The Rock
"The Rock" is the seventh issue of the Gargoyles comic by SLG, and Chapter Seven of the Clan-Building story arc. It was released on December 12, 2007. The issue was reprinted in Gargoyles: Clan-Building, Volume Two. It was adapted into a Radio Play and performed at the Gathering of the Gargoyles in 2008.
- Writer/Creator: Greg Weisman
- Pencil Artist: David Hedgecock
- Color Artist: Robby Bevard
- Art Director/Cover Pencil Artist: Greg Guler
- Cover Color Artist: Robby Bevard
Contents
Solicitation
What's a gargoyle to do when Xanatos is on the job for the Illuminati; Coldsteel's in town; Thailog's breaking in new assistants, and Macbeth needs a favor? Well, what else can you do except... ROAD TRIP!!!! As Goliath and Elisa attempt to repair their relationship, the rest of the clan contemplates a change of scene. But how far should they go to save a slab of stone? And why is Fox buying new shoes? Find out in CLAN-BUILDING, Chapter 7: The Rock.
Summary
Main Plot
Macbeth goes to the Eyrie Building to ask the Manhattan Clan for their help in ensuring the Stone of Destiny's safe arrival to Scotland from Westminster Abbey in London, explaining that many desire the stone, including Xanatos. Goliath, still recovering from Thailog's attack, sends some of the others to help Macbeth. Brooklyn, Angela, and Broadway decide to stay behind, while Lexington and Hudson accompany Macbeth to London. The three of them stand vigil at Westminster Abbey on the night the stone is to be moved from the Lantern. Nothing happens for a long while, when Macbeth notices a mysterious shadow. He investigates only to be caught unawares by King Arthur Pendragon, while the gargoyles are suddenly joined by some new arrivals from the London Clan.
Subplots
Xanatos proves that he is indeed up to something, while he explains to Coldsteel about the Coyote Diamond, which he's using as a component for his robot, Coyote 5.0. He promises Coldsteel that he will disable his built in tracking device if he agrees to do Xanatos a favor. Later the same day, Xanatos prepares to leave for England while Owen spies on Macbeth and the gargoyles. He tells Xanatos of their plan, to which Xanatos responds that he's planned for this contingency.
Fox is interested in a pair of shoes in a London shop.
Shahrizad begins telling Thailog the history of the Stone of Destiny during different time intervals on different days. She starts off with Jacob's vision while laying his head upon the stone at Bethel. Next, she tells the story of Gathelus and Scota, who brought the stone with them out of Egypt at the request of Moses. They travelled the world before finally settling down in Portugal. Later, after the deaths of Gathelus, Scota, and six of their sons, the oldest son, Eremon, was crowned King upon the stone at Tara in Ireland.
Elisa brings Dr. Sato to the Labyrinth to check on Maggie the Cat, who is revealed to be pregnant.
Brooklyn is still upset about Broadway and Angela. Goliath notices and tells him he can stay in Manhattan. Broadway and Angela decide to stay to help Brooklyn, much to his chagrin.
Shahrizad tells Thailog the story of the love triangle between Coldstone, Coldfire, and Coldsteel.
Goliath and Elisa talk about what happened on Halloween. Elisa indicates that she wants to pursue a relationship with Goliath, and they kiss.
The Story
November 2, 4:50 PM, EST. Owen and Macbeth stand upon the battlements of Castle Wyvern by Goliath in stone sleep, waiting. Cracks form in Goliath's stone shell as he awakes.
November 2, 6:46 AM, EST. Xanatos tells an as-yet-unrevealed questioner that the diamond he is holding is the Coyote Diamond.
November 15, 10:02 AM, GMT. A security figure calls for the bomb squad.
November 14, 5:37 AM, GMT. Lexington tells someone "I'll call you Amp."
November 7, 2:21 PM, GMT. Fox enters a shoe store and asks for a pair of black Manolos in Size 9.
November 4, 5:30 AM, EST. Shahrizad tells Thailog how in Old Testament times, Jacob, fleeing the wrath of his brother Esau, fell asleep at Bethel, using a stone there as his pillow, and experienced "a wondrous vision" of angels ascending and descending a heavenly stairway.
