Greg Bishansky writes...

"Welcome to Happy Harbor"

It's times like this I am grateful to J. Michael Straczynski's "Babylon 5" for conditioning me to be patient with new TV shows. Like the early episodes of "Babylon 5," while this episode was quite enjoyable, it didn't suck me in and hook me. There just seemed to be a disconnect for me and what was happening on screen.

Mr. Twister didn't excite me as an antagonist. His design was great, and the effects of his powers were great, but there was just something there that didn't grab me the way, let's say Electro did in the first non-pilot episode of "Spectacular Spider-Man." But, maybe it's because I've never been a DC reader, and I never heard of Mr. Twister before this episode aired.

The character interaction was perfectly enjoyable, though. Kid Flash has great chemistry with just about everybody, and his line about finding himself hot had be rolling. Superboy continues to be a fascinating character, especially in his search for identity and purpose.

But, the meat here is the newest team member, Miss Martian. At first glance, she appears to be an unfortunate hold out to the early Silver Age of comics where most of the female characters were just girlfriends and damsels in distress, such as Marvel Girl and Invisible Girl back when Stan Lee was writing the books. But, by the end of the episode, she takes charge and proves that she is quite formidable and deserves to stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone else on this team. I had a feeling her whole "baking cookies" moment was designed to get us to underestimate her.

And her gambit where she posed as Red Tornado was brilliant. I'll admit, I was fooled.

Not bad. I liked it. I liked the pilot much better, but I appreciate a slow build... especially when I know the payoff is going to be excellent. And trust me, comparing this to "Babylon 5" is about as high a compliment as I can give.

Looking forward to next week's. I'll definitely keep watching.

Anonymous writes...

In the pilot, there was a Zeta Beam from the Adam Strange part of the DC 'Verse , is Adam Strange then still a silver age hero in the timeline or has he been shifted more to the present?

Anonymous writes...

Hi, this is more comment then question. First of all the quality of the animation and the character designs for Young Justice is truly wonderful. 10 out of 10...well maybe poor WW's tiara could do with some shrinking. Her forehead is hiding behind that huge thing. :p

I am just hoping that this verse will keep the essence of the DCU but not go down the same road that TAS and Jl/JLU went down. I see you have assured us that you are trying to keep this Earth unique and fresh. I hope so.

Please do better also in how you write your females. The Timmverse women can never touch your Gargoyles females in my opinion and, no, you don't have to comment on that. :) Your ladies were actually complex and have personalities. I couldn't even bear the way Wonder Woman was written in JL/JLU and she is my idol. I must admit I was not happy by the way way the ladies were portrayed in the first episode of YJ. But I have faith that you will do right by them.

So thanks again for making me excited to tune in and watch some decent animation.

So

Anonymous writes...

AHHH so excited for the new episode tonight though by the time you read this message I'll have thoroughly enjoyedf it. I was just wondering how close an eye your keeping on the Young Justice tie-in comic? Like do they have to fact check continuity with you, or are they also kinda paving their own way? I doubt they'll ever be some epic continuity clash I was just wondering how it was being dealt with.

Xander... frustrated writes...

WHO was the first (a) person, (b) being and (c) entity to figure out how to work the Phoenix Gate?

Anonymous writes...

Are we gong to know the characters' birthdays in young justice?

Livy writes...

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions. You and Brandon have done really great work on the show so far. I'm looking forward to see what you have in store for the Young Justice team and the DCU at large.

Anyway, I just have a quick question about the pilot episode(s). When Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin were captured by Desmond, how exactly did Superboy break the control of the G-gnome controlling him? Did Dubbilex have something to do with it or is Superboy really just that stubborn?

tomi writes...

The Gargoyles had very moody and powerful orchestral score, fitting very well into dark athmossphere which show embodied. Batman: The Animated Series had similar alike score(aside sharing some of its, writers/co-workers working on both of the shows).

However, Batman Beyond, although following in same timeline as Batman, taking place in dark future, had much more techno-metal soundtrack. Some themes similar to those heard in previous serie,s were also sometimes used, although in different instruments. Although liking of this change had been little bit mixed among fandom, i personally enjoyed this change, giving refreshing and differencing mood from it predecessor.
Somehow, i always envisioned that Gargoyles 2198, if ever reached to level of becoming animated series, would use similar kind of musical change: after all, in this spinf-off technology had expaned even beyond what we had seen in original Gargoyles, and we,ve would be seeing, thanks to Space-Spawn, alot in and out in our solar system: somehow i personally hear music like Static-x or Matrix soundtrack when thinking what this new enviroment would look like.

