Tupka writes...

The fourth trade paperback isout, prompting me to get it and reread it. Digital's nice, but I'm a sucker for paper. Which means double royalties for you :)

Two questions:
1. Icon was removed from the cover of #21, seemingly last-minute-ish. I noticed the version with Icon was used as the back cover, and also in the cover gallery in the back. Has anything changed with the legal issues, or was that an oversight of whoever deals with trade paperbacks at DC?
* Several of the LexCorp guards in the room guarding Match were trapped in the force field - they couldn't move, their head, feet and hands were glued to the sphere. What happened to them when the sphere started shrinking?

J writes...

I once asked:
"Does your version of  Despro  have telepathic powers like in the comics, or can he do anything other than paralize with his third-eye? If he does have telepathic powers, why didn't he "hear" the conversation between Miss Martian and Guardian? Was it because he didn't have his third-eye open at the time?"

And you responded:
"You're assuming that his paralytic power isn't telepathic in nature. You're assuming that all telepaths operate on the exact same frequency. Neither of those are safe assumptions."

Actually I did assume his paralizing others was a mental ability...maby I should have stated my question more clearly.
What I meant to ask is:
Does he have any mental powers other than paralization, specifically communicating telepathically?

I guess I was kind of assuming that all telepathy would opperatin on the same "frequency."
Can you elaborate on this?

1) Psimon has no problem knowing when Ms. Martian is using her powers or getting into her mind. Do they operate on the same frequency, then?

2) Can telepaths change frequencies?

3) Do all martians operate on the same frequency?

4) Is the frequency the telepath operates on related to how powerful they are? (ie do more powerful telepaths operate on higher frequencies?)

Anonymous writes...

In the scene where Dudley disappeared before Billy's eyes at the start of "Misplaced", was the girl playing on the street outside (the girl whose mother disappeared) Mary Bromfield?

Anonymous writes...

You were previously asked about the religious practices of the members of the Team, but left out B12-15 and B24-26 because at the time the identities of those characters were still unrevealed. I thought the insight into the possible religious backgrounds of the Team members was interesting and neat, so I was wondering if you could take a stab at telling us what the religious practices of B12-15 and B24-26 would be, please?

Paul writes...

Regarding Troia and Sergeant Marvel, did you and Brandon Vietti go as far as figuring out how they were received by the other members of the Team during the time skip (as in, who they may have been great friends with, who they may have not got on so well with etc.)? Just curious to know if you have an image in your mind of the form their interaction with the other Team members would have taken.

Anonymous writes...

If you could sum up Troia's personality (while on the Team) in one or two words, like you did when you described Aquagirl as 'competent' in a previous answer, what would that word (or those words) be? Feisty? Level-headed?

Anonymous writes...

How is 'Troia' pronounced? Is it like 'Troy-a'?

Paul writes...

Are Billy Batson and Mary Bromfield brother and sister on Earth-16?

Todd Jensen writes...

I bought the final volume of the "Young Justice" trade paperback series today, and thought I'd give you a brief review of it.

I remember some of your viewers commenting on a map of Bialya in the second season and wondering whether it had annexed Qurac during the time-skip. The "Year Five" scenes suggest that they weren't so far from the truth.

Liked Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen's cameos.

One of my favorite moments: Nightwing figuring out how to get a message to the teammates in Metropolis, based on sight being the one form of communication between Metropolis and the world outside that wasn't blocked.

I noticed seeds for a potential future story with the revelation that Kylstar has plans for galactic conquest in order to defeat the enslavers of his people. As well as foreshadowing of events in the second season of the television series with Brainiac convinced that Earth's doomed and that he'd better preserve a piece of it, in the form of Metropolis, before disaster strikes; presumably, he'd gotten wind of the Reach's plans.

And we get another argument between Jaime and his scarab that looks strange to everyone else.

I was glad to see another "Not the End" caption, like the one in "Clan-Building". It fits your style so well.

(I did wonder, though, what the significance of the fifth chapter's title was. It was the only one I couldn't link to "Monopoly".)

Anoy writes...

1).Does barry or bart hold any feelings of guilt over wally's...ceasing?
2).How does bart feel about being trapped in the past where he may meet his own father and possible himself? Does he care?

Anonymous writes...

I think the problem that quite a few people have, myself included, with Wally's character/story on Young Justice might stem from the fact that he was the 'normal' one amongst the members of the original team. And on a show that at it's core is built around angst and drama, the normal characters tend to get lost in the shuffle since they don't come with built-in storylines like a character with a criminal family/background (Artemis and Kaldur), leadership issues (Kaldur and Dick), an inferior clone made by the enemy (Superboy), or a Martian used to discrimination living on Earth. They're just harder to fit into the story of the show. So it's much more important to their characters for the show to create an emotional connection to the audience and develop some meaningful relationships for that character to make them relevant to the show at large. And that's where I think the show failed as far as Wally was concerned.

For instance, you've said that Wally was a very insecure person during the first season and one of the big reasons why you paired him with Artemis. But out of all the members of the team, he always struck me as being the only one that wasn't insecure about who he was, or his role on the team. He was never shown to be bothered by his inferiority to Barry in season one, and even a good portion of the fandom didn't even know Barry was faster until BLOODLINES in season two. In fact, it was Conner who got the inferiority to the mentor storyline fleshed out in season one. And it was never said that Barry didn't originally want him to be his sidekick on the show. Plus the only insecurity he showed with girls was with Artemis. But that was more of a by product of him thinking she hated him because he was a jerk to her when she joined the team, not because he was insecure about who he was. So the show never really established him as an insecure character during the first season. He just came across as an idiot and an occasional selfish jerk simply because he was an idiot and an occasional selfish jerk; not because he was trying to overcompensate for his insecurity because of that.

And it's more of the same in the second season. Wally had became a completely different character between seasons and the only explanation the show gives is basically time-skip happened. I mean, Wally nearly killed himself just to become a hero and absolutely loved being one throughout the first season despite everything that happened. He also was pretty much supportive of his friends no matter what during that season, too. But during season two, Wally wanted absolutely nothing to do with being a hero and was accusing friends of being traitors and blaming them for trying to stop an alien invasion that he couldn't care less about for the majority of the season. It's like the show tossed away whatever previous characterization he had to justify his retirement and get him out of the way before reverting him back to something much closer to his previous characterization in the final two episodes. Which is why I found it a little hard to use Wally's previous characterization during the first season to defend his character in season two when he's not even close to being the same character. And I don't mean to say it's impossible that he could change that much over the gap, but it's such a drastic change that I think it deserved some sort of in-universe explanation.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that you said that Wally's 'humanity' was what you liked most about his character, but I'd say that that was the biggest flaw that this version of Wally West had. I mean, one of the things I've always loved about Wally in the comics and on other shows is that he would normally do the right thing simply because it was the right thing to do. That was missing with the Wally on Young Justice to me. Everything was always about him and what he wanted. Sure, he'd say some nice things to his friends on occasion, but he was the guy that would basically throw an inner-fit at the thought of saving a little girl's life instead of working on another mission with the League. And whatever development he was suppose to get from COLDHEARTED didn't seem to stick or didn't happen as he was practically thrilled that someone got kidnapped simply because he was bored at the beginning of the Young Justice video game. And Wally sitting out the majority of an alien invasion where things get worse and worse goes against everything I've ever loved about him over the years, and the scene at the end of DARKEST pretty much destroyed the character for me. The only times he was shown to help out was when the situation suited his interest, such as retrieving Artemis in SUMMIT, or helping out his family in BLOODLINES and ENDGAME. If the situation didn't have something directly to do with him, he couldn't be bothered to help and that's just not Wally West in my opinion.

As for his relationships, I think the issue for me was how unbalanced they seemed to be. I mean, I can appreciate the slow build and subtlety the show did with building up Artemis' side of their relationship; though I did think the show relied a little too heavily on telling us that they were going to get together in an effort to make her small moments such as asking about his parents in MISPLACED or making the sling for his arm to mean more than they really did. The problem is that the show basically punched me in the face with Wally's side of the relationship in contrast. The show pretty much shouted that he should get together with Artemis in DENIAL, he had an entire episode in FAILSAFE where she's almost all he could think about, was basically her number one fan for the majority of INSECURITY, and was shown to do nothing but worry about her in season two. Artemis never had anything remotely close to those type of things during the two seasons while he was alive. That's because Artemis had a lot going on besides Wally, as she had her family/trust issues, being a mole suspect, and the undercover mission. Where as with Wally being the normal one, the show made Artemis his thing and smashed us over the head with it. That's why I always preferred the M'gann/Conner relationship despite never being big fans of their characters since neither side dominated their relationship. It was balanced. It never felt like one of them was way more committed to the other like it did with Wally and Artemis. And like a previous poster before me mentioned, I think his friendship with Dick was handled in a similar way. It's why their reactions to his death fell completely flat and contrived to me because Wally wasn't really ever shown to be as important to them as they made him out to be after he died. And as a character, Wally got very little out of those relationships himself.

And like most of the 'normal' characters, Wally was killed off because there's only so much a show feels they can do with them. You guys milked about as much drama/angst you could get out of his relationship with Artemis over the two seasons and because of that, Wally was no longer useful to the show because he didn't bring any drama/angst as his own character. In essence, as a standalone character he had no real story of his own and that made him an expendable character.

Unfortunately, it just seemed like the majority of the things that made Wally tick and were important to his character would seem to have been left out of the show for the most part. And I'd say that he's the only one out of the main cast of either season that was handled that way. It's why while I normally enjoy Wally in the comics and other shows (I loved him and Jay/Barry in the episode "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!" that you wrote for Batman: The Brave and the Bold, by the way), I had a hard time getting invested into his character on Young Justice. And the Wally you talk about here and the Wally that was on the show just seem like two completely different characters to me.

GoldenAgeTeen writes...

Hi! I have a few more questions:
1. How old is Shelly Longshdow?
2. How old is Holling Longshadow?
3. How old is Nathaniel Tryon in 2016?
Thanks again for answering questions from fans!

Billy Black writes...

Will for centiers or die withe the team Does Garfield a longer lifespan after becoming beast boy because he has misss marshin dna

Chad writes...

What year did garfied become full green and what year did he join the team and how did team know marie was dead

Nate Elias writes...

Hey Greg, longtime Fan here. I watched "Gargoyles" as a Kid. And me and my Brother loved both "Spectacular Spider-Man" & "Young Justice"! I'm so pissed that they both got cancelled before they could get Third Seasons, I have no doubt they would've gotten even better. Nevertheless my most sincere thanks goes out to you and all the very talented people that brought us these shows. Here are a few "Young Justice" Related things that I wanted to bring up.

1. Deathstroke was AWESOME!!! His Design and Wentworth Miller's Performance were both Great.

2. Have you checked out the Game "Injustice: Gods Among Us"? I applaud their decision to hire several Actors from "YJ" to reprise their Roles. Hearing Alan Tudyk and Mark Rolston as Green Arrow & Luthor again, and in a Fighting Game no less, is just great.

3. Keith David as Mongul? Total WIN! I knew you would work him in somehow.

4. I just noticed that "Denial" is a partial "Gargoyles" Reunion! It had Ed Asner(Kent Nelson/Hudson), Jeff Bennett(Brooklyn/Abra Kadabra) & Thom Adcox-Hernandez(Lexington/Klarion)!!! It reminded me I should watch Gargoyles more often nowadays.

5. Last one. Me & my Brother LOVED Guy Gardner's Design in the Show. As usual yall guys tried something new and different and it turned out "Spectacular"!!!(I know, I forced that joke)

P.S. Loved Josh Keaton's Cameo as "Black Spider", brought back great memories!

J.J. writes...

Hey Greg Got a few Young Justice questions:

1. When Beast Boy transforms into an animal, say an exact replica of Wolf(except green of course), is he able to communicate with the animal?

2. Basing it off that out of ALL the characters, especially in the Team, Superboy has had the most interactions and seems to have taken the most interest in Apokolipse tech throughout season 1 and 2, is it safe assume that he would have had a considerable role in season 3? just going by that logic.

3.Since Superboy is pretty darn indestructible is it safe to say that the best and simplest way to kill him is by drowning him?

4.Same with Superman?

5.In your continuity is it possible for a Green Lantern, whether Hal, John, or even Guy, to take down Superman if the situation called for it.

Much thanks for the opportunity and buying your book and planning to pre-order the second as soon as possible.

Mina writes...

Why did Tye's eyes change from brown to blue? Was it due to the Reach's testing? I checked the episodes to see if it was a mistake, but before he was captured he had brown eyes and after he had blue in all of his appearances.

A fan from far away writes...

Hi Greg!
I'm a huge fan girl of YJ from Singapore. I really love your show and hope to see more seasons if possible.
My favorite character in the show is Artemis, she really struck me in season 1 and her tenure as Tigress in Season 2 was really impressive. So I would like to ask a few questions about her.
1) What served as your inspiration for creating her?
2) Are any of her character traits inspired by strong female characters from other sources? Cos I noticed that she was rather similar to some of my other favorite ladies, such as Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games, Eponine from Les Miserables, Mulan, Ravager (Deathstroke's daughter), to name a few.
3) How abusive was Sportsmaster? Cos I figured he had to be pretty bad to his girls for Jade to pack up and abandon her younger sister.
4) Unrelated but... Will YJ be translated into Chinese? I'm ethnic Chinese and I would love to know their Chinese names.
Thanks for looking through my queries, though they may have been answered. Thank you for giving us fans a really wonderful show while it lasted!

Anonymous writes...

1) While Troia was on the Team, was her personality at all similar to season 1 Miss Martian or season 1 Artemis?

2) While Sergeant Marvel was on the Team, was her personality at all similar to season 1 Miss Martian?

Paul writes...

1) Why wasn't Troia included in the last scene of "Alienated", when Wonder Woman and the others were bidding farewell to the Earth?

2) Since Rocket appears to be a mother in Team Year Six (as Amistad was mentioned in the companion comic), did she take a leave of absence from the Team when she was pregnant? (I'm guessing she did…) If so, how long was her 'maternity leave'?

3) While Troia was on the Team, was she mentored by Wonder Woman?

4) Did Mary Bromfield or Freddy Freeman have A designations, since Billy Batson had one?

5) Is there any chance that Phil Bourassa might do Young Justice designs for Troia and Sergeant Marvel sometime in the future? I've tried asking him on deviantart but I don't know if he's allowed to do that kind of thing. If he were to design them, would you weigh in to give your verdict before he posts them online? Can't speak for other YJ fans, but I would love to see YJ designs for Donna and Mary.

Paul writes...

1) Out of curiosity, if you could have included Troia and Sergeant Marvel in the crowd shot in "Endgame", who would you have paired each of them with in the subsequent scramble for the MFDs? I know that this would likely necessitate a 'reshuffle' of the pairings you came up with for the final episode, since say pairing Troia with Superboy would leave Wolf wanting a partner, but ignoring that, who would you have ideally paired with Donna and who would you have ideally paired with Mary for the team-ups?

2) When you and Brandon Vietti were developing Young Justice, were you 'for' the possibility of having an even number of male and female leads in season 1 or did you set out to have slightly more male leads than female leads? Basically, what I'm asking is whether you were at all interested in the prospect of having 3 male leads and 3 female leads instead of 4 male leads and 2 female leads.

