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SPONSES 2014-01 (Jan)

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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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