Albert writes...

Hello, Greg!

Alas, another inquiry about Young Justice...

You revealed on an earlier question-and-answer that the mysterious Artemis character, which I think have a vague idea on her identity, is half-Caucasian and half-Vietnamese. Since that the show (by proxy, Earth-16) is all about realism, it got me concerned about biological genetics. It would seem that if Artemis were to be Eurasian, her Asian traits would be more accented given the fact that generally Asians have darker hair and eye color, thus becoming more dominant than her European traits. Artemis having blonde hair and blue eyes would be implausible unless she was three-fourths Caucasian and one-fourth Vietnamese. Will there be an adequate explanation for said incoherence? Either way, I don't care. It's fiction and can do away without one.

Keep up with the good work on the show!

Greg Bishansky writes...

Schooled
The fifth episode of "Young Justice" airs, and the series continues its upward climb in quality. This week's episode was penned by Nicole Dubuc, who previously worked with Greg Weisman on "W.I.T.C.H." and "The Spectacular Spider-Man."

Also making a return from "The Spectacular Spider-Man" are Vanessa Marshall as Black Canary, and Peter MacNicol as Professor Ivo. Marshall brings a cool, confident, and collected sexiness to Black Canary that perfectly fits the character. Honestly, I think she's my favorite actress to voice the character, and this is following the incredibly talented Morena Baccarin ("Firefly") and Grey DeLisle ("Avatar the Last Airbender"). I'll admit, I know very little about the character, but I have read that she is Weisman's favorite comic book character of all time, and as such, I am eager to learn more about her. Her character model is great, very sexy (even if I normally don't go for blondes), but it looks like her famous fishnet stockings have been stolen by the Flaming C.

Then there is Professor Ivo, a character I know nothing about except that dead guy in "Justice League" who constructed the android that was occasionally called AMAZO... but almost under protest from the writing team on that show. I liked Peter MacNicol's performance, but listening to him made me wish I was watching more of Dr. Octopus. I'll admit, I am still not quite over the cancellation of "The Spectacular Spider-Man." At this point, I'm willing to bet he's working for the Light.

And finally, rounding out the introductions, we have AMAZO. I mostly know AMAZO from "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited" and while he was an intriguing character in those shows, they kind of wrote themselves into a corner with him by turning him into a veritable god. The last time we saw him, he teleported himself to the other end of the universe to figure out a way to defeat Solomon Grundy... and they left him there. Probably Forever. Obviously, I don't think we want someone THAT powerful in "Young Justice." But I enjoyed what we got here.

Now, the emotional core of the episode: Superboy. The hotheaded, Kryptonian clone is beginning to grow on me. I understand him, I understand where he's coming from and why he is the way he is. But he's growing and learning. He's got a long way to go, but he's definitely getting better. I enjoyed seeing him use his head, and turn his anger into a strength when he outwitted AMAZO.

Robin continues to butcher the English language, and even I have to admit it's getting a little old. I understand that this is his quirk. But if I were doing that, most of my friends would have told me to shut up by now. Still, I like him.

I am continuing to really like Kid Flash. My favorite moment had to be him hitting on Black Canary before being royally schooled. On that note, I loved it when she royally schooled Superboy.

Now, as for Superman, I'll admit this upfront, I have never been a fan of Superman and I doubt I will ever be a fan of Superman. The character has always been presented as way too perfect for me. Yes, he is "super" but he is also a man, first and foremost. Men aren't perfect and never will be. Which is why I am one of the few I have conversed with who isn't annoyed about his treatment of Superboy. Well, I am annoyed in the sense that Clark is being a jerk, but I like seeing Clark being portrayed with an understandable character flaw. There is a tendency among many Superman fans, that I've noticed, where if Clark isn't portrayed as being better than Jesus Christ, they go ballistic. I think this is a far more realistic take on the character in this situtation, and it works for me. But then, I'm not a Superman fan, so what do I know?

Overall, a pretty great episode. I look forward to next week's, and the introduction of whomever it was that fired that arrow.

Oh yeah, and my favorite moment in the entire episode, when Clark ordered an Apple Pie and Bruce Wayne ordered a Devil's Food.

Anonymous writes...

What are those three dots on Kid flash's arms?

Anonymous writes...

I know character development is important here and at times we all seem impatient but why is Superman ...SUPERMAN...of all people being unable to extend even a few words to Superboy? While I expect it to be awkward and a little creepy for him, we are only subjected to seeing Clark come off like a bit of a jerk. And it is so unfair to the character when he is not like that at all! You have people going on that Superman is a d**k and I am like, he's not! You didn't even put a scene showing Clark's internal struggle as if to show well yes we can see ambivalence but show there is something more. That he can show some innate compassion even for a clone. And of course Batman as usual is the best at everything...best leader, best mentor, best father, has the best protege who will leader...the Batworship in Timmverse was so blatant it got pretty aggravating for me as a fan of Superman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, even Wonder Woman,...as if these heroes were just stupid and usually OOC. I mean I like Batman too but not at the expense of the rest of the League.

I am hoping this show would try to be more balanced and treat every hero with respect and be true to their character. I am hoping the Superman/Superboy thing is resolved with some dignity and not dragged on and on cause we must have someone act like a jerk and let it be Superman. sigh

kalara75 writes...

Mr. Weisman I've been a fan of Gargoyles for years now and just recently came back to check up on things here at S8. I heard about your latest YJ project and have started watching. just wondered if you can devulge if Catwoman might appear in the series somewhere down the road. I've always been a fan of Catwoman and Batman.

Anonymous writes...

Is their any way you could give us the issue number Artemis was in?

Andy.C writes...

Big fan... you heard it all before yada yada moving on

I noticed something in the video where you and Brandon Vietti discuss what to expect from Young Justice (the one where you said in the end not everyone will survive), one of the clips shows Aquaman with longer hair than he has on the show right now, am I right to assume that as time passes some characters appearances might change, or was the design changed or something?

Anonymous writes...

Wing writes...
Can you define your idea of true sentience?
Greg responds...
Probably not. But I'd start with Descarte...
If you can say "I think therefore I am" and grapple with its meaning, as opposed to its mere pronunciation...
Well, that's a starting point.

I wont say it isnt painful to read people that still thinks positivly about Descarte and his ideas toward other forms of life. Animals may not think the way we humans do, but they still do. Descarte also said that animals seemed to suffer pain, but they didnt. You agree on that too?

Im sorry, but it was painfull to read this considering what gargoyles represented for me when I was growing up.

Anonymous writes...

Do the titles of the YJ episodes have any hidden/double meaning like they did in Spider-Man? Or are they chosen merely to reference subtle plot points.

I get the references of the titles "Independence Day" and "Fireworks," as they literally allude to the American holiday in which the episodes take place and also the fact that the sidekicks become "independent" from their mentors. However, I'm missing the possible references of the other episodes, as they seem to be too literal.