Greg responds...

No comment.

Greg responds...

I don't recall that, so I'll say... no.

Greg responds...

1. We listened to about seven or eight submissions. Four of those, including the Tender Box song you're all familiar with, we liked a lot and wanted to use on the DVDs, but couldn't afford to. And, yes, Vic & I picked the song, though of course we needed approval from a whole bunch of folks at Sony, Marvel and KidsWB. Fortunately, everyone agreed with our choice without reservation.

2. Yes. Scooby-Doo, plus he's guest directing episode 20 of Young Justice.

Greg responds...

Tombstone/Robbie would fall under the category of discontinued future plans, which I've pretty much decided there's no upside in me revealing.

As for Montana becoming Shocker, it just seemed to fit. Montana got away at the end of "Survival of the Fittest" and would be at loose ends without his Enforcer buddies. And he had a fun personality to inhabit the Shocker suit and gear. It worked for us.

Greg responds...

1. I hope not. Ask Marvel.

2. I'm perfectly willing.

3. I haven't seen Avengers, but Frank Paur is producing it, so I take it for granted that it's great. But in any case, I don't see YJ as being in competition with Avengers. There's room for both.

4a. No. There's no upside in me watching Ultimate. If it's great, I'll be jealous. If it sucks, I'll be frustrated.

4b. No. I'm plenty busy on YJ.

4c. I hope so. Ask Marvel.

Greg responds...

It's both or neither. The main concern for both companies (not including the legal ramifications, which separate LAWYER-TYPES deal with) is to make sure we are being true to the characters. Some DC and Marvel people focus on specifics. Some focus on the bigger picture. Some both.

But basically, they don't reject premises out of hand. Just the way we are dealing with their characters. And even that is fairly rare. Both Marvel on SpecSpidey and DC on YJ have been great partners in the process.

Greg responds...

Hmmm...

I don't have it here at Warner Bros to look through it and see if it's post-worthy. But I'll think about it.

Greg responds...

It's a legitimate gripe. And I doubt my answer will satisfy you, but it came down to a couple factors that we at least found important: (1) practicality and to a lesser extent - but intertwined with - (2) tradition.

Let's start with practicality.

You asked why there were no female Leaguers until the end. But where would they have fit? There are no female Leaguers with traditional first generation sidekicks. So Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman and Flash could not be replaced by Wonder Woman, Black Canary or Hawkwoman. That leaves the four Leaguers introduced at the Hall of Justice. I needed Martian Manhunter to be there to set up Miss Martian. I needed Red Tornado there to set up his interest in the teens. I needed Superman there to set up Superboy. That leaves only Zatara. He was certainly replaceable. But then I would have had to hire another voice actress to read ONE LINE. I couldn't afford to do that. We have budgets. (And you'll notice that Red Tornado never speaks in the episode. Couldn't afford giving him a line either. None of which had anything to do with gender.)

There was NEVER any intent to introduce Artemis this early in the season for story reasons. Wouldn't make sense for her character. And I think the reasons why will become clear as the season progresses.

As for Miss Martian, yes, in theory, we could have introduced her sooner. Manhunter COULD have brought her along at the beginning. But then I'd have had FOUR characters running around the first half hour and FIVE in the second. That steals screen time and characterization from everyone. I think the entire production would have been weaker for adding another character -- ANY other character (gender notwithstanding).

Of course, that begs the obvious question - why not ditch one of the boys in favor of her to create a little balance.

But it seemed to us that would create balance at a cost.

There are FOUR TRADITIONAL sidekicks: Robin, Speedy, Aqualad and Kid Flash. To leave one out seemed wrong to us. Which brings in the Tradition argument, which I'll admit is somewhat feeble, but as an old comic book geek, I'll also admit it matters to me and to everyone else here.

The very first Teen Titans story ever in Brave and the Bold featured only THREE heroes: Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash. Wonder Girl did not join until their second adventure. So we felt there was a precedent for beginning with Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash and saving the real introduction of Miss Martian (beyond hellos) for OUR second adventure.

For what it's worth, if you give the series another chance, starting with episode three (i.e. the one immediately following the pilot "movie"), I think you'll see that female characters including Miss Martian, Black Canary, Artemis, Wonder Woman and MANY others will be playing ESSENTIAL roles in the show as we progress. I think the balance - and then some - is absolutely present in the first season when viewed in its entirety.

Yes, the pilot was very boy-centric, but that's not the rubric for the series. Personally, I love writing female characters, and if you're at all familiar with my past work, you'll know I have a history of doing them justice. (At least, I think so.) Gargoyles, for example, is FULL of strong female characters, including Elisa, Demona, Angela, Fox, etc. WITCH was nearly ALL female leads. Even Spider-Man had a strong female supporting cast, in my opinion at least.

If we did "reinforce a stereotype" (which I think is overstating it) then perhaps we've lured in kids that we will reeducate over the course of the season - organically without forcing it.

So I'd beg a little patience, a little indulgence... maybe even a little trust that we'll do right by this issue.

But judge for yourself.

Greg responds...

I just have no idea on either front.

Greg responds...

I do want to. But I'm not sure I'm smart enough to come up with an original reason for it to happen -- that WORKS with the tone of this show. Way back when, I wanted to do a musical episode of Gargoyles, but could never come up with a justification. Then Joss Whedon did "Once More With Feeling". And of course, the answer was obvious. I could have used Puck to force everyone to sing. Trouble is... I wasn't smart enough to figure that out first. Yes, that's right. Joss Whedon is smarter than I am. Now, taking that approach would REALLY look like I was ripping off his idea. I'm not 100% sure I'm above that. But I'm about 87% sure, so...

Even on Spidey, which was a show with a way less realistic and grounded tone than YJ is, I struggled to find an original reason to do a musical episode. And I couldn't figure one out. So the odds of me figuring one out on Young Justice seem slim, I'm afraid.