Underwater

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Gargoyles #6 by David Nakayama

"Underwater" is the sixth issue of the Gargoyles comic by Dynamite Entertainment. It was released on May 31st, 2023. [1]

Solicitation

Brooklyn feels the strain of leadership as hopes for Goliath's release from prison grow dimmer by the hour. Can the members of the Manhattan Clan put aside their differences before the crime syndicates of New York combine to crush the entire city?

The Story

Brooklyn imagines himself to be underwater and struggling for air. Drowning. For the past twenty-four hours he has been the leader of the Manhattan Clan. And he and Coldfire find themselves before Goliath in his cell at Rikers Island. Brooklyn can't believe what he's hearing, but Goliath is making no jokes: he intends to remain in his cell for the good of human-gargoyle relations. Coldfire asks if he is sure about his choice and Goliath admits that he isn't. However, Goliath decides to put his commitment for a brighter future to the test. He tells Brooklyn and Coldfire to leave and they depart. Coldstone rejoins them and asks where his brother is. Coldfire informs her mate of Goliath's plan which infuriates Coldstone, but Brooklyn insists that they will respect their leader's decision.

Meanwhile, Glasses and Dino Dracon are waiting in a car outside Felice's Meats. They are listening to the radio which speaks of Goliath's "attempted escape". This causes Dino to tell Glasses that the gargoyles they fear so much are "chumps". The news program on the radio moves on to discussing the organized crime violence in Chinatown and East Harlem. Glasses notes that Dino was right: kidnapping those "two brats" made the Choi and Sanchez families, already paranoid, believe they were under attack. Dino notes that this was all an effort on his part to work smart and not just hard. He explains how, when he was still behind bars, he first read about Peter Choy and Rosaria Sanchez saving some kid in Central Park and put together that they were linked. Suddenly, their conversation is halted by the appearance of two men exiting Felice's Meats. The two men, Sidor and Grisha Volkov, get into a car. In Russian, Volkov tells Sidor to drive him to "the club". Sidor starts the car which makes a distinct clicking noise and suddenly explodes!

At Castle Wyvern, Elisa Maza informs the Clan and Xanatos about the fallout from Brooklyn's assault on Rikers. Security has been tripled and the incident might have a negative effect on Goliath's hearing. Broadway wonders if they should get him a lawyer and Xanatos assures them that that has been handled already. Moreover, he has refused all access to the Eyrie Building to ensure their safety. Brooklyn, skeptical and overwhelmed, expresses his lack of trust in Xanatos and orders Coldfire and Coldstone to guard the Clan and Castle through the day. The two agree that that makes sense. Brooklyn, struggling, wonders what else he can do. The gargoyles turn to stone and Xanatos and Elisa depart.

At the Park Manor Hotel, Dino notes that something must've alerted Volkov to the bomb since he survived. Still, the end result is the same: the bomb was the same kind that Jack Dane used when he worked under Dominic Dracon. Dino trained under Dane and learned his tricks before Dane turned against the Dracon Family. The Volkov Family will inevitably blame Dane for explosion. Indeed, at the same time at Manhattan General Hospital, Volkov, heavily bandaged, is telling his son that the clicking noise clued him in on the bomb, allowing Sidor and himself time to get out. He places the blame on Dane and Tomas Brod. Whatever truce they had is gone and Volkov orders his son to take out Brod in Rikers. Dino, talking to a confused Dominic, decides that Izaak Slaughter is the next target. Antoinette Dracon eavesdrops in on the conversation as Dino declares that they'll hit Slaughter tonight.

At the New York City Criminal Courthouse, Judge Ian Roebling begins proceedings. John Castaway attempts to disrupt the courtroom, but Roebling calls for order. He has a ruling regarding Goliath's potential human rights.