3) Why did Nightwing and company allow Mal to join the Team as Guardian? I guess one could argue that it was because he proved his worth by helping against Despero, but since his sole contribution in that fight was to stall for time, I'm wondering why Nightwing and company felt he was Team material?

4) What was the in-universe reason for Donna not being available/ready to join the Team at the end of "Fireworks"? We know why Garth and Roy couldn't (since Kaldur took Garth's place as Aqualad and Roy was replaced by a certain angsty clone), but what about Donna?

5) I noticed Tempest in the crowd shot in "Endgame". What has he been up to since leaving the Team i.e. what's his occupation now?

Paul writes...

Hi Greg! A few YJ questions:

1) If Little Orbit make another Young Justice game and start discussing potential DLC characters, do you think you might entertain the idea of including Troia and Sergeant Marvel as DLC characters? If the show and the comic don't come back, the games made by Little Orbit might be the fans' only chance of seeing them, even if they're just thrown in there for non-canon fun like Bumblebee, Lagoon Boy, Blue Beetle and Wonder Girl were for Legacy. I realise it's probably not your call as you're not an employee of Little Orbit, but maybe this is something you could suggest to them if they get in touch again please?

2)Just out of curiousity, why did you opt to put Troia in the 'Junior' class, when the other original Titans from the comic (i.e. Dick, Wally, Garth) made it to the 'Senior' class'? Having Jason Todd, the Marvels, Batgirl etc. as 'Juniors' makes sense to me, but Donna's a bit more iconic due to her comic book counterpart's affiliation with the founding Titans, so I was just wondering what the rationale was for not having her make it past 'Junior' level.

3a) Why wasn't Donna Troy used in the companion comic book, once it became clear that you wouldn't be using her in season 2?
3b) Did you consider including her in any issues?

4) With Troia and Sergeant Marvel originally planned to be included in the bridal shower scene, I wondered if we would have heard Mary say, "Shazam!", to shatter the ice that Captain Cold had formed around them? Was it planned for her to say that, either before or after Zatanna's 'garb us for battle' spell, had she been in the scene?

5) I read online that the reason for Lieutenant Marvel and Sergeant Marvel not being on the Team in season 2, from what you said at Wondercon, is that there wasn't enough room for their story arc. My question is, since Batgirl, Beast Boy, Robin and Wonder Girl didn't have arcs in season 2 but were included nonetheless, why didn't you keep the Marvels around in minor roles too?

a red arrow fan writes...

Hi Greg,
Just played the YJ Legacy.
Collected 3 Red Arrow journals.

Then a strange question came to me.
As player we can see the journal content by the computer in the Cave.
But in fact, I mean the team's fact, do they really find some Red Arrow's journals and read it?
Or they didn't really got some journal in the missions. The journals can only be seen by Player. As some player reward?

I asked this because that would be a bit weird if the team really read the journals of Red Arrow and still did nothing to help their friend. And also Red Arrow would be careless to put his digital journal every where.

Anyway, I like the idea of Red Arrow Journal.
I would like to get more and more side story about some sub characters in this show, in any way.

NoOneSpecial writes...

1. In Bereft, was it phsimons intention to erase the teams memorays or was it purely by accident?
2.At what point did the light become aware of miss martians introduction into the team? They knew it already consisted of robin, speedy, conner and aqaulad after the events of Fireworks, so when did they learn about miss martian?
3.During the Reach/Light summit, why ra's give an excuse for klarion's absence?
4.How was wally meant to act during the whole artemis death story? I know he would pretend to be in mourning but would he really have been convincing for everyone else? In Darkest he seemed pretty angry at the idea that aretmis or the others could have been really killed. Would that have been a more geninue reaction for him to have? Did any one from the team talk to wally when aretmis died or did he intentionally avoid everyone?
5. Is devastation a clone of someone else?

Mags writes...

Hi!

I forgot to include one other question in my previous ask about why Dick felt that Wally needed to stay home to prevent people from thinking Artemis was alive, and that was the Bad Guys--if he wasn't actually worried about the Team, wouldn't the Bad Guys also understand the need for "revenge" or at least "vengeance"? Sportsmaster and Cheshire went after the people who "killed" Artemis first thing. :)

So given his response in FAILSAFE, I don't know ... it just seems like it would make more sense he'd want to actively help defeat the Light rather than stay home.

K-lashley91 writes...

Hello!
Um...if you don't mind me asking, (1)where was Green Beetle during the episode "Summit"?(2) What was his life BEFORE the Reach; was he really an archaeologist? Did he have any family?

Anonymous writes...

A question about Apokolips and The New God's in general. In Universe 16 do the New God's and their planets reside in another dimension like in the comics (and can only be reached by something like the boom tubes); or is it actually possible to reach Apokolips and New Genesis by good old fashioned space travel?

Anonymous writes...

Questions on the zeta shield. It first appeared in Salvage, to block zeta trafficking to earth; and according to L'gann others that want to later zeta off world need permission to do so.

In Endgame, we see Adam Strange, Conner, and M'gann go to Rimbor through zeta beams according to Conner.
To Zeta off world in Endgame did they have to shut down the zeta shield, or is there some sort of override code that allows those such as Strange to bypass it?

I'm thinking the former, why bother having La'gann give us this exposition in the first place then.

If they had to shut it down temporarily when did they get it back up that day. Did they turn it back on shortly after they were done with the MFD's?

Does Rimbor have a zeta port/tube on Rimbor, or is Rann not far from the planet Rimbor?

Mags writes...

Dear Mr. Weisman,

Thanks for a wonderful show; I'm a big time travel nut, and one of the things I look forward to if there's a third season of some kind is seeing how that's wrapped up! :) The show is really amazing in the steps that it's taken to include people of all walks of life, and I don't think any of us can thank you enough for that.

1) First of all, I really want to thank you for M'gann: she's had a very strong impact on my life. I've been involved in the fandom for a really long time, and I'm sure you remember fan reaction to her and her "Hello, Megan," among other things. =P I also wasn't a fan of that phrase or even her in general, at first, but she /really/ made me think. I consider(ed) myself very media savvy and well-educated (we actually share an alma mater! I am a fellow fuzzy Stanford alum. My freshman-year RA got elected Tree by covering himself in baking soda and jumping into a kiddie pool of vinegar, haha) at the time. However, M'gann and the fan reaction to her made me take a step back, and I realized that some rather misogynistic ideas (girls definitely have them, too!) had seeped into my preconceptions about what "(strong) girls should be like." I think I've become a better person by reevaluating my ideas around "perky, feminine" girls and "strength/power" thanks to M'gann. Also, of course, the dynamic between "who M'gann knew she was" and what Martian /society/ expected her to be was /fantastic/. Really brilliant, and thank you so much for that. Female-fandom's relationship with women and media is super, super interesting (and occasionally scary. But mostly interesting).

2) As a sort of side note, looking at some of the previous questions about Wally, wow, I would have /never/ called my views on Wally West (good and bad) "middling," but it looks like they actually might be, and /I/--and maybe this isn't a good thing to admit, but whatever--I've run a blog for the last three years dedicated to Dick and Wally called Birdflash (don't ask, haha). All you need now is an essay from a Spitfire fan and a (different kind of) M'gann fan, and you'll have collected the entire rainbow of post-series Wally West "feels."

Anyway, here it goes. I've come in before: while Wally's /initial/ quitting didn't bother me that much, I invaded the comments a while ago to ask why Wally was staying away (I'm "Mags," the one with family in St. Louis--and I'm also sorry if I overstepped my bounds there). I was lucky enough to catch you that day, and while I thought that your response that Dick had ordered him away said some really sad things about the state of their "friendship," if that's what happened, that's what happened.

However, when one answer to a related question explained that Dick did it so that Wally would look like a "grieving boyfriend," someone else pointed out that Wally had reacted to what he thought was Artemis's real, /actual/ death in the exact opposite way in FAILSAFE, and I'm lost again.

Thinking about it, I'm a little surprised that M'gann and Conner didn't find his reaction /suspicious/, given FAILSAFE, and if Wally actually wanted to help out, I can't see any strategic, tactical, or (theoretically) personal reason for Dick to lock out one of the most experienced and powerful Team members. That Dick and Wally thought that the Team would think that "if Wally /did/ step out to help, it would somehow mean that Artemis was alive" (as if he would only bother to save the world if she were in it? I'm not sure) in the first place is also pretty confusing.

The Hall of Justice was leveled; the Earth got a second /moon/; the Reach /still/ had an (smaller-ish) armada (by the way, what an extremely clever way to get rid of most of the ships! That was really cool.), and these people had /nuked/ his /hometown/. All of this was on the news or in the sky.

Would the Team really have found it so shocking if Dick had asked for his help, that Wally would help? Even when Dick was completely alone, without League help, with a REAL rogue Team member, or even it was him and M'gann against the War World, he didn't want to "risk" telling Wally this and asking him to come to help save his kidnapped cousin? Wally wouldn't have even had to "pretend" to be furious with Dick but willing to help out anyway.

That Dick (and even Wally) would think that the Team thought that about Wally--or that he'd just be too broken to get out of bed for anyone else after three months--is heart-breaking, especially when it wasn't even /true/.

It's just so sad that Wally couldn't even get Dick to /let/ him help over a period of six weeks, or maybe stopped trying even though things were so crazy after DARKEST. Even that fight in DARKEST felt like it came to nothing: Dick didn't even /LISTEN/ to him. Nothing changed in the "extreme" plan, and as far as the /plan/ went it "worked out"--(I /also/ think that Conner bore some serious responsibility for his secret-keeping, maybe even more so than Dick, in the disaster that was M'gann's willingness to brainwipe Kaldur)--and the things that Wally said about Kaldur were proven false fifteen minutes into the next episode.

Wally was never the most observant person when it came to M'gann, but I like to think that he'd matured beyond that, and that if there had been another pair of eyes who knew her and Conner for the last five years, a pair of eyes that wasn't also running a Team without a safety net of the League and dealing with clones and kids from the future and disaster after disaster, he might have noticed something was wrong.

I know this is just a story, and that if TPTB wanted Wally dead, he would have died, no matter what.

It just … it feels like in the end, Dick didn't ask Wally for help--even given Wally's reaction in FAILSAFE and the fact that he /was/ willing to help--ignored what advice Wally DID show up to give, and then ... nothing. That says some really sad things about their "closeness" and "friendship," to me (particularly since they didn't even bother to say "hi" to each other in the game). That Dick didn't think it was safe to rely on Wally, to let him in on their problems--not even for /advice/--when he was completely and totally alone--

--that that's the legacy of PERFORMANCE is crushing.

And if Wally just changed so much that /no one/ even questioned that he'd react to a s1 defining moment in the exact opposite way, I'm not really sure why /we'd/ know what--if anything--still applied to him from s1, much less "everything." :(

Man, I didn't mean to end on such a depressing note; please know that--if the ~2500 people who follow the blog are any indication--the two of them are dearly loved and dearly missed, and that's what's really important.

Thank you for an engaging and--perhaps even more than is healthy for me (haha)--life-changing show. I've learned so much about so many things watching it, met incredible people, and I really appreciate it.

It seems that the game sold out in several places (including Best Buy /online/ and I think Amazon), and I hope that there's a third season or sequel! Best of luck on your book; I have my copy pre-ordered!

Sincerely,
Maggie

P.S. Thank you that when Wally finally found out about M'gann and Conner, he at least dropped it and was perfectly nice to her. All too often, guys complain about being "friendzoned" and mock girls or call them names because the guys were nice to/came onto a girl and she had the gall not to sleep with them. Some of us were worried it would go that route, and how truly nice it was that it didn't.

Riyan writes...

Hi Greg,
I'm happy the question block is open again.
Congratulations on YJ:Legacy.
I bought the PS3 version game and completed it.
It's quite hurt to learn the story when Aqualad know who his father is and then Tula's death. Though we know what happened already, but when seeing the details, still heart breaking and it almost make me cry.
Do you know, I just can't help thinking that you may be too cruel to Kaldur.
Since the end of season 1, it seems only terrible things happened to him. Especially on the screen time. and we cannot see the off screen time so we don't know if he had met anything happy and smiled. (Maybe I should watch through season 2 again to say this, but as far as I remember, I never saw him smile in season 2.)
And without season 3, we don't know if he would became happy again, but with defeating his father and with great loss in the team, I doubt.
It's good to see your answer about he sure would re-new his friend ship with Red Arrow. I think this is one thing may give him a relief.
And I'd like to ask if there is anything good and happy happened to Kaldur. But I'm quite sure I'd got a "SPOILER REQUEST" answer. So, I'm just hoping YJ came back and you can treat him well.
The above is not complaining, or maybe kind of...
But what I really want to say is: it's a great ability to create and develop characters to let people love them and cry for them. I love Kaldur even more in season2, because he sacrificed a lot of himself and go through miseries to do justice. This makes him a greater hero.
It feels sad and hurt to see what he suffered, but it's also the reason I love this character, not for his appearance or powers or ability, just the greatness in his spirit.
I just want to thank you for creating such a great character.
And here I got some questions about the Young justice after the ask section is closed. And also some for YJ:Legacy.
1. I saw several times you said among the first 4 sidekicks, Aqualad is close to Speedy, and Robin is close to Kid Flash. Is there some reasons like:
a) Aqualad met Speedy first and Robin met Kid Flash first so they are close to the one they met first.
b) Aqualad and Speedy spend more time with each other in their mentors' missions, so did Robin and Kid Flash.
c) Personality. Speedy is the oldest and Aqualad is more mature than the other two, so their personality get along easier and better than with Robin and Kid Flash?
d) Maybe all above?
2. This is one question I got when I re-watch the end of S1. When Ra's said that the real Roy Harper "might still prove useful,as well".
So... was he 'useful' to the Lights in S2?
Or he wasn't because Red Arrow and Cheshire rescued him before Ra's can plan anything?
If Ra's already made a plan, and the rescue was also a part of the plan, what exactly did he want?
I didn't see anything like plan happened on Arsenal. Though he messed up a mission in Lex Farm, and also messed up Reach's plan to abduct all the young heroes. But both looks like accidents, not like a plan.
And League and Team surely would do a thoroughly check on Arsenal before he join the Team, so the Lights couldn't plant any program in his brain.
I guess the question "what exactly did Ra's want" would get an "Spoiler" answer.
So I just want to know, is his plan worked in S2 or not because Red Arrow and Cheshire's rescue.
Or... did Ra's totally forgot he had frozen a young hero in one of his base?
3. This question is for YJ: Legacy.
I looking forward to this game so much before it came. But as a game player and also a YJ fans, honestly, the game is terrible.
Not criticize the plot. I think the plot is good.
But the game system and cut scenes performance is far away from good. No need to mention so many bugs.
It's like some half developed project. Many improvement can be made and it would be a better game. We all know it's been delayed once, and now still lot's of problem remain in the game.
Do you know if there are some issues in the developing period?
Is it because the budget is limited or Little Orbit hasn't developed this kind of game before?
If the budget is not enough to make a good performance game, would it be enough to make an one episode or 2 to tell the same story? I think the plot of this game could be tell in one or two episode.
I would rather see a short animation of YJ rather than a terrible game. I don't know if you played this game or not, but as a normal gamer, it's not a game I'd willing to play. Not like LEGO Batman or Batman Arkham, even my friend who don't know batman, she also enjoyed the game itself.
4. Still for YJ: Legacy. No more criticism. Let's talk about some other things.
It's great for the idea of Red Arrow Journal. I think this is one great motive to play the game.
I haven't collect all the Red Arrow Journals yet but I've saw other's collection. so I read them all.
That's the 2nd heartbreaking things in this game other than Kaldur's suffering.
And then I got a question, when Jade leave Roy, she's already pregnant. And later in the mission, we met her and fight with her.
Is that okay to fight a pregnant woman? I mean, wouldn't we accidentally kill Lian? I think I would never go play this fight again.ad
And also, did Jade know she's pregnant when she left Roy?
5. Have you watch the "Justice League Flash Point Paradox"? Did you see Kaldur's cameo in it? Though no one said it's Kaldur but we all know it's Kaldur and Tula and Garth. Cheers for them!
Do you know the team of Paradox would use Kaldur as a cameo?
What do you think of it?
I mean, Kaldur is an original character you created in Young Justice, right? It's like your own child.
When he is used in other DC works, would it make you proud or a bit complicated?
I think I'd be most happy to see him in YJ season3, but if not, it's also happy to see him in some other animation works. But I'm not sure if I would be happy to see him became not Kaldur in other works. I love what he is in YJ, but in other works without your writing? I'm not sure.
okay. I think that's all I got now.
I'm looking forward to your novels and Star Wars Rebels.

