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SPONSES 2014-01 (Jan)

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Yojimbo writes...

1) Would the unidentified alien race who sent Tiamat to Earth figure into a story in season 3?

2) Based on Black Manta revealing his part in helping collect statue fragments was a stepping stone into the Light, is Ocean Master no longer a member of the Light during the events of Legacy?

3) After she was rescued in Gotham City by Alpha Squad, was Dr. Sandsmark given an A-designation by the Justice League?

4) Red Arrow's third journal mentions a report of Blue Beetle joining an "illustrious fraternity" on November 1, Team Year One. Is this confirmation he joined the Justice League (just wanted to know for sure)?

5) Was Klarion seeking to collect the Tablet of Destiny for the same reasons he sought the Helmet of Fate back in season one?

Greg responds...

1. We had plans, but I'm not going to be specific.

2. He is not.

3. No.

4. No. Red Arrow meant he had joined the "fraternity" of super-heroes more generally.

5. Yes and no.

Response recorded on January 31, 2014

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Anonymous writes...

I know you said before that the New 52 has no effect on what goes on with "Young Justice," and to be honest confuses me still. I mean if the events of "Flashpoint" changes the entire history of the mainstream DC universe, then wouldn't that create some kind of domino effect that affects all other parallel Earths (including Earth-16) in some way or another, no matter how big or small that change could be? I mean, isn't the DC multiverse considered to be like a pyramid or a tree and the mainstream DC universe (Prime Earth) is the one that hold it all together in place?

Greg responds...

Oh, I see what you're asking. But I don't know how to answer THAT. Previously, I was asked whether the New 52 altered the production of YJ and/or influenced the creative choices we made, and it did not - because we were way too far along in production by the time we even knew the New 52 was coming, let alone by the time we had potential access to any of its creative content.

What it means IN-MULTIVERSE is a question that I guess you'd have to ask the folks at DC.

In my mind, it changed nothing. I would think that Earth-16 is still Earth-16, as Brandon and I envisioned it. But then again, I haven't had the chance to read Flashpoint, and the only New 52 issue I've read is the first issue of Justice League, so I'm very far from being an expert on the subject.

Response recorded on January 31, 2014

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cyber-Xanatos writes...

hey i was wondering how would you describe oberon's relationship with the avalon clan amicable respectfully or professionally distant
also does boudicca like oberon at all

Greg responds...

1. All of the above.

2. Sure. He gives her treats.

Response recorded on January 31, 2014

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Lexiana writes...

Hi Greg!! Ok I am dying to know what is Artemis's eye colour?? Because in comics its blue but in the series its dark grey (almost black) so which one??

Greg responds...

ASKED AND ANSWERED.

Response recorded on January 30, 2014

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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!

Greg responds...

1. The DC Comics character.

2. Well, I'm not familiar with Katniss. I mean, obviously, I've heard of her, but I haven't read the books or seen the movies. I'm only passingly familiar with Ravager, though we had plans for her in YJ, given enough seasons. I would have done more research on her before bringing her in, of course. I don't really see much Mulan in Artemis, other than the fairly generic notion of a woman in combat. So that just leaves Eponine. And I can indeed see a bit of Eponine in Artemis. But if so, I wasn't conscious of the influence at the time.

3. He was emotionally and verbally abusive. He was not sexually abusive. It's debatable whether or not you'd consider him physically abusive. He didn't beat them. But he did endless combat drills with them, and they took punishment from him. Given that he was a full-grown man and they were young girls, it's absolutely fair to say he was physically abusive.

4. No idea.

Response recorded on January 30, 2014

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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?

Greg responds...

1. SPOILER REQUEST.

2. SPOILER REQUEST.

Response recorded on January 30, 2014

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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.

Greg responds...

1. Well, the obvious reason is that she wasn't designed. One assumes, in universe, that she and Diana had already had their goodbyes.

2. SPOILER REQUEST.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.

5. I'd love to see them too. But it's really up to him.

Response recorded on January 30, 2014

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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?

Greg responds...

1. I'm sorry, but I have no idea. As you noted, it would have meant a complete reshuffling. And I'm just not inclined to do that now.

2. We knew by the end of the season we'd have four and four. But we weren't really thinking in terms of male vs. female. We wanted balance overall, but we had other priorities as well.