That evening, in his cell at Rikers, Goliath awakes chained and collared. Elisa is there to visit him. At the Castle, Brooklyn orders the clan not to patrol that night. They will stay home. Hudson agrees. Owen Burnett approaches Broadway to inform him that he has a visitor. The gargoyle follows Owen into the castle and introduces him to Antoinette Dracon, then leaves them alone to talk. Broadway can't believe Owen let her in and prepares to leave, but Antoinette begs him for his help: Dino's plans will tear the city apart if he isn't stopped. She knows that gargoyles are protectors and she needs a few minutes to explain why New York needs gargoyle protection...

Meanwhile, Brooklyn reminisces about how much easier things were when he was TimeDancing. He remembers a few visits to the past and the future and notes that he only needed to figure out what needed fixing and get out. His only worry was keeping his growing family together. His thoughts are interrupted by Gnash's complaint that Broadway gets to leave the castle and he doesn't. Brooklyn is shocked and furious.

Broadway finds himself near the Slaughter Films building in Harlem. Suddenly, Lexington arrives telling his brother that it isn't a good time for any of them to be alone. They smirk as they note Brooklyn isn't going to like how they both left without permission. They wait a bit in silence. Finally, Broadway reveals that he and Angela are planning their Commitment Ceremony and he asks Lex if he would be his Second for it. Lexington is surprised and thrilled and quickly agrees, but then asks about Brooklyn. Broadway notes that he's not sure that Brooklyn would be into it. Broadway, changing the subject, then asks Lex how the long-distance thing is going between him and Staghart. Lexington only grins and then he changes the subject: Why are they even here? Suddenly, a group of cybots arrives. They smash through the glass windows of Slaughter Films. Nearby, Pal Joey and Glasses sit in a car. The latter is wearing a RECAP visor to remotely control the cybots which fly through the building until they find Izaak Slaughter. Broadway and Lexington burst into office and Slaughter is shocked at the sudden arrival of both the drones and the gargoyles. Lex and Broadway begin destroying the cybots. Glasses, annoyed, decides its time for a little of Dino's signature overkill: Dozens of cybots surround the gargoyles and Slaughter!

Back at the castle, Elisa explains to Brooklyn how the city is putting Goliath on trial. There is no charge, rather Goliath will be judged on whether he possesses sentience. Brooklyn and Elisa are devastated.

Across town, Antoinette again eavesdrops as Dino chats with Volkov's son. There needs to be a response to the attack on Volkov and his son has been ordered to take out Brod at Rikers. He's concerned that doing so might risk the life of Brod's cellmate: Tony Dracon. Dino is sympathetic and informs Volkov's son, now revealed to be Wolf, that if Tony is killed then there are no hard feelings. Wolf smirks and notes that Goliath is in the next cell and he's eager to pay the chained and immobilized gargoyle a visit as well...

Review

This issue continues to develop both storylines, Goliath's being held prisoner and his upcoming "trial", and Dino Dracon's scheme to destroy the rival gangs of New York.

Brooklyn is the narrator, and feels overwhelmed by his new responsibilities as clan leader; he had clearly expected the position to be brief, lasting long enough to free Goliath, but now realizes that Goliath will be behind bars for a much longer period of time. He's now convinced that he's doing a poor job as leader (even though, as many readers have pointed out, his raid on Rikers in the previous issue was well-planned, and only failed because of Goliath's refusal to be rescued), and longs for the comparative simplicity of his TimeDancing days (accompanied by an impressive depiction of many of the incidents during his TimeDancing – see below for details). He still manages to carry out his duties well, though, ordering the rest of the clan to stop patrolling the city and stay at the castle for now (a sensible precaution – though one which Broadway and Lexington ignore), placing Coldstone and Coldfire (the two clan members who are active in the daytime) in charge of protecting them during their stone sleep.