Do you think score would remain similar to Gargoyles, or would its future spin-off take futuristic change in not just visual but also sound?

I do understand that you dont usually like hypotethical questions, and i also try to avoid them, but this simply has been rolling in my head alot...

Anonymous writes...

Is Demona's ankle bracelet welded shut? If yes, how does she take it off when she wears high heel shoes as Dominique?

Lexi G writes...

I must say.... I love the pilot episode and even the trailer for episode 3. Waiting for Friday is what's helping me through my final's week haha. Young Justice has the important foundation crucial to a fantastic show. Intriguing characters, an interesting and expansive concept, and, of course, awesome characters. I really like how you set up small plot points in addition to the large ones (such as the Light). In particular, I find Superboy and his reconditioning to life outside a lab to make for very entertaining dialogue. He has to learn simple concepts like junk food and crushes, no doubt with the jokesters Robin and KF providing incorrect info to jerk him around. But it made me think, do the heros have friends outside other superheros/ superheros in training, or will a majority of their social lives be spent with only those groups? Also, will there actually be romantic relationships featured (in both the Justice League and Young Justice), or will it more likely be 'will they or won't they' type romances and crushes? Thanks, I think you are doing a fab job on the material so far and I'm super excited to see the rest!

AJ writes...

Do the Young Justice kids have living quarters at MJ/the cave, like guest rooms or a gym or something, in case of overnights, or is it just Superboy (and maybe Miss M?) who ever stay there?

Will we be seeing the mentors on a regular basis, besides Batman?

Anonymous writes...

sorry not speedy I meant kid flash. I'm always messing up his name lol

meant for the comment below this one

Anonymous writes...

Uh hey greg I was wondering if Artemis has any parents/guardians or did she just fend for herself before she becomes Green Arrows aprentice. I would've asked about Speedy but I already read the issue of young justice#0 good issue by the way

Justin writes...

Dear Greg,

Not so much a question but praise coupled with a comment!
I watched the first episode of Young Justice and, I must say I absolutely loved it! It, to me, is just as well written and thought provoking as Gargoyles ever was and look forward to subsequent episodes from you here. It has actually renewed my taste for the DC mythos... ( I'm generally a Marvel guy)

Side bar, when Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash are in the elevator with Superboy... I had recently watched Awakenings again. And when Robin opened the door I smirked thought "I wonder if commandos will be on the other end, with Robin sheepishly saying 'Heh, sorry, wrong floor?' "

Just stopped by to tell you I love your work and keep it up!

happyteen writes...

What's Demona's insight towards other forms of life in earth? For example, does she share human's outlook in life that everything in this world is there to be exploit by "superior intelligent" creatures like her kind?

Does she consider human ways of exploiting animals and the enviroment acceptable (she hates us and all we do, but I mean...taking aside its us who are doing it)?

Would you say she is more of a cat or a dog "person"¡

Thanks!!

Ashton writes...

Hey Greg,

I have a couple questions about Young Justice.

1. Is Aqualad and Artemis going to become close since they both have baggage? Such as Aqualads father being a villian and Artemis having a dangerous past.

2. I've read online an interview with one of your voice actors for the show, Jesse McCartney stated two things. The first was that the relationship between Kid-Flash, Miss M, and Superboy is going to become a love triangle and the second thing he stated was that early on in the season Aqualad would tell Robin this leadership job is something you were born to do not me and that he needs to take things more serious. He also mentions that this becomes a huge discusssion between Aqualad, Robin and Batman. So my question is whether any of this stuff is true or not?

3. Would telling the age of Zatara be a spoiler? If so then you dont have to worry about it. But if not I really curious whether this is golden age Zatara, he seemed like he was in his late 40's.

4. Is their going to be any episodes that will focus on each member of Young Jusice? Such as a story about Aqualad, Artemis, or Miss M.

5. How do you think Superman felt that night discovering he had a younger clone of himself? Of course he was mad as well as in shock, But he didn't react the way I expected he would towards him, he looked at him angry and basically pond off on the rest of the Leagures, then he flew away.

6. I understand that Artemis profile showed she was a master archer, but how good is she compared to Speedy? Would you say their equal, or one's better than the other.

7. How long would you say each member of Young Justice have been superheroes? other than Robin whos been doing it for 4 years.

