Grant writes...

For Young Justice, were there any restrictions to the dc universe characters that you could use (aside from Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl)? Is there anything like the Bat-embargo that JLU had?

Nacnud writes...

Dear Greg...

So, you are one of the producers of "Young Justice". Does that mean you'll write the scripts that be produced into episodes or do you have a different job?

Daniel writes...

In the 2198 spinoff, will the people in Avalon get involved in the fight at all? They are clearly at risk to, since the aliens have the potential to destroy earth, and Avalon along with it.

Daniel writes...

Hi Greg, new fan here. Before I ask my questions, I want to thank you very much for what you've done with the Gargoyles franchise. The stories are amazing and continue to captivate me. I will do my best to help by spreading the word and supporting the franchise.

1. Does Goliath's experience in Future Tense effect how he sees and trusts Lexington, especially considering recent predictions being so close to what’s been happening? Even though he never really saw Lex’s costume, would other things such as Brooklyn’s Timedancer costume being very similar and the police station blowing up cause Goliath to be more wary of Lex?

2. Also, is there some kind of inside joke or reason behind knocking Lexington unconscious so much? It might be just me and I understand that he’s not the best fighter, but it seems to happen a lot.

garg and spidey fan writes...

Long time reader first time poster. Something that I found odd in season two of spectacular spider-man was how apparently Norman set up this mentor thing with Pete up in the season opener yet we hardly saw anything of it. There was the teaser for shear strength and that thing with Pete having an osberry prototype in a later episode but beyond that there wasn't really anything else we saw with this mentor thing. I wonder why was that? Did you originally intend to have more of it as a bigger lead in for Osborns reveal as the goblin and simply found there wasn't enough room for it in most episodes, or were we going to see some of this in flashbacks in a later episode where it would be relevant to the story? I ask because it really had me intrigued when i saw this in blueprints and I was slightly dissapointed with the end result not really being much of anything. Although for the record I really loved the show over all and was dissapointed it ended when it did.

Ian Perez writes...

Second question--and given the snafu with the last one, the first one with my name...

Upon first reading "Bad Guys #4", I was rather surprised to see Dingo acting so forcefully in order to prevent Yama from killing Fang in righteous rage. I know acts like that are standard behavior for heroic characters, and that the point of the series is to feature the transtion of these no-longer-villains into actual heroes, but I wouldn't have thought that Dingo was at the "revenge killing is bad and must be stopped" phase yet, particularly given his past as a mercenary--until the moment occured, I would have thought that his reaction would have been to think "good riddance to bad rubbish".

So to sum up all this in the form of a question: why do you feel Dingo was so adamant in preventing Yama from killing Fang?

Greg Bishansky writes...

And, something not "Gargoyles" not "Spidey" and not "Young Justice" related.

I recently saw your Buzz Lightyear episode, "Star Crossed" for the first time. And something about the ending struck me. I had to re-watch it a few times, because on the surface, it didn't sit right with me... and I don't mean that as a criticism.

Did Romac die? His ship blew up on Planet Z. Team Lightyear was already off the planet. All of Zurg's cannons were trained on him. And then we cut away to Buzz's ship, Mira's psychic connection with him telling her that he was "gone."

Brainpod 57 then 'jacks an escape pod on Team Lightyear's ship, leaving a pre-recorded message from Lomac (that was obviously made before they landed on Planet Z) saying that he would some day win Mira back. But we never saw Romac again.

I realize this is a freelance script you wrote a decade ago, and this was still a light-hearted kids' show. But, considering how much I know you love to write on multiple levels, kids would think he was still alive. But I saw an impossible romance ending in a tragic death there.

Or am I just way off base?

Akeem M. writes...

Hey Greg,
Thank you for the two Spectacular seasons of what may be the best Spidey series ever. Unfortunately it was cut shorter than it should have been because of things that were beyond your or any of us fans’ control. I have a few questions about the show.

1) What race are Miles and Aaron Warren in the show? They are clearly tanned and a darker shade from the white characters in the show. Also, they are voiced by Brain George, who normally plays South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, etc) characters. So I’m wondering what specific race you made them. And hey I might as well throw Ox from the Enforcers as well, who is also clearly tanned and his voice actor is Latino (Mexican to be specific), so is it right to assume that Ox is Mexican?