November 2, 5:12 PM, EST. At Castle Wyvern, Macbeth tells the now-assembled Manhattan clan about the Stone of Destiny, and how the Kings of Scotland were once crowned upon it.
September 29, 1040. Macbeth is crowned King of Scotland upon the Stone of Destiny at Scone.
November 2, 5:14 PM, EST. Macbeth goes on to explain how the English seized the Stone from the Scots but now, eight hundred years later , it is being returned to Scotland. Macbeth is concerned that many will attempt to take advantage of the situation to steal the Stone, including the gargoyles' "landlord". He needs help to prevent this, and since Banquo and Fleance had left him to join the Quarrymen, has approached the gargoyles. Goliath states that he has been wounded twice in the past week, is "healed – but not whole", so recommends that the trio and Angela, under Brooklyn's command, go to Britain to assist Macbeth. Broadway, Angela, and Lexington are all thrilled at the prospect of visiting Scotland again; Brooklyn less so.
November 3, 3:00 PM, GMT. Macbeth's plane lands at an airport in England. Macbeth shows the customs officials there two "works of art" for his house in Berkeley Square – actually Hudson and Lexington in stone sleep.
November 2, 5:18 PM, EST. Owen, monitoring Macbeth's conversation with the gargoyles, asks Xanatos if he should prevent them from going to Britain. Xanatos, boarding his private plane, tells him not to bother; he's already planned for such an event.
November 7, 2:18 PM, GMT. Xanatos, standing outside a shoe shop with Fox and Alex, tells her that if she likes a certain pair of shoes that much, she should buy them.
November 5, 5:31 AM, EST. Shahrizad tells Thailog another story, this one of the Athenian Prince, Gathelus. Gathelus went to Egypt, where he rose in the Pharaoh's good graces through his victories in battle, and was rewarded with the hand of the Pharaoh's daughter Scota. But Gathelus and Scota had also made friends with Moses, who warned them of the Ten Plagues about to befall Egypt; the couple departed to avoid them, and Moses gave them Jacob's Pillow, now a sacred relic of the Hebrews.
November 2, 3:52 PM, EST. Dr. Sato examines Maggie, while Talon, Elisa, Claw, and Al watch concernedly. Sato tells them that Maggie is recovering from Thailog's attack, but treating someone in her "condition" is outside his area of expertise.
November 3, 4:30 PM, GMT. Macbeth pours a drink from a thermos bottle while waiting for Hudson and Lexington to awaken from stone sleep.
November 3, 5:07 PM, GMT. And waits...
November 3, 6:15 PM, GMT. And waits...
November 3, 7:01 PM, GMT. And waits some more.
November 3, 7:45 PM, GMT. Hudson and Lexington at last awake, the delay being thanks to jet lag. Macbeth tells them that they still have ten days to adjust to a different time zone before the Stone's due to be moved.
November 6, 5:32 AM, EST. While Thailog and Brentwood search some rubble, Shahrizad continues to tell the story of Gathelus and Scota. She recounts how, after leaving Egypt, they put in at Samothrace, where Scota gave birth to twins.
November 13, 5:32 PM, GMT. Hudson and Lexington silently watch over Westminster Abbey, where the Stone of Destiny is being kept.
November 2, 5:15 PM, EST. Macbeth corrects Broadway's exuberance over visiting Scotland, stating that they're going to England first. Brooklyn expresses his concern about leaving Manhattan while Goliath is still recovering, and Goliath agrees that he should stay in the city, appointing Hudson in charge of the mission. Angela whispers something to Broadway, who promptly declares that he and Angela should also stay to help Brooklyn. Brooklyn is less than thrilled with this turn of events.
November 13, 5:33 PM, GMT. Hudson and Lexington report to Macbeth that there's no sign of trouble; human security around Westminster Abbey is "tight as a drum". Hudson states that even a battering-ram couldn't break in; Macbeth replies "You'd be surprised".
December 25, 1950. Macbeth prepares to break into Westminster Abbey, armed with a crowbar, accompanied by four off-stage eager Scottish patriots.
November 6, 6:00 AM, EST. Shahrizad tells Thailog (who is carrying her in his arms, Goliath-and-Elisa-style, Brentwood gliding after them) still more of Gathelus and Scota's story. The royal couple, after wandering the earth for two years, settle on the Iberian peninsula, at the Port of Gathelus (later shortened to "Portugal"). By now they have two more sons, and are still guardians of the Stone of Destiny.