3. Don't you think he was Team material?

4. Donna hadn't yet debuted as a hero.

5. Um... He's teaching combat sorcery in Atlantis.

Response recorded on January 30, 2014

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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?

Greg responds...

1. It all depends on content, I would think. But I'm not opposed to the idea, especially as fun DLC extras. The problem is that those characters were never designed. And we'd all want Phil Bourassa to design them in collaboration with Brandon Vietti. Or maybe Chris Jones or Jerome Moore in collaboration with Phil and Brandon. In any case, I'm happy to make the suggestion, if and when.

2. The fact is, as I've said many times before, both Wonder Girls (Donna and Cassie) were off-limits to us when production began. By the time they got ON-limits, it was too late to include Donna in Season One. So she became a "Junior", so to speak, by default.

3a. Well, keep in mind, that didn't become clear until partway through production. We had planned to use her in two episodes (208 and 220) of Season Two until it just became a production impossibility. Anyway, had the comic continued - or the series for that matter - we would have definitely have introduced her. But both ended before we had the chance.

3b. None that came out. But we have plenty of stories.

4. She would have said "Shazam!"

5. Weren't we already crowded enough?

Response recorded on January 30, 2014

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NoOneSpecial writes...

1.After the events of Identity Crisis, did the general public become aware that it was venom who was behind the crimes as the black suited spider man?
2.How could Gwen remain so obilvous to the growing hostility between peter and eddie? I mean she saw immediataley that something was wrong with harry, so why couldn't she see what was happening to eddie? How does she feel about eddie's mental breakdown?
3.Is anyone aside from peter and eddie aware of what happened to the symbiote since it disappeared from conners lab?

Greg responds...

1. Basically.

2. She's concerned for Eddie. I think it's fairly clear that she knew something was wrong, but I don't think it ever occurred to her that he was Venom, until maybe after Identity Crisis.

3. It's been a while. I'd have to think about it.

Response recorded on January 28, 2014

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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?

Greg responds...

1. It was his intention.

2. At some point after Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash told Roy about it and/or after Santa Prisca, whichever came first.

3. I don't think he did.

4. Others expressed sympathy, of course. He did steer clear to some degree. As for whether it was convincing, we thought so. Some did not, obviously.

5. Nope.

Response recorded on January 28, 2014

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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.

Greg responds...

I can only repeat my response to your previous post. Sorry it didn't work for you. It worked for us.

Response recorded on January 28, 2014

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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?

Greg responds...

1. Sunny Hawaii. (I don't know. He was recovering, I guess. Or on stand-by, or something.)

2. Yes, he was an archaeologist.

2a. SPOILER REQUEST.

Response recorded on January 27, 2014

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Jarrod writes...

Hi Greg!

Thank you for all your amazing work on YJ, Gargoyles, SSM, and the many other series you have been a part of. All of them were beautifully animated and fantastically written.

I was excited that Season 2 part 2 of Gargoyles was finally released. I was hoping that we would get some more episode intros from you. They were a great boost to the season 2 part 1 dvds. I suppose Disney wasn't interested/didn't contact you about the possibility?

Anyways, My Boyfriend and I both loved YJ, he even went to NY Comic Con as your YJ Nightwing! He got many compliments and it was fun to Attend the informal YJ meet-up with Christopher Jones.

I recently heard that Cartoon Network has cancelled Beware the Batman, and that in order to keep the DC block going, they might bring back YJ? I know you probably don't have a say in such things, but we all hope for it.

Thank you again!

Greg responds...

We had some - minimal - contact about the DVDs, but they clearly weren't interested in putting any extras on there.

As for your YJ rumor - that's all it is. YJ is not back in production.

Response recorded on January 27, 2014

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Windona writes...

You once mentioned that you write down character traits, or something of the like, to help with making sure all the characters are in-character; but on a show with multiple writers, and with character development over the course of a story, how do you write those traits down?

Greg responds...

I usually type up a document, generally called a series bible, and distribute that to everyone involved. Also, all writers have access to ALL of the outlines and scripts, so they can see how our characters are evolving.

Response recorded on January 27, 2014

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Anonymous writes...

What are the ages of the following Marvel Family members?
1.)Christopher "Kit" Freeman
2.)Freddy Freeman
3.) I'm assuming that Mary Bromfield is the same age as Billy Batson, am I right?

Greg responds...

