Acquisitions

Gargoyles: Quest #3 by Clayton Crain

"Acquisitions" is the third issue of the Quest comic arc and the fifteenth Gargoyles comic by Dynamite Entertainment. It was released on July 31st 2024. [1] The digital version of the comic was briefly available on Kindle on July 24th, 2024 (before being removed for all but customers who already had it).

• Writer/Creator: Greg Weisman
• Pencil Artist: Pasquale Qualano
• Color Artists: Giovanna La Pietra
• Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
• Editor: Nate Cosby
• Main Cover Artist: Clayton Crain

Solicitation

While Demona races to repair a sacred object, Thailog and Brentwood face Wyvern the Dragon, who guards the haft of Gugnir, the Lance of Fate - the key to Demona's plan for ultimate power!

The Story

July 20. While exo-frames continue to attack the Eyrie Building, Goliath shares his discovery that their attackers have no humans operating them – they must be remote-controlled. Hearing this, Coldstone is more eager to quit pulling his punches. They and Jade continue to their defense of the Castle. Broadway, Angela, and Coldfire join the fight, smashing and torching their robotic attackers. Coldstone single-handedly targets and locks on to four of the exo-frames, resulting in the machinery crashing on the Castle grounds. Lexington rushes to the machines to determine who's controlling them, but is dismayed to discover that Coldstone destroyed their control modules. Lexington barks at the zombie-cyborg to aim better, and Coldstone apologies, clearly taken aback.

Meanwhile, still holding the Mayan Sun Amulet, Turquesa sees a familiar winged silhouette glide off into the night. With the last of the exo-frames destroyed, Jade asks if such commotions happen every night for the Manhattan Clan. Goliath admits it happens more often than he would prefer. Goliath is soon greeted by Owen Burnett, who informs the gargoyle that they may have a problem.

Before the whole Manhattan Clan and the visiting Mayan Clan gargoyles, Owen explains that the exo-frame attack was but a diversion orchestrated by Demona, who used the distraction to steal Puck's Flute. Turquesa and Jade connect Demona to the gargoyle with the lance-head they saw in Buenos Aires. Hearing this, Owen realizes the situation is worse than he thought. Coldstone wants clarification: why would his rookery sister want a weapon fragment and musical instrument? Goliath instructs Owen to explain.

Owen shares with the Clan how back when Oberon stripped Puck of his powers and banished him from Avalon, Puck sensed something of his in Oberon's possession. Mystically picking his Lord's pocket, Owen explains that, in the year since, he has entertained Alexander Fox Xanatos with the instrument, as teaching or protecting the boy is the only time he can be Puck. Further, before it was taken, Owen noticed the Flute's powers have recently significantly increased. Lexington asks what the Flute can do besides play music, and Owen shares that he and the Flute were, in fact, the legendary subjects of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, much to Lex's surprise. Brooklyn asks why Owen would let Demona take the Flute, and Owen explains that, with Alexander and his family away, he was forbidden from using his magic to stop her. Turquesa asks what the Flute has to do with the lance-head. Owen shares his reasoning that the mystical energies that once resided in the Eye of Odin, the Grimorum Arcanorum, and the Phoenix Gate must surely have now found new vessels to serve as the Three Keys to Power. Jade realizes this must have been why Avalon sent Turquesa and him to Avalon – to witness Demona taking off with the lance-head. Goliath points out that they must all hope that Demona has only acquired the first two Keys, otherwise humanity could be doomed. That thought sits with Angela in particular.

Back at her Townhouse, Demona displays Puck's Flute alongside the lance-head of Gugnir. Antoinette Dracon points out that she's making progress, and Demona agrees. She now hopes that Thailog will deliver on his mission.

July 24. With the Hand of Valmont in his claws, Thailog tells Shari that he's ready to make the call to the highest echelons of the Illuminati. Shari reminds him that she outranks him and that, unlike him, knows these members. Thailog is happy to follow her lead. From a video monitor, Thailog and Shahrizad formally introduce themselves to Peredur fab Ragnal, Duval, and Fleur. Looking away from the camera, Peredur asks Shahrizad what they can do for her. Shari lets Thailog explain their situation. According to the gargoyle, he learned of the Hand of Valmont from Demona and, after plundering the White Council's vault, decided that it would be best to give it to the Illuminati than "his ex". Looking away from the camera, Duval orders the Hand of Valmont to be taken to Castle Carbonek at once, but Peredur overrules him: he tells Shahrizad to deliver the Hand to the Treasurer of Eastcheap. Shari and Thailog are ready to oblige.

