Stone of Destiny

Over the next few whenevers I'm going to be doing an issue by issue commentary on the issues 7, 8, and 9 of "Gargoyles: Clan Building". The story is a fascinating, brilliantly written tale centered around an artifact known as the Stone of Destiny and the massive battle to obtain it.

This is my favorite story from my favorite writer, Greg Weisman. It hits everything I love about both "Gargoyles" and the art of writing in general. If someone were to ever point to my ideal piece of fiction, I would point to this story.

I am, above all else, an aspiring writer with comics of my own I want to create one day. When it comes to writing, I find myself to be the kind of guy who values the THEME of a work beyond everything else. Characters, to me, are devices to explore themes with. Plots are the catacombs I travel through to explore these themes and find the answers that come with asking these questions. If a story is not telling me something, it is (at best) a guilty pleasure designed entirely for me to experience when I don't want to think. But stories I read ask the questions I want to ask. And if they don't answer them, they give me a new perspective to think about.

This mini-arc is presented nonlinearly, with events out of sequence...instead of organization by chronology, the story's scenes are organized by thematic relevancy. So naturally, I adored it.

It's also such a genuinely "Gargoyles" story. Robots everywhere, Macbeth and King Arthur having coffee, and magic abound shows that this story presents the vast Gargoyles Universe is a single tale. It's a gorgeous story that both stands uniquely on its own as a short piece and as something that greatly enhances multiple, seemingly contradictory elements of a larger tapestry.

I'm looking forward to peering into it as deeply as it deserves.