All three of these characters were born the same year as Billy.

Response recorded on January 27, 2014

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Brian writes...

Hi Greg,
To be honest I hadn't followed your work religiously until Young Justice and now I can't get enough. As a theater person I really fell in love with Gargoyles rewatching it now as a 19 year old and noticed so many references to pop culture and to my delight Shakespeare.

I recently purchased Gargoyles in its entirety on DVD as well as the comic continuation. Watching it from start to finish as an adult I saw so much character growth and depth that is often missing from live action television and for that I thank you. Now please don't take this as a criticism, because it is not it is simply my observation about the World Tour arch. I did enjoy it the first time around as I saw great stories. The one thing that I don't want to say bothered me because it really didn't bother me, I was more curious than anything else. Why did many of the original regular characters seem to be sidelined as a result of the arch. I guess for me characters like Demona, Hudson, Lexington, and Xanatos all seemed to be thrust to the side in favor of Goliath and Company. My question is was that intentional or just the way the story worked itself out?

Furthermore my next question is about Xanatos' change of heart regarding the Gargoyles. When looking at what the Gargoyles did to save Alexander the change makes perfect sense to be and I even admire David for that honorable quality. However, when comparing his actions in the Gathering to his behavior in Cloud Fathers, I find the change slightly out of left field. In Cloud Fathers, Xanatos admits to clichéd villainy and in several other appearances his actions towards Goliath and Co. felt so amoral that calling a permanent truce seemed as though it wouldn't have lasted. I guess my question is this do you see Xanatos as so indebted to Goliath that he would never hurt them again or is he still willing to harm them if they threaten his endeavors?

Thanks so much for great storytelling and looking forward to Rebels,
Brian

Greg responds...

1. Inevitably, if we do a journey story, we're going to spend more screen time with those on the journey.

2. It depends on one's definition of harm, I suppose.

Response recorded on January 27, 2014

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EXALT writes...

About 2198...
1)Have you already decided who'll be in the highest ranks of the Illuminati by that point?
2)Does Coyote X mean that he is the model 10.0?
3)Is Samson going to find Demona to join the Resistance, or the other way around?
4)Since we know that Arthur was supposed to wake up about two hundreds years after 1997, is there a chance that he'll somehow still be alive?

Greg responds...

1. The 2198 Illuminati is not as well-thought out as the 1997 Illuminati, but I have the basics down.

2. Maybe…

3. SPOILER REQUEST.

4. SPOILER REQUEST.

Response recorded on January 27, 2014

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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?

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST.

Response recorded on January 24, 2014

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Anonymous writes...

I know you said you wouldn't confirm whether Alan Scott was alive or not, but at the very least can you tell us what his age was when he first put the ring on his finger and became a hero?

Greg responds...

Twenty-three.

Response recorded on January 24, 2014

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nygma619 writes...

Who'd you mentally cast as the following characters in the YJ comic:
-Alec Rois
-Rako
-Talia Al Ghul
-Solovar
-Gorilla Grodd

Greg responds...

1. Keith Szaribajka.

2. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.

3. Alexandra Adi.

4. Morgan Sheppard.

5. Phil Morris.

Response recorded on January 24, 2014

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Anonymous writes...

Are Martians capable of reproducing with other species on Earth 16, like humans or any other species? Until I saw the episode Image my 1st instinct would've been to say no. But after seeing M'gann shapeshift her blood specifically to the point that it would match Gar's blood type (not without after effects of course, as Beast Boy shows us), I'm left feeling that it's a possibility.

Greg responds...

It might be possible, though not easily. They can always adopt.

Response recorded on January 24, 2014

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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?

Greg responds...

1. The shield has to be taken off-line briefly for people to zeta on or off-world.

2. They shut it down for the trio to leave and then turned the shield back on. When they received a signal that the trio were ready to return, they briefly shut the shield down and turned it back on again when they were safely back.

3. You know, I remember figuring this out back in the day, but for the life of me, I can't quite recall what we came up with. But Rann is clearly in the same basic area of space as Rimbor. That much we established.

Response recorded on January 24, 2014

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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.

Greg responds...

1. If anything we did could make you step back and consider these issues, that's extremely gratifying. Of course, we were ALWAYS big fans of M'gann. But I'm glad you came to appreciate her too.

