The final showdown between Doctor Phobos and the gargoyles has come. But Demona will be taking center stage with the Medusa device. Will the gargoyles be spending their days as well as their nights in stone?
Miss last week’s? Read Venus is Stone review.
Gargoyles Clan-Building: Issue 6: “Venus Rising”
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): Unknown Island
Today’s issue, Number 6, is called Venus Rising. The cover shows us Venus in the background with Demona and Goliath in the foreground. Goliath’s eyes are red, when they should be white. Only female gargoyles’ eyes glow red.
Whoever designed Venus’s bra thinks bras are for only one thing: allowing the residents to pop out at the slightest movement. I think the same person designed the bra Demona is wearing. That right side is looking untrustworthy.
We get a recap, with Elisa blaming Xanatos for Venus’s existence. Actually, it was Phobos acting on his own initiative.
Meanwhile, the gargoyles are fighting Xanatos. He somehow manages to miss them with the Medusa device, even with a sight that targets whatever he’s looking at – and remember the eye is the quickest reflex in the body – and a weapon that travels at the speed of light.
Elisa is shooting at him with a rifle, while she’s got another across her back. Generally, unless one is a shotgun another is a standard rifle, you just carry more ammo. I’m surprised she doesn’t have a bandolier of flintlock pistols too.
Xanatos says he is going to use the weapon he meant to control the gargoyles with to instead destroy them. I don’t know why a weapon that turns its target into stone would control the gargoyles any more than a bullet that turns its target to Jell-O, or a laser beam that turns its target into BBQ.
While he’s talking, Venus crashes into him. Now, Phobos told her to take down Xanatos if necessary, and to kill the gargoyles. Her Prime Directive is to protect Phobos. This is some pretty preemptive action, considering her programming.
She lands on Xanatos and rips his Medusa weapon off his head. But not before he has time to explain all about how she was created.
He isn’t going down without a fight. He’s going up. He blasts off and struggles with her in the air. Phobos thinks she’s doing great. I don’t know about that. I think Xanatos just hasn’t designed his armor very well. This is where you need a shoulder-mounted weapon that can shoot forward even if your arms are occupied. Like in the Future Tense when his armor and robots had the missile launchers.
Venus manages to jack up his jetpack. He’s still airborne, but he’ll need his VTOL to give him a pickup. He punches her in the face, getting her off his back. Literally.
Xanatos does a bit of introspection as he waits for his VTOL. He knew Phobos was a borderline paranoid schizophrenic, but he hired him anyway. Risky move, partner.
The gargoyles leave via the holographic gate. The VTOL follows out, and Xanatos hitches a ride.
Goliath goes to where Venus has fallen. She explains she couldn’t attack him because he was of gargoyle blood and Elisa’s blood. Well, that doesn’t stop Thailog from attacking Goliath. It’s about the programming, not the genetics.
Phobos wants her to attack the gargs. She won’t.
Then Demona appears. She has the Medusa device. Her grand plan is to turn New York into stone, then move on until only gargoyles are left to rule the Earth. Again, I’m pretty sure that the authorities could eventually stop you. Having something that turns stuff to stone isn’t much more effective than a gun or nuke or bio weapon. It’s less effective, actually.
Phobos has a self destruct button for the island, though. Of course he does! Every villain lair does! There’s probably a whole company that specializes in installing them: “We guarantee your lair will blow up right and on time or your money back!”
Xanatos has the island evacuated. He suspected Phobos had a self-destruct button. Wait a minute, you let a guy that you think has a self-destruct button continue being in charge? You didn’t have somebody go behind him and, um, unplug the self-destruct mechanism? Look, I am not at all feeling sorry for you and the fact that all your “investments in Gen U Tech might soon be flushed into the Atlantic.”
Just as Phobos hits the self-destruct button, Demona turns to stone.
At least everyone’s off the island now.
Brooklyn and Demona struggle. Hudson sees this going on for the boat.
The island is starting to fall apart. Venus drags Goliath back from a crevasse that opens.
Elisa is a little bit jealous of their new-found intimacy.
Demona is about to petrify the gargoyles, when Broadway tips a stone tree over onto her, knocking her off the cliff.
Goliath flies off to take on Demona.
Elisa gets it in her head that she’s going to go help. Not sure how this is going to work when you don’t have wings, girlfriend. Instead of helping, she ends up falling over the cliff when it crumbles beneath her. She catches herself on one of those oh so handy, ever-present branches that stick out of the rock.
So Goliath must leave Demona, who’s shooting at him, to save Elisa.
Venus gets pissed with Demona. She roars in to take her on. Unfortunately, as she dive bombs in, Demona hits her with the freeze ray. Oops, now D’s got a big rock heading right for her.
This gives Goliath the chance to save Elisa.
The clan flies off of the island just before it explodes. Can you imagine the amount of maintenance it would require to keep a self-destruct mechanism ready? Or even install one?
Demona manages to fly off too. She has the Medusa device. Until Hudson shoots it out of the sky with a flare gun. He learned the trick from the movie From Russia with Love.
So both the Medusa device and Venus sink to the bottom of the Atlantic.
Final Thoughts
Yet another issue without a lot of plot. It’s Venus saving the gargoyles, and everybody fighting Demona. Xanatos’s attack is pretty short.
It annoys me that the comic creators think they can add pretty dramatic things like having Gen U Tech create a gargoyle-human hybrid without taking into account how the TV series characters act. The Marvel Comics are not canon. This is just another way Disney disrespects the fans: having a comic series that has nothing to do with the actual show, when you could have deepened the show like Greg did with the SLG Comic. Which, by the way, he had to wrangle with Disney over to do.
I’m sure there will be no fallout for the island exploding. No investigation. Then again, if it’s in international waters, that’s probably logical. Still, I think the news might be interested. If nothing else, speculation would force Xanatos to make a statement. He can probably spin it to come out in his favor.
Tune in Tuesday: Tune in next week for the Pack Attack. This is the first time we’ll see them in comics. I’m sure that’ll go well. Let’s see how much the Marvel comic creators can screw up more of our favorite characters!
Thoughts? Comment!
I remember cringing at the dialogue in this issue. Every single line. Nobody sounds like they should. I mean, Demona calling Phobos “a stiff”? Not to mention all of Xanatos’s lines.
It’s like the characters are role playing as even worse villains, pushing the stereotype to the max. Very groan inducing, I gotta agree.