargoyles Clan-Building: Issue 5: “Venus in Stone”
Reason(s) for existence: Disney wanted to make more money.
Main antagonist(s): Phobos, Xanatos, Demona
Time(s): Between Long Way To Morning and Reawakening
Location(s): NYC, NY, USA
We have Issue 5, Venus in Stone. The cover announces the Medusa project is revealed. We have the trio and Goliath staring down Demona as we look at them from between her feet. Elisa is wielding a shotgun in one hand and a pistol in the other. I’m not sure how practical that is, but I suppose it fits the theme of Not Realistic that her unrealistically thin waist sets.
The clan is flying past LaGuardia Airport. I’m sure the air traffic control really loves this. Lex has a near collision with a plane.
Meanwhile, on the Secret Island of Cliched Villainy, guys in incredibly ugly uniforms are twisting knobs and pulling levers. Dr Phobos is going on about how he is now able to simulate the flesh to stone transformation since he took the data from Goliath’s DNA. This brings the Medusa device online.
He thinks the weapon will make Xanatos value him highly. It better, because Xanatos is suddenly on the line. Unlike Skype, this comm doesn’t wait to be acknowledged.
He is on his last nerve. He’s pissed that the vampire fiasco almost blew up in their faces, and he’s also cognizant of how much the island is costing him. …Seriously, now he worries about cost overrun?But Phobos reassures him that the Medusa project will be ready by the next night.
In Xanatos’s office in the Eyrie Building, Owen has been watching the exchange. He offers to prepare the yacht. But Xanatos doesn’t have time for boating. He’ll take the VTOL. He has a few things to take care of before he heads off, though. We don’t have another shot of Owen, but he’s probably crestfallen about not getting to kick butt or shoot something.
Phobos is in a tizzy. He knows that Xanatos has a right to be pissed. But he thinks the Nosferatu project was misdirected. It was a bad idea to begin with. Well, we agree on that. But his new hybrid project is something else entirely. So he thinks. For some reason, he believes crossing a human and a gargoyle is a good idea. This is not, by the way, something Xanatos sanctioned.
Out on the ocean, Elisa has taken a yacht from the impound lot for a spin. I really don’t know if cops are able to do this. I would think they can’t, otherwise they would be doing this all the time. I sure would be. Anyway, she’s the only human aboard. The clan is with her.
The problem is, they don’t have much wind. So in order to get to the island of Dr. Moreau – rather Phobos – they’ll have to be creative. Not sure why they can’t just get on the bow and then accelerate into the wind…
On said Island, Demona appears. She has designs on the Medusa device. She also knows about Phobos’s back-up plan: the hybrid. She has access to far more than the good doctor thought she did. After all, she’s been part of this project from the get-go.
Phobos explains that part of his plan will be to exploit Goliath’s weakness when he comes to interfere with the doc’s plans. Uh, why not just shoot them instead of relying on sexy tiemz? This is a classic villain flaw: going with the stupid way of killing your enemy. Guns work. I promise.
On the yacht, the trio decides they can use water skis towed behind the boat to get some air.
As they get airborne, they see Xanatos’s VTOL go into the side of the apparently solid mountain ahead.
By the way, this was supposedly an island he built. I’m not sure how much he built, since it takes a lot to build a mountain in the middle of the ocean. It was intended to be a gaming resort. Really? Is he in American waters? If not, is this just out there? What Gaming Commission is he answerable to? Or does it fall under some weird cruise ship type designation?
Xanatos exits his aircraft and congratulates Phobos on the device. Now he wants a demonstration.
Xanatos thinks this stone weapon will make him unstoppable. I dunno how that’s going to work. I think turning things to stone is rather a pain. After all, if you turn the entire population of a city to stone, you have to clear the streets of rocks. Isn’t it going to be less effective than weapons like germ warfare and nuclear bombs? Don’t grenades and bullets do the same thing of destroying life? Not all that great of a weapon for selling.
If it’s not for selling, then does Xanatos plan to use it himself? Since when is he interested in waging war? Exactly how does he plan to use this without the government or the world in general coming down on him? You can’t just roll out and start shooting everyone with your freeze ray. Or, I mean, your Medusa Ray. For Xanatos, playing by the rules (sort of…on the surface) by running his multinational business is more profitable than any villain scheme he can think up that involves a ray gun. Seriously, a ray gun. Talk about cliche.
Phobos says he has set it up with a headset design so it will be easy to target.
Xanatos doesn’t get too far into a examining it, though, because Demona shows up.
Meanwhile, the gargoyles fly through the hologram…but they’re welcomed by the guards.
Just as the intruder alert goes off, Xanatos whips out his handy dandy Taser and zaps Demona. I love that he’s a quick thinker. He’s also a quick runner. He knows he doesn’t stand a chance against Demona without his armor.
The gargoyles take out most of the guards without a problem. Then Xanatos arrives in his armor. He’s got the Medusa weapon linked in to it already. It has a nice little targeting reticle that follows eye movement, like the ones in military helicopters.
Even with the reticle, he spends too much time talking and aiming. Somehow he manages to miss Lexington. Not sure how you can be fast enough to avoid a laser / beam weapon.
The strike hits a plant, turning it to stone.
Phobos goes to awaken his creation. She’s a combination of Elisa’s DNA (that “slaternly” human, per Demona). This is like the clone hybrid Delilah that Demona made. At least her reasoning made sense. I mean, as much as Demona’s reasoning ever makes sense…
Final Thoughts
This is a short issue in that there’s not much plot. Phobos finishes the Medusa Device. Xanatos comes to inspect it. Demona tries to take it. The gargoyles try to take down an entire island.
We get to see a decent amount of Xanatos, which is always welcome.
Tune in Tuesday: we see how the gargoyles will handle Venus.
Thoughts? Comment!