Kelsey writes...

1. You said you pitched the idea of direct to dvd YJ movies and it was turned down. If you had the opportunity to produce a movie(s) do you already have plots in mind? Not asking for specifics, just wondering how seriously you've thought about it.

2. At the risk of crossing spoiler territory, does Tim know how Jason died?

3. Does the rest of the team?

Nicholas Griel writes...

In an interview that happened relativity close to when the last episode aired, you posted the designations of the entire league and team. At the end of the league, presumably because they were in the gathered heroes. Were either of the two blue devil?

Revan's Exile writes...

What is the name of the team that consisted of
Asami "Sam" Koizumi, Eduardo Dorado Jr., Virgil Ovid Hawkins, Tye Longshadow, & later Arsenal (Roy Harper)?

Daisy writes...

How much of Impulse's silly talkative personality is actually genuine? When we first see him he is a lot different and then mentions getting into character. And even after revealing why he's really there he still seems kinda spunky. So does that mean all of that hyperness wasnt completely an act? I went and chcked to see if you had been asked this yet and I didn't see it so here I am haha

Nicholas Griel writes...

If Troia, Jason Todd, Lt. Marvel, and Sgt. Marvel, had appeared in the show, who would you have had voice them?

GoldenAgeTeen writes...

Hi greg! First off , Young justice and W.I.T.C.H are some of my favorite tv shows ever. While watching young justice i couldn't help but notice that Rocket had the same voice as taranee! my questions are:
1. Was Asami's concept at all inspired by Hay Lin?
2. Was the Tye/Asami pairing inspired by Eric/hay lin?
3. How old is Rumaan Harjavti?
4. How old is Sumaan Harjavti?
And I wanted to say thanks for having this forum where fans can ask questions, Happy holidays!

Anonymous writes...

The ending of "Young Justice: Legacy" shows that Aqualad took a leave of absence from the Team in February 2015 to go on a personal quest to find some answers about his own origins. But then, we also have the flashback scene from "Before the Dawn" that shows Nightwing and Aqualad shaking hands sometime prior to the start of Aqualad's undercover assignment.

a. This would clearly suggest that Aqualad came back sometime after he finished his personal quest, but when exactly did this flashback take place in the 2015 timeline?

b. Would the flashback scene also indicate that this took place during a time when Nightwing was in Mount Justice by himself and thus would explain the private meeting between himself and Aqualad in the Grotto?

c. If the meeting between Nightwing and Aqualad was private, then by the time Aqualad started his undercover mission, when was the first time he officially revealed himself to the other members of the Team as a "traitor"? (assuming the revelation took place during 2015)

Anonymous writes...

Really enjoyed second season! I think Aqualad's arc was great, and loved M'gann's. The usual twists and turns were fun as always!

Gotta confess I was a little surprise that Conner's role in the sad events was glossed over on the show. Dick kept secrets to protect two people's lives that he thought were doing the RIGHT thing , but Conner was keeping a secret to protect a girl who he THOUGHT/KNEW was doing the WRONG thing, and I'm not really sure what he was protecting her from. A reprimand? Being taken off the team until she got the help she needed from J'onn? Doesn't seem like the Team would banish her forever, even if she wasn't also one of the most powerful and valuable members.

Dick wouldn't let the rest of the team help because not keeping the secret threatened lives -imagine if those kids had had that info tortured out of them even the second time they were kidnapped (which showed they could be kidnapped at ANY time, even though the first was his fault, which sucked). Luckily they weren't, but the Reach wasn't above torture for sure. Either way, it saved Artemis and Kaldur's LIVES, if not Kaldur's mind.

But Conner wouldn't let the rest of the Team give M'gann the extra guidance and support she needed, either, to help her understand that what she was doing was WRONG, even if she was just doing it "to the bad guys."

Maybe he THOUGHT he was doing the right thing by letting M'gann figure that out herself, but Dick also THOUGHT he was doing the right thing, but only HE got yelled at/scolded twice for it, and protecting the world seems a little more important than protecting a girfriend doing the wrong thing.
I also don't think there was any obvious reason that we saw for Dick to suspect her -- Batman and J'onn missed it and they were right there -- and I think it would be bad for morale for him to investigate her for no reason at all or to assume she was doing the wrong thing)

I don't have a problem with the fact that he did it, he's "only" human haha, but that the show only had Dick and M'gann apologize seemed surprisingly over-simplistic.

SAM writes...

Are Roy (Red Arrow) and Jade (Cheshire) back together be the end of season 2?

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

I see from a 10/10 reply that Bart had changed the future averting the Reach Apocalypse but Nate had thought they had failed since Mount Justice was still in ruins. I cannot resist a little self congratulatory quoting of my posting 9/12/12: "Is there a town shown to the bottom left of the wreck of Mount Justice ? And does that town have more color after the time change?'

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Now that I've posted all my episode thoughts...(in theory I still plan on doing the same on the comics, but...) I want to say thank you for the series in general. (I'd go into details, but it seems redundant after posting all those responses.) I've thoroughly enjoyed it in all its parts. Well, by the time you read this the video game will be out. [Yep!] I probably will have to sit it out. Pathetic as it is, I have to admit to some motion sickness from a lot of video games. I'm assuming I'll be able to get some pretty detailed descriptions from the good folks here. I hope that there will be other continuations as well. (Also good luck on your new Star Wars series.)

I have to admit to more than a little annoyance that another show I enjoy is canceled, but also some confusion. If I understand correctly one of the major factors, if not the major factor in the cancellation is that the merchandise didn't sell as well as they companies had hoped. Good viewership numbers are almost inconsequential. If this is true, (big if, I admit), I don't understand the business model. Why continue making cartoons targeting the older demographic at all? I know the show aimed for a broad audience, but it aimed for each part directly. A lot of cartoons aim themselves at kids directly, and place bonus references and jokes for the older viewers. I've loved many shows like that. But the complexity of characters and plots in shows like Young Justice is not a bonus for older viewers, it is integral. (IMHO) A relationship like, for example, Guardian and Bumblebee is more relateable to a college or adult viewer than a kid. (I would have gone to Babs and Dick, but that was mainly expanded upon in the comics.) A kid would gravitate to the first season romances, or the M'gan/L'gan/Conner triangle. All the relationships were interesting and important to the show, and none were simple, it's just different parts resonant (from experience or at least plot type familiarity) better to different age sets. (Or for out of YJ examples- In Green Lantern- the complexity of Razor and Ia's relationship- given his past lost love, her resemblance, his survivor guilt and rage issues and her ultimate sacrifice is not something that targets the younger viewers of the show. They'll just accept the two are a couple and enjoy the fight scenes. It was perhaps more integral to the show than any Hal based plot. In Tron the entire looks of the show was aimed older, high teens and 20s would be my guess, and not particularly conducive to action figures to my eye.)

Older fans are less likely to buy toys, (or have toys bought for them), but they also have control over their own finances to buy what is actually advertised during broadcast. Between the 24 hour cable tv cycle and dvrs, grown ups will be watching when kids can't, allowing for targeted ads of the none happy meal/stompies/pillow pet variety. (For the record, my 4.5 year old adores her stompies. ~she's 5 now~) I get that a franchise like DC or Marvel or Star Wars can expect some cross product sales, and even a show not squarely aimed at a small kid can have a cool iconic action figure that sells well. But no one expects Smallville or Arrow to survive on toy and apparel sales, they stays on air based on the number and demographics of viewers, just like Birds of Prey did not last for the same reason. Have cartoons, or at least the beautifully animated ones, become loss leaders for merchandise like comics have become loss leaders for movies? And is that a reasonable burden to place on a show that does not squarely target the audience that will buy those toys? Is a high level video game an attempt to tap into an action figure equivalent of older viewers?

I don't want to turn this into a rant about how annoyed I am that YJ was canceled....er, not renewed. I will admit to being mightily confused why DC Nation isn't aiming to expand into more than an hour of programming. I just assumed it was planned to become a 2 or 3 hour block like the old Disney Afternoon, with perhaps a rotating stable of shows. But I am interested on your more insider insight on what the none creative aims are when a new cartoon is unleashed upon the world nowadays and whether they are reasonable. Thanks,

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Endgame-
Shorts
-I liked the 'All New' Ardman short a little better this time around.
-Farm League...eh, Didn't Robin's Egg free the bad guy? Lampry is indeed disgusting.

1- What's with the new, admittedly classy, WB opening banner?
Q 2- Just noticing the looks between the Leaguers on Rimbor, especially the Hawkfolk...was there a backup plan they fortunately didn't need to use?
3- "Clearly all ~four~ of you are corrupt beyond redemption."..."Freedom is overrated." Death scream! Aside from the clever line, it does give you the tragedy of Green Beetle's scarab- it's been a free sentient being for only a few days and now it is dead. On the flip side you wonder at the personality of Black Beetle. Maybe it is what he would have chosen, maybe he's been hooked into the Reach so long there is no him apart. Green Beetle's personality did not seem totally dormant under the Reach, so you could extrapolate from there, and yet...the Jaime of Bart's memory seemed awfully closer the Black B than Green B.
4- "That is not the More we are accustomed to receiving." Oh, if that were a parody of justice in some parts of the world...
5- "The rest of the League is spread thin saving lives across the globe." I see a certain school bus!
6- Conner & M'gann...I'm actually in L'gann's corner at this point...
7- Lex saving the world...he does that often, but somehow I suspect that virus may have more than one purpose.
8- Vandal Savage's threat's timing...
9- Oooomega? :)
10- Static & Black Lightning...is that an homage to the Static cartoon?
11- I know it's a dramatic moment but, "Where's Wally?". Giggle. That out of the way...So Wally gets something like Barry's famous exit from Crisis on Infinite Earths. At one time that would have had a feeling of finality to it...but not so much anymore. Actually, this one has a bigger opening than that did- there you saw the body, here there was none. Not that it isn't a worthy hero's sacrifice.
12- Opinion has turned back in favor of the JL. (I guess they just gave the ambassador back to the Reach to stand trial.)
13- GGG. Sigh. I liked it better when he was right. Now he's pretending he hadn't been in the Reach's corner not too long ago. The idea that you didn't like him but he attacked the JL for valid reasons, and turned on the Reach when they proved false was pretty cool. Now he's just part of the Light's plan.
14- "...And on that note I officially turn over my chairmanship of the League to you." "Wow. Thanks so much."
15- Barbara in the Watchtower...cute.
Q 16- Let's see how Tigress does...As a hero? As a blond. :) Adding the edited lines into the screen moments- When Wally suggested more yellow and green for Bart, was that before he began to think about getting back in the game?
Q 17- Static in the group is cool, but I'm sad we didn't get more of the runaway groups own adventures. It almost seems like you missed a few episodes you meant to put in, but unless I'm mistaken, while this season was shorter than the first, it was decided to be that way fairly early. Were there supposed to be more adventures seen- perhaps in comic form?
18- Savage on Apocalypse...(and is GGG with him or DarkSeid?) The most obvious thread for the 3rd season we all wish were coming up soon ~sniff~ I'll probably vent about that in another message. Threads we very much want to follow: Apocalypse, Wally end, Nightwing's time out, Rocket's wedding, character's like Stephanie Brown that have appeared but not been introduced.
thanks.

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Summit- Only one question burred in comment #8, but first...
Shorts
-Loved the All New Plastic Man ...again
-Amethyst -cute enough end.

1- First time around it seemed off visually. Less so, but still this second time. The layouts are great, just something sub (the very high usual) par in the faces and maybe animation. I mentioned in an earlier review that Black Manta is movie matinee hot. He was just good looking here. It threw me off a bit.
2- When the Light unmasked, I was hoping the Reach would too. It would have been interesting to see what the rank and file looked like.
3- "No agreement exists that makes a slave of Black Manta."
"No agreement exists that guarantees the life of Black Manta."
"Manta guarantees that himself"
-all jokes about referring to oneself in third person, it's a pretty bad@ss exchange. I do wish we had a change to learn more about him.
4- "Apologies great one." "None necessary child. You have my...thanks." Putting aside the lovely bit of voice acting there, I do like this soft-spoken Ras aGhul. I'm used to him being over the top, but this speaks to a certain self-assured power that theatrics can undercut.
5- Random comment: There is something about the Reach Ambassador's design I really like.
6- Black Manta jumps between Black Beetle and son ~after~ betrayal is known. (Well... the first betrayal.) Kal doesn't even have a kind word to him while 'dying' in his grief stricken arms. Not even hearing the emotion choked voice as he proved to be alive.
7- So all the Light all are in on the Darwinian aims? I always assumed each had his or her own reason. (It seems especially odd with Klarion.)
8- The gotcha! No, Gotcha!, No GOTCHA! is fun.
-Q How did Garth pass as adult size in human disguise?
-Nightwing and opponent switching positions :)
-Gaurdian offhandedly knocking out one opponent while ducking another :)!
-Nice strategy that not everyone pulled their hoods off at once. Robin, Wondergirl and Impulse got the drop on their opponents by waiting a minute.
-And one last Gotcha! with Klarion.
-Ras says not to fight because the League has no jurisdiction - interesting villains do not fight for no reason. (The Master will be resurrected! -It's not cheating mortality if you announce you are going to do it;)
9- Back to Black Manta and son...this fell a little flat for me. Kal might say he admits to feeling conflicted, but I don't really see it. Artimas has shown anger to her dad, but there always seems to be conflict- she cares for him despite wanting not to, and he's shown her just about no fatherly consideration. Black Manta has moved oceans for Kal, and we've never seen Kal hesitate a moment. All he offers for explanation is that his father wastes his gifts on villainy. It's a long time, and a lot of serious 'affronts' before the father fights back or even shows any anger. And his line about it not being a world in which a "free man can afford to be soft" coupled with the Black Beetle incident earlier leads me to wonder if he has good reason to be somewhat screwed up. In fact the only real emotion we see from Kal is when he knocks out his father- it's anger and disdain, "I believe that was fairly ruthless, I hope it made you proud." (Well, there is that tiny eye gesture he does while looking at his unconscious father at the end of the battle...) I'm not sure if I just think a lot is missing, or if it is a story for another time.
10- I'm shipping for L'gan and M'gan. He's earned it.
11- I like that Black Beetle can dump the Ambassador. He's slave to the Reach, not a particular Reach.
12- I was surprised to learn that Kal was going back to being leader of the team...I had assumed Dick took over earlier in the 5 years, not just with the plan.
13- "Not after we destroy the Earth." Da Da DUM Da!
thanks.

