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Young Justice: Invasion

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Anonymous writes...

if you only intended for there to be a handful of characters that are leads, why didn't you keep the cast small like season 1 instead of adding a bunch of characters you have no intention of focusing on? that way, people could have focused on the mains without being distracted by the characters who are background. can you really blame people for being disappointed when their favorite character shows up, only for the show to do nothing with them and move onto someone else?

Greg responds...

I don't blame people.

Why are you blaming me for making the show I want to make? (Or more accurately, the show that Brandon and I want to make, and which many, many, many fans seem to enjoy?)

I've already answered over and over again why we have always continued to expand our cast. Why some characters are leads in a given season. Why some are supporting. Why some are cameos. Why our spotlight moves around as it does. Feel free to go through the ASK GREG archives and get the lowdown. I'm definitely not in the mood to repeat myself.

But I will make these points:

Blue Beetle was a lead in Season Two. In Season Three he was supporting. In Season Three he only cameod. But should we have NEVER introduced him, just because we didn't make him a lead EVERY season?

Zatanna was supporting in seasons one, two and three. She became a lead for a chunk of Season Four. Should we never have introduced her either?

And if, for example, we made Wonder Girl a lead in Season Five (assuming we get a season five and assuming that's in our gameplan), should we have waited UNTIL Season Five to introduce her? Or might not her Season Five characterization BENEFIT from her having been introduced earlier and us having watched her grow at least a little from a Wonder Woman fangirl in Season Two, to the leader of the Outsiders in Season Four, leading up to whatever might be depicted in Five? And if we then dropped her back down to Supporting in Season Six, would that mean we should never have made her a lead in Season Five?

Different fans might disagree about their specific favorites, but I'd bet anything that NO FAN wanted us to have six heroes and NEVER introduce any more ever. It's a big DC Universe out there. And nearly every fan is frickin' greedy for their favorites to appear.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Hayden Philyaw writes...

Hello I have another question!

I remember reading something about how there was some unused ideas for Young Justice Invasion! What were those unused ideas?

Greg responds...

There weren't unused ideas specifically for Invasion. Brandon and I simply have a TON of unused ideas for Young Justice and Earth-16, in general. But I'm not going to tell you what they are. Cuz I don't give out spoilers.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Notice how in season 1, no one felt the need to bring up the fact that Aqualad is black? He just is, and he was a well-developed character. Same with Jaime in season 2 - he's clearly Latino by his name and appearance and sprinkles Spanish into his speech, other than that his character had a compelling storyline that had nothing to do with his race. That's how you do diverse representation properly.

Whereas with Halo and Khalid, the audience is outright told that they're Muslim instead of shown, and it's a big part of both of their arcs. YJ is a superhero show with an ensemble cast that doesn't go super deep into the character's personal lives, and religion is personal - that's why we don't know the majority of the characters' religion.

To harp on it so much with the two Muslim characters reinforces this idea that Muslims are "others," that we're not "normal" like white Christians and that we're all extremely conservative and ultra religious. It would have been nice to have a character that's visibly Muslim (Halo's hijab) or shown to be Muslim in subtle ways (like by saying certain Arabic phrases or mention celebrating a holiday) and just let them be a normal character with a compelling storyline.

You guys had representation down perfectly in the first two seasons, I don't know why you've changed the approach?

Greg responds...

Wow, I disagree with just about EVERYTHING you've written above.

For starters, you're not TOLD Halo is Muslim. You're shown that they're exploring whether Islam might hold some meaning for them. You're not TOLD Khalid is Muslim, you're shown what his Muslim heritage means to him.

And I think both characters have extremely compelling storylines. You don't have to agree, of course. But I don't have to agree with you, either. And I think you're just WRONG.

And we sometimes do go into religion for other characters. Zatara immediately springs to mind since we showed his faith in the very same episode in which we explored Khalid's religion - and in the one that follows.

I don't think either Khalid or Halo are presented as ultra religious, either. Certainly, Halo's not. They're not even certain they want to be Muslim yet. (They're exploring!) I don't even think Khalid's mother is presented as ultra religious, really, though I'll admit you could make that argument about her. And Gabrielle's mother is talking about religion ONLY because Violet asked her about it. She's not proslytizing.

Zatara's the only guy, actually, whom we see kneeling in church and praying. Why doesn't THAT bother you? Is he suddenly "other" and not "normal".