November 13, 11:46 PM, GMT. Hudson and Lexington still have nothing to report. Hudson wonders aloud whom they should be expecting.
November 2, 6:47 AM, EST. Xanatos explains to his still-off-stage ally about the properties of the Coyote Diamond, then goes on to tell how this ally has a built-in tracking device, which Xanatos will permanently de-activate in return for help on this mission. His ally, now revealed as Coldsteel, agrees to help, now teamed up with the latest Coyote robot, now amplified by the Coyote Diamond.
November 3, 5:29 AM, EST. Shahrizad tells Thailog the story of the ColdTrio, saying of it "It's really a timeless love story."
November 4, 9:48 PM, EST. Goliath and Elisa meet atop the battlements of Castle Wyvern. Goliath is still concerned over the price that Elisa will have to pay as a result of their relationship, such as picnics and normalcy..
November 2, 3:53 PM, EST. Dr. Sato reveals to Elisa that Maggie is pregnant. Maggie and Talon happily nuzzle at the news.
November 4, 9:50 PM, EST. Elisa tells Goliath "We can have a picnic anytime... and normalcy's so over-rated." They joyfully embrace and kiss.
November 7, 5:33 AM, EST. As they play chess, Shahrizad tells Thailog yet more of Scota's story. After Gathelus's passing, the widowed Scota left Iberia with her sons (now grown to eight) and sailed to Ireland. Five of her sons perished during the voyage, and a sixth son, along with Scota herself, were slain in battle upon arriving in Ireland. Only two sons survived: the eldest, Eremon, and the youngest, Eber Finn. Eremon was crowned King of Ireland upon the Stone of Destiny at Tara.
November 13, 11:47 PM, GMT. Macbeth is still keeping watch outside Westminster Abbey. Spotting a shadow, he pursues it down the steps to the London Underground, only to be seized from behind by King Arthur, who holds Excalibur to his throat. Hudson and Lexington have their own problems, as they are surrounded by three gargoyles: Griff, Constance, and Staghart....
Review
"The Rock" has to be the most remarkable issue of Gargoyles to date; Greg Weisman arranges this story in a non-linear fashion, jumping about through the events during the first two weeks of November as seen by the various characters (and even as far back as 1040, at least). Fortunately, the events are all carefully located on the timeline by captions, allowing an attentive reader to discover in what order they are taking place.
The focus is on the Stone of Destiny, which had been introduced in "City of Stone" Part Three, played a larger role in "Pendragon", and now takes center stage. The Stone is about to be returned to Scotland after seven hundred years (a real event from November 1996), but Macbeth is afraid that someone will try to steal it. Therefore, he calls upon the gargoyles for assistance; Hudson and Lexington agree to help him, and accompany him to London while the rest of the clan remains behind in New York.
Macbeth is correct to be concerned about the Stone, for Xanatos is setting his own plans in motion, that include a partnership between Coldsteel and the latest Coyote robot, Coyote 5.0, now apparently powered or augmented by the Coyote Diamond from "Her Brother's Keeper". What his precise goals are yet is unknown, but it is not difficult to suspect that they involve the Stone – and the instructions that he received from the Illuminati in "Bash".
And as if that was not trouble enough, Macbeth, Hudson, and Lexington find themselves facing more unexpected opponents when King Arthur and three London gargoyles (Griff and two new gargoyles – one resembling a wild sow, the other a stag) appear on the scene, in a hostile mood...
While this is going on in London, Shahrizad tells Thailog (and occasionally Brentwood) the story of the Stone of Destiny's past, all the way down to its arrival in Ireland. Presumably, in the succeeding issues (#8 and #9) she will continue to narrate its fortunes all the way to the present day. These scenes are colored in sepia, keeping them distinct from the rest of the story. (In a wonderful touch, at one point Shahrizad is shown telling the story as Thailog carries her through the sky, in what can only be a twisted echo of Goliath and Elisa.)