2. Look, we can argue over the details of Dick's plan endlessly. I'm absolutely willing to accept the idea that he made a mistake by not utilizing Wally/Kid Flash more. Maybe things would have gone better if he had. But he made a call. It may have been wrong-headed. It may have been a selfish desire on Dick's part to keep his friend safe - or at least to respect Wally's desire to walk away and have a life even as (paradoxically) he felt he had no choice but to totally mess up said life. I'll happily leave those interpretations to you.

But it is what it is. I don't think the plan itself was "sad". What it was, ultimately, was SUCCESSFUL. Artemis' death and her new identity as Tigress stayed a secret from the Light and their allies until Ra's noticed the Glamour Charm in "Summit". That's what the plan should be judged against (i.e. did the Light buy the cover story?). Not whether we wanted more screen time for Wally and/or Kid Flash.

And the notion that Dick didn't "listen" to Wally is just ridiculous. Dick was defensive in the moment, but they heard each other. Kaldur made a dangerous move, that put a number of people at risk. It was not a move that Wally would have approved of - and I believe he had legit reasons for reacting badly to it - but it was done. Dick convinced himself that he approved of it after the fact, because in essence (a) he had no choice in the matter and (b) it ended up working out (marginally) well in the end. Ultimately, Wally got on board with Kaldur's plan too, for the same reasons. You don't see any lingering bitterness between Wally, Dick or Kaldur in either "Summit" or "Endgame". These guys are friends to the core. Doesn't mean they always agree. Doesn't mean they can't argue (especially in private). But they will always back each others' play. Always.

And no "TPTB" wanted Wally dead. (I'm SO tired of that rumor. Hopefully, now that Wally is returning in the New 52, we can finally put that idea to bed once and for all.) Wally's death was a decision that Brandon and I made that we felt was best for the series as a whole.

Response recorded on January 23, 2014

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Anonymous writes...

Helo,

recently I posted a question about the powers of Wonder Woman's lasso (it was actually seperated into 2 posts) & they were deleted. I was just wondering, why?
Are the powers of her lasso a spoiler? I did not include any story ideas, or otherwise break any of the rules (unless they are in fact spoiler requests, in the case of which I apologize, but I honestly dont see how).
It seems that a lot of questions get past your moderators that clearly break the rules...especially asking questons that have been asked & answered about a billion times, or blatantly asking for spoilers, & even a few that clearly try to pass story ideas as questions.
So I wont ask my question again, but I was just wondering, why Wonder Woman's lasso is such a sensitive topic?
Do you have plans for it that would spoil a revilation in a story if people knew what it could do?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

[NOTE FROM MODERATOR]

The reason your question on Wonder Woman's lasso was deleted was because it broke Guideline #6.

The maximum number of questions allowed per-post is 5. You asked, if I am remembering correctly, 8.

You are welcome to resubmit those questions at any time, so long as they are separated into multiple posts and each contains no more than 5 questions. Then the ASK GREG moderators will be happy to approve them and pass them along to Greg.

Thanks!

Response recorded on January 21, 2014

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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.

Greg responds...

1. D. All of the above.

2. I'd say he was useful, yes. But I'm not going into any details of plans or no plans.

3. I really don't know anything about game production in general. And in terms of YJL, my involvement was limited to story and voice.

4. Yes, Jade knew she was pregnant when she left Roy. It was one of the main reasons she left.

5. I have not seen it, though I heard about Kaldur's cameo and saw a screencap. And I was thrilled when Phil Bourassa told me that he and Garth and Tula were appearing.

Response recorded on January 21, 2014

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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?

Greg responds...

1. Brandon and I have a number of different stories in mind that could work as movies. We've thought a LOT about it.

2. SPOILER REQUEST.

3. Ditto.

Response recorded on January 21, 2014

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Set writes...

What led to that Cuchulainn was reborn as Rory Dugan?
How does it work in the Gargoyle universe with the life after death?

Greg responds...

1. It was time.

2. I'm going to let the stories speak for themselves. Given more stories, we'd explore this issue more.

Response recorded on January 21, 2014

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Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

Hello Greg,

I questions about magic in Gargoyles. To quote an older question:

<<1.What kind of magic powers the Holy Grail? Fay magic? Location magic?>>
<<Greg responds...>>
<<"1. There are other categories. Talisman magic for one.">>

I'm guessing there is much to this that we don't know. I'm a bit confused because in other responses, you identified certain talismans as being of one specific type of magic or another: for example the Phoenix Gate and Eye of Oberon are said to be Third Race magic; the Maya amulets are mortal magic; and the Grimorum was seemingly mortal magic, since it could not be (safely) taken to Avalon, and I think you said it was created by the Roman Magus.