I mean, sure, he is. That's the point. WE ARE ALL OUTSIDERS. Everyone is different. With different needs and different wants. Faith being one of many, many, many variables worth exploring.

And we have other Muslim characters who NEVER mention their faith at all. Queen Bee and Noor Harjavti, to name a couple. One's a villain, and one's pretty minor. But my point is that we don't have any rules. We're doing what we think is right for each of our characters individually.

And I don't think we have "changed the approach." I think we've evolved it. We're going deeper. (Cuz, you know, we're in our fourth season.) Deeper in TONS of ways. Deeper into Beast Boy's mental health. Deeper into Artemis and Jade's difficult childhood. Deeper into Halo's sexuality. Why should religion be off-limits? Especially, since EVERY single Muslim we consulted with and who worked on the season liked what we were doing and helped us get there. This has a positive meaning to many people. I know cuz they've told me that. And again, that doesn't mean YOU have to like it. It just means you can't possibly claim to be speaking for everyone. Not even for every Muslim.

And while I'm at it, I wouldn't be shy about going into Jaime's Mexican heritage. Hasn't come up yet. But I'm not saying it won't. It could become a big issue, if and when we go deeper into his character. Might hit on his Catholicism. Might not. But I wouldn't shy away from it.

Kaldur's blackness is pretty much a non-issue in Atlantis, but we have dealt with his lack of "purity" to certain racist Atlanteans in our companion comics. It's a metaphor. And not a subtle one. So you are OBJECTIVELY WRONG when you say we didn't deal with race. We did. IN DEPTH.

But my real issue, is that I really, REALLY don't like you trying to rein us in and tell us what is and isn't worthy of our attention. It grates on me that you're speaking in absolutes, as if there's only ONE GOOD WAY TO MAKE A SHOW. And, again, I disagree. Strongly. (Or was that not clear?)

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Paul writes...

Hi Greg!

1) Is there any particular reason why Troia and Sergeant Marvel have their hair tied back? I ask because I don’t think this is the case in the comics, and because other superheroines in YJ do not have their hair tied back (Miss Martian, Zatanna, Wonder Girl). (I suppose maybe Artemis and Batgirl did though and I’m just not remembering that fact for some reason.)

2) How does Sergeant Marvel compare in terms of strength to Superboy, Troia, and Wonder Girl?

Greg responds...

1. Artemis did as Artemis. She doesn't as Tigress.

Out of Universe, it's a design choice, made in a three-way discussion between our character designer(s), Brandon and myself. In universe, chalk it up to each character's personal choice.

2. I've never liked these kind of comparisons, but of the four, Superboy is the strongest. The other three are all pretty close to equal. Although, everything is situational.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Secret writes...

Questions about the Memorial Holograms
1. How long does it take for them to display the memorial hologram when a hero has died?
2. Do they do it immediately or wait sometime until it’s ready?
3. Who came up with the idea to display the holograms in the first place?
4. Who is responsible for setting them when they are ready?
5. When exactly did the Team display Wally, Conner and Tula’s holograms? Specially day and month!

Greg responds...

1. I'm not clear on what your asking. Like how long does it take to prep a hologram? Not long.

2. How could they do it before it's ready? It would be fairly soon after the funeral, I suppose.

3. No spoilers.

4. I dunno. I guess ultimately it is the responsibility of the League Chair. The buck stops with them. Doesn't mean they do it personally.

5. Again, it would have been shortly after the funeral. I haven't fixed a specific date for it.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Matt Itelson writes...

Does Tim have stealth-tech in his costume or is he capable of sneaking without it like Dick?

Greg responds...

We generally play the Robins as not needing it, do to their training.

Response recorded on September 30, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

1) Do Beast Boy & Miss Martian know that it was Queen Bee who murdered Marie Logan?

2) Do they want justice or revenge?

3) Have they not pursued justice because there just isn't a viable way of doing that - short of murdering a head of state?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. Who says they haven't pursued it?

Response recorded on September 28, 2022

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Caleb writes...

Hey, Greg!

Some Zeta questions that hopefully don't cross the line into spoilers.

