New Rules
"New Rules" is the tenth issue of the Gargoyles comic by Dynamite Entertainment. It was released on October 25th, 2023. [1]
- Writer/Creator: Greg Weisman
- Pencil Artist: George Kambadais
- Color Artists: Giulia Giacomino & Giovanna La Pietra
- Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
- Editor: Nate Cosby
- Main Cover Artist: David Nakayama
Contents
Solicitation
A RACE AGAINST TIME! Brooklyn’s attempts to lead the Clan have left him feeling disappointed and estranged from those he is closest to. But when news of a kidnapping comes in, it’s up to Brooklyn, Lexington, and Broadway to save the day. Can they come together in time to make the daring rescue? Or will daybreak stop them in their tracks?
The Story
Review
Goliath's Hearing comes to a triumphant conclusion in this issue.
Elisa took the stand at the end of the last issue, and this issue sees her testimony on Goliath's behalf. The same detective who had earlier kept the clan, and her ties with it, a secret, now voluntarily admits her relationship with Goliath – on live television, with almost the entire population of Manhattan watching – and it is a grand moment, especially when she confesses her feelings for the gargoyle. Brooklyn, watching the scene on television, says, "Wow. Just... wow." The bulk of the readers of this issue must have felt the same way.
Katana, the narrator of this issue, provides even more commentary on this moment – especially when she states that, despite her TimeDancing with Brooklyn to many other centuries, has never encountered or even heard of any other cases of a gargoyle and a human falling in love. From this perspective, while as impressed by Elisa's words as her mate, she can see the danger; as she puts it, "uniqueness, I have found, is rarely tolerated."
Margot demonstrates this truth in attempting to tear Elisa's testimony to pieces, especially when she gleefully points out how Elisa was keeping the gargoyles a secret from her boss, Captain Chavez (present in the courtroom, and listening to the proceedings with an ominously impassive face). By the end of her scene, Gargoyles fans will be no doubt placing Ms. Yale even higher on their list of "Gargoyles Characters You Love to Hate". The ramifications of Elisa concealing her friendship with the gargoyles (something that has received much discussion from the fans, especially once the hearing entered the story) aren't explored beyond Margot's attack on her, but I suspect that we will see more of them in stories to come (though, alas, there may not be much room for them in "Here in Manhattan" – see below). "New Rules" certainly seems a very appropriate title for this issue; while it immediately applies to the outcome of the hearing for Goliath - and the rest of the gargoyles for him - it also matches the new situation for Goliath, his clan, and Elisa.
Tobe Crest holds his own, however; in particular, he points out how gargoyles aren't the only minority group who've been looked upon as "less than human" in an effective and eloquent manner. And he wins the day, as Judge Roebling (after a pause, during which we get a great "double-page spread" of the people in Manhattan watching this event waiting for his ruling – including not just the Manhattan clan but also Elisa's parents, Beth, the Labyrinth Clan (Delilah is missing, without explanation, but we see Maggie holding her infant son), Thailog, Sevarius, Shahrizad, the Dracons, Slaughter, Billy and Susan's family, even Demona) declares for Goliath and sets him free. A great victory for the gargoyles – as the clan recognizes (Gnash even lets out a cry of "Jalapena!"). It's a pity we don't see Margot's response to it, but there's more issues to come.
This grand moment is followed by a delightfully funny moment where Goliath, after being unshackled and shaking hands with Tobe Crest, discovers the one big disadvantage of being recognized as sentient: every reporter in New York wants to interview him! They're even flooding him with such questions as whether he could turn to stone for them now, and whether other mythical beings, such as fairies, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster exist too. (We know already that two out of the three do, of course – and we don't have proof yet that Bigfoot isn't real in the Gargoyles Universe.) Travis Marshall, in particular, wants to interview both Goliath and Elisa over their love for each other – but that conversation will have to wait when Goliath receives some serious news from Owen....
In the aftermath, we learn that Xanatos, in his typical style, had bribed Judge Roebling (though it's possible that Crest's closing speech may have helped the Judge to that decision; we can safely assume that, while he's not relishing being seen by his peers as "the wacko judge who ruled a monster was human", he probably wouldn't want to be regarded as the 1990's version of Roger B. Taney). Trust Xanatos to engage in that kind of behind-the-scenes manipulation – if, this time, to aid the gargoyles.
But Goliath has other matters to consider on the last page, when he learns that Halcyon Renard is dying (we were prepared for this moment not only by his poor health in the previous issue, but also a summons Fox receives earlier in the issue – from both Preston Vogel and, when she's reluctant to answer it – Titania herself), and arrives at his bedside (with Anastasia, Fox, and Alexander already present). And the "Next" caption reinforces this somber tone with "The Beginning of the End...."
It is indeed the beginning of the end, with only two issues left of "Here in Manhattan". This raises one concern; there are still enough major elements of this story unresolved – Dino Dracon's schemes (a thread barely advanced in the last two issues, though we get a good scene with Dino, Dominic, and Antoinette watching the hearings, and their response to Elisa's announcement – Dino refers to them as "Maza and the Monster", as the latest Beauty and the Beast allusion in Gargoyles), Renard's passing, Broadway and Angela's Commitment Ceremony, and the friction among the Trio – that I wonder if there's enough room to address all of these. But I believe that Greg Weisman will be able to pull it off – and look forward to the next issue....
Featured Characters and First Appearances
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Tidbits
- Brooklyn and Katana are revealed to have encountered some version of the Three Musketeers during their TimeDancing, matching Elisa's mention of them in "A Little Crazy". This continues Gargoyles' record of, whenever the series makes a casual allusion to a famous legendary, historical, or literary figure, that figure is bound to be featured in a later story.
- Fox's line about not letting Vogel "preempt the best show on television" seems to be an allusion to the preemption of many airings of Gargoyles during its second season by news coverage of the O. J. Simpson trial. [2][3][4]
Cover Gallery
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Links
| << Previous Episode: "Here In Manhattan" Chapter Nine: "Your Witness" | Next Episode: "Here In Manhattan" Chapter Eleven: "Young At Heart">> |
