GARGOYLES #5 – Comic Review

GARGOYLES #5, from Dynamite Comics on 4/26/23, follows Hudson as he desperately marshals gargoyle allies to rescue Goliath from police custody.

The Details

• Written by: Greg Weisman
• Art by: George Kambadais
• Colors by: Arancia Studio
• Letters by: Jeff Eckleberry
• Cover art by: David Nakayama (cover A)
• Comic Rating: All Ages
• Cover price: $3.99
• Release date: April 26, 2023

Is It Good?

GARGOYLES #5 is not bad. We praised Greg Wiesman’s script in issue #4 for starting off a new arc on solid footing after a first arc with a few rough spots. Issue #5 capitalizes on issue #4’s strong start by laying the foundation for a complex plot to bring down the gargoyles through deception and misdirection within the police and the local crime families. In other words, somebody is aligning powerful forces against each other and the gargoyles, and it’s anyone’s guess who it might be.

The beauty of Weisman’s script is the intricacy of the conspiracy against the gargoyles. Kidnappings, payoffs, and more are employed to make sure the gargoyles, starting with Goliath, are captured for supposedly legitimate reasons. The reader sees how and why Goliath’s capture is fabricated, but Weisman uses enough subtlety to make the public’s turning perception against the gargoyles seem understandable.

The minor down point in Weisman’s script is the speed at which additional characters are brought into the arc, positioned to do their part, and then handed off to the next character. An average, well-paced comic has six or seven scenes to lay out the story. Here, you get ten scenes plus a few extra pages, so the pacing is rushed, and a few scenes don’t get fully fleshed out, particularly with the heads of the mob families. You still get the gist of what’s happening, but those scenes read like quick news bytes rather than full scenes in a complete story.

George Kambadais’s art is fine. Kambadais’s line work is adequate, and his penchant for forelengthening limbs is largely absent, which is a positive. The minor down point is a lack of detail in the backgrounds, but on the whole, this issue is a decent art offering.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

Check out our GARGOYLES #4 review to find out how Goliath was captured.

We begin with Hudson primed to leap into action to free Goliath from a net trap set by the police. One of the masked officers approaches Hudson to ask for patience. The officer reveals himself to be Matt Bluestone, and Hudson agrees to trust Matt to sort this situation out.

Later, the bosses of two crime families receive notices that their kidnapped children will be harmed, goading both bosses to disregard Dane and Dracon’s pleas for cooperation. The notices imply the gargoyles have teamed up with the other families in the kidnapping, spurring a gang war.

We conclude the issue with talk of marriage, a prison break, and a surprising request.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.

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