1. You've revealed that Jay Garrick and Bart Allen were given the Zeta designations A-13 and A-14 respectively, but we haven't seen those numbers used on screen. So how are they actually read out by the computer? Is it Flash A-13 and Impulse A-14, or Jay Garrick A-13 and Bart Allen A-14, or one codename and one secret identity?
2. Same question for Lucas "Snapper" Carr A-01. Is he Snapper, Snapper Carr, Lucas Carr?
3. Is there an in-universe reason why Dick, when assigning G-series designations, used the last name-comma-first name format when the A-series designations we've seen are just first name-last name?

And a couple that I think will be spoilers:

4. Did Eduardo Dorado, Sr receive a Zeta designation during/because of his work on the Erdel Initiative?
5. Were the Doom Patrol ever given Zeta designations during a hypothetical JL/DP crossover adventure?

Greg responds...

1. A-13 was Jay Garrick. A-14 was Impulse.

2. A-01 was Snapper Carr but was updated to Lucas Carr between Seasons One and Two.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.

5. No spoilers. (You had to push your luck, Caleb.)

Response recorded on September 28, 2022

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Manny writes...

Hi, Greg. Amazing show, loving Phantoms so far (ep. 13, waiting for the date for the 2nd part of the season).
Why you can say that Robin (Tim) and Wonder Girl (Cassie) are done for but not if Zatanna and Dick are done for? It’s because Tim and Cass are not as important as Dick and Zee?
Did you expect for your new relationships to be as well accepted as they were or they surpass your expectations? I’m talking about Spitfire, SuperMartian and Chalant that became fan favorites in no time.
Anyway hope you and yours stay whelmed and much health to all of you.

Greg responds...

1. This is exactly why I shouldn't ever say anything. Because fans compare responses to different questions and then make assumptions based on those comparisons. Cassie and Tim are very clearly over in the show. Dick is very clearly with Barbara. Beyond that... write your own fanfiction, I guess.

2. Everyone forgets. Back in the day, I got a TON of negative feedback on both the Superboy/Miss Martian relationship and on the Artemis/Kid Flash relationship. Now, they're held up as perfection and used to attack what we've done since. It's a head shaker, mostly.

Response recorded on September 28, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Since Vandal Savage has taken numerous aliases of famous historical figures, does that mean that, in Earth-16's historical records, the birthdates of these figures are actually FALSE; while the dates of their "deaths" are technically TRUE in some sense (assuming Vandal Savage disappeared during each "death.")?

Greg responds...

Stands to reason, I suppose.

Response recorded on September 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

If Icicle Jr. was technically still in love with Tuppence Terror (despite the fact that Miss Martian having posed as her), than why haven't asked her out yet? Is because he's worried that her twin brother, Tommy, will beat Icicle, Jr. up if he tries to date his twin sister?

Greg responds...

I think it's clear he HAS asked her out. Multiple times. Probably an inappropriate number of multiple times, knowing Junior. I don't think he's worried about Tommy. I don't think Tommy's worried about him. And Tup can handle herself.

I also don't think Junior really is "in love" with Tuppence. He just wants to be in love.

Response recorded on September 21, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Are the full names of the known members of Earth-16's Flash family correct?

Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick

Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen

Iris Ann West-Allen

Robert Rudolph "Rudy" West

Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West

Bartholomew Henry "Bart" Allen

Greg responds...

Again, I'd have to do research to confirm any of these in full, particularly middle names, which I have not studied and/or don't remember.

But I lean toward Jay and Barry being their actual first names and not short for anything.

Wally, on the other hand, is indeed short for Wallace.

And I can confirm that Iris currently goes by the surname West-Allen. In fact, I can confirm all the surnames.

Response recorded on September 21, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

On Earth-16, are Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake considered to be the legal wards or the adoptive sons of Bruce Wayne? Also, do Dick, Jason, and Tim consider each other to be adoptive brothers?

Greg responds...

They definitely consider themselves to be brothers.

As to the legalities, that amounts to a spoiler question - except for Dick, whom we've already clearly established to be Bruce's legal ward. It's not that I don't have an answer, it's just that it hasn't come up yet, and I don't want to put anything definitive down without making sure Brandon and I are in synch on the subject.

Response recorded on September 20, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Questions In Regards To Earth-16's Robin III:

#1. Is his full name Timothy Jackson "Tim" Drake?

#2. Are his parents' names Jack and Janet Drake?

#3. Did Tim and his parents went to the Haly International Traveling Circus to see the Flying Graysons when Tim was a young boy?

#4. After Jason's death in early 2015, what exactly did Tim have to do in order to convince Bruce Wayne to allow Tim to become the third Robin?

