It Flowed Together Pretty Easily – Discussing ‘Gargoyles/Darkwing Duck’ With Creators Greg Weisman and Tad Stones

Two staples of Disney’s 1990s afternoon programing block are teaming up in a new limited comic book series from Dynamite. Gargoyles/Darkwing Duck brings together the Defenders of the Night with the Terror That Flaps in the Night. When Gargoyles’ baddie Demona recruits Darkwing’s Morgan Macawber to Manhattan, the group of heroes teams up in this unlikely combination. Greg Weisman created and co-wrote Gargoyles and Tad Stones developed Darkwing Duck. Now, the pair are writing the team-up. In an interview with Comicon.com, the creators discussed how they brought these two worlds together as well as the similarities between the tonally different shows.

Tom Smithyman: How did you come up with the idea of bringing both of these storied franchises together?

Tad Stones: I was a guest on the Original Art Show with Nick Barrucci, a virtual comic art gallery. Nick is the publisher of Dynamite Comics and after a bit of chat he asked about a Gargoyles/Darkwing Duck crossover. I laughed and said if he could get Disney to agree, I was sure Greg would be up for it because he was part of Darkwing Duck development from the get-go.

Greg Weisman: Yeah, the idea came from on high. But when editor Nate Cosby broached the subject, I was psyched to do it — as long as Tad would do it with me.

Smithyman: These are characters and situations that you both know really well, but both are in their own separate worlds. Was it a challenge trying to merge them into a single joint story?

Stones: You’ll have to read the story for details, but it wasn’t as complicated as you would think.

Weisman: We decided to forego any multiversal nonsense. (Or put another way, this is set on a universe where both sets of characters just exist.) We just wanted to dive in and go for it. Then it flowed together pretty easily.

Smithyman: The two shows had their own distinct tones. When you brought them together, did you find any surprising similarities?

Weisman: There were a ton of similarities. Goliath’s relationship with Elisa parallels nicely with Darkwing and Morgana. Both of our leads have daughters who are game for adventure. The list goes on and on.

Smithyman: You two actually met each other and worked together on Darkwing Duck in the ’90s, right?

Weisman: Yep, working on the development of Darkwing was one of my first jobs at Walt Disney Television Animation. I learned a ton about how to develop, pitch and sell shows from Tad.

Stones: I was just happy to have an exec assigned to the show with real comic book experience.

Smithyman: What is the writing process like with the two of you. And how do you work with artist Ciro Cangialosi?

Stones: Greg took the lead since the story had to originate in the Gargoyles world to give it some serious stakes. We’d talk back and forth, then Greg did the heavy lifting on story beats and final scripts. Then I’d give notes, sometimes drawing up gags. I don’t know if Nate Cosby, our editor, passed those drawings onto Ciro.

Smithyman: Now that you brought Gargoyles and Darkwing Duck together, what’s next? Add in Chip’n Dale Rescue Rangers? Pepper Ann? Recess? Is there any limit on what you can do?

Weisman: It would be a real dream come true to do a Gargoyles/Gummi Bears crossover, since Gummi Bears was such a big inspiration for Gargoyles. But I’m open to just about anything. It’s a kick.

Stones: I’d stick to my own shows but obviously Dynamite is open to all sorts of things. Maleficent and the Gummi Bears? Rescue Rangers rescuing puppies from Cruella De Ville? Heads will spin!

Smithyman: They would spin indeed! Best of luck with the series!