1. What is meant by "talisman magic" in the Gargoyles verse? It seems that this means another form of magic other than to mortal, Third Race, and ghost magic. Does it mean that some talismans are neither mortal nor Third Race in origin? Or that talisman magic as a category doesn't depend on who/what made the talisman?

2. The Weird Sisters, on Avalon, said (paraphrase) "No magic may enter here, save Avalon's own." Does that mean that ghost magic and Space-Spawn magic can't be brought to Avalon? Or does it only apply to mortal (gargoyle and human) magic?

Thank you for talking to us.

P.S. I am really looking forward to the Gathering coming to CONvergence next year!

Greg responds...

1. Well, there's what the thing is and what the source is for what the thing is. And there's also things that are the embodiment of other things. I don't really want to narrow the scope too much outside the context of a story.

2. I haven't thought much about this, honestly.

See you at CONVERGENCE! We can discuss this more there!

Response recorded on January 21, 2014

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Braylon Williams writes...

I don't really have a question, but I want to thank you...
I am currently 17, and some of the best memories of my childhood involve your shows. I pitty those who will never know the joys of shows like Gargoyles... I know you get hundreds of messages saying this, but thank you, and I miss your work. You are a genious!

Greg responds...

Thanks. (But I'm hoping you have no one to pity, because everyone's buying DVDs. Right? Right?)

Response recorded on January 21, 2014

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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?

Greg responds...

I'm sorry, is there something missing from your post? Either of what two?

Anyway, if I had to guess, most likely my answer would be SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on January 17, 2014

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Anonymous writes...

I've a question about some of the Legacy mooks - don't know how much you were involved in their desigm and stuff.

1 Do they have names/ranks? There's regular Shadows, white Shadows, red Shadows... were they meant to have a name?
2 Some of the League of Shadows minions (that appear in the museum level and higher) have red hair. Are they more Roy Harper Clones?

Greg responds...

1. They're all just shadows. The gear they wear is mission dependent, largely. Or it is in my mind, anyway.

2. No.

Response recorded on January 17, 2014

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Tom writes...

Have you played Young Justice: Legacy? If so, what did you think of the gameplay? I'm sad to see that fans are saying the game is glitchy on many review sites. I would have still bought the game myself, but it was cancelled for all of the systems that I owned a few weeks before the release date. Even so, I hope that they can make more games to continue the story somehow.

Greg responds...

I've watched it but haven't played it, I must confess, because I personally am not a gamer. Frankly, my hand/eye coordination sucks for this kind of thing. I doubt I'd survive the first mission. (Tetris is more my speed. And I'm not all that good at that.)

I haven't heard any glitching complaints. And it seems to be getting high marks for story.

Response recorded on January 17, 2014

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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)?

Greg responds...

There's no name, per se. It's not like they're an official team like, say, the Team. But around the office we took to referring to them as the Runaways. (But again, let me stress that this was merely a moniker of convenience. Not an official in-universe designation.)

Response recorded on January 17, 2014

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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

Greg responds...

It's not all an act. The frivolousness was, but the high energy - most of the time - is completely legit. And even the goofiness comes naturally when he isn't stressing over, you know, the Apocalypse.

Response recorded on January 17, 2014

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Nicholas Griel writes...

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

Greg responds...

Never went through that process, so there's no way to know.

Response recorded on January 16, 2014

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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!

Greg responds...

1. Nope.

2. Nope.

3. At the end of Team Year Zero, Rumaan Harjavti is 52.

4. At the end of Team Year Zero, Sumaan Harjavti is 50.

Response recorded on January 16, 2014

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Anonymous writes...

Mal isn't in Legacy. Does that mean he became the mission control later? If so, around which month?

It's a pity you didn't get to tell the story of his first time in the Cave.

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

And it's a pity that we didn't get to tell a LOT of stories.