Dino, in the meantime, is continuing to strike at the other gangs. He had already set Yingpei and Huracán at war with each other through kidnapping Rosaria and Peter (in a nice touch, we learn that he was inspired by the newspaper story featuring them that Hudson and Broadway were reading back in "High Noon" – another example of a bit moment in Gargoyles turning out to have major consequences many episodes later). Now he sets up a car bomb for Volkov, designed to look as if it had been set by Jack Dane; Volkov survives, but declares war on Dane (and Brod). With the additional complication that he's brought his son in to attack Brod in Rikers – and that son is none other than Wolf. (The revelation is made on the final page, with Volkov's son, up till that point, being represented only through "off-stage speech balloons" – Greg Weisman is clearly taking full advantage of the comic format here; no danger of anyone recognizing Clancy Brown's voice, as would have been the case if this had been a television episode.) Furthermore, Wolf's decided to take advantage of the situation to pay a little call on a new inmate while he's at it...

The last of the rival gang leaders, Izaak Slaughter, Dino is targeting directly – probably because he has an odd number of rivals, making the "setting him against someone else" harder to carry out. Glasses and Pal Joey launch an attack on him with cybots (somehow acquired from Cyberbiotics – furthermore, Glasses is controlling them via a RECAP visor from "Legion"). The attack becomes more complicated when Broadway and Lexington come to Slaughter's rescue; Broadway had been alerted to Dino's plan by Antoinette Dracon (who somehow managed to gain access to the Eyrie Building, despite Xanatos's announcement that he was denying access to it – and with Owen cooperating in her speaking with Broadway), and he and Lexington had sneaked out to intervene. (Antoinette and her actions will, I hope, receive more attention in upcoming issues, though it has been made clear that she's understandably alarmed by her uncle's methods; his plan could turn New York into a battlefield that wouldn't be worth controlling. Her seeking out Broadway makes sense; he was the one member of the clan to appear in all the past stories featuring the Dracon family, and so the natural candidate. At the end, we learn that she is also eavesdropping on Dino and Wolf's conversation; we will doubtless see the results of this in succeeding issues.) Unfortunately for Lex and Broadway, it turns out that Glasses has a lot of cybots at his disposal...

Goliath's upcoming trial is given comparatively less development, but we do learn that it will take place – and that the focus on it will be to determine if he is a sentient being or just a wild animal. (We also spot Castaway in the courtroom when the decision is made, which may be a sign of further complications...)

Another fine issue, increasing the suspense – and we know that next issue, for additional complications, one of the leading enemies of the clan will return...

First Appearances

Characters

  • Sidor
  • Wolf's Ma (Mentioned Only)

Location

Objects

Tidbits

Brooklyn's words on the first page, "Brooklyn. I'm Brooklyn", are a repeat of his words when he first picked his name in "Awakening: Part Four".

The moments in Brooklyn's TimeDancing displayed in this issue (each one given a specific date) are:

  • Brooklyn's initial meeting with the Phoenix (1997)
  • Brooklyn meeting his petrified self atop Castle Wyvern (997)
  • Brooklyn and Fu-Dog encountering a few terracotta warriors from the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (210 B.C. – the year of Qin Shi Huangdi's passing in actual history)
  • Brooklyn, Katana, and Fu-Dog encountering a flying saucer, with the Eyrie Pyramid in the background (2198)
  • Brooklyn, Katana, Fu-Dog, and the egg that will hatch into Nashville on board the U.S.S. Nashville (1942)
  • Brooklyn and his family's return to Manhattan (1997).

Brooklyn is first shown wearing an eyepatch in the U.S.S. Nashville scene, indicating that he lost his eye somewhere between his visit to 2198 and his visit to 1942.

Amanda Conner's variant cover for this issue is a callback to the cover for "Into the Future", an issue from the apocryphal Gargoyles series by Marvel Comics.

Cover Gallery

Dynamite Gargoyles 6 Gallery1.jpg
Dynamite Gargoyles 6 Gallery3.jpg
Dynamite Gargoyles 6 Gallery2.jpg


Links

<< Previous Episode: "Here In Manhattan" Chapter Five: "Render Unto Caesar" Next Episode: "Here In Manhattan" Chapter Seven: "Everywhere">>