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...

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.

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?

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

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.

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...

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.

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,

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.

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.

B writes...

In your W.I.T.C.H. canon, was Taranee adopted, as she was revealed to be in the comics, or was she the biological child of Mr. and Mrs. Cook? (Assuming, of course, that you thought about this)

B writes...

If the W.I.T.C.H. TV series had continued, did you plan to eventually have Caleb break up with Cornelia and get together with Elyon, as in the comics? Or, if there wasn't a solid plan about that yet, was that a possibility you were considering?

Avi writes...

1. You write strong female characters with skill(Demona, Gwen, MJ, Artemis, ETC). Since women can be portrayed weak sometimes, how do you do it?
2. Other than Stan Lee's run with Romita and Ditko, what era of Spider-man comics did you enjoyed reading the most?
3. What is your opinion on Spider-man: Kraven's Last Hunt, by JM Dematteis? Most people generally like it but others think it may have been too dark for Spider-man (Dematteis was actually going to have the story be a Batman and Joker story at first)

Thanks for the amazing shows! Spectacular Spider-man (I was looking forward to Season 3-5 and DTV's) was absolutely amazing along with Young Justice (I was so looking forward to the next season). I am only up to Avalon part 1, but Gargoyles has been tremendously fun to watch so far. I don't love Star Wars, but Rebels seems great so far and I can't wait. You are an inspiration to me. Thank you.

B writes...

You once said that Medusa, as part of her mother Ekidna's isolationist faction, was "reluctant".

1. Since the originally conceived role of Medusa in The New Olympians was replaced by Sphinx, I imagine them as being the same age, so is being a friend/classmate of Sphinx part of the reason for Medusa's reluctance?

2. If there are other reasons, would you please elaborate on them?