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Intervention
Shorts-
Absolutely loves the All New Black Lightning short...again. I'm not sure I get Grace's text about changing oil.
More Amethyst, still okay, and actually 'new'.

1- The interaction between the beetles is pretty fascinating. To be so completely controlled and yet still have distinct personalities is not what we usually see.
2- "Don't blame Beetle! He's just as much a captive of the Reach as we were. We have to set him free! ...ya know, before he conquers the earth and enslaves mankind." :)
3- How unexpected; the Toy Man's visuals come from Smallville. I may be wrong, but isn't he an undersized suited man in the comic books? Not good or bad, just unexpected.
4- Under Reach control Blue just can't manage to really take a proper care at protecting the civilians, can he? Until now that seemed to be very good at faking everything else till now. I can't decide if it is a legit nit to pick, or just the difference of hearing it from inside Jaime's mind. Speaking of which...
5- Nice reversal to have Scarab in control (well, Reach) and Jaime in head complaining. "That's not the way I talk! And stop waving! I look like the Queen of England… Great, now I'm Peter Pan." :)
6- Poseidonis. Nice city design! It is complete NOT Atlantis. L'gan is such a sweet guy.
7- Inching closer to the Scarab I love form the comics...it's odd to think that the Scarab is as much a prisoner as Jamie. You would think when he was reset he would lose the desire not to be of the Reach, but it is clear (to me at least, Jaime misses it) that the Scarab's mind is clear. Even before Bart and Babs show up that's so, but once they do there is a distinct lack of the usual bloodthirstiness in the Scarab. Then there is dragging his blades to make noise and banging away at a force field powered by kinetic energy. Such lovely acts of defiance for one without free will.
8- Nice depiction of Bart's speed. I love the idea that he goes so fast that he can still walk on the support of the rope after it rips because the loss of tension hasn't had a chance to each the rope under his feet.
9- Reach scientist "This goes well." Such lovely sarcasm. Cut to M'gan, "this isn't going well." Ouch. Everything she says is true. Everything he says is true. Truth sucks. (M'gan does ask for Connor first thing when she gets to the warehouse.)
10- "Girlfriend...some day you have to tell me how you figure out those backward words so fast!" The question had occurred to me. "Maybe backwards is my native tongue." I bet there is some weird truth in that.
11- "They doubtless plan to destroy Blue Beetle, and then you and this scarab in the process." "Hermano, if that's your only take-away from our time together...you haven't learned a thing." Well, I did learn to talk a certain way when the Reach is listening...
Q12- "You can thank us later." Is Robin talking to his teammates of Green Beetle? Did they always have a contingency to save all Beetles who showed up?
13- "Congratulations Jaime Reyes....If this mistrust is your only take-away from our time together..." Nice turn around.
Q14- They've been working in this fix for months...before the Reach took BB over? Was this a case of- we'd better study this...wow! we'd better learn this just in case and Just in case came to pass?
15- Knowing when to throw a fight, and how to do so convincingly...impressive.
Thanks.

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

The Hunt

Wow- first time I had 5 questions in a review for a while.
But first the Shorts-
I loved the All New Animal Man...again
DC Nation Farm League- Not sure I love it, but this one had great lines. "I want whatever Wombats eat!" "'I'll go.' 'But actually get snacks, not just run around rooftops and narrate yourself.'" "Catcat" "I am the mongoose who is also a bat...cue lightning." "I looked it up, wombats eat roots!" Alright, I think I liked this one.

1- Still wondering at the geological chaos not shown for introducing the second moon sized War World into orbit. (I just remember one mention when it parked in orbit.)
2- "One of nine young heroes captured by the Reach." Wolf is included in the count. Lex is not one to underestimate anyone.
3- "You had me at 'we owe them'." The last statement ;) or perhaps the most important.
4- Surrender ruse- those kids are certainly simpatico.
Q5- Parts of War World look like a city. Is it designed to hold a population should the person with the key desire it?
Q6- The new kids seem rather blasé about throwing Reach soldiers over the edges to presumably die. I'm not saying they should hold back, just that I am a little surprised that it doesn't make them pause at any point. Is this a case of not thinking of the (literally) faceless enemy, or rage against those that tortured them? (Although...do I imagine a landing ~thud~ right before the "and that's what you get for blasting my board!", like they landed on an off screen surface and not followed Eduardo's previous fall path?)
7- I really liked the visual of Longshadow shrinking down and his real body filling into the space before it disappeared. Something about how he sunk into and filled the feet, knees and shins was...elegantly done?
Q8- When Arsenal is out of power for his arm, does that include basic none weapon functions- does it become still? I tried pause frame, but aside from him using his other hand to take the Reach weapon, I couldn't tell if there was anything to check on screen. (I've read description of the cutting edge leg prosthetics can be like that - you don't fully charge and sometime the next day your miracle of modern mechanical engineering becomes a very fancy stump leg. One lady described being unable to leave her desk one day because she had plugged in her leg to charge.)
9- Nightwing and Megan's guiltfest. Nicely done. Without short changing legitimate emotional reactions, you have a history of not having characters stupidly hash over and wallow unaware. They can do stupid things, but not because they are blind to a painfully obvious thing. (Unless of course that blindness is a defining flaw ~ahem, Demona~.)
10- I love those smiles as Sphere comes in :)
11- GGGodfry- Happy, happy, joy, joy. Earlier I accused him of drinking the kool-aid. I do apologize. Kinda reminds you why an honest press that hates you can be your most important resource. The fact he had been on their side, but not going to ignore their sins, gives him the access to publicly call the Reach on their lies and the standing to be believed as unbiased. As for all the nasty things he said of the Justice League...a lot of them were fair. As Feste said, "now my foes tell me plainly I am an ass: so that by my foes, sir, I profit in the knowledge of myself, ...the worse for my friends and the better for my foes." (Who can resist quoting Feste?) Of course this might all be for naught if he ends up being Darkseid or the like....
12- The Light certainly are clever with mega level distractions when they steal stuff.
Q13- What is the stuff Roy takes that was in the same room as the key?
14- Nightwing is right to throw Arsenal off, and he did it they best way possible under the circumstances, but the runaways were right from what they observed, and it speaks well of them that loyalty and fairness motivates them so. Carries right through to rejecting Lex without hesitation. Those kids have great instincts. Roy will either get them killed or be the better for the association. It's too small of a group for his ill actions to be compensated for, and although he thinks they suit his lone wolf badassery, that's really not what they are about. They act from a solid core value set, not the hurt fear that Roy does. Different reactions to very similar experiences, though the new kids had each other while Roy was alone.
15- Roy immediately figures out all the pieces- he's using you as a distraction while he sent another pawn to get the crystal key! "Actually Deathstroke is more of a bishop". :) The kids reject it, but Lex is unapologetic about his utilitarian world view.
Thanks

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Complications: (1 question in the mix)
Shorts-
An all new rerun of the second Vibe short...
Gem World- cute as the others.

1- Just really noticing, but Black Manta is movie matinee gorgeous. (Kal is beautiful (also hansom, but the word choice is intentional), but just enough not human to be 'alien'.)
2- War World bigger than moon? That should make chaos - as a Manhattanite I wonder at how high the water is hitting.
3- "Don't kid yourself Jade, we're not that different." Maybe some other time I'll see it, but right now they really seem ~that~ different. The first time I saw it I basically accepted the disdain she shows her father as that of a child to a parent, for and on par with that Artimas has shown. But on second viewing it occurs to me, she is a mother. She is probably more likely to disdain him as parent herself. Which then contrasts interestingly with Black Manta's devotion to a son that covertly disdains him. I am increasingly curious as to the history and relationship between father and son.
Q 4-"Fresh Pot" The random crew member looks really familiar. How odd. Also very human, like Black Manta, are they not Atlantian?
5- "The Martian is attempting to save him. She knows if her patient dies we have no reason to keep her alive." Well thank goodness they came up with a reason to explain it. There is no guarantee our intrepid heroes would have thought of that.
6- Ok, now we can talk. Slam! -that's unfortunate.
Q 7- Nightwing the detective puts together miniscule clues and figures out Blue Beetle is lying... works for me. But how does he do a somersault down easily three times his height and land on his feet? Is the gravity lighter on War World? (Is its gravity is based on mass and not artificially generated?) On Earth when he does something like that he usually bounces off a few intermediary things on the way down - like in that French sport that makes {extremely fit} regular people look like Spiderman.
8- In Artimas & Cheshires' room- Cheshire's anger at Megan for 'stealing' that memory makes her real sense of family contrast to her father even stronger. She's never a good guy, but her interest is in self. Since she cares about family, (despite having abandoned it when they were younger), she protects it. Same way we saw her rescue [clone] Roy to be a father. (Art note- side by side you really see the sisters look alike.) It makes her a lot more likeable…despite being a cold blooded killer. Sportsmaster, in contrast, rejects the emotional response, he takes the physical, literally kick in the head, and then is happy because his 'baby girl' is playing Manta and Light for chumps.
9- M'gan, "I realize Chesire that we will probably never be friends."
Cheshire, "You can leave off the probably." :)
10- Deathstroke, "Leaving so soon...and without a goodbye?" Cheshire, "Good bye." LOVE IT. More father daughter contrast: Sportmaster has a grudge and rep and challenge to meet- he runs to the fight. Short of something on the level of sister to avenge, (or a paycheck, I presume), she's done and gone. Way smarter. He's the bad guy equivalent of a knight throwing off his helmet after knocking off his opponent's. She's more of a shoot the knight with a gun kinda gal. Darwin with a wry sense of humor. Yeah, I know it's part of the act, but they are playing to type.
11- Mid fight sibling teasing...makes me happy. But seriously, losing a free babysitter is probably worth a small amount of bruising and blood spilled...just saying.
12- "Yeah Yeah...and sorry" "For what?" SLAM hee hee
13- Elegant end to the situation...but how long till Simon wakes up and they're all screwed?
14- What a sweet scene between Cheshire and her mom over Lian.... Of course you stopped the camera before her mom's reaction to Artimas being alive. I presume it went something like this, "She's al...She's.... I'm, I'm so hap...so ha... I AM SO GOING TO KILL HER!" Or something like that.
15- More Black Manta has heartfelt dad...and no love from Kal. I'm looking forward to that back story.
16- Jamie shows his face...I wonder, (and presumably will soon find out), if he gave up his identity or just showed a face that may or may not be recognized. (Like that JLU episode with Lex Luthar in Flash's body. He takes off the mask, looks in the mirror and realizes he has no idea who's face that it.)
Thanks.

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

War-
Only the last thought has a question.
Shorts-
Vibe I. All new? Still far less dated than it should be.
Amethyst- fun enough

1 A few things caught my interest in the trial-
a- "the life forms you injured" The Light had total control over the Justice Leaguers and chose not to kill?
b- "surely the bribes have changed hands by now? ...savages." Amusing, also an argument not without merit- if bribes are expected, there is a reasonable expectation of behavior in that society. To buck expectations is to challenge the order of that civilization. Like the cannibal shocked by the carnage described in WWI, 'You mean you kill more than you can eat? Savage!", what we see as bad behavior actually keeps them I check.
c- Savage, the 'savage' that started it all, a literal early savage, is there to throw Mongal into the mix. {Mongal…that voice.}
2- War World is the size of the moon? What that would do to Earth! It's cataclysmic!
3- Surest way to take back his world is to concur the entire galaxy? Overkill much?
4- Karen; "Sorry, I'm a little preoccupied ...with THE SECOND MOON IN THE SKY!" What a fantastic fake-out! Not a relationship subplot, gotcha!
5- "Unfortunately the Reach only has this single ship designed for peaceful exploration and unequipped with weapons of any kind." Yeah, that's gonna come back to bite you in the posterior. (Ironic that the Justice League really did that with their satellite.)
6- I notice that when the JL makes important contact, Nightwing always represents.
7- Mal -Fine with me, I like the attention, at least a big alien death moon notices when I'm around.
Karen-Was that a Slam on me? In the middle of a mission?!
Mal-Woman, when are you not in the middle of a mission?!
A point, a palpable point!
Mal-Alright, Supercycle's got our back, I love a lady I can count on!
Karen-Alright, I get it, I'm a bad girlfriend. Now quit pouting.
Mal- Who's pouting? I'm not pouting! Let's just blow this place and go.
I'm given her the win this time.
Mal- Good luck beautiful.
Awww....
8-Mongol's powers are red sun related? But I thought he's that powerful everywhere.
9- Cat Grant's voice is great.
10- Nice cutting from Batgirl down to the Reach on the percentage of attack neutralized. I also recall a transition from the Reach observation of attack to the halls themselves.
11- Mal- you outgrew me. Karen- idiot.
That works better than the cliché on most shows.., more satisfying too. Leads to that great happy clean up vibe Blue beetle destroys.
12- I'm trying to decide if Arsenal screwed up any chance of defeating Blue or if they were really without a chance and the airlock just gave him a chance to go another day. Tim and Karen aren't the most powerful team members, but they are probably among the smartest... (Not that it was Roy's motivation at the time.)
Q13- Why did only the still fighting members of the team get pulled by the open airlock? Roy, Karen, Time and Wolf hold on for dear life. Sphere goes out the door. But Mal just lies there. And I don't see them while the locke is open, but the same question applies to Babs, Gar, Bart, and Conner. As far as I can tell, only Cassie was pinned, and Mongal weighs a ton.
Thanks.

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Another old review, 2 questions among the comments...
Runways
Shorts-
Black Lightening and family- LOVE
SBFF- "brand new"? I'm not saying I didn't love it, just that I loved it the first time.