Thanks you for taking the time out to answer my questions, Much appreciated!

Anonymous writes...

Hey greg will aqualad be living on land or in the sea

Kenny writes...

hey greg are there going to be any more teen heroes that join young justice besides wonder girl or do they have to have an adult member

Grant writes...

Since Artemis is half-Vietnamese, does that mean she is Cheshire, Roy or Red Arrow's antagonist slash love interest from the comics?

Caitlin VW writes...

Hey Greg, first time asking a question. I'm a big fan of the Timedancer series so I've got a question about Katana, Nashville, and Tachi. What are their personalities like? I don't need the general details so a vague anwser or something like that is fine. Thank you.

flame burner deluxe writes...

why did u make lexington gay?

BonnieB21:-) writes...

Long time lurker, first time poster!

I've been trying to think of some questions I know no one else has thought of before. It's taken me a while, but I finally got them.

I've been a fan of Spiderman all my life and have watched EVERY cartoon version either in syndication, on cable, or when they originally aired. I was rewatching "Along Came Spidey" the origin of Spiderman from Spiderman And His Amazing Friends last night (a gorgeous episode, one of the best of the series and the BEST of his various origin stories (present company excluded)). But I believe this was the last time his full story was told. As in before Spiderman became a crime fighter, he was a "plain, old, SUPERSTAR!!!!!". I saw your Spectacular Spiderman origin and I had to ask you this:

I know you had to/wanted to keep towards Spiderman's live action movie origin which rushes through all the pre-crime fighting stuff. But if you could've, would you have explored Spidey's fame-whoring past? Cause I've always wondered why no one else in New York City, no other fans, or no one else remembers Spidey's pro-wrestling, personal appearance making, TV show guest starring past. If J. Jonah Jamision had a reason for hating Spiderman, I would think that would be it.

I used to watch '60s Spiderman every morning in syndication before going to school. But I hadn't seen it in a very long time until ABC Family/Disney reran a bunch of old Spidey episodes, but only one of '60s Spidey. The interesting thing about Peter Parker/Spiderman is that Peter talks in a mild mannered, soft spoken voice in his real life but once he dons the mask, his voice got deeper and more authoritative. That was the only series that had such a huge differnce between Peter and Spidey.

On Spectacular Spidey, there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between the way Peter sounds and the way Spidey sounds. Was there a reason for that? For the most part, Peter's and Spidey's lives don't connect too much (as in Spidey doesn't have to have long conversations with Peter's friends). But I would think at least of one person be it Aunt May, Gwen, or M.J. would be able to tell Peter's voice over a cell phone and Spiderman sound an awful lot alike.

Thanks for taking the time to answer fan questions!

Anonymous writes...

I’d like a clarification on the only thing I don’t understand about Gargoyles: Archmage’s time loop.

So, the Archmage didn’t die when he plunged down the chasm because he was saved by his future self, thus changing his inevitable outcome: death. But, the future Archmage could not have travelled back in time to save his past-self in the first place unless the latter had survived naturally, only to age and get the talismans and then travel back and begin the loop. The future Archmage saving his past-self from certain death doesn’t go against the show’s premise of time being immutable? The future Archmage could not have saved his past-self without changing history...

Is this confusing? So is this paradox, but even paradoxes make sense when they adhere to an internal logic, but I can’t find this one. A clarification would make wonders for the throbbing headaches this time loop gives me.

Thanks.

Anonymous writes...

This question is a bit strange.

Why does Speedy gets his own theme tune?

Also I would like to say this, after watching YJ, I really prefer Speedy's seriousness over Robin's seriousness anytime. Plus Crispin Freeman is the best Speedy voice actor in my opinion. Keep up the good work.

Neal writes...

Questions regarding some of the actors you have worked with:

1. I know you have casted Xander Berkeley in some of your shows in the past, do you have any plans on casting his wife Sarah Clarke in any of your future projects?

2. Has Peter MacNicol told you about his time on Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie? To refresh your memory, he played that art curator David Langley who exists to have his life destroyed by Mr Bean. Very funny movie BTW.

Tobias writes...

Hey Greg,

I googled much about Vol. 2 but almost only found old threads, etc. about Disney leaving it be. Even here on s8 is a question to you what's about Vol. 2, but that's 2 - 3 years ago.
So I want to be up-to-date about Vol. 2. Is there anything new about the release? Is there any way to get the 2nd part of Season 2? I'll buy Season 1 and Season 2 Vol. 1 off of Amazon, but I want to watch the rest of Season 2, how could I do this?