Response recorded on January 13, 2014

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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)

Greg responds...

a. Well, it would suggest that he physically came back and had a conversation. Not that he rejoined the Team.

b. I'm not going to get into details of the meeting, at this time. For now, use your imagination.

c. The first time most of the Team confirmed for themselves that he was a "Traitor" was in episode 203. Of course, most of them believed Nightwing - even if they didn't want to.

Response recorded on January 13, 2014

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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.

Greg responds...

Well, what's more over-simplistic? Everyone who was supposed to apologizing, or some people not even getting their heads around the fact that they screwed up?

You make it sound as if Conner's story is over. It's not.

And some threads were intentionally left loose.

Response recorded on January 13, 2014

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SAM writes...

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

Greg responds...

ASKED AND ANSWERED: They're trying.

Response recorded on January 13, 2014

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Philip Anderson writes...

Greg, congratulations on [i]Rain of the Ghosts[/i] and [i]Spirits of Ash and Stone[/i]! I'm looking forward to reading them and hoping to see the rest of the series, too.

As a writer myself (search [i]Pirate Journey[/i] on Amazon) I know that writing the manuscript is only part of the challenge. I've found that finding a publisher can be just as hard, in different ways. So here are my questions:

1. How did you get connected with St. Martin's?

2. If you have a publishing agent/agency, how did you connect with them?

If you have time, either here or in future rambles, I'd like to read your thoughts on your publishing experience (aside from your writing experience which you've chronicled pretty well with your chapter updates). Any information or advice or encouragement for aspiring and struggling novelists would be appreciated.

Thanks, and congratulations again!
Phil Anderson

Greg responds...

1. My situation may be unusual. My editor at St. Martin's was already a friend. He and I would have breakfast at San Diego ComicCon once a year to talk geek stuff. He knew that I had written Rain and that I had stalled out on a rewrite, and he would urge me every year to finish. So when I finally did in February of 2012, I sent it to him. Personally, I'm lousy at networking usually, but there's no doubt it can pay off. And this time I got very lucky.

2. I have an agent. Their main expertise is in animation, but they handle books, as well. When I originally wrote Rain, twelve or so years ago, they sent the book out to various publishers, who all rejected it.

I'm still figuring stuff out. For example, now that the book is out, I need to teach myself how to get the word out about it. That's the main reason I'm on Twitter, but clearly that's not going to be enough. I'm learning this stuff in fits and starts myself. Feel free to ask other questions, but following my progress will probably be equally instructive. (If anything is.)

Response recorded on January 13, 2014

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Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

A few question on recording voices.

You are known to have a strong preference for recording voices with the whole cast together whenever possible. It is my understanding that is not the industry norm.

1- Have you worked on shows recorded in isolation? By choice? Do you ever think that method better suits certain genres or specific shows? (I recall an interview with a voice actress on Daria in which she said how much she loved being by herself in the booth repeating a line multiple times trying different inflections and pacing. It occurred to me such a satirical show might have benefited by a less natural feel with starker separations between spoken lines.)

2- Have you ever had resistance from above when you let them know you planned on recording the actors together?

3- Is it becoming more common to record voices together, or are most shows still recorded in isolation? (Are there any other shows you haven't worked on that you know were recorded together?)

And that is my last saved up comment! Thank you so much for your time reading these comments and the work that inspire them.

Greg responds...

1. I have, though not on shows I produced. (Or at least not regularly on shows I produced.)

1a. I don't think it's ever a good idea, but some folk swear by it. Different strokes, and all that...

2. No. A group recording is more economic, so for purely financial reasons, it is the industry norm in television. Not in movies. But I'm mostly a TV guy.

3. You really have it backwards. MOST shows record their actors in groups. Only a few do not.

Response recorded on January 10, 2014

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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?'

Greg responds...

Consider yourself congratulated!

Response recorded on January 10, 2014

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Laura 'as astra' Sack writes...

And now for something completely different...
You mentioned you wrote a few episodes of Octonauts. My daughter loves that show. (Catchy tune… and who would have thought there was such a thing as a blob fish?) As far as I noticed the credits only list the head writer.