Greg responds...

1. I'd have to research his middle name to confirm this. My memory is not what it once was.

2. I'd have to research his parents' names to confirm this.

3. No spoilers.

4. No spoilers.

Response recorded on September 20, 2022

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Suzie writes...

These are questions from season 2 that I wanted to make more clear.
1. When M'gann was kidnapped and healing Kaldur's mind, did she ever tell him and Artemis the truth about her and Conner's break up? that he tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen and if she did tell them, how did they react and did they give her advice on how to mend things with Conner?
2. When M'gann was kidnapped, I was wondering if the Team had come up with an excuse for her absence from Ivy Univerity since her friends and teachers would wonder why she was absent. It was never addressed?

Greg responds...

1. For the time being, I'm happy not to clear that up.

2. I'm sure there was some cover story.

Response recorded on September 16, 2022

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Spikeman writes...

How was beast boy able to commutate with his doom patrol teammates on missions in animal form or work with the other doom patrol members on missions if he could not commutate in animal form on missions?

Greg responds...

He couldn't, largely, without going human in between shape-shifts to various animals. Though a surprising amount can be communicated with a grunt, as Mallah has demonstrated.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Taylor writes...

When was Garfield given his first Martian bio suit why he not given speakers so he could speak when animal form like he has in young justice outsiders?

Greg responds...

He got his first bio-suit sometime between season one and season two. The speakers - adapted from the Brain's technology - didn't exist for the heroes until after Season Two.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Troia writes...

Why does Cassie wear a hairband into the field if her hair still falls in front of her face?

Greg responds...

I assume she likes it for some reason or another.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Kevin writes...

1. What are Magog's powers/abilities on Earth 16?
2. Is the character J.W. from the play canon to Young Justice or was that just for the radio play?
3. Would telepaths be considered metahumans or is it's own thing?
4. What does Martian sorcery consist of? By that I mean if Atlantean sorcery is hard water constructs, Zatanna speaks backwards for a variety of effects what does Martian sorcery do? If that is too broad what was it doing onscreen was it light manipulation?
5. Why didn’t the Scarab explain it wasn’t allied with the Reach because of it malfunctioning?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. Not canon. At least not yet.

3. Not all telepaths are meta-humans. Not all meta-humans are telepaths. Miss Martian is a telepath, but she's not a meta-human. She's a Martian. Looker is also a telepath, and she is a meta-human. Static is a meta-human, but he isn't a telepath. Basically, think of telepathy as an ability. Like walking. Dogs can walk. Cats can walk. But not all dogs are cats, etc.

4. There's not one thing. Not even for Atlanteans. La'gaan's specialty has nothing to do with water manipulation. As for Martian sorcery, I feel like we showed a range of things on screen. I'll leave it at that.

5. I assume you're asking about S2. But I'm not sure I understand the question. Initially, it didn't talk about the Reach because it had no memory of having any connection to the Reach. Or of the Reach at all. If you're asking why it didn't tell Jaime it no longer wanted to serve the Reach after the Reach took control of it and Jaime, the answer is because it was being monitored at all times.

Response recorded on September 14, 2022

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TNT writes...

Hi Greg,

In the time that you've been working in TV animation, you must have seen many changes in the industry. In terms of the "nuts and bolts" elements of making a show (storyboarding, animation, retakes, sound mixing etc), things must have changed quite a bit.

1. What aspects of production have become easier over time?

2. What has gotten more difficult?

3. Would these changes have more to do with changes in technology, your own level of experience in the industry or to the studio/property you're working with at the time?

4. Is there anything about the industry that was specifically different in the intervening decades with Spectacular Spider-Man or the earlier seasons of Young Justice that wasn't the case before or since?

5. If Gargoyles were to come back with you involved, obviously the most important thing is the continuity of the story, but to what extent would it have to change in its art or animation style to be made today?

Greg responds...

1. I'm not sure "easier" is the term I'd use, but "possible" includes a lot of fixes we can make in editing and post-production on voices, on picture, on effects, etc. There are things we can do now that we flat out couldn't do before.

2. Nothing particularly springs to mind, unless it's the glut of content that makes getting attention for one's project more difficult.

