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Aziraphale writes...
After watching the season premiere of YJ, I have an additional question:
In your reinterpretation of the White Martians, I was confused by their new portrayal as an oppressed underclass compared to the Green Martians, in contrast to their depiction in the comics and other media as hatemongering conquerors. And that led to a confusing racial allegory that I already didn't think worked well, but then I noticed Ma’alefa’ak's birth name is "M'Comm", something original to this show and not the comics, and he was imprisoned in a jail with a giant X on the building. M'Comm X? If this was an intentional reference to real life civil rights leaders, what was the thought process in turning a character who had murdered innocent teenagers the previous season into a Malcolm X analogy?
Greg responds...
I see where you're coming from, but that's not where we were coming from.
The X on the building comes from the X on Martian Manhunter's chest. In our mind, that was the symbol of the M'huntrrs, i.e the Martian police, that J'onn J'onzz was a member of before coming to Earth. I totally see how you got there, but I promise you it literally never occurred to us to associate that X with M'comm to create any kind of Malcolm X reference or analogy.
The name M'comm was, for us, just following in the tradition of most Martian naming, i.e. you take a relatively average human name and Martian it up a bit. Hence John becomes J'onn, Megan becomes M'gann, etc. M'ree, M'aatt, J'ann and M'comm follow along those lines. So, yes, M'comm is a Martianing up of Malcolm, but I never specifically thought of associating him with Malcolm X, any more than I think of J'onn being associated with some specific Jon or John.
Way back when we were developing Season One, Brandon and I rejected the idea of there being an evil race on M'arzz. I find that notion from the comics very troubling. But we did think that the MYTH of an evil race would be useful for the ruling castes to justify their caste system. Scapegoating, in essence, creates a self-justifying belief: "Oh, so the A'ashenn are angry about the way we treat them? They don't like how we keep them in their place? Well, that's because they're hate-mongering would-be conquerors! Thank C'eridyall we DO keep them in their place!"
I've said before that I regret having used White Martians at all. We were following in the footsteps of the comics, but I do wish we had thought to use Grays instead of Whites. For one thing, the idea of Martians being either "little green men" or "Grays" feels right to me, in terms of alien-mythology. But mostly, it's because here in the real world, the word "white" is obviously associated with people of European descent (such as myself) - i.e. so-called Caucasian - and not with the actual color white, i.e. the snow white or chalk white of our A'ashenn. In essence, we were distracted by the visual look of the White Martians and didn't have the sensitivity to focus on the actual and very real connotation of the WORD "white".
That's one of the main reasons why, this season, we made a conscious choice to largely stop referring to the Martians as White, Green, Red and Yellow, in favor of A'ashenn, G'arrunn, B'lahdenn and Y'ellonn. We actively wanted to create some mental distance between the A'ashenn and Caucasians by avoiding the common word "white". We don't want the oppressed A'ashenn associated with the decidedly NOT oppressed Caucasians in any way, shape or form. It's not a perfect solution, but after consulting with our multiple sensitivity readers, it felt like the best we could do, given our failure of imagination and sensitivity way back in Season One.
Brie writes...
Hey Greg!
I have seen people say that Wallace West (the second) and Emiko Queens relationship in the comics is Spitfire 2.0
An archer and a Kid Flash being in a relationship alone is enough to draw parallels, but they also started off fighting/being sarcastic before eventually opening up to each other and starting to date.
My question is:
1) What do you think about people calling them spitfire 2.0?
2) what do you think about Emiko Queen in general?
3) what do you think about Wallace West (the second) in general?
Thanks for taking the time to answer this! I'm loving season four so far!
Greg responds...
1. It feels like a tribute, so I guess it's a smile. But this question is the first time I've heard of this.
2. She's interesting.
3. Also interesting.
Thanks!
Caleb writes...
I've been sitting on this question for a while, so it's not strictly related to the season 4 premiere (which I really enjoyed), but here we go:
Agendas is one of my favorite episodes of Young Justice. I love seeing superheroes interact in decidedly not-super ways. Anyway, I was looking at the membership timeline of the Justice League on the YJ Wiki and noticed that (as a rule) there seem to be no new members for years, and then a huge jump in membership around the same time. What was really odd was the (at least) 10 season 3 additions (from Aquaman II to Steel) all joining around 6 months before the season began. This is contrasted with the Team, where members come and go much more frequently. So…
1. Is the meeting/discussion/vote format depicted in Agendas the primary way that new members are added to the Justice League?
2. Are there any outliers besides Doctor Fate (who was then legitimized by the vote in Agendas)?
3. When multiple members are added in a single day (like Atom, Plastic Man, Icon, and Red Arrow in Usual Suspects or the aforementioned season 3 batch), how are their Zeta-designations assigned? When they debuted as heroes? How many votes they got? Whatever order Batman dictates?
4. Whose arm do I have to twist at DC to get a comic miniseries of Earth-16 Justice League Election Specials?
Greg responds...
1. Yes.
2. On occasion, a hero may be drafted into the League on a probationary basis, during an emergency or for other reasons. But then he, she or they would have to be confirmed in a League vote, as with - as you noted - Doctor Fate.
3. Batman has nothing to do with it. He doesn't run the League. He was chairman during Season One. But since then, we've had multiple chairpersons, including Captain Atom, Black Canary, Wonder Woman & Aquaman (II), and Black Lightning. Generally speaking, if members join at the same time - without having first joined on a probationary basis (as Doctor Fate did) - they are in essence inducted in the order they debuted publicly as heroes.
