Trick-Or-Treat

Gargoyles: Halloween Special #1 by Matteo Lolli

"Trick-Or-Treat" is the Gargoyles Halloween Special for the Gargoyles comic by Dynamite Entertainment. It was released October 18, 2023. [1]

• Writer/Creator: Greg Weisman
• Pencil Artist: Bonesso Diego
• Color Artist: Nicolò Laporini
• Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
• Editor: Nate Cosby
• Main Cover Artist: Matteo Lolli

Solicitation

It's young Gnash's first Halloween in Manhattan, and you're invited to come along as he heads out to find friends on the one night of the year when Gargoyles can roam the city unbothered! Unfortunately, he's about to run afoul of the masked Quarrymen, who are out to hunt down any Gargoyle foolish enough to brave the streets on All Hallow's Eve. That means Brooklyn, Katana, Lexington, Broadway, Angela, and even Goliath are in real danger! Will they survive this cruel trick, or become a treat for the marauding Quarrymen? Find out in October with this all-new 40-page special featuring a 28-page main story written by Gargoyles creator GREG WEISMAN!

Review

This is Dynamite's first "stand-alone" Gargoyles story, as well as the third Halloween story in Gargoyles. It's also a delightful read.

The one unfortunate element about it is the timing; it came out before the last three issues of "Here in Manhattan", but is set after it, meaning that there are spoilers (if fortunately, mild ones) for the ending of that series. Goliath is clearly at liberty, and the gargoyles have made some advances in their relations with humans – enough advances for them to be present as guests of honor at a Halloween party in Greenwich Village. Fortunately, the special doesn't go into detail about the events in the final quarter of Here in Manhattan, and nearly all Gargoyles fans were probably expecting these developments in any case.

The focus is on Gnash, who wants to go trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Katana at first questions it, but at last agrees after Brooklyn supports their son's request. She still sends Bronx and Fu-Dog after him, in case of trouble.

Gnash not only winds up with a jack-o-lantern-bag full of candy, but three new friends around his own age (or the human equivalent): Billy and Susan (whom we first met in "The Thrill of the Hunt" and again in "Masque" in Clan-Building) and Terry Chung (whom we also first met in "Masque", but know as one of the future leads in the proposed "New Olympians" spin-off). They quickly hit it off.

In the meantime, Castaway, alarmed by the progress that the gargoyles have made in their relations with humans a few months before, frantically alters his tactics to engage in more ruthless and brutal measures. He now launches an attack on the Halloween party at Greenwich Village, aware that the gargoyles will be there, and this time, intends to smite any humans who have made friends with them as well – a far cry from the more cautious approach he'd been taking back in "Invitation Only". The Quarrymen almost become more like their Goliath Chronicles counterparts, but it's better-handled; for one thing, Castaway and his followers still seem to believe that the gargoyles are evil monsters (or at least, aren't basing their strategy on the gargoyles being protectors). Also, Castaway's hoping that this assault will encourage those who think the same way he does to support the Quarrymen (and recent news stories about extremist groups suggest that this probably would happen, sad to say).

Fortunately, Gnash and his new friends discover Castaway's scheme, and (assisted by Bronx and Fu-Dog, who finally get some real action in the Dynamite comics) foil it. The bulk of the Quarrymen flee at the site of Gnash and the gargoyle beasts, and even Castaway is defeated (thanks to Katana stepping in and showing – alongside Princess Katharine in "Avalon" Part Three, Fox in "The Gathering" Part Two, and Demona in "The Reckoning" – why "messing with the mama" is not a wise move) and arrested. It will be worth seeing what happens to the Quarrymen after this; we do learn from Gnash, though, based on his TimeDancing experiences, that history will not be kind to this organization, and this Halloween night's events will certainly help bring about this future.

(Amusingly, Goliath himself does not seem too comfortable with the progress that his people have made; he clearly finds his new "celebrity" status troublesome, as he indicates in a conversation with Hudson, and then at the party as he's stuck behind a D.J. Though his mood later improves when Elisa joins the party for a dance, echoing their almost-date in "Eye of the Beholder". He also gets to chat with one of the party-goers – the man in a witch costume from "Eye of the Beholder", who gets more fleshed-out here, getting a name and even dancing with Lexington.)

The story ends charmingly, with Gnash's human friends now aware that he's a gargoyle and accepting that – and even getting to meet Bronx and Fu-Dog (with a delightful moment where Bronx is clearly enjoying Susan petting him). A very happy Halloween, indeed.

Featured Characters

Gargoyles	Humans
Gnash Katana Brooklyn Blackbeard (Mentioned Only) Bronx Fu-Dog Goliath Hudson Angela Broadway Lexington Staghart (Mentioned Only)	Owen Burnett (Mentioned Only) Lou Banquo Fleance Chaz Chalmers John Castaway Terry Chung Susan Greene Billy Greene Travis Marshall David Xanatos (Mentioned Only) Wanna-Be Quarrymen (First Appearance) Sarah Browne (Mentioned Only) Phil Travanti Morgan Morgan Tri Chung Bella Adrian (No Lines) Careless Jones Cedric Harris (No Lines) Elisa Maza

Tidbits

• Susan's and Billy's "gargoyle names", "Pandora" and "Trouble", were also the names of two of the gargoyles in the original comedy development proposal. [2]

• Gnash's Halloween costume is of Blackbeard; he informs both his new human friends and the reader that the infamous pirate was really a gargoyle (apparently a TimeDancer adventure).

• As in his past two Halloween adventures, Goliath does not bother with a costume. Elisa dresses up as Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (modeling her look more on the illustrations by John Tenniel in the original book than the Disney adaptation, though). Brooklyn and Katana wear their regular attire (Brooklyn jokes that he's going as a "TimeDancing gargoyle"). Broadway, Lexington, and Angela all wear medieval-ish attire for their costumes; their identities might have been intended as Charlemagne, Alexander the Great, and Antiope (referencing the names that Alesand bestowed on Broadway and Lexington in "Dark Ages: Alliance").

• This story might take place between "Acquisitions" and Chapter Four. [3]

Cover Gallery

Links

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