2) You said you had plans for Emily Osborn as she is dead in the comics and has been dead since Harry’s birth. My first assumption is to have someone to run Oscorp while Norman is “out of the picture” as Harry is too young to be a CEO of a business. Is this the case, or were there other things behind her inclusion. She just seemed to be there in the scenes we’ve seen her in; she was either cutting food or walking away. Was she in on the identity and antics of her husband’s costumed criminal alter ego?

3) You have also mentioned you had long term plans for Kraven the Hunter in his beastly form. Since we won’t be seeing those plans come to the small screen at all I would like to ask what those plans were. Most people think that you were just going to make him human again, either via Calypso, or some other way. Were your plans for him about regretting his choice to become mutated in order to beat Spidey? Please let us know what your plans were, as it is an intriguing departure from the comics (and you tesased us about it).

4) Now, according to you in, your Spectacular universe it is now well known to the public that Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin after his “final” fight in Season 2. In the comics, the Green Goblin’s identity was a mystery to the general public in the comics until real recently in Spidey’s comic history. In fact, before Norman came back from the dead, Norman’s hobby was the leverage that Roderick Kingsley had on the Osborn family for blackmail during his stint as the Hobgoblin. I’m curious to know why you made this decision and how the Hobgoblin story would have been handled with the information that Roderick had just out in the open to everyone in New York like that.

5) Also, even though it's all moot now, I need to know, what were your major plans for the show had it continued...provided that what you answered above wasn't all of it. You don’t need to give any SPECIFIC details since aside from Hobgoblin and Scorpion showing up in season 3 and Peter graduating high school at the end of the series' run, nothing was ever really set in stone. However you did have some ideas about where you wanted the series to go, and I can assure you that the many other fans and I would love to hear any of your ideas about where you were headed with the show. And...the fact that I'm kinda desprate for ANYTHING Spidey related now that there is nothing on TV until next year....

Gothic Cowboy writes...

Mr. Weisman, in "Ill Met By Moonlight," Titania aided the World Tourists, and, when asked, cited gratitude as her motivation. Later, we learned that she was referring to the events depicted in "Walkabout." My question is, if Titania felt a sense of gratitude towards Goliath, did she also feel that was towards Dingo? After all, Dingo played a role in stopping the Matrix from calcifying the world, and he also took up the responsibilty of working with the Matrix, thus relieving Titania and Fox of any responsibilty they might have towards the Matrix, as its creators. If anything, one could argue that she owes him more for taking that burden from her.

Grant writes...

In several episodes of Disney's Aladdin there featured a winged serpent character from a Mesoamerican rainforest who served the role of an antagonist to the characters. Though there are only surface similarities to the character of Zafiro in Gargoyles, both of them were voiced by Hector Elizondo. Were you aware of this? Was the casting a coincidence?

Anonymous writes...

For some reason, Man-Wolf is a very cool villain to me. I loved what you were doing with John in the show. Did you have a plan to make him Man-Wolf? It seemed like Professor Warren was going to be the perfect catalyst/enabler for that transformation.

Also, you once said that even if one didn't like the transformation of Kraven, to bear with it because you had some really cool plans extending from that. Would you be able to give us an idea of what those plans were?

Antiyonder writes...

One particular cartoon I heard that you tried to pitch was Disney's Villains which you gave this description for:
"DISNEY'S VILLAINS.

We had to develop this one over and over, despite the fact that I successfully sold it to Michael Eisner on MORE THAN ONE occasion. The problem was that MY BOSS, Gary Krisel, didn't like the idea and kept rejecting every approach. Kept unselling the idea, in essence.

One approach had Captain Hook (easily the original model for Igthorn who was in turn the original model for Xavier) stumbling through the Wicked Queen's Magic Mirror into Jafar's lamp. Jafar can't get out, except on a technicality. If the world turns so evil, that letting him out is redundant, than he's free. So he applies a carrot/stick approach to Hook and has him gather the greatest villains in the Disney Toon Universe to try and turn the world evil.

Our main cast included Hook, Cruella, Don Karnage, Mad Madame Mim, Megavolt, Toadie. Ratigan, maybe. I can't remember now. It was long ago and we went through so many versions. We put together some VERY funny stuff.

There was one story with Ursula and Monstro for example.

Another great series I couldn't get on the air."

Now have you considered approaching Disney and Boom Comics with this story? I ask since Boom has published several comics already on classic franchises (i.e. Darkwing Duck, The Muppet Show, Toy Story). Infact, the continuation of Darkwing Duck is why I felt the need to bring up this question.

Or have you lost interest in the series?

Greg Bishansky writes...