July 25. At her townhouse, Demona asks Coldstone why Owen did not tell the Manhattan Clan where to find her. Coldstone explains that he attempted to do so, sharing how he witnessed Owen's inability to share with Goliath any knowledge that originates from his experiences as Puck. In addition to wanting to thwart her current plot, Coldstone informs Demona that Angela also seeks her out. He explains to his rookery sister that, despite everything, Angela hopes Demona will attend her Commitment Ceremony with Broadway. Demona grows silent for a moment as she processes this information, but ultimately, she doesn't change her plans. Not Yet.

July 26. Shari prepares to land the Nightstone Unlimited Jet on Eastcheap Island. While doing so, she takes a moment to tease Thailog about their call with the Illuminati nights ago. Thailog admits he was "thrown", given that Castle Carbonek was not the destination they were aiming for. They exit the aircraft and Shari admits that, regardless, it all worked out. A hidden door slides open in the island's mountainside, and the two enter. Thailog wonders if the secret lair is the "right" secret lair they've been looking for and a disembodied voice assures him that it indeed is. Falstaff suddenly appears and the three introduce their ranks with one another. Following the formalities, Shahrizad embraces the King of Thieves, who tells her that she's "a sight for sore eyes". Thailog and Shari follow Falstaff's lead, opening the treasury door with a pull from a lit torch. He instructs the visitors to hand the Hand to the Treasurer, but this confuses Thailog: Isn't Falstaff the Illuminati's Treasurer? Falstaff clarifies that he's "Acquisitions and Security". As Falstaff informs the two that they can't miss the Treasurer, Thailog asks Shari if she trusts Falstaff. She confides that she does not.

Approaching the dragon Wyvern, Thailog and Shari quickly introduce their ranks. Wyvern finishes the formal introductions with his own rank and points out that Shari looks familiar. She explains they've met before, but the dragon dismisses her, claiming all humans look alike. The dragon takes a sniff in Thailog's direction and can't help but point out the gargoyle smells "wrong". Before Thailog can react, Shari shares with the dragon that they have come to deliver the Hand of Valmont to his treasury. She immediately begins to enchant the dragon with the story of how Brother Valmont came to lose his hand to the Gargoyle of the Sword. With the Treasurer distracted, Thailog uses a Scrying Glass to locate the haft of Gugnir. He quickly tucks the haft under his cloaked wings and the two depart the island with none the wiser. Once in the air, Thailog shares his continued amazement in Shari's abilities. She admits that she was but one factor in the plan succeeding; the dragon's prejudices had a role as well. Shari explains that Wyvern placed an incantation on his horde that only draws his attention to human thieves. Gargates such as dragons and gargoyles go unnoticed. With the haft in his claws, Thailog considers their prize dubious at best, but looks forward to exchanging it for a far greater prize.

July 31. Thailog successfully trades "one stick" for a controlling share of Nightstone Unlimited. Demona merely comments that everyone's happy. She returns to her townhouse, placing the haft with its lance-head and Puck's Flute. Antoinette asks her if she'll repair the lance, but Demona has no intention to do so just yet. The power-surge from reuniting the two pieces of Gugnir could tip their hand. She intends to wait until she has her claws on the last of the Three Keys.

September 26. Elisa Maza stands on the balcony of the Clock Tower as Goliath lands by her side. He is eager to hear Elisa's news and she confirms it: her suspension is over and she's been reinstated to her original position. Elisa asks if Goliath's had any luck locating Demona or any of the Three Keys, but he hasn't had any such luck. Nor she. Elisa is not yet worried: they're in this for the long haul.

For the next couple months the Manhattan Clan patrols the city, keeping an eye out for Demona, Despite their efforts, and checking in on the most likely of haunts, Demona continues to elude them.

November 18. In Geneva, an auction is underway. The Auctioneer has just confirmed a bid for six hundred thousand, and is looking for six hundred fifty thousand. Suddenly Bidder 16 raises her paddle, raising the bid to nine hundred thousand. The Auctioneer scans the room for a higher bid, but to no avail. Antoinette Dracon – Bidder 16 – has just won Cleopatra's Necklace. Returning to New York City the next day, she delivers the final Key to Demona. Placed alongside the first two Keys, Demona tells Antoinette and Coldstone that the fun can begin.

