Review: ‘Gargoyles’ #11 Face A Change For A Character

Writer Greg Weisman 0pens this issue in an arguably clumsy way. He tries to continue a relatively long ongoing narrative while making it open like a first issue to new readers. Yet, Weisman does well at creating moments where dialogue transitions between scenes. He gets great assistance in this from how letterer Jeff Eckleberry positions the text. Artist George Kambadais also creates the right panel sizes and page layouts to help Weisman and Eckleberry with these transitions. Weisman also writes a nice send-off for a certain character that greatly changes the status quo of a few others.

Colorists Guilia Giacomino and Giovanna La Pietra each make good selections of varying hues for the interiors. However, they leave a glaring outline of Kambadais’s art visible in a lot of panels.

Kambadias creates some nice depth for the interior art and variant covers H and J. Yet, It is odd how Kambadias’s variant cover image is not the primary cover since it suggests one of the plots in this issue.

Covers A, N and O are by artist David Nakayama. They are beautiful overall, yet have nothing to do with this issue, especially as Angela is missing in action.

Artist Lucio Parrillo creates covers B, K, and S. Though the design works on all the versions, the lack of colors on cover S makes it look like a poor photocopy of cover B.

The action figure art for covers F and G is by artist Miriana Puglia, who does well at creating fictional packaging. Puglia also does a great job with the execution of each detail, particularly with the minimalism.

Covers C and L are the work of artist Lesley “Leirix” Li. The art is mostly fine, but Angela’s face resembles the shape of a shovel.

The variant covers E and I are by the art team of Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner. The design and the color palette are okay, but the fact it is a connecting cover to a previous variant makes it an obvious cash grab.

Artist Jae Lee provides the art for covers D, M, R. While colorist June Chung provides the hues for covers D and M. Variant cover R is the strongest at showing Lee’s line work, in particular the inks. However, cover D has the best color balance thanks to assistance of the trade dress. Speaking of the hues, Chung does a nice j0b with blues and purples dominating the page without overwhelming the other colors. Lastly, Lee provides a nice blend of fantasy and realism while staying true to the original models (Gargoyles 1994-1997).

Covers P, Q and T are by artist Ken Haeser feature great work on the expressions. There is confident line work as well. Depending on the reader’s personal view of things the colors on covers P and T might suggest fire in the background. Arguably, cover Q is kind of bland due to the lack of colors. The use of Coldstone’s arm to show Goliath in reflection is a smart touch.

Packager/editor Nate Cosby does a nice job editing this issue. Unfortunately, Cosby does not make sure the colorists receive credit on the recap page, and this means the others get two mentions while they only get one.

Gargoyles #11 is out now from Dynamite Entertainment.