3. Mostly, with changes in technology. I like to think that I'm better at certain things now than I used to be, too. Of course, the flip side of that is that I'm also more demanding than I used to be. Different studios have different strengths and weaknesses, but I haven't noticed one being stronger or weaker overall, and I've worked at a LOT of different places.

4. Post-production visual FX work became much more commonplace since. But it was largely not done previous.

5. That depends on all sorts of factors that are hypothetical. But there's no reason why - at least in theory - we couldn't simply use the same design style, assuming TPTB approved.

Response recorded on September 12, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

On Earth-16, Jason Todd was Bruce Wayne's second legal ward, am I correct?

Greg responds...

Um... yeah.

Response recorded on September 12, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

According the the DC Database Wiki:

#1. Bette Kane's full name is Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane.

#2. Bette Kane is the daughter of an as-of-yet unnamed man who was born within the Kane family tree. As such, this means that Kate's father (Jacob Kane) and this unnamed man are in fact brothers, and that means Kate and Bette are paternal cousins via their respective fathers.

As such, are these two facts also deemed true within the Earth-16 continuity?

Greg responds...

I'm not committing to any of this, beyond the obvious fact that Kate and Bette are related.

Response recorded on September 09, 2022

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pal writes...

since technically humans are considered animals, and we saw Garfield in Season 2 living in a form that combines man and monkey elements Can he create other combinations of related species? or add to his human form elements from another animal, like wings?
on the same note why Garfield can not change to a Martian? if humans are part of the animal kingdom shouldn't martian be also a part of it?
sorry for the bad English, not my native language.... hope you still understood the questions

Greg responds...

1. In theory, I suppose, it's possible. But that's gotta be much harder. And a human with wings might not be able to fly. In a battle situation, trying something like that might not be smart.

2. It's not impossible, I suppose. But it doesn't come naturally to him.

Response recorded on September 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

With all due respect, why do you keep dismissing the feedback that there are too many characters? it's probably the biggest criticism i see of the show, even among fans, but the cast has only gotten bigger since season two.

Greg responds...

What do you want or expect me to do with that criticism?

I think it's valid in and of itself.

But it assumes something about the show that just isn't true in our minds.

This is the show Brandon and I want to make. A big expansive view of the DC Universe from the point of view of its young - but maturing - heroes. One that moves forward through time and isn't stagnant, which by definition means we're always going to be introducing new young heroes as our original leads continue their growth and maturity.

That's the show. So, again, what would you have me do with this criticism?

Change the show to fit the critics?

I mean, frankly, anyone else could make the sort of small cast show that this critique suggests. And it's been done and will continue to be done over and over again. And that's great. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that approach.

But simply put, that's not OUR show. That's not Young Justice.

So I'm not "dismissing" it, as you say. I'm just shrugging and ignoring it. Cuz it's irrelevant to what we're trying to do.

I don't think there are too many characters per episode or per season. We never attempt to focus on EVERYONE every year.

The real underlying truth behind the criticism, I believe, is that for the critic, we're not focusing enough on the SPECIFIC characters they WANT us to focus on, because we've chosen to focus on other characters instead. So it's less about there even being too many characters than about the choices we make as producers/creators/writers.

I'd wager most everyone's good with us focusing on the original six, but most everyone has at least one or two favorites that they'd specifically like to see us add to that spotlighted group. And odds are good - because overall we indeed do have so many characters - that we're just not putting their specific picks under that spotlight.

Thus, if we just happen to focus on Joe's faves, that means we're not focused on Julie's faves. Etc.

So for Julie... the problem can't be that her favorite character doesn't merit the spotlight right now, doesn't fit with the goals of the season. It must be that all the other over-abundance of characters are forcing her favorite OUT of the spotlight. Then THAT must be the problem: Too many characters!

<shrug>

Meanwhile, the series may - quite legitimately - not be everyone's cup of tea. I can accept that. But for the most part, I think our fans like the show we're giving them - which NOT incidentally is the show we want to make.

We're passionate about it, and hopefully that passion shines through and makes the fandom passionate about it, too.

Even with 777 characters and counting...

Response recorded on September 07, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

When the team was captured and held hostage on the War World in Invasion, did they come up with a cover story to explain their disappearance to their schools and friends? And for the ones that were minors, what dd Dick tell their parents?

Greg responds...

Parents or guardians were all told the truth - or as much of it as was known at that time.

And, yes, cover stories were created to protect their secret identities, as needed.

Response recorded on September 07, 2022


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