Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American publishing company most famous for publishing comic books set in the so-called Marvel Universe, and featuring superhero characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men. Marvel has also published other books based off licensed properties such asThe Wizard of Oz,Star Trek,Star Wars,Beauty and the Beast,Darkwing Duck, andAladdin.
In 2009, Walt Disney Pictures acquired the company as a subsidiary. How this might affect the potential of furtherGargoyles comics in the future is unknown for now.[1]
Contents
Comics
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is the flagship Spider-Man comic book, that was initially written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko in 1963, and has been published almost continuously for more than nine-hundred issues. In issue #413 "Bug Story", written in 1996 by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Mark Bagley (in a story taking place during Ben Reilly's tenure as Spider-Man), Mysterio traps Spider-Man in a child's bedroom at the size of an action figure. One of the toys that attacks him isGoliath.
Star Trek
Originally based on the franchise's 1979 motion picture, the eighteen-issue comic series had issues written byMartin Pasko and lettered byJohn Costanza, who both worked onGargoyles series published by Marvel. Constanza also did lettering forDisney Adventures magazine.
Beauty and the Beast
Based on the 1991 animated movie, the 1994 thirteen-issue comic series shared artists and crew from Marvel'sGargoyles series, includingGreg Wright andAnthony Tollin.Hildy Mesnik was also the editor for the comic.
Aladdin
Based on the 1992 animated movie, the 1994 eleven-issue comic series shared artistLee Nordling and editor Hildy Mesnik from Marvel'sGargoyles series.
Gargoyles
In 1995, Marvel published an eleven-issue comic book series,Gargoyles, based onthe TV series of the same name. Though the stories published aren't considered canon by series creatorGreg Weisman, he did plan a story for a later issue which was published eventually as"Reunion".
Starbrand & Nightmask
Written by Greg Weisman,Starbrand & Nightmask debuted in December 2015. In "Chapter Four: Initiation", Kevin Conner and Adam Blackveil's nearby-neighboring roommates at Empire State University are namedTri andCedric.
In "Chapter Six: Evolution", as Kevin and Adam are fighting Va-Sohn and Joras-Kyl respectively, Kolobus states, "Well. This is diverting." Eternity responds, "You have no idea."Coldstone (withIago in control) andMacbeth share the same observation whenDemona (in her human form) foughtElisa in"High Noon".
Television
Two television series have also made references toGargoyles:X-Men: Evolution andThe Spectacular Spider-Man.
X-Men: Evolution
X-Men: Evolution is an animated series that ran for four seasons between 2000 and 2003. In this series, featuring the superhero team known as the X-Men, several of the principal characters (good and bad) are re-imagined as teenagers in high school.Gargoyles crew memberBoyd Kirkland storyboarded a couple of episodes as well asFrank Paur directing several episodes of the series.
In the episode "No Good Deed", during a montage of faked heroics by the Brotherhood, Avalanche knocks a stone statue resemblingBroadway off a building so that Blob can catch it.
The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man is an animated series featuring the character of Spider-Man, in his earliest days as a high school student still learning to cope with his powers and his responsibilities. Greg Weisman was the producer and story editor of the series.
For theGathering of the Gargoyles convention of 2009, Weisman produced a radio play script titled"Religious Studies 101: A Handful of Thorns" which is a non-canonical crossover betweenThe Spectacular Spider-Man andGargoyles. crossing The two properties crossed over again with"Recruits", another radio play script written for CONvergence in 2014. This story also included the cast of DC ComicsYoung Justice, as well as a brief appearance by Tony Stark/Iron Man who is also from Marvel Comics.
Gargoyles crossed over withThe Spectacular Spider-Man andYoung Justice again along withBlack Manta's Celebrity Hot Tub in"The Cosmos" for CONvergence in 2016, and"Musicology 101: Songs of the Theme" for CONvergence in 2018. The latter included a cameo of Professor X fromX-Men also from Marvel Comics.
References to Marvel Comics fromGargoyles
- "The Silver Falcon" -Broadway's trenchcoat and hat disguise is a tribute to Ben Grimm/The Thing of the Fantastic Four on how he would disguise himself in public. Also, the way Broadway knocks outDracon by flicking his fingers is also classic Thing.[2]
- "Double Jeopardy" - Among other things,Thailog's color differences were inspired by the Fantastic Four's uniform changing colors due to their travels into the Negative Zone.[3]
- "The Hound of Ulster" -Cu Chullain/Rory Dugan bears some resemblance to the Thor/Donald Blake persona. Greg Weisman has regretted the similarity.[4]
- "Mark of the Panther" - When attackingAnansi, Elisa calls him Spider-Man.
- "Eye of the Storm" - Despite trying to avoid it,Odin's designs were slightly inspired by Jack Kirby's design for the character inThe Mighty Thor.[5]
- "The New Olympians" - Theresidents ofNew Olympus were influenced by The Eternals, The Inhumans and DC Comic's New Gods.[6]
- "Future Tense" - One of the influences ofNew York's condition wasDays of Future Past as seen inThe Uncanny X-Men #141-142.[7]
- "Strangers" - When discussing the designs for theTazmanian Tiger, Greg discussed that his initials on the costume were similar to Daredevil's initials interlocking.[8]
- "The Gate" - The building thatBrooklyn finds thePhoenix Gate on is theDaily Bugle.
In addition, In earlier developments of the series,David Xanatos was named Xavier. The name was changed because of similarities to Professor Charles Xavier (Professor X) fromX-Men.[9] Further, the supervillain known asUltron was an inspiration forCoyote in regards to him being rebuilt with the number model being included in his name.[10]
See Also
- Marvel Comics at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
