The uniquely dark-toned Disney cartoon returns in comics form with its creator at the helm, but can it live up to its animated legacy?

168 pgs. Full Color; $19.99

(W: Greg Weisman; A: David Hedgecock, Nir Paniry, Karine Charblebois, Gordon Purcell; C: Will Terrell, Dustin Evans, Stephanie Lostimolo)

It's easy to hate Disney. And almost anyone who does will be glad to elaborate on the topic. But the company's list of atrocities is matched by an equally long list of caveats. Disney is responsible for many crucial contributions to media, thereby making the two de facto educated opinions on Disney "Yes, except for," and "No, but..." but not everyone make such stipulations.

And even without proviso, it can't be denied that Disney occasionally slips something brilliant into the populace. Such is Gargoyles.

When Gargoyles first debuted on Disney's afternoon cartoon block, it was strikingly different than its counterparts. It was one of the darkest things the company had done, and thus didn't bear the Disney name in the title. By hiding their name, Disney made Gargoyles even more mysterious. The show was so good, it seemed out of place next to Darkwing Duck and similar fare.

The Gargoyles series deserves a place right next to Batman: The Animated Series. Both were set mostly at night, and both featured themes of violence, insanity and sexuality typically deemed too risqué for children's cartoons.

But Gargoyles was different. It was violent and sexual in a Shakespearean way, without being directly Shakespearean. Sure, there were Macbeth references aplenty, but they were filtered in a way that made the show seem less like a tribute or imitation, and more like a piece of art that was directly influenced by the Bard. And just like good references, the allusions to literature and medieval history were integral, but not a crutch that would turn off viewers who didn't get them.

The Gargoyles comic on SLG is written by Greg Weisman, who created the original series. With his name attached, the comic almost has to be as good as the show. Unfortunately, it isn't.

It isn't much worse, either, though. This volume collects the first six issues of the SLG comic's "Clan Building" story arc, which focuses on a group of concerned/fearful New Yorkers who want the Gargoyles destroyed. The theme of heroes being persecuted is beyond cliche, especially if those heroes are comic book superheroes. With the X-Men, Spider-Man and even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles frequently facing unappreciative crowds, the comic book version of New York City is apparently one hapless hotbed of heroic intolerance.

The second part of the "Clan Building" arc focuses on a plan to clone the Gargoyles, which isreminiscentof one of the animated series' more sci-fi oriented storylines.

Though none of the driving plot elements are as original as the series itself, all are well-handled. Weisman's writing is melodramatic, but sharp enough to not be cheesy. The love stories that run through - and sometimes engulf - the central themes are years more mature than those typically found in similar forms of entertainment. The painfully astute rendering of emotional pain amidst epic-scale action makes Goliath and Elisa come off deeper than their slightly more enjoyable animated counterparts.

What could make the Gargoyles comic truly amazing would be great art. And while the drawings are good, they're rendered with tired color gradients and the type of digital alterations that make so many panels look like the hideously bland lovechild of an Esterbrook nib and Wacom tablet. All too often in the book, the beauty of great linework and framing is mangled by seemingly lazy Photoshopping. This is a technique that's become all too prevalent in modern comics. There are enough positive examples to show how useful design software can be in comics, unfortunately, none of them are in this book.

The disappointing visuals are a major letdown for the Gargoyles comic. But while it may lack the near-constant brilliance of its afternoon-television forebear, the printed Gargoyles is still worth reading, even if it's a little tedious to look at after a while. | Gabe Bullard

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