Gargoyles: Quest #3 // Review
Demona is getting closer to acquiring the new keys of power. Goliath is trying desperately to keep them away from her, but it’s proving to be much more difficult than he might have originally considered in Gargoyles: Quest #3.Writer Greg Weisman and artist Pasquale Qualano continue their modern fantasy drawn from the popular Disney animated series of the 1990s. There’s a hell of a lot of magical, mystical drama, but it all seems to be set-up for the showdown which is to come later. There isn’t a whole lot of actual action going on in the third issue itself.
Thaliog and Brentwood face a giant dragon names Wyvern. If they can finesse everything just right, they just MIGHT be able to acquire the Lance of Fate. Without THAT, Demona hasn’t got much of a chance of going through with her plans. It’s going to be difficult for the heroes, though. Elsewhere Lord Falstaff embraces Shahrizad and Puck reveals himself to be the Pied Piper of Hamlin. The heroes still need to track down Demona. Puck knows where she is, but he has an agreement made with Oberon....he’s not allowed to share that knowledge with anyone else. This is more than a bit frustrating for everyone involved.
Weisman is working with quite a few things that have a great deal of complexity...but the pacing doesn’t allow him a great deal of time in which to develop any of the things that he’s playing with. The script of the issue feels like an outline. It’s all goes by so very, very fast without a whole lot of direct contact between the opposing forces in the conflict. This is really too bad as it SEEMS like this sort of thing really SHOULD be a lot more interesting that its allowed to come across. Weisman has places to go with the plot and can’t be bothered to linger on important moments.
Qualano has a sharp and nuanced understanding of the basic forms of the cell animated design of the characters. What Qualano is committing to the page is not at all inconsistent with the visuals that readers of the comic book have come to love as echoes of the original animation. Thankfully, Qualano shows that he understands where to take liberties and expand things beyond the visual language of an old 1990s animated TV series. It’s a delicate balance that Qualano manages quite well.
The central problem seems to lie in the fact that Weisman hasn’t been able to frame the story in a way that works. The overall adventure involving a series of ancient magical artifacts in the so-recently-contemporary 1990s really SHOULD be a lot more fun than Weisman is able to conjure for the series. It’s too bad as he is playing with some very, very fun characters that simply don’t have much of a chance to be fun here. Falstaff and Puck and Shahrizad really SHOULD be great fun in the shadow of the Gargoyles. Things move too quickly in the series for them to properly show their charm.