1. Which episodes did you pen?
2. Did they by chance explain what exactly Turnip and kitchen crew are?
3. On a less frivolous note-
I was thinking about shows like Octonauts or Doc McStuffins or Dora or Little Einsteins or etc, the shows aimed young, as opposed to the shows my kids think are on screen for them but are really for Mommy, like the action plot shows, or the crazy clever ones like Phinias and Ferb. Ironically, a lot of the little kid shows are in a way more realistic because they center on smaller things- "3 simple steps to tying your shoe" or being worried how your old and new friends will get along at your first big sleepover party. The fact that a panda is teaching you to tie that shoe, or you are now a princess in a castle and that's why you have old and new friends to invite to the castle is not something that needs particular explanation. And without having to explain those things you can leave the world gentle.

As you get older you require a setting to make the fantastic events explainable. You can cling to a wall? Radioactive spider! You put on a suit and fight crime from the shadows? You're a rich orphan with a mission to protect the world from suffering as you did! You're a giant scary looking flying 'monster' with the soul of a poet wandering around Manhattan? You a magically time lost nearly lone survivor of a horrible betrayal of a near extinct species! (And you can only glide, not fly!) In order to explain why your heroes act as they do, whole worlds are dreamt up in which the hero's action is logical. The fantastical setting makes the actions in them realistic or at least self-consistent. A side effect of that is to introduce a dark element into the world- parental units are murdered, crime or war is at the door, etc

Which leads me to the dilemma: When, in your opinion, do you begin to transition a small child from the world of Octonauts to the world of Young Justice? (Transition isn't the best word, since you can go on watching the old stuff.) It's not a question of comprehension. Kids can understand an awful lot. The question is; when do you make your child's world less gentle? When my eldest saw the TiVo grabbed an episode of Batman she wanted to watch it. With my luck it's the episode with the amnesia girl who turns out to have started out as a piece of Clayface. Great episode. It ends when she rescues Robin and gets reabsorbed. The show explicitly calls it a murder. Then I got to explain how it is murder, what is murder, to a 3 or 4 year old. What fun! I look forward to watching Gargoyles with her, but not it being her introduction to what a massacre is. ("Well it's just like what happened to your great grandparents...") It's not that you plan on sheltering forever, but small children deserve to be sheltered, and sometimes parents are better as the zone of shelter rather than source of disturbing imagery.

Yes, there is another set of cartoons that avoid the dilemma- she loves Tom & Jerry. But frankly, I can say- 'Wow you could really hurt someone if you did that in real life- but isn't it funny when it's fake? Isn't it funny how everyone overreacts!" And then I'm done. Watching Tom getting hit in the face by a rake doesn't make her life less gentle. Explaining why Tye Longfeather left home would.

There are parallels as kids get older. Harry Potter is age appropriate to whatever age Harry is in the book. So you give an 11 year old book 1. If your 11 year old is a reader he or she will want to tear through the series and might be at the last book before turning 12. The last book is appropriate for a 17 year old. Or as my friend complained that it is frustrating to have so many comics she can't share with her 13 year old - it's not that he isn't going to be reading things with mild sexual imagery, (or not so mild; she was considering starting reading Saga), but maybe it's best he not get it directly from mom. She knows he'd love Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but he doesn't want to start the series only to stop before the 4th book with the aerial sex scene.

At least I only have to worry about it once : The younger one will see everything too early over her sister's shoulder :}

I guess this isn't so much a question as a ramble, but I was wondering your thoughts on the matter.

Greg responds...

1. My episodes haven't aired yet.

2. They seem to go out of their way NOT to explain. ;)

3. I may not be the right guy to ask. My kids grew up on Simpsons in utero. I remember watching Dexter with my 15-year-old daughter and realizing what a bad parent I must be. (And yet, I have great, great kids despite this.)

My kids learned at an early age how to figure out murder mysteries on television (hint: casting plays a major role), how to expect and anticipate surprises, etc. (We've evolved a system of high-fives when one of us correctly guesses a surprise revelation in advance.) They're fairly sophisticated television watchers. But that doesn't mean they didn't have their time with Barney and Friends. They did. But they probably graduated earlier than most. And there was a ton of overlap.

I myself had a television in my room literally from infancy - as my mother placed televisions in nearly every room of the house for her sake - with no restrictions on what I could watch. So I've always let my kids tell me (mostly) what was appropriate and inappropriate. NOTE: I'm NOT recommending this approach. Just explaining why I'm unqualified to judge.

But I have always believed that kids can handle/fathom more than is traditionally believed. If YOU feel good about (for example) Young Justice's moral center - than I personally don't think there's anything particularly problematic in the series, and that includes the reason Tye ran away from home. Teachable moments are worthwhile - even necessary (though perhaps that's unfortunate) - at even the youngest age, particularly in the world we live in today.

