Gargoyles: Dark Ages #[nn]

History

Greg Weisman first publicly discussed a Dark Ages spin-off concept at a fan gathering as early as 1998, and a visual art pitch was shown at annual Gathering of the Gargoyles conventions starting in 1999; it had previously been pitched to CBS as an animated series but was not picked up. At the 2008 Gathering, Weisman outlined it as a planned six-part miniseries that would follow the conclusion of the Bad Guys: Redemption arc — though that comics run ended before it could happen. When Dynamite Entertainment announced the series on April 19, 2023, Weisman clarified on the Voices from the Eyrie podcast that the first arc, 'Alliance,' is actually a different story from the one he had long envisioned as a Bad Guys follow-up, meaning Dark Ages has room to grow beyond that original blueprint. The first issue debuted with a 24-page main story plus an illustrated text story by Weisman in every 40-page issue, and main covers were provided by Clayton Crain throughout the run.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Gargoyles: Dark Ages #1 ('The Reach') was released July 12, 2023, by Dynamite Entertainment — the first canonical, sequential-art story set in 10th-century Scotland in the franchise's history.
• Written by Gargoyles franchise creator Greg Weisman and illustrated by Drew Moss, with main covers by Clayton Crain; variant cover artists included Mirka Andolfo, Jae Lee, Erica Henderson, Alan Quah, and others.
• The series is set at Wyvern Hill, Scotland, in 971 A.D., centering on the alliance between the Wyvern Clan — led by the gargoyle who will later be named Hudson/Mentor — and the exiled Prince Malcolm against King Culen.
• Issue #1 features the first in-comic appearances of Hudson's mate (referred to internally as 'Verity'), four new rookling gargoyles, and a pre-name version of the gargoyle who will eventually be called Demona (here addressed only as 'Angel of the Night' or 'Angel').
• The young gargoyles who will become Goliath, Brooklyn, Broadway, and Lexington also appear, but none yet carry their names — a deliberate creative choice reflecting that the Wyvern Clan did not use personal names in this era.
• Each 40-page issue included a bonus illustrated prose text story written by Weisman, providing additional lore from the human side of the 971 A.D. conflict — a format unique within the Dynamite Gargoyles line.
• The six-issue first arc ('Alliance') concluded in March 2024 and was collected as the Gargoyles: Dark Ages — Alliance trade paperback; a second arc was announced as planned but had not yet been released as of mid-2025.
• The concept originated as one of six (or seven, per differing wiki sources) proposed animated spin-offs in the 1990s, making its eventual comic publication the realization of a decades-old creative intention by Weisman.