Gargoyles: Dark Ages #[nn]

History

Greg Weisman first publicly floated the Dark Ages concept on his Ask Greg fan-interaction forum as early as 1998, and from 1999 onward he regularly presented pitch artwork for a proposed animated spin-off at the annual Gathering of the Gargoyles convention. That television spin-off was pitched to CBS but never picked up. When Dynamite Entertainment announced the project on April 19–20, 2023, Weisman clarified on the Voices from the Eyrie podcast that the comic's first arc — titled 'Alliance' — was not the same story he had originally planned as a follow-up to the SLG era's Bad Guys series; it was a fresh narrative. Dynamite announced the first issue for a July 5, 2023 release (it ultimately shipped July 12, 2023), with Weisman joined by artist Drew Moss (Vampirella/Red Sonja, Copperhead) and letterer Jeff Eckleberry, and with Clayton Crain serving as the main-cover artist across the six-issue run.

Trivia · 8 facts

• The series ran six issues under the story arc title 'Alliance,' with issue #1 ('The Reach') releasing July 12, 2023, and issue #6 releasing March 6, 2024; all six issues were subsequently collected in both trade paperback and hardcover editions.
• Written by Gargoyles franchise creator Greg Weisman and illustrated by Drew Moss, with main covers by Clayton Crain and variant covers by Alan Quah, Mirka Andolfo, Erica Henderson, Jae Lee, Kenya Danino, Jeff Parker, Ken Haeser, Bjorn Barends, and Carlo Lauro.
• The story is set in 971 A.D. at Wyvern Hill, Scotland — twenty-three years before the Wyvern Massacre of 994 — making it a true prequel to both the animated series and all prior Gargoyles comics.
• The series depicts the canonical first meeting and oath between the Wyvern Clan (led by the gargoyle who will become known as Hudson, here called Mentor) and Prince Malcolm, the political event that would eventually result in the construction of Castle Wyvern.
• Demona appears under her pre-series name 'Angel' (short for 'Angel of the Night'), a younger iteration seen here beginning to study sorcery under the Archmage; Hudson's mate 'Verity' and their daughter 'Hyppolyta' are introduced and play significant roles, with Verity killed in battle during issue #2.
• Each 40-page issue includes a four-page illustrated prose text story written by Weisman — transcribed in-narrative by the character Alesand — providing supplementary lore about Prince Malcolm's history and the world beyond the main comic story.
• The Dark Ages spin-off concept had been gestating since at least 1998, first surfacing on Weisman's Ask Greg forum, with convention pitch art displayed at Gathering of the Gargoyles events from 1999 onward, making its Dynamite realization the culmination of roughly twenty-five years of development.
• Weisman confirmed via the Voices from the Eyrie podcast that a second arc of Dark Ages is planned, intended to continue exploring the Wyvern Clan's history between 971 and 994, including future events such as the Archmage's attempted overthrow of Prince Malcolm.