Hope to hear soon from you! :)

PS: You made a nice show back then!

Michael writes...

Hi Greg,
Hope you're reading this. I really love your work on Spider-man and Gargoyles. As for my question: Considering you have the whole DCUniverse at your disposal, any chance Ragman will show up in Young Justice? It would be cool to have a Jewish superhero showing up in an animated superhero show. Sure, Ben Grimm and Doc Samson are Jewish and have appeared in animated from, but they've never said they were Jewish. Ragman's origin is tied into the legend of the Golem, so any young Jew watching it would have a Jewish hero to look up to. And he operates in Gotham, so it wouldn't be out of place to have Bats or Robin run into him. I'm asking you because you did have The Golem appear in Gargoyles, so maybe you'd want to put Ragman in Young Justice. Just askin'.

All the best,
Mike

Josh Noehring writes...

Love argoyles and now Young Justice. Thank you for your sophisticated art and storytelling. A question regarding Young Justice:

1. Will Ra's al Ghul or Talia at anytime be featured

Alice writes...

hey Greg,
this may seem like a strange question, but I was wondering about the character designs, more specifically in their civvies. At the end of "Independence Day Part 2" before Miss M comes, you see the four guys. With the exception of Superboy, they're all wearing long sleves, Aqualad shown in a sweater and Robin in a sweatshirt AND a coat. While the designs look good, it seems a bit excessive to be wearing so many layers in the middle of the summer. Was this just a decision made by the character designers and animators? Or is the Secret Sanctuary/Happy Harbor just in a colder location?
Thanks for your time!

Matthew writes...

I have two questions on Green Arrow in Young Justice:

1, I noticed that you went with the Green Arrow look with the hood from the Mike Grell series. I always liked that look . I also believe he was using a long bow. What made you decide on the hooded look?

2, I've recently read Green Arrow: The Long Bow Hunters and the first for issues of GA's first series. Have you read Mike Grell's GA comics and what did you think of them?

Matthew writes...

I have a question about Young Justice. In the YJ univese, does the origial Justice Society or any other DC golden age heros exist?

kon-el writes...

1.Are we going to see Superboy's room in the cave?
2.Does all of Young Justice live in the cave?
3.Where Does Miss Martian live?

A Gargoyles Fan writes...

Hey, Greg, if this has been asked before, I apologize, but I was wondering, if you were to start up Gargoyles again, how do you think would be the best way to do so?
You've said yourself that The Goliath Chronicles isn't canon, so starting where you left off (before The Goliath Chronicles, and the end of Hunter's Moon, I believe) might leave a bit of confusion in the franchise. The series is also relatively old, a 90s series from what I know of, so there lies route to restarting it from scratch.

Richard Jackson writes...

While I'm going down memory lane, I wanted to tell you my first impression of Macbeth. I don't know if you intended to use skillful misdirection, but when Macbeth first came on the show, I just thought he was a regular, albeit really athletic, guy whose shtick was call himself "Macbeth." Like how Batman villain Maxie Zeus dresses up like Zeus or the Mad Hatter who models himself on an Alice in Wonderland character. When Brooklyn and Lexington brought up Shakespeare's play, I was like, "That's it. He's just a big fan of the play taking it too far."

Later when I saw City of Stone, I was like "He doesn't think he's Macbeth. He is Macbeth!" Even in "Lighthouse", I still thought he was just an eccentric, especially when he used the alias Lennox Macduff.

Was I dim or should I have realized he really is Macbeth before "City of Stone?"

Richard Jackson writes...

When Gargoyles first came on, I was in elementary school (4th grade), but I knew who the main actors on Gargoyles were and I knew a lot of them were in Star Trek. When I went to see Star Trek: First Contact in 5th grade, (that's how I "reckon time" as Titania would say) I noticed that Jonathan Frakes was the director and I knew he was one of the stars, along with Marina Sirtis. I don't think I knew at the time that Michael Dorn or Brent Spiner were Gargoyles/Star Trek actors, but let's move on.

Right about the time ST:FC came out, it was about the time The World Tour episodes were on TV and I noticed that Demona and Xanatos were in less episodes. I wondered then if Frakes and Sirtis' commitment to that film was one of the reasons for the World Tour episodes, since their availability might have decreased.

I know now from reading the archives that the in show reason was to open up the Gargoyles Universe, but my inner child still wants to know if his theory has any weight.

Secret writes...