1-Meta gene being 'opportunistic' makes sense. The DCU is full of the superpowered children of Golden Age none powered heroes, often superpowers that fit thematically with their parents' personas.
Q2-Wilcox's design looks reminiscent of an actor whose names I don't remember...what's the importance of his necklace watch? (Close up on it being left behind.)
3-I'm so used to brilliant Static, I'm going to have to get used to regular (very good) guy- but I like that he was never a runaway. It's been so long since I read the original comics, I can't remember if he was a crazy science geek back in Milestone. (Between the brains and the quips, Virgil often reminds me of Peter Parker.) I did notice that when he knocked out the guard with the fire extinguisher it remained still in the air after the man fell. I take it is to show that he didn't just fling it at the man, or in other words, even in the thick of things he had the presence of mind not to just bean a none bad guy full force. But then it fell on the man's shoulder....
4-I'm not clear on Asami's power. I'm sure it will be made clear or answered by the time you read this, but I'm guessing it has to do with kinetic, springlike force bursts.
5-I'm still fuzzy on how the lab held the kids without parental consent, especially Virgil, (and for all we know, Asami), who wants to be with his family. Though I feel for Newt's side of the argument.
Q6-Jamie on the phone with Nightwing seemed fully Jamie, (had me thinking that the tinkering Green Beetle did hadn't yet taken effect). When the Reach takes a host, do they let the host think it's in control when it's undercover? ...Actually, from a later episode it seems they retain some of their original personality- Is either of the above true? Are the Beetles we've seen typical?
7-Amazo parts...no that's not going to end badly. But Red Volcano was certainly a surprise. Actually, nice red herring of the head being elsewhere.
8-I have no idea if the Japanese is good, bad or really Mongolian, but the timing is hilarious.
9-Virgil and can of Reach was a good chuckle.
10-Jaime going overboard and putting civilians in danger had me assuming he was turning, I hadn't realized it was because he already turned.
11-Those four kids have great instincts when it comes to issues of trust - walking away from Jaime, being wary of Lex.
Thanks.

Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

Yay! The queue is open! I wish I had some gamer friends to go to to try out YJ:Legacy. I will have to make do with everyone else's enthusiastic reviews to find the story. I apologize for the coming info dump, but I've saved up a bunch of comments since the queue closed, but a lot of it is reviews of the last few episodes. I was rather far behinds when the queue closed...

Fix
Shorts-
Batman of Shanghi- Still lovely, still not for me. But seeing fight through puppet screen is cool.
Farm League- eh

Numbered thoughts-
1-Blank Manta is such a concerned father.
2-Megan is so hesitant, what an unfortunate time to be so scrupled. I was suspicious at the time, though writing this up later lets me say I was right to be so. Still I wonder what the plan was had she not been hesitant. Were they just hoping the Green Beetle would be powerful enough to misdirect her? (His offering the Reach drink additive info is an easy give since Lex knew that Robin snagged a sample to test. The Meta gene added info might have been considered something that would eventually, or perhaps was already discovered, an even if not, it was a 'good will' gesture more than worth it.)
3-Artimas really is good at the undercover thinking on her feet. I wonder at the stories during the five year jump that showed her growing those skills. Even though her whole first year on the team was a similar hiding of self in a way, she just wasn't that good at it. (Inner and outer dialogue- Death Stroke coming along- Perfect...perfect.)
4- Blue Beetle- How about we meet up first thing in the morning...say noon :)
5-Lagon in the beginning seems all clueless wanting Megan to use her powers, but then we see him talking about their relationship and there is nothing clueless about it. HE knows something is wrong and won't even wait to talk about it.
6- Death Stroke is visually bad @ss- he moves, he poses etc. I'm on the fence about the ponytail. How it hangs or moves at the bottom looks cool. Looks weird coming from his head. It's a dumb thing for a hand-to-hand fighter, (though Nightwing once had one), but he's good enough to be taunting an opponent to grab at it.
7- Green Beetle gets Jaime to ask to let him in. It's best to get the mark to think he's asking for something from his own ideas.
8- "Megan, we don't have any choice." "No ~ ~ I suppose we don't." Great voice acting.
9- (with question)- There is one thing that struck me as little off in this and the following scenes in Karduran's room: Deathstroke is watching the whole time, he seems the two women, never talking, never saying even the minimum typical (un)pleasantries that two people stuck in a room would end up exchanging. Did he ever think it odd? Suspicious? Even Black Manta waited 6 hours before seeing Tigress stand in place as odd.
10- I still think there is good argument for Nightwing having kept the secret having been kept so limited in scope. Other dangers come from sharing.
11- Even when Kalduran has no face, but Tula does.
12- And there goes Jaime...not that we know that for a few episodes..

thanks!

Reiena writes...

I am curious about something with young Justice Legacy.

I was wondering how the Team Years went, is it from July 4th to July 4th each year, or is it from january 1st to january 1st each year.

Got young Justice Legacy for the 3DS and I have to say, was not seeing this storyline coming. The trailers did not give anything away, and I'm happy with the story so far.

Todd Jensen writes...

This is my belated review of "Young Justice: Invasion", which I decided to do as an overall comment rather than an episode-by-episode review (while the episodes felt complete within themselves, they also felt so much like a larger whole that it might work better this way - plus, I watched them long enough ago that I don't think I could keep the individual episodes distinct from each other in my memory).

We start with the infamous and controversial Time Skip, which I remember upset a lot of people because of the major changes to the familiar cast. It took a while for me to fully adjust to it - but one that made some sense. (In particular, I thought it fitted a major part of the story, about the alien trial. It's a big universe, and even in a DC Comics setting where you've got aliens equipped with super-technology able to get from one solar system to another in less than six months, it would still take a while for the fallout from the Justice League's attack on Rimbor to reach Earth.)

My favorite new characters in the second season were Jamie (especially how he's plagued with a Beetle with a ruthless streak that he has to keep arguing with - and worse, since he's the only one who can hear it, those arguments seem odd to anyone within earshot) and G. Gordon Godfrey (memorably voiced by Tim Curry - and what a delight! I thought it a good thing that Goliath and his clan don't live on Earth-16, since I could guess what Godfrey would be saying about them - and we probably don't need to confuse the audience further about whether the gargoyles are from outer space). It was even more of a delight when Godfrey, after lambasting the Justice League for all its secrets, does the same to the Reach near the end; (And his showing up on Apokolips in the final scene suggests that there's more to him than an opinionated talk show host.)

I can't remember all the details that I enjoyed after this time, but a few things:

1. The Krotoleans (or is it Kroloteans- I can't remember which) method of disguising themselves as humans reminded me of the animated adaptation of "Men in Black", though I don't know if that was an influence.

2. I got a kick out of the "Jabberwocky" quotes used to confuse aliens in the second episode.

3. Superman's big moment, trying to rescue the Krotoleans from the explosion - and failing because of their dislike and distrust of him.

4. As the Justice Leaguers prepare to depart for Rimbor, Martian Manhunter asking Miss Martian to look after the plants in his apartment while he's away. It's ironic that such a natural, everyday, down-to-earth moment is coming from a couple of Martians.

5. The original Roy Harper was shown convalescing at a hospital called "Royal Memorial"; I wondered why a hospital in (presumably) the U.S. would have "Royal" in its name (unless it was a surname and not "royal" in the usual adjective sense).

6. One of the funniest moments; Captain Cold learning the hard way that you should never rob a bank across the street from a super-heroine wedding shower.

7. Despite Black Manta being one of the villains (and a new member of the Light, at that), I found his love for his son touching. The moments that most stood out to me was when he was praising Kaldur for not taking credit for the success of a mission when it hadn't been due to his own efforts, and how, when he learns that Kaldur had been really a double agent, his first response is, not anger (though that comes later), but grief and devastation.

8. I think that the episode that introduces Bart/Impulse needs to be watched twice - the second time, after you know that his behaving like an oddball time traveling tourist is just an act and that he has far more serious motives. (The other things that most stood out to me in this episode was Central City having a monument that looked a lot like the Gateway Arch - being a St. Louisan, I'd naturally pick up on that - which, alas, gets destroyed in the battle with Neutron, Bart's constant use of "Spoilers!" a la River Song in "Doctor Who", and, my favorite:

FLASH (changing into his uniform and running off): Back in a flash!

BART: Does he say that often?

EVERYONE ELSE IN UNISON: Too often.)

I have mixed feelings about this being the last season. On the one hand, the revelation at the end of the Light being allied with Darkseid means that we could really have had an exciting third season. On the other, the ending felt so perfectly "full circle", with the Team floating down to welcome the returning Justice League members as an echo of the ending of the opening two-parter at the start of Season One, and the Team now having full access to the Watchtower; it's come of age.

At any rate, even though I'm not much of a DC Comics buff, I thought that this was a good series, and would like to thank you for it - and wish you well on future projects.

Superboy fan writes...

Greg, I watched young justice religiously every week until it's end. But I have to admit as a Superboy fan I was disappointed deeply in Invasion. In the second season everyone of the main 6 seemed like they had a role. Artemis, Nightwing, Kaldur and Wally had their secret and Wally his eventual death. M'gann had her abuse of her powers. Superboy's plot was essentially looking sad at everything and getting beaten up every time he was put on screen to the point I started cringing whenever he appeared on screen because I knew he wouldn't do anything effective against the villain of the day.

It was especially apparent in Summit where we get to see nearly every member of the team get to do something awesome and Superboy instantly gets slapped down by black Beetle before he gets his chance when just moments earlier M'gann and Artemis held off their own against him. Il

It just seemed after a certain point you were just picking on the guy.

And relatedly I have to admit I come from home where my mother was very abusive to me and my father so I admit that colors my bias somewhat but I noticed a few other people spotting the parallels as well. But basically M'gann and Conner's relationship dynamic shift seemed incredibly abusive to me. M'Gann's decision to try to erase his memory and abuse the power she had over him and then his reaction to hide what she did to him instead of telling anyone because he still loved her and doesn't want to get her in trouble over him hit a little too close to home. And instead of being apologetic in the slightest she runs off to another guy. So I admit I was hoping all season that Conner would eventually confess to anyone what she did to him and get some kind of support system and the two would eventually become friends again but no longer lovers. So I have to admit their semi-getting back together in Endgame brought me much disappointment. It just seemed like Conner's character stagnated while she dated a rebound guy and realized he was right and it's be okay because he was always there waiting for her. When it seems like he's much better off without her.

Donna writes...

Hey Greg,

I was, and still am, a huge fan of Gargoyles, the Spectacular Spider-man, and numerous other shows you've worked on in the past. So to say that I was excited beyond belief when I found out you were not only going to be involved in a DC animated series, but that my favorite DC character, Wally West, was going to be on it as well would have been an understatement. But unfortunately for me, Wally's inclusion on Young Justice actually lessened my enjoyment of the show quite a bit. And I know it's almost impossible to juggle all the characters on team shows like Young Justice, so I didn't really have much expectations outside of Wally being portrayed in a respectable manner with whatever role he was given. And I'm sure it wasn't your intentions and that I'm probably in the minority, but I don't feel that was the case. There honestly wasn't one aspect of his involvement on this show that I took away as a positive when it came to his character as it felt his role in everything he was involved in centered around how bad he was.

First off, the main storyline line he had throughout the two seasons was his relationship with Artemis and the majority of that seemed to revolve around how much of a burden Wally was for her in both seasons. In Season One, it was him making her life harder than it had to be and being the biggest reason she wouldn't tell the team about her family ("DISORDERED") because he was a complete jerk to her for no reason when she showed up in "INFILTRATOR" and she didn't want to listen to him run his mouth again. That would have been okay if Wally would have played a significant role in her overcoming that, but he only ended up making things even worse after his one attempt to make things better in "INSECURITY". It also didn't help that I never got the feeling Artemis liked Wally all that much during that first season. She showed no romantic interest in Wally, outside of the show flat-out saying they were going to get together, that led me to believe that her constant belittling and hitting of him was anything more than her genuinely thinking he's a complete idiot and was constantly annoyed by his antics (which falls in line with all the other characters perceptions of him as they thought Wally was a complete idiot outside of situations that required science knowledge, too). The only time she was shown to even be able to tolerate him was when he was propping her up ("BEREFT" and most of "INSECURITY"), and that had more to do with her own insecurity than her actually liking Wally for Wally (while the show was clear there's quite a bit about him that she didn't like). She just liked having the attention and a glorified cheerleader. And she was shown to like/respect the other male members of the team more than Wally and they were supportive of her from the get go, so why would Wally's words matter more than theirs? I also assume Artemis crushing on Conner was suppose to mirror Wally's crush on M'gann, but the big difference is that the show was clear where Wally's real feelings lied ("FAILSAFE" and he admitted attraction in "BEREFT") before he found out about Conner & M'gann. Where as I mentioned earlier, Artemis didn't show much interest in Wally before finding out about them (Artemis giving him her spare breather so he doesn't drown ,the only other member in danger of that at that moment, and making a sling for his arm is no different than how she interacted with any of her other teammates). So I took it as Wally being her consolation prize after missing out on the guy she actually liked and was attracted to.

Plus with the way the events went down in "DENIAL", I took Kent Nelson's "find your own little spitfire; one who won't let you get away with nothin'" line to mean that Wally needed to date Artemis so she could keep him in line because he was incapable of doing it himself. I mean, the episode started out with Artemis and M'gann laughing at how much of a joke he was after the latter couldn't think of one positive quality that Wally possessed to sale Artemis on the idea of dating him. Then Wally nearly got the team killed just trying to impress M'gann. And all of Wally's interactions with Artemis in the episode either had her rolling her eyes at his antics, mocking him for constantly being wrong, or elbowing him for being rude. Honestly, I don't know why Artemis would've even been interested in a guy that the show basically said she'd have to babysit.

Then is Season Two, Season Two, it was pretty clear that Artemis wanted to return to the hero life and that Wally was holding her back from something she loved due to his own selfish fear. And I got the feeling she just used the undercover mission as an escape from their life/relationship and justified it by saying she was needed, which is also true, but it doesn't change the fact that she wanted out. And the only time she even thinks about Wally while she's undercover is when she said what they had was "special" in "THE FIX", but that's when she was trapped behind enemy lines with a comatose Kaldur (after blowing up the Cave and kidnapping teenage kids for torture) and no clear way out of that situation at that moment. So of course the normal life with Wally looked special compared to that, but later she basically rebuffed Wally on the idea of returning to Paris after they saved the world in "ENDGAME". It's like they were only still "together" in an attempt to force the idea that his death was more meaningful than it really was. I actually rolled my eyes when the show tried to pass off that Wally was important to her after he died because she was already done with him long before that. So I felt that Artemis got exactly what she wanted and what was best for her character. Wally is no longer around to hold her back and she got to avoid any possible guilt about hurting him since he's dead. He wasn't so much portrayed as her "partner" but as a roadblock that she just had to constantly get around. And a roadblock she wasn't even shown to like all that much at that.

Then there's his friendship with Dick, which is something I was always fond of in the comics and was really looking forward to seeing it on the show. But outside of Dick's one line at the end of "COLDHEARTED", all Dick really ever did was constantly make fun of Wally and put him down throughout the two seasons. A few superficial scenes of them high-fiving and fist bumping doesn't offset Dick constantly telling Wally how dumb he is and treating him like he's a joke. I know he supposedly told Wally his secret identity before the series started, but nothing that was shown on the show made me believe that Dick had much respect for Wally as a person. And I know that friends tease each other, but that was pretty much all Dick did (and some things like using Wally's inferiority to Barry to embarrass him in front of M'gann in "WELCOME TO HAPPY HARBOR", or letting an all too eager Artemis crush him with the news about M'gann & Conner at his birthday party of all times were just beyond cruel). So while Wally was far from a perfect friend, I honestly got the feeling that he cared about Dick and was incredibly loyal to him (especially in Season One). And watching Dick constantly use Wally as nothing more than a punchline was tough to watch. Plus, Dick telling Wally that he only cared about his souvenirs getting blown up in "DARKEST" just confirmed to me how little Dick thought of him. And for the record, I really do like Dick but he was beyond terrible as a friend to Wally on this show.

