Review: Disney’s ‘Gargoyles’ #1 Return From Slumber

Writer Greg Weisman does a bit of info dumping throughout the issue. Though this helps explain things for those new to this property it might also turn some people off. On the plus side, It does make clear some of the changes that took place in the last series over at Slave Labor Graphics (Gargoyles [2006-2008]). Also when Weisman is creating natural dialogue the quality greatly improves. Arguably Weisman nails the characters’ voices to how they sound on the show (Gargoyles [1994-1997]).

Illustrator George Kambadais is responsible for the interior visuals, as well as covers H, L, and ZG. While the covers all feature the same rather standard group shot they also show off a problem. This problem is that Kambadais sometimes goes off-model. Though when it comes to the interiors and the cover Kambadais is mostly able to stay on-model. Yet, it is noticeable that Kambadais’s style is a more cartoonish manner than the show’s.

Letterer Jeff Eckleberry uses a style of font that mostly works. This style works in how it causes the text to pop off the pages. The spacing between the anchors of the word balloons and the characters is fine. One arguable negative aspect of Eckleberry’s lettering is some of the narration boxes feel a little bigger than necessary. Another debatable bit of the lettering is how it sometimes combines with Kambadais’s style to enhance the story board feel.

Artist David Nakayama is responsible for covers A, J, T, W,  X, and Y. They all feature the same visual of the characters in action. Also there is a nice color palette for this image, minus the black and white variant that is cover J. Though without having an actual copy of the metal premium variant that is cover X it is hard to judge how well the hues work on it. Still each version is high quality and eye-catching.

Artist Amanda Conner provides the same image for covers B, P, U, Z, and ZI. Though there are slight variations to the image with each cover, such as ZI being just purple line art.

Covers D, R, and ZH are by artist Lesley “Leirix” Li. Like Parrillo’s work Leirex’s choice of design is moody and gothic.

Artist Lucio Parrillo does the art for covers C, Q, V, ZF. They all feature the same moody characterization and gothic atmosphere with only slight variations.

Cover K is of debatable quality. This is due to it being mostly a replica of packaging from the initial video home release with the only additions being trade dress (Gargoyles: The Movie: The Heroes Awaken [1995]).

Artist Jae Lae is responsible for the image on covers E, S, and ZE. It features more realistic versions of the Gargoyles which while attention-grabbing are off-brand.

Cover M is a high quality action figure art variant that features Goliath. It is by artist Brent Schoonover and colorist Alberto Silva.

The cover art by artist Joe Madureira from the first Gargoyles comic book sees use again for covers I and O (Gargoyles #1 [1995]). It very much has 1990s sensibilities with the only new addition being a frame and/or differing trade dress.

Covers F, N, and ZD are all essentially the same image by artist Tony Fleecs and colorist Trish Forstner. With the exception of ZD, which is black and white, the art and colors are very much like the shows.

The retailer exclusive cover that artist Ivan Tao provides for Bird City Comics are both high quality images. Yet, they are definitely not accurate representations of the show or the contents of this issue.

Cover G, ZB, and ZC are all blank covers each with a different singular color. While they are all pretty much the same cover ZC’s gray looks to have some sense of texture.

Cover ZA is by artist Drew Moss. It is high quality and somewhat matches the style of the show, but Goliath’s face does resemble a Golem’s.

Artist Clayton Crain gets the characterization right for the variant covers exclusive to ClaytonCrain.com. However, only making the backgrounds different makes these four retailer exclusive covers obvious cash grabs.

There are four retailer exclusive covers that artist Craig Rosseau provides for Double Midnight Comics & Collectibles. Unfortunately, Rosseau has the same problem as Clayton Crain.

Artist Rose Besch creates a retailer exclusive cover for Frankie’s Comics. It is an image of the villainous gargoyle Demona in a manga style that is debatable in its effectiveness.

The Comics Tom 101 retailer exclusive covers features a visual by artist Johnny Desjardins. Both with and without the trade dress this image looks stylistically off-brand due to its realism.

There are multiple retailer exclusive covers for Great Wall of Comics by artist Dan Parent. While the image features the same pose there are some changes. Mainly it is the background changing. Yet, at least one of the covers lacks any coloring. Overall, the only real problem is that Parent could do better on Demona’s proportions and feet.

Artist Eric Henson and colorist Jeremy Clark are responsible for the two convention exclusive variant covers for Rhode Island Comic Con. While the quality is mostly high, especially the colors, the characters do seem to have too many muscles.

The Clan McDonald retailer exclusive covers are by artist Marat Mychaels. They look atrocious due to the positioning of the various elements, especially Goliath’s feet in relation to the roof.

Unknown Comics’ retailer exclusive covers look to be in a sequence to each other, minus the one without color. This means that despite artist Ryan Kincaid producing some good work they comes across obvious cash grabs.

Comic Corner’s two retailer exclusive covers are by artist Greg Guler. The one with a trade dress is arguably the better version due how the one without looks like a poster.

Artist Dan Jurgens and colorist Brett Breeding are responsible for the Midtown Comics retailer exclusive covers. Unfortunately, Goliath’s head resembles Frankenstein’s Monster’s head, and the trade dress is again necessary (Frankenstein [1931]).

Rick’s Comic City has three retailer exclusive covers by artist Tyler Kirkham. The problems are the characters not looking right, particularly Hudson, and the trade dress being necessary.

Adam’s Action Figures & Comics retailer exclusive covers feature a fantastic design by artist Matt Horak. It might be interesting to see what Horak could do on interiors for a story in a Gargoyles special or annual.

Artist Bosslogic creates the image for the two Whatnot retailer exclusive covers. The one with trade dress looks better than the one without due to how the logo’s coloring helps draw attention to it.

Cajun Gamer has three retailer exclusive covers from one great image by artist Peter Smith. Goliath’s missing pupils and overly prominent chin are the only small, but noticeable, problems.

Gargoyles #1 is out now from Dynamite Entertainment.