Hello Greg,
I strongly support Young Justice and am eagerly awaiting more. I just have a small question which I hope is not too imposing and I don't mind if you are unable to answer. The cast you have chosen are beautiful and seem to be very promising simply from the first two episodes, I just have one question that is important to me and as a very big fan of alot of female super heroines with Black Canary actually being my third most loved(just as a sidenote) I would just like to ask if the main cast of characters will include a couple more girls as prominent regulars, as you have stated before that the main cast will expand, because honestly I love Miss Martian and Artemis and would love to see a few more prominent girls on the team. This is by no means a dig at any of the boys and nothing to do with inequality or what not I just simply have an affinity to the ladies of DC.
Thankyou for your time and I look forward to your response.

Branden Harvey writes...

I love Young Justice so far. The first two episodes were great. But I do have a question.

What made you decide to make Aqualad the leader instead of Robin?

Anonymous writes...

How many languages does Demona speak??

charles.wonsey writes...

also i know since i did not write a question it wont get posted but to the person that sends this to greg please let him get this. its real important to me. thank you again

Charles. wonsey writes...

Hello greg my name is charles and im currently in the navy. in about 4 months i will be a film student and i was interested in producing one of your works. i have a strong passion for film and i eat breath and sleep it. with that being said the school said i should contact you and maybe get to know you. so this is the only way i know that what i have to say will reach you. but i am very serious about my passion and when i finish school i have ideas of what i want to produce as far as film goes. so if you can please email me. im gonna put my email so you can contact me so i can have a better way to contact you. also the school i will be attending is full sail university. my email is charles.wonsey@med.navy.mil so i hope this reaches you . thank you for your time.

John writes...

Dear Greg

Thank you for taking the time to answer all of our questions and for your part in creating so many works of exceptional story telling. May I please ask a few questions about City of Stone?

1. May I ask what the people of Manhattan thought of Demona's appearance when she appeared on their TVs? Did they just assume that she was a human in a really good costume?

2. May I ask whether the Weird Sisters saw the entirety of Demona's broadcast? In part 1, they appeared as super models standing with a crowd of New Yorkers in front of a TV store. If they did see the entire broadcast, were they unaffected simply because they're Children of Oberon?

3. Did Bodhe happen to see Demona when she first confronted the Hunter at Castle Moray? If so, may I ask if he recognized her and if he still thought of her as a potential ally?

Thank you for your time, and I apologize if any of my questions have been asked before.

Richard Jackson writes...

According to the timeline:

September 10th, 1995â€"Talon and the other Mutates flee [the Eyrie Building]. (“Metamorphosis”)

December 10th, 1995. Talon, Maggie the Cat, Fang and Claw return to David Xanatos and take up residence at the Eyrie Building. (more than a week before the events in the “The Cage”)

Where did they go in the interim two months?

AJC writes...

It didn't seem like conan understood who zatara was. Disappointing. But the smoking glove throughout the clip was hilarious.

Doc Ock 2099 writes...

Is Conan O'Brien/Flaming C now officially canon to Young Justice's Earth-16?

Alan writes...

For Young Justice, are you planning to get voice actors who were in your other projects (Gargoyles, TSSM) and did you worked with Jamie Thomason in your shows?

DC Hero writes...

Hey Greg, 1.When the Flash and Kid Flash were running in a circle around Captain Cold shouldn't that have sucked the oxygen from him
2.I noticed in the trailer that Robin was riding a motorcycle, but you confirmed he was 13, so does he have a driver's lisense.
3.They realeased a photo of Miss Martian on some kind of ship.Somebody said she was piloting something called a bio ship.Can you confirm that.
4.If you can can you say who was Green Arrow talking abut when he said ''Glad you didn't bring you know who''.
Thanks for all the help.Can't wait to watch Young Justice on Jan 21st.It would help to put a preview of episode 3 like say 3 minutes.Anyway awesome show.

Skyler writes...

I just wanted to say loved the pilot and can't wait to see what you guys have planned.

But I do have a question. Now I know you're not going to answer any "is so-and-so appearing in the show?" questions, but its just a hypothetical question. I noticed that Zatara was part of the league, and being a Zatana fanboy I was curious, since her dad is in the league and this is about their "kids," I was confused as to how old she might be in this universe, since she's usually one of Batman's fangirls. So, hypothetically speaking if Zatana were to appear in the show would she be her typical adult age or more around Robin, Kid Flash,or Aqualad's ages?