You once said that the reason Demona hasn't been back to Nightstone Unlimited since "Hunter's Moon" is because she is lying low, paranoid that "Dominique Destine" has been outed. Robyn Canmore found out, turned out to be a Hunter, and was then taken into custody.

But, and this is something else I was wondering recently. Would Demona have any real interest or even desire to run a corporation? That seems to be Thailog's M.O., considering who educated him.

Demona doesn't seem to me like she would have the patience to deal with all the paperwork, and other responsibilities of a CEO. Not to mention it seems doubtful that she has any business training. I'm assuming Thailog gave her a crash course when they both established the company.

I guess what I am asking is, did Demona have any interest in Nightstone Unlimited at all besides using its resources to finalize Operation Clean Slate?

Grant writes...

1) Is Miss Martian like her counterpart from the comic book a white martian?

2) Is Artemis an original character like Aqualad?

3) What is the origin of Superboy? Is he a clone of Luthor and Superman like in the comic?

4) It's being reported that YJ is actually set in one of the DCU's multiverse earths? Is this true?

5) Why Zatara and not Zatanna in the Justice League?

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

one last question:
In response to my appreciative ramble on your portrayal of Flash Thompson in the cartoon you answered that you had specific ideas about when and why Flash stopped liking Peter and being friends but you were on the fence about revealing them. Similarly on when he transitioned to actually tormenting Peter and whether all this took place before or after Peter’s parents’ deaths. If you have come off the fence in whole or in part I’d love to hear more.

You also said that Flash’s well timed hauling of Peter over the coals for his bad treatment of others was the reason he was went to the hospital and not to visit Aunt May. (Though I suppose he may have visited as well.) If despite all the animosity he believes he justly holds towards Peter he still came and did that, it speaks all the more highly of him. Also kudos to the animators for giving him that annoyed look that fits very well with: ‘I have to be doing this right thing here, but you really don’t deserve it’.

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

This is touching on the type of theoretical questions you hate, but I’ll attempt it…

Are there any shows you watch that you wish you were involved in? Any shows you are glad you weren’t involved with because you wouldn’t want it any other different than it is? Any shows you didn’t enjoy, but think you could have made the concept shine? I don’t necessarily mean something you worked on and it didn’t work out, (like when you wrote the series bible to Roswell Conspiracies or the like), I mean even seeing a cartoon as an adult that you enjoyed as a child and thinking ‘if I were doing that…’. That creative itch that sometimes hits when watching a show and really wanting to play in that sandbox.

I figure either you'll hate this question or one or two examples will suddenly spring to mind.

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

I’ve heard you mention several times that you have had very good luck with S&P over several series, praising people who really understood the series and were more interested in showing consequence than keeping any violence off screen. When they put their foot down it was generally to avoid what a child can copy, even willing to have a different violent action in place they couldn’t. Did you ever have bad experiences? (Either on a series you were running, or one you freelanced on.)

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

I read an interesting article arguing that Ditko walked away from Spiderman because of an affront to his Objectivism principles. Specifically that he was setting up Norman Osborn to be Peter’s mentor and an exemplar of Objectivism. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the theory, and if there was ever a thought about it when working on Spectacular Spiderman?

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

I had asked what age you thought is the youngest age to start watching Gargoyles and…
Greg responds...
Well, I may not be the best person to go to for this advice. Not like I'm some parental expert. Just a parent. But I started my kids on Gargoyles VERY YOUNG. And it held their interest, which was my main concern. There's stuff there for them to enjoy, and IF THEY ASK about any of the more mature aspects of the show, there are teachable moments. That is to say, I didn't sit them in front of the TV and walk away. I watched WITH them. We had fun. And we learned some stuff together. But I think they were each about two when they started watching Gargoyles.

That's right! TWO!!! <chuckle>

Okay, yeah, I'm a bad parent. I mean I watch Dexter with my fifteen-year-old daughter. So don't listen to me.

Me again…
I just couldn’t watch a show like Dexter with my little girl! It seems just wrong to tell a child, “Tell mommy when the gore is done so she can open her eyes.” Wait… you meant because she enjoys it, not just so you don’t have to watch ‘icky’ scenes? I suppose I can see myself doing that J

[Just in case you don’t have perfect recall- the rest of your answer was really good parental advice, ‘expert’ or no:
“But I do think the key is to watch Dexter WITH your kids and not let them watch it alone. Oh, and when Dexter's over, put on an episode of The Office or something light and funny before bedtime. ”]