Also, I noticed how Wally was ultimately in the wrong when he got into conflicts with the others characters (Artemis in "INFILTRATOR", magic isn't real in "DENIAL", and Artemis again at the end of "INSECURITY"). The most notable time of Wally being wrong was his scene with Dick at the end of "DARKEST" in Season Two. I get it was just to add drama, but Wally ended up being (predictably) wrong about everything he said there and the entire scene turned out to be completely pointless as it didn't affect anything related to the plot. The only thing it really accomplished in the long run was damaging Wally's character. He was just used to make his best friend feel bad about trying to save the world and accuse Kaldur of being a traitor. Though Wally's rant would have been okay as long as he did something about it afterward but he didn't as he just went back to the sidelines. And given that most people view the characters actions in the context of it being a show about superheroes, Wally was already looking bad by sitting out while an alien invasion that almost everyone he claimed to care about was risking their lives to stop was going on. And I get that loyalty goes a long way, but Dick was in over his head and lost all control of the situation as Wally pointed out (Dick and Conner had almost died, three teenage kids, including his own cousin, was allowed to be captured for torture, and he wrongly believed Kaldur was a traitor). So how can Wally just go back to sitting on his couch thinking the woman he loved was in danger and knowing his best friend thought it was necessary that his little cousin was kidnapped for torture? It's not like Dick's never volunteered sending his friends/teammates to their death before as he did it with Conner in "FAILSAFE". Loyalty is fine, but not when it's given blindly to somebody who has shown repeatedly that they don't deserve it like Dick. Honestly, I never thought it was possible for me to hate/dislike Wally West, but I came pretty close after this because it wasn't Wally-like, as he essentially abandoned his friends and family (Bart). And what happened in "ENDGAME" doesn't erase that. In fact, I'd say it made Wally's mischaracterization (assuming Wally did actually care about the people he mentioned in the episode) after "DARKEST" worse.

Finally, there's Wally's story as a hero. In Season One, it appears that his arc was basically about maturing enough that he could become a suitable boyfriend option for Artemis. I already mentioned what I thought was highlighted in "DENIAL", and I think "COLDHEARTED" was just to make Wally slightly less of an idiot and a joke that she would consider dating him. Which isn't exactly the most flattering of character arcs. And I also felt he was portrayed as the weak link of the team. He was the character that would (comically) mess up the most on missions and with his powers (running into walls, tripping over marbles and rocks, blowing the team's cover, and nearly getting the team killed just by trying to impress a girl who doesn't even think he has one positive attribute). He was also the only member of the team that didn't land a single blow during the fight with the Injustice League in "REVELATIONS", but did manage to be the only one to suffer a significant injury. Honestly, Wally's competence in "COLDHEARTED" was hard for me to believe given how he was portrayed in all the previous episodes. He just seemed to be as much of a detriment to the team as a help unless science exposition was needed on the mission. And things like all the other characters constantly making fun of him, the running gag that Wally was so forgettable as a hero that the public could almost never remember his name, and the oblivious flirting with M'gann that made him look like even more of an idiot didn't help matters. Especially the last one as it lasted the majority of the season and there was no real payoff to it outside of "aw man!". Artemis, who only showed interest in Conner during her first two episodes, had a much more extreme reaction to finding out about M'gann and Conner being together. Not to mention Dick's over-the-top flirting worked with Zatanna in "HUMANITY", so it wasn't Wally's flirting that was bad, just that it was Wally that was doing it.

Then in Season Two, Wally's inferiority was used in "BLOODLINES" for some cheap laughs, and as a prop so you guys could show how much better Bart was than him in every single way. And I know you said you didn't think he showed Wally up at all, but I'd say four (completely obvious) different scenes where the show played it up for laughs at Wally's expense was a little much. As Wally said when he had to be carried away from Neutron's blast by Bart and Barry because he wasn't fast enough, he was being humiliated. And I don't think him assisting Jay at the end to help save Barry/Bart offsets that considering Barry promptly interrupted Wally lecturing Bart on his recklessness and gave Bart all the credit for saving him. The episode spent twenty minutes slamming home the point that Wally wasn't worthy of being named in the same sentence with Bart and Barry, and a scene that is pretty much glossed over hardly made up for it to me. Then Wally ends up dying in "ENDGAME" simply because he wasn't fast enough to live to further cement that he wasn't worthy of being part of the Flash legacy. His death wasn't so much a noble sacrifice to me (as I suspect it was meant to be) as it was him dying because he wasn't good enough to live. And being told your favorite character died because they weren't good enough isn't fun, especially when the show already had an episode where it made fun of that character for the same reason they died. Perhaps if the show would have dealt with Wally's inferiority and his thoughts/feelings about it before "BLOODLINES" or in a serious/respectful manner (much like it did with Conner's inferiority to Superman in the first season), then I'd be able to see his death in a different way. But as it is, his inferiority wasn't so much a part of his character and story as it was just used as a tool to build Bart up and serve as an excuse to kill him off.

And let me say again that I have absolutely no problem with the idea of Wally being slower than Barry/Bart or him dying. Those things could have been interesting and meaningful. But I felt with the way the show handled those things, they weren't. You tried to compare Dick not being as strong as Conner to Wally not being as fast as Bart/Barry, but there's two huge differences. The first is that Dick's one trick isn't being incredible strong and the other is that the show didn't pound home that fact over and over in a comedic fashion the way it did with Wally and the Allen's in "BLOODLINES". Wally being slower is only a big issue because you guys made it one with how you handled it. And I truly believe you don't think you guys implied that Wally was a lesser hero or not good enough because he's slower, but I do know my two kids (11 and 8) now think that Impulse/The Flash are awesome and that Kid Flash is "a loser" thanks to that episode (Young Justice was their first real experience with the DC universe). I also think simply leaving the Allen's out (or not having them be directly involved) of Wally's death scene would've been a more than satisfying conclusion for his character. That way you guys still would have gotten your death and made it about what Wally could do as a hero instead of what he couldn't (and help shed the selfish label the character had). But making it simply about his speed after his treatment in "BLOODLINES", you guys basically admitted that Wally no longer had a role in this universe because he's a second-rate speedster and therefore had to die. Which might actually be true as Wally couldn't be the Flash (not with Bart running circles around him), but I'm not sure that you guys had to be so on the head about it.

Having said all that, I did like Wally's personality on the show (well at least in Season One when his characterization was pretty consistent) and I did relatively enjoy the show on the whole. But feeling like the show was continually telling me over and over how bad Wally was throughout two seasons dragged it down for me at times. And I do get that quite a bit of the things I mentioned weren't entirely valid as Wally was just the comic relief character (they do start to add up, though). But even the important parts of Wally's story (his relationship with Artemis/conflicts with other characters/as a hero/his death) came across about how terrible and/or how much of a joke he was to me. It just seemed that outside of "COLDHEARTED", Wally's main purpose on the show was to look bad to make the others look good and enhance their story by either telling them how great they were (which they never did for him) or being the bad guy. And like I said, I don't think it was the show's intentions to do that and I think I have a pretty good idea what the show was trying to do. But what the narrative of the show wanted me to believe (that Artemis liked Wally/that he was good thing for her/that Dick thought of him as his best friend/etc) and what the show actually showed were two completely different things to me. And I just have a hard time blindly accepting things on a show when they aren't really backed up by what is shown and were even contradicted by what was at times.

So for me, Wally's story was just about how he wasn't good enough no matter how hard he tried. Not good enough for Artemis, not good enough to get any respect from his friends, and not good enough as a speedster to survive or to be worthy of being the Flash because that's simply how those things were handled and portrayed on the show itself. He did have his moments here and there (I loved "COLDHEARTED"), but what little positive the character had was overshadowed by the overwhelming negative in my opinion.

Anyway, I apologize for wasting your time with this and for feeling this way. I really, really wish I didn't. And good luck with your book, the Star Wars series, and whatever else you may work on in the future!

Anonymous writes...

The Team have called the temporary hideout ion Bludhaven "the warehouse". Is that it's "official" unofficial name, like The Team and The Cave, and is it capitalized?

Tupka writes...

At first, I was wondering why the Kroloteans would take so many famous politicians - and Bibbo. Players answered some questions, but raised more.
1. Assuming Noor's guard told Queen Bee as soon as he knew where they were heading, how fast could she get there? I assume she was based somewhere in the city, but it's huge. And in a state of panic.
2. How fast could the Kroloteans whip up a "bodysuit" of someone they never seen before? Judging by Bibbo's surprise, they didn't take any measurements or anything. Can this one be brushed off with "it's alien tech"?

Second Aristh writes...

Hi Mr Weisman. I'm a big fan of dramatic cartoons, and only recently realized how many of my favorites were your work (Gargoyles made me think of Shakespeare as a friend!) Thank you for making such an impact on my childhood. I do have some questions about Young Justice.

1. Are boom tubes an extension of zeta platform technology or a mostly different technology with some similar applications?
2. I was impressed at the way different backstories were tied together in YJ (e.g. Beast Boy's powers as a product of a Martian blood transfusion). Was there any particular process that you used to know when things felt "right"?
2b. Any ties that you were particularly proud of off the top of your head?

Thanks for taking the time to interact with us Mr Weisman! I look forward to more of your work.

Masterdramon writes...

ASK GREG LIVE! - WONDERCON 2013 REPORT

First, a little background. I'm going to quote a section from the introduction I made to to Station 8 Comment Room, waaaaaay back in July 2010:

"Given that I was three when Season 1 of 'Gargoyles' first began airing, I was obviously quite outside the target audience at that point, and if I watched any of the episodes on first airing I definitely don't remember them. Rather, my first clear memories of 'Gargoyles' were watching it during the late 90s when Toon Disney was first starting up. This produced some interesting experiences; for example, I never saw and indeed never even had a clue that 'Deadly Force' existed until Toon Disney started airing it again in 2002 or so.

At the time that I first was watching this show voraciously it was amongst a litany of dozens of other cartoons, some well-written ('Batman: The Animated Series,' 'Darkwing Duck,' etc.) and some...well, not so much (here's looking at you, 'Captain Planet'). To an eight year-old, there was little differentiation between the relative qualities of these shows, and it was not until a few years on that I really began to appreciate what a true gem 'Gargoyles' was.

I'm not entirely sure when my perspective changed, though it might have had something to do with the aforementioned first viewing of 'Deadly Force.' By this point I was a pre-teen, and old enough to understand the basics of S+P...so to see one of the protagonists shoot another one in the chest accidentally, nearly causing her to die was an absolute revelation to me. Around this time I began watching the entire series with new eyes, and what I saw astounded me.

The depth, the complexity, the characterization was unlike anything else I had ever seen on the small screen, live-action or animated. The little things that escaped me on the first, second, or even tenth viewing (yes, I watched a LOT of Toon Disney) suddenly rared to life and showed me how amazing this show was, is, and always will be. Everything from the sheer emotion that Tony Shalhoub brought to the show's single greatest cameo role to the little nuances about Lexington that made me think, 'Oh, of course!' when I learned that Greg considered him to be homosexual all became clear to me, and clearer and clearer with each viewing.

'Gargoyles' did much for me over the years. To take a particular example, when I first began really reading Shakespeare during mandatory reading times in high school, I went with 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' then 'Macbeth,' and then, after the obvious 'Hamlet,' moving to 'Othello.' It shouldn't take too many guesses to figure out what attracted me to those plays specifically.

I have many obsessions in my life, some that have faded and some that have stayed with me forever. 'Gargoyles' stayed with me forever, and by the time I was about 13 or so it overtook virtually all of my other obsessions to become forefront in my fiction-dominated mind. I began searching around the internet for various little tidbits and behind-the-scenes stuff, and was blown away when I first discovered Greg's Master Plan. That someone could have so intricately designed such a massive and complex fictional universe intrigued me to no end...particularly 'Bad Guys,' since Dingo was at the time my favorite character.

On one of my frequent revisitings of the Master Plan in 2004, I ended up clicking around some links that brought me to the FAQ...and consequently to AskGreg. If the Master Plan had blown me away, then this site caused my mind to spontaneously combust. So many hints and clues to what the future might hold for the series, should Disney allow it to somehow continue...straight from the mouth of the creator himself! In all the years since that I've been up and around the world wide web, never have I again seen such a direct, easy-to-access method of communication to the artist behind such a masterful work.

Over the years, I have read virtually every single post in the AskGreg archives, some of them several dozen times. It is one of the websites that I frequent several times a day without fail, and I have gained an uncountable amount of enrichment from reading it constantly. It was through this site that I first learned of the DVDs and comics, all of which I purchased as soon as I could possibly get my hands on them, and of the Gathering, the scope of which shocked and awed me.

One of my greatest regrets is that I was never able to attend one of these amazing events; convincing your parents to let you fly out of Hawaii to the mainland for a convention on a 90s cartoon isn't the easiest thing in the world. And although I WAS actually in town for the final one, Gathering 2009 happened to fall on the EXACT same weekend as my college orientation. If the Gathering had been just one week later, or my introduction to Pomona College just one week sooner...but I guess it's pointless to deal with hypotheticals.

In any event, my praise goes out to all of you unbelievably dedicated individuals who kept it alive for so long. If ever you are able to arrange some sort of smaller event in the future, you have my word that I will attend.

AskGreg also gave the chance to really get to know Greg Weisman (or at least, as much as this is possible without real-world contact), and he is currently one of my absolute greatest heroes in all of entertainment. I am not using hyperbole when I declare him to be the single most talented writer in animation history, and in my mind absolutely anything he touches turns to solid gold. I avidly watched 'W.I.T.C.H.,' 'The Spectacular Spider-Man,' and the various episodes he freelanced for favorite shows of mine like 'The Batman,' 'Kim Possible,' and 'Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'...many of which turned out to be some of the best in their respective series. And I wait with bated breath (and fanboyish panting) for 'Young Justice.' Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel superhero and DC is my favorite comic book universe...so to have Greg interpret both with his usual flair for complex, multi-layered story arcs and deeply involved character development has left me positively salivating."

Now, as you can probably tell from these words, this was a moment I've been waiting on for nearly 10 years. So as you might expect, I was...anxious. Despite my personal contact with Greg over the past couple years due to my moderating duties here, as well as friends who had met him previously who assured me that he was a really nice guy in-person, I was still a little worried I'd screw this up somehow.

Thankfully, ASK GREG LIVE! turned out to be a great experience, and truly the highlight of the weekend. There was somewhere between 15-20 guests in attendance, including myself, my girlfriend, and Blaise (whom it was awesome to meet in person). Kudos to Matthew for holding up the event sign for over an hour, and to whoever it was that cosplayed as Batgirl.

We pretty much just jumped straight into an hour-and-a-half of questions, which I hope I didn't hog too many of. A few highlights from the revelations presented therein:

- Following the Season 1 finale, Vandal immediately called up Hugo Strange and told him, "Open all the doors." Which explains a lot. Now, Greg W. ALSO said that by Team Year Five, Belle Reve was fairly full again...but at least it explains why so many imprisoned villains were walking the streets again in Season 2.