Review

"Acquisitions" continues the Gargoyles Quest story effectively. Not only do we get an explanation for the Three New Keys to Power (another case of "Nature abhors a vacuum", as Owen puts it), but we learn the identity of the other two new Keys. The second is Puck's flute from "The Gathering" Part One, which now finds a full role in the story at last (we learn in the process that it was also the Pied Piper's flute – the Pied Piper being a past alias of Puck – something this reviewer had suspected for a long time). And the third is Cleopatra's Necklace (though we do not know the details about it as yet, beyond its presumed connection with the fabled Egyptian queen – mostly thanks to it only appearing in the last two pages). By the end of the issue, Demona has assembled all three – and her closing words, "Now, the fun begins..." sum the situation up effectively.

A major part of the issue is Thailog and Shahrizad claiming the shaft of Gugnir. The Hand of Valmont isn't one of the Three New Keys to Power, as it had originally seemed, but rather a means for Thailog to seize the genuine article. (Alert readers, noting that Demona had asked Thailog to recover the object she needed from the Illuminati, while Thailog and Shahrizad were stealing the Hand from the White Council, an organization at odds with the Illuminati, will most likely have figured this out. The one unfortunate part of this revelation is that the Hand of Valmont, with its links to the Grimoruum Arcanorum, had offered the possibility of the Three New Keys each connected to one of the original Keys – with Gugnir and the Eye of Odin both linked to Odin, for example. There is no indication that Puck's Flute or Cleopatra's necklace have any ties, whether direct or figurative, to the Grimorum or the Phoenix Gate.)

Thailog and Shahrizad's mission gives us another look at the Illuminati. Peredur, Duval, Blanchefleur, and Falstaff all return – but the big revelation is that Wyvern has joined the Illuminati, serving as their treasurer at Eastcheap. It provided a major surprise for readers who knew from the solicitation that Thailog would encounter Wyvern, but assumed that the dragon would still be in the Scottish cave where he had resided during Dark Ages: Alliance; while his relocation was completely unexpected, it seems fitting that he'd be carrying out such a function for the Illuminati. Who better to serve as guardian for a fabled treasure than a mighty dragon? And to top it off, Thailog does not fight Wyvern over the spear-shaft, but takes advantage of the fact that Wyvern's spell over the treasure only alerts him if a human steals something from it, not a gargate.

After this journey to Eastcheap, the winning of Cleopatra's Necklace (Antoinette buys it at an auction) seems almost anticlimactic, but means more room (two issues' worth) of seeing what Demona will do with these three items.

The story advances in other ways. Coldstone continues to serve Demona in secret (including taking care to destroy completely her attacking robots, so as to ensure that the clan won't be able to discover anything from theri remains), but also brings up to her Angela's wish for reconciliation – to which Demona only replies, "It cannot be now. Not yet." I still wonder how Coldstone's alliance with Demona will proceed in the issues to come. We also see Goliath and Elisa having a moment at the rebuilt Clock Tower (the first time they've been there since "The Journey"), and a glimpse of the "Trick-Or-Treat" adventure during the time-skip at the end, before the foreboding conclusion. I look forward to seeing what will take place in the final two issues.

Featured Characters and First Appearances

Gargoyles	Humans	Oberon's Children	Others
Coldstone Jade Goliath Broadway Angela (No Lines) Coldfire (No Lines) Lexington Demona Turquesa Gnash (No Lines) Hudson (No Lines) Katana (No Lines) Brooklyn Thailog Bronx Fu-Dog	Owen Burnett Elisa Maza Alexander Fox Xanatos (No Lines) Fox (Mentioned Only) David Xanatos (Mentioned Only) Antoinette Dracon Shahrizad Fleur Peredur fab Ragnal Duval Falstaff Valmont (Mentioned Only) Auctioneer (First Appearance) Cleopatra (Mentioned Only)	Puck (No Lines) Oberon (No Lines)	Wyvern

Places	Magic	Media
Geneva	Cleopatra's Necklace	The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Quotes

• "Hey, Coldstone! Watch where you're shooting! You're destroying all the good parts!"

"A-apologies? - Lexington and Coldstone

• "Does this sort of thing happen here every night?"

"More often than we would like." - Jade and Goliath

• "It cannot be. Not now. Not yet. - Demona

• "You look familiar, human."

"We're met before."

"Eh, all you humans look alike to me." - Wyvern and Shari

Tidbits

• Antoinette Dracon being Bidder 16 at the auction is likely a reference to "Young Justice" which took place on Earth-16 and featured the number sixteen as often as possible. But it could also be a reference to Marie Antoinette who was married to Louis XVI, the last monarch of France.

Cover Gallery

Links

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