But not everything in this issue involves the Stone. Dr. Sato is introduced to the Mutates, bringing him further into the gargoyles' circle of human friends and allies – and reveals that Maggie is pregnant. Goliath and Elisa fully accept the fact that they are meant to be together, in a moving scene with many echoes of their break-up in "Invitation Only" – though this time in a happier mood. Hudson and Lexington experience jet lag upon their arrival in London. And Fox (who has accompanied her husband to Britain) is buying a pair of shoes – though we shall have to wait for future issues to learn the significance of that...
This is a fine issue, as well as a challenging one, and I look forward to seeing the continuation of this story in "Rock & Roll".
Featured Characters and First Appearances
| Gargoyles | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
- "Magic talking stone. We've heard of it." - Brooklyn
- "Don't you have...minions...for this?"
- "We've parted ways." - Goliath and Macbeth
- "It's as if you've revealed a new world to me..." - Dr. Sato
- "Welcome, lad, to the wonderful world of jetlag." - Macbeth
- "And though all strife comes to an end one way or another...some conflicts refuse to stay dead..." - Shahrizad
- "And normalcy's so over-rated." - Elisa
Tidbits
The caption on the front cover, "Stone...at night?!" echoes Goliath's cry in "Awakening: Part Two" on finding the trio, Hudson, and Bronx turned to stone.
Shahrizad's account of the Stone of Destiny's history – the stone that Jacob used for a pillow at Bethel, conveyed from the Middle East to Ireland by the Athenian Prince, Gathelus, and his wife, the Egyptian Princess Scota – is based on actual legend. (Variations of this tale have Gathelus and Scota driven into exile after Pharaoh was drowned while trying to cross the Red Sea and the surviving Egyptian nobles feared that Gathelus would attempt to seize his father-in-law's throne, or have Gathelus still alive when his family reached Ireland.)
On Page 2, Lexington is saying to an as yet undisclosed someone or something (in "Rock and Roll", his addressee is revealed to be Staghart), "I'll call you Amp". The name is an in-joke; in the original development of Gargoyles, when it was designed as a comedy, one of the gargoyles was named Amp. (He looked much like Lexington, appropriately, but in character was closer to Brooklyn.)
The flashback to Macbeth's coronation on Page 4 clashes with its depiction in "City of Stone" Part Three: for example, in the television episode, Macbeth is crowned in the great hall of a castle, while in the comic book, he is crowned outdoors. According to Robby Bevard, the colorist for this issue, this was because the television episode had mishandled the coronation scene, and so Greg decided that he "might as well do the thing right this time", as Robby put it. Demona and Gruoch are both shown attending the coronation.
On the same page, Macbeth incorrectly states that the Stone is being returned to Scotland "after eight hundred years"; it should be "seven hundred years", since the Stone was seized by the English in 1296.
Macbeth alludes to Banquo and Fleance having deserted him for Castaway.
Macbeth is revealed as having a house in Berkeley Square, which contains one of the most infamous haunted houses in England (at No. 50). While Greg is aware of this, he chose this location for two different reasons: one was that it was the home of a close friend of his parents, the other was that he had been recently listening a lot to the song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".
Greg Weisman also stated that: "I do feel I missed a bet on the Macbeth waiting page (Page 10). There should have been a panel right before the last panel on the page showing only the stone Lex and Hudson and no Macbeth. The copy would have read as follows: CAPTION 1: NOVEMBER 3, 6:44PM GMT. CAPTION 2: BATHROOM BREAK." [1]
It is also revealed that Macbeth took part in the real-life theft of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey on Christmas, 1950.
The story beginning in this issue and continuing in "Rock & Roll" and "Rock of Ages", involving the real-life return of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey to Scotland in late 1996, is a story idea that Greg Weisman revealed he intended to use even before the year 2000. [2] It was originally intended to appear in the Pendragon spin-off. Weisman credits Kathy Pogge with the research required for this story arc. [3][4]
In the panel in which Xanatos encourages Fox to buy the shoes she likes, the Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament (most famous for housing the bell known as Big Ben) is visible in the background. In a small nit, the caption for the panel says the time is 2:18 PM GMT, whereas the Clock Tower reads 5:30.
When Shahrizad relates the story of the Coldtrio to Thailog, Hakon's hand and mace appear in the top right panel. This is an allusion to the Wyvern Massacre in which the three gargoyles lost their lives.
Links
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