- The Joker was originally considered to appear in "Auld Acquaintance," controlling the Justice League. But for a variety of reasons (mainly budgetary; they needed Klarion anyway for the "magic stuff"), they switched him out for Klarion.

- Greg also responded to my question about whether the Joker of Earth-16 knows he's in a cartoon show by saying, "I think he's crazy enough to believe that, even if he's NOT."

- Lieutenant and Sergeant Marvel were originally considered to be on the Team in Season 2. But with only 20 episodes, several intended arcs were cut or reworked to have occurred during the Time Skip: a Marvel Family arc, a Red Tornado arc, and a Zatanna arc. With nothing to do anymore, Mary and Freddy were slotted into the Time Skip.

- He hinted pretty damn strongly that we'll be hearing more about "poor, disgraced Ocean-Master." Presumably in "Legacy," which I am personally excited as all hell for.

- Clone!Roy, post-"Satisfaction," is a stay-at-home-dad. For the most part. He and Cheshire are "trying to make it work," to the degree that people like them can.

- I asked if working on YJ had made him give more thought to who the 16 Sixteens in the Illuminati are. He basically said, "not really," while adding that he's got most of the major players in the Illuminati pretty well figured out, and has for a while. Which isn't to say he doesn't leave a fair few slots open for moments of epiphany.

- Darkseid has been the Light's silent partner since Season 1. Which most of us had assumed, but it's nice to have firm confirmation.

- Victor Cook did a fly-by. No time for questions, just said hi and name-dropped "Mecha-Nation." But still...really cool.

- He described Jason Spisak's last recording with them. Jason came up afterward and said that it was rare for an actor to be able to end his role on such a great, final note, "instead of just flying off into the sunset, with no one having any idea if you survive or not." Having now seen "Dark Matter," Greg believes that may have been coded snark.

- Oh, and surprising no one with a head on their shoulders...Greg disproved the rumor that DC wanted Wally killed off because of the New 52. Though it WAS amusing to hear him call those rumors, and I quote: "Complete horse"...baloney.

- He said he's deliberately keeping mum on "Rain of the Ghosts" until he knows if his publisher is doing any advertising. If they don't, he may start teasing some plot tidbits on Ask Greg.

- He talked a bit about availability issues...about how it came to be that Wentworth, Kittie, and George were replaced toward the end of the season. Just a whole lot of REALLY bad luck regarding other projects. But he also revealed the replacement that almost was...if it wasn't for the fact that no one on Earth could do an impression that did justice to him.

That's right...they once almost lost Tim Curry.

He was shooting something or another toward the middle of the season. They simply could not get him before the episodes had to ship. So what they did...was Greg recorded the lines. Taaaaaaaaalking liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis sooooooooooo thaaaaaaaaat theeeeeeeey cooooooould AAAAAAADR iiiiiiiiiiiit aaaaaaaaafteeeeeeer theeeeeeey reeeeeetuuuuuuurned froooooooom ooooooverseeeeeeeeeeas.

Which they would NEVER do otherwise. For no one but Tim Curry. Greg had to do a bunch of takes, because Jamie kept having to stop him and shout, "SLOWER!" Needed the mouth movements SO exaggerated that no one would notice it was ADR'ed. Which I don't think anyone did.

- I think those are all the big revelations, but there was lots of real fun little stuff on Greg's writing process, the backroom thinking that went into Darkseid's cameo, and Greg's hopes for the future. As he said at one point, "I still haven't given up on Gargoyles, and that's going on 20 years at this point! Why would I give up on a series that ended THIS month?"

Beyond that, it was just an incredible experience to be in the presence of the guy - to hear him speak, to ask questions (even utterly silly ones) directly answered to our faces, to shake hands, and to be personally thanked for my years of hard work on Ask Greg...which, needless to say, was incredibly gratifying.

The atmosphere was great - casual, friendly, and with no pressure on either the askers or on Greg. We chatted, we laughed, and we got to hear Greg at his absolute "frankest." Which is to say, a little...off-color. And oh it was glorious.

At my request, we also did an impromptu signing at the end; I got my Clan-Building Volume 1 trade, my SpecSpidey Season 1 DVD, my Young Justice Volume 1 trade, a Captain Atom comic, and the essay I wrote for Contemporary Political Theory last semester (and submitted to Ask Greg afterward) signed, and pretty much geekgasmed into the floor. SOOOOO utterly wonderful.

[If you want to see pics of said signed stuff and/or other stuff I snagged at the Con, you can go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94547312@N04/sets/72157633137324644/with/8608204054/].

We also got to chat a bit privately, which was of course very good fun. And he even indulged my stupid, silly, obsessive request...to pose with my Fluttershy toy and say, "Fluttershy is best pony." His response was golden, too.

Greg: I have no idea what that means.

Me: I didn't expect you to.

Greg: Nah, what I mean is, am I saying something that will get a thousand angry bronies coming after me?

Me: No, most bronies tend to agree that Fluttershy is best pony, anyway.

Unfortunately, my girlfriend's phone appears to have recorded only the first second of the line. But I still posted it to YouTube because the image is gold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qVVtIsNeb4

Overall, my first in-person meeting with Greg Weisman proved to be everything I was hoping for it to be, and more. He's a massively cool guy who doesn't operate on any pretense; he is what he is, and what he is is a genius at writing/interpreting fiction.

It was truly an honor to spend that time with him, and I very much hope it won't be the last.

Greg Weisman, you rock (woo-hoo!). Don't let anybody tell you different. Because this kind of treatment of your fans makes me truly proud to be involved with helping out here.

Thank you for ASK GREG LIVE!

Thank you for all the wonderful shows you've brought us over the years.

And thank you for never giving up hope. I await "Rain of the Ghosts" with bated breath, and I can't wait to here the announcement when you get your next television gig.

Because it's coming. And I look forward to watching the hell out of that show, whenever it comes.

Anonymous writes...

So at the end of season two, is Zatanna's magic up to par to have an equal battle with Klarion, as opposed to in Misplaced when he could clearly knock he out of the way?

Anonymous writes...

Regarding the ending of "Endgame"... Is that the first leave of absence that Dick Grayson has taken from the Team?

Brock writes...

What are Asami's superpowers? I have the hardest time thinking about them. Is it kinetic energy manipulation or wind manipulation or what?

Anonymous writes...

1. After Jaime got un-moded but before the finale, did Cassie and Jaime get a chance to really talk? I got the impression they were close from the comics, so I thought Cassie was probably really worried, so I was wondering if they had time to talk that over between the business of missions.
2. Did you ever plan a conversation between Cassie and Jaime that had to get cut? I find it odd that they get a fair amount of time together in the comics, yet don't interact in the show.
3. Was Tim's lack of screentime in comparison to Jaime's the reason that Tim was chosen over Jaime as Cassie's love interest (since Jaime did have "biochemical changes" after all)
4. How long did Cassie have a crush on Tim before getting together with him?
5. Was anyone else (like Dick, Barbara) aware of Cassie or Tim's mutual crush before they became a couple? If so, and you don't mind telling me, who are they?
You rock for this site and everything! Young Justice Forever!

JN writes...

Uhmm, Hi. It's my first time to ask a question so can you please answer this?

What were the spells used by Zatanna in #218/Intervention?

Thanks. :)

A Flash Fan writes...

Hello Greg,

Another Flash related question I have been pondering for a while now...

1. Why is Flash's (and Kid Flash's) lightning bolt insignia/logo/symbol different from the one in the original comics? In Young Justice it is only one line that switches back, but in the comics it is two (as I'm sure you know, being so knowledgeable in comics and such). I know Bruce Timm did it in the DCAU as well, and it was one of the reasons I had such a hard time (which in the long run I considered fun) finding out and realizing the differences between Flashes. I was just curious. Does it have anything to do with that the logo can't be the same due to copyright? Is it just easier to draw? Was it your preference?

2. Is there more cut material from episodes that you are willing to share?

3. I thought the Arsenal spin-off would have been a great idea! Along with the other items you pitched for Earth-16...here's hoping we'll see some soon!

Just a Nerd writes...

So... Weird question rewatching the Hunt.

How does Tye get sensory input when he is using his big yellow avatar? I ask because he always has his eyes closed. Does he have some kind of sixth sense?

I've been wondering writes...

In Invasion, Artemis fakes her death to go under cover, but now that the mission is over is she somehow going to be able to go back to her old life as Artemis or will she get a new identity?

Anonymous writes...

I have some Jaime-related questions......

1) Does Milagro Reyes exist on Earth-16?

2) Can you give us any idea of what Bart and Jaime's friendship was like during the two month period Jaime was on mode? They didn't really talk to each other or interact in War.

3) Post-Endgame, who does Jaime consider his best friend?

4) Would you have found it irrelevant for the scarab to name himself (Khaji Da) or did you just not have time to include it in the script?

5) Was there any relevance to moded Jaime hitting Bart first in War, other than that he was simply the closest one (same with moving to kill Bart first, rather than Barbara in Intervention)?

I hope you can answer these, thanks!

Thomas writes...

1: Queen Perdita, is she still in power in 2016?
2: Does she have feelings for Wally
3: What kind of Nation is Vlatava

Paul writes...

Pressed the m button there when I was going for the comma, sorry about that! I do have two more questions though:

1) In "Endgame", how did the Justice League get back to Earth so quickly after being cleared of the charges? And whichever method they used for their return to Earth, why didn't they use that means when they were leaving Earth in "Alienated"?

2a) I was thinking about Vandal Savage threatening Rimbor with the Warworld earlier in the episode... Why didn't he carry out that threat?

2b) Why didn't Savage want the League to return to Earth? Did he not want them to help drive the Reach off-world?

Paul writes...

Hi Gregm just a quick question: Whose call was it that Aqualad and Tempest didn't pair up when the heroes were splitting into pairs in "Endgame"? Did Kaldur and Garth not want to pair up?

Dick Grayson fan writes...

Hi Greg,

I was just wondering: what were your reasons for making Nightwing a far more serious character in YJ season 2 than the more light-hearted Nightwing of the comics? Was it the leadership role in season 2 that was weighing him down (I noticed that he seemed a little more light-hearted at the end of Summit when he'd relinquished leadership to Aqualad)? Or did something happen during the five year gap that affected him so much that he became more like the Bat (Jason's death, perhaps?)?

I was just curious as Dick Grayson/Nightwing in the comics has pretty consistently been portrayed as an eternal optimist and having an actual sense of humour, even when he was Batman. He overcame the darkness of his mentor and retained an utterly joyful attitude towards life. So what made you decide to make Dick/Nightwing in Young Justice more like Batman?

I'm not criticizing! Just genuinely curious.
Thanks! :)

Anonymous writes...

Hey Greg,
Well , sad to see the end of what was an overall great series. I do wish it could have gotten another season. So many dangling threads/plots. But you guys know that.

I saw the finale and gotta say this was the weakest episode of the entire series. I know there was rush to try to give some resolution but it felt meh. It was rushed and many things shoe horned. It fell flat for a finale. You seemed to want to do fan service too but again some things fell short and were baffling.

The killing of Wally...okay he might not be dead knowing you...but still the best couple in the show end up torn asunder.

The worse couple took up precious time that could have been used to do something else and that is Superboy and Miss Martian. Them being lawyers to get the JL off was really lame. So Icon could not have done that? Superboy suffered in season two. What great development we could have had with him was stunted and he simply became the sad whipped pining boyfriend of a girl who frankly did not deserve to get him back. I don't think that relationship did much for Superboy.

The Tim/Cassie reveal was the most baffling move. This show seems to do a lot of shipping but at least I would understand if there was some hint or chemisty. Cassie and Jaime were the most obvious pair up. Diverse guys can't get the cute alpha girl no more than 'ugly' ones like Lagaan is the unfortunate message I see here. For a show aimed at kids I would have preferred if we could have pushed some forward thinking ground.

The Lex virus was way too convenient and the JL just being off world seemed such a waste of time. Why have a JL though if these kids can do everything? The show did pander at times to the young team.

Kaldur I must say was one of the best characters and you did his arc well. His tie up could have been the finale...how better it was done than End Game. Artemis was another character as Jaime who were well developed. I liked the younger kids but they seemed to just take a lot of time away from the team. It just at times seem too packed and too expansive for such a short time. I know it is a chance to let others shine but the pacing suffered. Your villains were all great but best villain has to be Black Beetle. Seriously sir. Well done. I dread when this guy is around. I hope DC does more with him.

Anyway overall a big A. But C for the finale.

Hel writes...

Hi there I was wondering
1a. Are Artemis and Zatanna still close, 5 years later? I know they were somewhat best friends in the first season of Young Justice.
1b. Do they still hang out and have their 'girls night outs'?
2. If they aren't close, how come they drifted apart if they did drift apart?

Marvelman writes...

1) What was the reason the Light needed the league alive for the next phase of their plan (as stated in Auld Acquaintance)? Was it so the League would be there to drive the Reach off Earth when the time was right?

2) Why did Savage want the Rimbor 6 convicted? Didn't he need those particular leaguers available as well? How could they have contributed to the Light's plans from prison?

Nightwing fan writes...

Hi Greg,

I was just re-reading some of the JLA and Teen Titans comics and was once again impressed by Nightwing's leadership skills. In most comics he's portrayed as being the ultimate leader, surpassing even Batman because of his excellent interpersonal skills.

My question is:
What was the reasoning behind making Nightwing only temporary team leader in YJ season 2? In season 1 Kaldur said Dick was born to lead the team, but to be perfectly honest, I haven't seen much evidence of that. It seemed to me he still had a lot to learn about what it means to be a leader. Was this your goal? To show that the road to becoming a good leader is a rocky one?

Thanks!

Janey writes...

I was on wikipedia(yeah I ), but anyways I was reading about the actor/actresses of Gargoyles, and I found that a lot of them worked with you on Young Justice too, such as Thom Adcox-Hernandez as Lexington and Klarion the witchboy, and Ed Asner as Hudson, and Dr. Kent!! I love that some of these people worked with you again!! So I have a question
1. Ed Asner's filmography on wikipedia, stats on that on Young Justice he voices Doctor Fate, and Granny Goodness, so my question is did I miss Granny Goodness being in young justice or was that a mistake?
2. What was like working with the old cast members of Gargoyles?
I really enjoyed both shows and since you had Josh Keith voice Black Spider as a nod to your series Spiderman, it was refreshing to hear that you also had a nod to Gargoyles with them voicing some of the characters of Young Justice, oh and I have one more question containing endgame
3. Was Wally's death a nod to Barry Allen's death in infinite crises?
This is all, I love your work and I look forward to your book series!!!

Marvelman writes...

I have two unrelated questions.

1) Had Kaldur anticipated his and Artemis's cover being blown during Summit? Because it seems as though he had. Did he anticipate someone recognizing the glamor charm?

2) Did Klarion help Savage take out the three leaguers on Warworld? I ask because the three of them seem to be a bit much for Savage to handle on his own.

guy writes...

is black lightning is now the mentor of static?

Anonymous writes...

Now that Bart is Kid Flash. Is his designation still B23? Or he now uses Wally's B03?

Brent Wolgamott writes...