So I don't think it's too soon for your kids to watch Gargs or SpecSpidey or WITCH or YJ assuming it holds their attention and assuming you watch WITH them. But again, I'm no expert on parenting. So follow my lead at your children's peril.

Response recorded on January 10, 2014

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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,

Greg responds...

I think one thing to keep in mind is ratings these days are NOT what they used to be.

Ducktales was a ratings smash. It made it's money by itself. Any merchandising was gravy.

Our numbers on Gargoyles, back in the day, puts the ratings of many of today's quote-unquote top-rated animated series to shame. (And Gargoyles was a hit, but never a home run, ratings-wise. Just a single or double.)

So with lower numbers overall, that means less income is coming in from advertising. Meanwhile, the costs of production have either held steady or gone up. That's pretty simple math, isn't it?

So to pay for the production of these shows, you're counting on other streams of revenue to balance the books - and for an action show that mostly means TOYS.

So if the toys don't sell - for whatever reason - how do you pay for the series?

Whether that's reasonable or not is somewhat immaterial. It's just the cold, hard truth of the situation.

So EVERY show I've ever been asked to produce has a core target that it's trying to reach, and usually that's BOYS 6-11, because the belief is (whether you agree or not) that Boys 6-11 drive toy sales for action figures. Doesn't mean the networks object to other demographics (girls or younger kids or older kids, tweens, teens and adults) ALSO watching. But you still have to hit the target.

Picture it like a bullseye. Concentric circles. You MUST hit the center. But hopefully in hitting that sweet spot, you are also reaching the other demos. Back on Gargoyles, I was farely successful at hitting that target audience AND reaching other demos too. And that has always been my goal on these shows. We didn't quite manage it on W.I.T.C.H. We did on Spectacular Spider-Man. And our success was mixed on Young Justice. Ratings were decent overall (by today's standards though not by any absolute standard at all), but our ratings in our target demo were inconsistent at best. (We could go on forever about why, but it doesn't change the FACT of the numbers.)

Throw in Mattel's decision to abandon their YJ line (again, without going into the reasons behind it), and frankly it's no surprise we weren't renewed.

Because how could Warner Bros afford to make it?

After experimenting for two seasons and 46 episodes of YJ, why wouldn't they take the chance on something new that might bring in more money? Or at least pay its own way?

Frankly, we need a new business model. But the studios haven't landed on one that works yet. So they still chase hits.

Response recorded on January 10, 2014

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Just a Nerd writes...

Hey, Greg.

Considering you can choose your own team for YJ Legacy, I was wondering if there were certain teams that you, Brandon Vietti or Little Orbit consider canon for each mission? Like, for example, Nightwing, Superboy and KF are the canon team for mission 1; Miss M, Artemis, Aqualad for mission 2, etc.?

I haven't played the game yet, as I ordered it from Amazon, but I should have it by Thanksgiving. And trust me, I'm going to play that game like it's my job.

Thanks in advance.

Greg responds...

I haven't thought about it that way. Obviously, if I ever did a comic book adaptation of the game, I'd have to nail it down. But so far, it hasn't come up.

Response recorded on January 10, 2014

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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.

Greg responds...

1. Not sure what you're referring to.

2. You're overthinking it. They're upset.

10. Not particularly. It just felt right to us.

16. Yes. (Green?)

17. Ideally, yes, in the comics. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be...

18. Godfrey and DeSaad were both on Apokalypse with Savage and Darkseid.

Thanks, Laura for all your posts and kind words!

Response recorded on January 09, 2014

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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.

Greg responds...

7. Well, Klarion likes the Chaos. But the rest are all aboard. They may have slightly different twists to their agendas, but the basics are all the same.

8. We went out of our way to show that the Ninjas came in all sizes.

Response recorded on January 09, 2014

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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.

Greg responds...

3. If you mean "Smallville" the television series, I don't think that's correct. Toyman was inspired by one of his many comic book incarnations. But you'd have to ask Phil Bourassa and/or Jerome Moore for details.

6. Poseidonis is the capital city of Atlantis. It's where we were in episode 108 "Depths".

12. Yep.

14. Yep.

Response recorded on January 09, 2014


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