4. I wish I knew...
Gigliovaljr writes...
Hey Greg,
It has been a delightful surprise for the sudden premiere of YJ Phantoms and I hope there's more episodes soon.
Looking back at when YJ returned, you had a lot less restrictions, allowing you to tell the story more to your choosing, but I can't help but wonder how different season 3 would have been if Young Justice had never been cancelled to begin with and still had those restrictions.
Could you tell us more of how different season 3 would have been if the show had continued back in 2013? What would have changed in regards to characters and story? What plans for season 3 did you come up after the original cancellation and what plans were scrapped?
Greg responds...
I can't answer that. It's hypothetical to a wild degree. Our general plans for the first four seasons haven't changed from back when we first developed the series. But we didn't break Season Three in any detail until DC Universe picked us up for a third season. And we didn't begin breaking Season Four until DC Universe picked a fourth season up - months before DC Universe became DC Universe Infinite, and we moved over to HBO Max.
May Zozi writes...
Okay so my question requires a bit of background:
All three of the Harper boys (Will: B06, Roy: B25, Jim: A45) have different designations yet are identical as they are clones. So, why does the Zeta Tech not view them all as one person?
In S2, the eye scanner at the Arrow Cave viewed both Roy and Will as the same person. When it scanned Will's eyes it recognized him as Roy, who was already inside, then the alarm went off. I am supposing the technology must be different and I am guessing the Zeta tech is more advanced. But then how does it function? WHAT differentiates them?
The only two things I could think were age and physical attributes. All three Harpers are different ages (technically with Jim being the eldest and Roy being the youngest due to time spent on ice) and have differing physical attributes (hair, facial hair, muscle mass, height, limbs in Roy's case.)
My main question is: how does the zeta tube recognize people? Is it through blood, through DNA, through physical attributes? And how can it tell the Harper boys apart?
Thank you so much and really enjoying S4 thus far! :)
Greg responds...
Captain Marvel and Billy Batson were genetically identical, but the Zeta Tube didn't recognize them as the same person. You're assuming that the Zeta Tube is genetically testing potential travelers. And it clearly isn't. I mean how do you genetically test Red Tornado to identify him? Or Sphere?
Liam writes...
Before I ask any questions, I just wanted to say I love Young Justice Phantoms so much so far and I can't wait to see the rest! I'm a big fan of you and Brandon's work on Young Justice and I just wanted to say thank you to both of you for it. It's such a fantastic show that has become such a big part of my life and I am forever thankful. 1) You've said before that important real life events have happened in the YJ universe. Are the people who acted in these events the same people or a fictional character who is not them? (So basically, if Person A carried out an event in our world, could it be assumed the character who did the same was an alternate version of Person A, or a different character who's only similarity to person A is carrying out the action?) 2) Was Hello Megan a popular earth show on Mars, or was it just popular amongst M'gann's family? If it was only popular amongst all martians, what about it made them so interested while earthlings didn't seem to like it all that much considering it was cancelled due to low ratings? 3) What were the cultures you pulled from in order to create martian culture? With mention of a caste system, I assume hinduism is one of them but I assume there are others 4) In season 3, Artemis had mentioned that they know the soul exists because of Secret, does this mean Artemis developed an interest/exploration of the concept of spirituality after meeting Spirit, or was it a belief she had prior? 5) This is an add on to the last question, but I assume it would count as a second question anyways. Does Artemis have any spiritual practices that she has developed or is it more of just a recognition? This last part isn't a question, but thank you, Brandon, and the entire YJ team again. I know some fans dislike it or even wish it wasn't part of the show, but personally I love the way the character's personal lives are incorporated into the show because it adds in a sense of realism that really helps build character
Greg responds...
1. If I understand your question correctly - and I'm not sure I do - then there is an Earth-16 version of real life people doing real life things.
2. It wasn't necessarily a huge M'arzz hit. But there's no Nielson ratings to confirm.
3. As you noted, the Indian caste system was an influence. Racism, in general, is an influence. But I don't want to imply any one to one relationship between Mars and any specific culture or nationality.
4. I don't think Artemis' knowing about the soul implies anything more than that, so your either/or question doesn't follow.
5. This, in essence, is a spoiler request.
Thanks for all your kinds words.
Claire writes...
Was M'gann close to any of her green martian siblings growing up? Obviously not close currently since none were going to her wedding.
Greg responds...
Not particularly - or consistently.
Anonymous writes...
Hi Greg !
What does Zatanna think about Dick and Barbara relationship ? I mean what was her reaction when she learned it?
Greg responds...
Zatanna and Dick broke up long before he started dating Barbara. Zatanna and Barbara are friends, and Dick's super-power is getting along with his exes. So everyone is good with everyone.
Emory writes...
a) What is Ollie’s relationship with Roy and Will like right now?
b) Did Roy join school after he left the team?
c) Is Roy Native American in YJ as well?
Greg responds...
a. Pretty solid.
b. You're the second person today to ask me that. I haven't thought about it, strangely.
c. He might have some Native American ancestry, but generally, he's a white guy.
Dean Paterson writes...
How Old is Harper Row In Young Justice: Phantoms
Greg responds...
By the END of Team Year Ten, Harper Row is 18.
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