Hey Greg: I just wanted to say "thanks", for such a wonderful TV series in both "Young Justice" and "YJ: Invasion". I watched everything YJ-related for 2+ years now, and it was my first introduction into anything related to you (I watched Gargoyles rarely back in the day). YJ was (is) an amazing drama, albeit animation. I loved the character development of M'gann this year, and I loved the evolution of the series. I am sorry to hear it is likely over now, but I appreciate it (and you) for what it is -- a kickass TV show, juggling multiple characters with a complex but mostly resolved storyline. Thanks for the memories, and I hope to see you again soon. -Brent

FOONTS writes...

Did you have trouble coming up with storylines for Wally? All the other major characters at least had one major story arc over the two seasons. Superboy had the clone of Superman and Lex storyline in season 1, Miss Martian had the story of her insecurity about her Martian appearance in season 1 and her misuse of her martian abilities in season 2, Artemis had her family background story in season 1 and her undercover identity storyline in season 2, Kaldur had his undercover storyline in season 2, and Dick had the whole leading the team and keeping a secret from the team storyline in season 2. Wally is legitimately the only one who didn't have an ongoing story in either of the two seasons. He seemed like an accessory to other people's story. And then you killed him off. It didn't make much sense and seemed like a tragic misuse of a popular character who has such a rich comic book history.

nygma619 writes...

Hey Greg, questions about Young Justice:

I know your probably sick about being asked about Wally's fate, and I can understand that.
Anyways I'd be lying if I said that my favorite characters death in Endgame was a storytelling choice that sat well with me. It's not so much the concept behind it, everyone dies eventually. What bothered me the most is the fact that I felt Wally as a character, still had plenty of mileage you could've gotten out of him in many ways. Whether it's his relationship with Artemis, being the science guy the league goes to, his dynamics with other characters, a guy you can always count on to get a laugh from. But a HUGE one that disappoints me is him not taking up the Flash mantle. And considering you've said that this show is about growing up (along with secrets and lies), I found it baffling that you guys never tackled what is probably considered the most iconic sidekick to main hero mantle evolution ever in DC Comics (Wally going from Kid Flash to Flash); I would've thought THAT would've been something that would've fit like a duck in water on this show, not to mention it never being done in animation. Heck, Impulse being faster than Wally wouldn't have bothered me that much if that was used as an insecurity for Wally to overcome WHILE as Flash.
But it was not to be for some reason. :( Which brings me to my questions:
I'm not sure IF you'll be able to answer these qestions but nothing ventured, nothing gained right?
1.) Was Wally's evolution to becoming the Flash ever considered at all when producing the show?
2.) If not, was DC ever willing to let you kill off Barry Allen and put Wally in his role or not?

It just seems like a waste to kill off a character who had plenty left to give, and one that probably has the widest range of emotions at that. Especially given that his time as the Flash is as much a core truth to Wally's character, as Nightwing was to Dick Grayson's character. But even IF becoming Flash was never in the cards, I still feel he could've taken up another persona.

You guys closing the door on him felt like you guys saying that he had no stories left to tell for the future beyond season 2. Which is a REALLY BITTER PILL to swallow given Wally West's rich 51 year history to draw from.

I'm not saying the death was illogical or made no sense, just that it feels like him being alive could've proven more useful in the near future than him as dead. But obviously that didn't happen. :(

JJ writes...

1. What does sportsmaster think of wally, specifically him dating his daughter? Or does he just not care?

2. Over the time skip do wolf and sphere still have a special fondness for superboy over the rest of the team?

3. I thought there had to be a whole democratic assembly to choose the next leader of the justice league. Captain atom kind of just dumped it on black canary. What's up with that?

Thank you and everyone else who worked on this universe.

No one important writes...

1. Do the boys of the Team wear underwear under their costumes?
2. Does Dick wear boxers or briefs?
3. Does Superboy wear boxers or briefs?
4. Does Tim wear boxers or briefs?
5. Is Bart Allen gay?

Anonymous writes...

greetings Mr Wiseman I love the show but I have to ask when it comes to the names of the Squads for the final. I have noticed that Xi, Upsilon, Chi and Phi were skipped. Is there any reason for this

I SAW THE LIGHT writes...

He wants to protect the Earth from invaders. He uses a death machine to scare the inhabitants other planets. He wants humans to be the strongest species in the universe. He wants to give humans superpowers.

Vandal Savage is more of a hero than all the characters in Young Justice.

Someone writes...

In Endgame. Why Captain Atom returned his leadership to Black Canary instead of Batman?

pandas are awesome writes...

Has Gar spoken to his dad since Marie passing?
Does Mark know his son is green?

jrhcl2 writes...

Sorry CN cancelled Young Justice!! I will truly miss the show! Miss Martian and Superboy are my two favorite members of the team and were my favorite couple of the series, too say I was disappointed when they broke up would be a under statement!! I was happy to see in endgame,it seemed like they could be getting back together in the future. Here my question? This is something that has been bugging me the whole second season!! Why did she do it?? Why did Miss Martian try to make Superboy forget he was mad at her for abusing her powers!! Why did she do it???

NoOneSpecial writes...

1. So its clear that impulse tried to get close to jamie to ensure he didnt turn evil. We saw him be protective of jamie when green beetle was altering his scarab and we saw him be only foucsed on saving jamie after he turned. Obviously he was doing all this to change the future, but to me this makes his friendship with jamie seem artifcial. Does impulse really consider him a close friend? Did impulse care more about the future than he did about about jamie?

2. In regards to the Reach's chain of command, the Ambassidor is the one is charge, while black beetle can take command if deemed nescessary. Where does the Scientist fit into it. What actual authority does she have, when no one actually listens to her?

3. Now i'm a little confused about the treaty between the guardians and the reach. John said that the reach may only lay claim to a world if invited and if that invitation has been revoked, they must leave. The scientist also mentioned that their tempering with the planet would violate the treay, but why? They were offically inviated to the earth and according to this treay are allowed to do whatever they want without interfercne from the green lanterns, so why exactly are they violating the treay if the only tempering they did was WHIlE they were invited? Granted they were tempering with the planet before that, but if the GLs cant prove that this was done before they got their inviation or lost it, why then is it a violation?

Riyan writes...

Hi, Greg,
A wired question, it's inspired by a question about Beast Boy I just saw here.
It ask if BB can transform into a panda. Of course he can.
but then I can't help thinking:
You know all animals beast boy transformed into are GREEN. So when he transforms into a panda, what is the color exactly? Green and Black? White and Green? Light Green as the white part and dark green as the black part?
That's a bit funny when a panda is not black and white. It would looks like a green bear if so.
Sorry really wired question but I find it's funny to think about it (Or my humor sense is really twisted.)

A Fan from Maryland writes...

Hey Greg, big fan. Sorry to hear about your job issues and I hope by the time you answer this you will have found work, I'd hire you myself if I was rich enough or I knew how. <3

1. You say that M'gann's parents are Green and White and that she and her brother the only "White" looking Martians among her siblings. So does whether you become Green/White Martian work on a sort of "one drop" rule or is more random?

For example (and I phrase it this way so you would only have to give one answer)

Under One drop, if a Green mated with a White Martian the offspring would always be white. If its Random, a child could be green or white at various odds.

Or is it something way more complex like hair or eye color. I say this because its use analogous to the human concept of "ethnicity" and I wanted to know if it was like that on Mars or if was a different type of phenotype such as hair or eye color. Basically i just wanted to know how the "rules" of the colors worked and if stuff like a Red child being more to two Greens or like a "light green" martian was possible.

2. What comic book issue/story arc did the Red Martians first appear in in the DC Comics? Or are they an Original Creation named for the Barsoom concept.

3. You have been noted to be very devoted to comics continuity; going so far as to construct the Martian Language around names seen in the comics. So why is Mars' Martian name " M'arzz" rather than "Ma'aleca'andra" as seen in the 1988 Martian Manhunter series?

4. Speaking of, is "M'arzz" a cognate with the English word "Mars" or is that just an amazing coincidence ?

5. Finally I more avant garde question . Do you think you could be so kind to post the translation dictionaries for some of the conlangs you ,Nicole Dubuc and your other colleagues created such as Interlac, Martian, New Genisian etc? Since it's not a story or a plot I assume its okay through your guidelines. I just thought it'd be a nice treat for the fandoms of those shows.

Thank you Greg, Mad love from MD! :)

Martianologist writes...

Hi Greg,

First of all, thanks for rounding off a great second season of Young Justice. I know nothing's slated, but I really hope there'll be more to come.
I have one quick question about B'arzz O'oomm (hope I spelled that correctly), also - formerly? - known as Green Beetle.
When he is shown in his natural form, he seems to have both green martian and white martian characteristics (his skin hue seems green, though lighter than J'onn's, and he has the red "x" on his chest which M'gann also sports in her natural form, to name two). Is he a hybrid (I hesitate to say "inter-racial") green/white martian?

Thanks!

~ Martianologist

P.S.: I hope it's not too presumptive of me, but I'd like to wish you and your family a very happy Passover.

Paul writes...

Hi Greg, hope you're ok with answering the following questions. Btw, I loved both seasons of YJ - here's hoping it'll come back some day!

1) Please don't take this the wrong way, but I was wondering if you have any regrets at all about not using Troia in the series when you had the chance? I know there were time constraints in season 2 with the Reach arc but I'm just curious.

2) When Arsenal was kicked off the Team, did someone else replace him as B-25?

3) I was wondering how strong Lieutenant Marvel and Sergeant Marvel were (when they were on the Team) compared to Superboy and Troia. With the four of them on the scene at the same time, I can't help but think that the Team must have been a force to be reckoned with. How did the Marvels compare in strength to Conner and Donna, or to Captain Marvel for that matter?

Anonymous writes...

What was Cheshire doing during the S2 finale? Knowing the world was in danger, did she play any part in saving it? Or was she unaware of the danger, despite the fact her husband knew? Thank you for your time.

Anonymous writes...

I've read a lot of unanswered questions and posts about what happened to Wally in Endgame, but I think what I want to say here is different enough that I can say it without just re-iterating what everyone else has already said. My numbered comments aren't questions per se, but what I'd like is just your thoughts and comments in response to each one. I doubt I'll get any spoiler-y information out of you, but I just want to know what you think.

1. First, let me say that I like that you left it sort of ambiguous as to whether he's dead or not. Scarab uses the word "cease" rather than "die." We never see a dead body. He meets his demise because of being attacked by energy, and in fiction, energy can do lots of crazy things to people. So, reasonable arguments could be made either way as to whether he's alive or dead. Which is nice.

The following are my thoughts on why I think he's really dead, and my conflicting thoughts on why I think he might really be alive.

Dead:

2. This is a Greg Weisman show. Death isn't something to be taken lightly round these parts, and tends to be permanent, and having Wally cheat death only to come back later could come off feeling cheap without the right execution.

3. The only other deaths to a character that we were close to turned out to not be genuine deaths in Artemis' case (both in Failsafe and Darkest), and the other deaths that have occurred on the team happened off-screen to characters that we weren't close to, Tula and Jason. So maybe this time, it was time for someone that we cared about to actually die for real. Similar to how Nabu relinquished hosts the first two times but finally claimed one, it was something that needed to happen for real for the series to have dramatic weight and the characters not just continually escape their fate by the skin of their teeth. Sooner or later someone we loved had to die. Thoughts?

Why He Might Be Alive:

4. As mentioned earlier, there was never a body. Although this may have been more for S&P reasons than anything else.

5. According to the Conservation of Mass, matter cannot just be created or destroyed. He could have been incinerated or something and turned into Wally dust, but seemingly that's not what happened. He progressively grew more and more transparent and less tangible, and then he was gone. So I'm guessing there wasn't a cloud of Wally vapor floating around in the arctic on that day. All that matter just...vanished...and matter doesn't really do that. That matter had to go somewhere unless he was converted to energy himself.

6. Wally in the comics started out as being able to run about the speed of sound, and then eventually became the fastest Flash. Generally you seem to be pretty true to source material while also taking some liberties as needed, so having Wally die before he ever became the fastest seems like his story isn't being fully told, because that seems to be an essential quality of who the character became. Plus his encounter with the energy of the MFD as a possible reason for his increased speed is (for me at least) an explanation that could be taken a lot more seriously than something silly like a "psychological block" like in the comics.

7. Wally's a speedster. In the comics, some speedsters have really crazy abilities like being able to travel through time. It feels cheap to have them be able to do this Willy Nilly as they please (which is why I'm guessing none of your speedsters so far have this ability) but it wouldn't necessarily feel cheap to have a speedster able to be hurtled forward or backward through time (or hurtled into another dimension) because of a combination of his speedster abilities and the chrysalis energy and survive. I don't feel this counts as an original idea because speedsters time traveling is not something that I came up with, and I know people have asked you questions about speedsters time traveling before. Please know that I am sincerely NOT trying to pull a fast one on you and suggest something; I really just want you to see my thoughts and know what you think in response.

8. You said that if there was a Season 3, there'd be another time skip. Depending on how long the time skip is, maybe Season 3 would NEED Wally like 2198 needs Brooklyn, to be a character we identify with and see the world through.

9. You aren't wasteful. This one might be a stretch...but to me it seems wasteful that a character like Wally would die when (according to comics) he has so much power potential, could potentially have so much utility in Season 3 if it would have happened, and is just such a darn great character all around. But on the other hand, his kinetic contribution saved the world, so maybe from your point of view it wasn't a waste. But...on the other hand, the speedsters could have simply succeeded in saving the world without any of them dying. If Wally's really dead, what do you think the series as a whole has gained as a result?

10. Having Wally survive sort of resonates with Timedancer for me. It might not be a coincidence that the apocalyptic setting we see in the episode Bloodlines is 40 years in the future.

Tre writes...

Hi greg my question is about Mal how long did he trained with Canary? Also is she his mentor in a way

Anonymous writes...

In Complications we see one of the troppers with out his helmet are all the troppers black?

Just a Nerd writes...

Hey, Greg. I just have some questions about Martian technology, being a science geek and such.

1. Are the Bio-Ship and Martian clothing separate species than normal green, red, or white Martians? I would assume the answer is yes... But you never know.

2. Do the Bio-Ship or Martian clothing require any sustenance? Food, water, fuel, etc.

3. If so, what do they eat/drink?

4. What level of intellegence do they have? Are they just mindless... I hesitate to say slaves... Are they in any way sentient, or do they just follow commands given to them? Do they ever make their own choices?

5. Did they come from the same evolutionary line as the Martians? A yes or no will suffice, since you don't feel this is the proper medium for telling stories.

Today marks the 1 week anniversary of the end of Young Justice: Invasion. I'm still not over it. <sigh> I was hooked from the moment I watched the pilot movie. So long ago... Thank you to you and your entire team for a wonderful show. While I was skeptical at times, I wouldn't change a single decision made about the show. Except for the one to cancel it. That was a major error on the part of whoever made it. Only thing I watch on Cartoon Network now are reruns of YJ:I and GL:TAS.
Thank you for your time.

Matthew writes...

Not a question, but I thought you'd like to read this:

http://live.comicbookresources.com/2013/03/21/dear-cartoon-network/

Christine writes...

We know Crusher calls Artemis "baby girl" and Jade "little girl" does he have a nickname for Lian yet?