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Anonymous writes...

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

Greg responds...

I don't blame people.

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

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

But I will make these points:

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

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

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

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

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

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

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

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

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

Greg responds...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Paul writes...

Hi Greg!

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

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

Greg responds...

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

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

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

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Manny writes...

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

Greg responds...

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

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

Response recorded on September 28, 2022

Nobody here but us chickens.


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Anonymous writes...

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

Greg responds...

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

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

Response recorded on September 21, 2022

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Kevin writes...

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

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. Not canon. At least not yet.

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

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

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

Response recorded on September 14, 2022

Nobody here but us chickens.


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Anonymous writes...

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

Greg responds...

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

I think it's valid in and of itself.

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

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

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

Change the show to fit the critics?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<shrug>

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

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

Even with 777 characters and counting...

Response recorded on September 07, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

why dont why see the mentors and protégés interact like we used to? that was one of the best things about the show imo, i know the second season took the seniors and freshman angle with the team but it wasnt explored with the same depth and then it was cast aside the next season.

Greg responds...

It wasn't really cast aside. You specifically saw Nightwing, Superboy and Tigress mentoring Geo-Force, Halo and Forager over and over, in Season Three. Then in Season Four, you saw Superboy and Miss Martian mentoring Beast Boy and J'emm; Tigress mentoring Orphan, Onyx and Cassandra Savage; Zatanna mentoring Thirteen, Khalid and Mary.

It's one of our themes, and we have been fairly darn consistent about it.

Response recorded on August 25, 2022

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FictionalCountryGuru writes...

1. Did you and Brandon ever bother coming up with Queen Bee's actual name?
2. Were Troia and Garth's relations to Man's World and the Surface World respectively what gave them an edge in beating out other candidates for becoming the ambassadors for Themyscira and Atlantis? If not, were their relatively young ages (physically in Troia's case) and, as such, lack of experience in intergovernmental and foreign relations seen as a problem by some?
3. Are Themysicra and Atlantis the most recent additions to the United Nations, or did Greater Bialya join after them?
4. Troia is the current Secretary General of the UN. How is this possible given her young age (again, physically) and what is surely only a handful (if that) of years worth of experience, not to mention the country she represents being one of the newest additions to the UN as well?
5. Is Vlatava a member of the United Nations?

Greg responds...

1. Is it me, or is that question just LACED with attitude? Did we bother? Did DC Comics bother? Maybe we CHOSE not to reveal any prior identity.

2. Their experience with the "outside world" was a determining factor.

3. I haven't tracked that, but Greater Bialya is just the successor to Bialya. So it's been with the U.N. longer.

4. Politics.

5. Yes.

Response recorded on August 12, 2022

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Ash writes...

Hi Greg, Excellent finish to the Zatanna arc. I appreciate it a lot as someone who understands the magic principles that I feel shaped the arc ("A Magician performs the real trick while their Assistants occupy the minds of the audience").

There was a few minor things that I was hoping you could provide some clarity on, not necessarily giving spoilers - more a curiousity if some seeming inconsistencies are thought out and intentional.

1) I enjoyed that the sinking of Atlantis lined up to ~9000 BC, as stated by Plato when he first described Atlantis. But, Plato also alleged Atlantis to be at war with Athens (despite us knowing historically that Athens as it was wouldn't have existed then, nor Minoan or Mycenaean Greece). I was curious if some Proto-Minoan state which would eventually become Greece may have existed in that era to survive with the stories of Atlantis?

2) On that train of thought; was curious if this potential society, may have contributed to the Atlantean Language origins?, since Modern Atlantean is based off of Ancient Greek, but Atlantis' sinking and presumably its linguistic drift would have occured long before Ancient Greece became a language.

3) So obviously the 12 000 Years aren't necessarily precise, but taking them as being such, we get the Babylon Events (or rather Vandal's Babylon's rise) as being 7586 years post Atlantis. Assuming it was 9000 BC exactly; that gives us a date of 1414 BC.

You've previously given Ishtar's birth as 1816 BC, indicating a rather long lifespan - presumably immortality. But, Ishtar was first known by history as of around 2400 BC - to be syncretised with Inanna in the Akkadian Empire.

1414 BC is also within the Kassite era of Babylon, far from the most prominent or first Babylon - With Hammurambi's Code (which seems like a good thing for the Lords of Order to lay witness to) being in around 1700s BC.

Question is basically if you had considered these dates and elements, and if you had a reason for the inconsistencies (would love if you'd lay out the reasons, but understand if that would qualify as spoiler, so would be satisfied in knowing if it had been considered or not previously)?

4) These next two are slightly different, but similar wheelhouse in dates and ages. First, Carol Ferris. You've said for her to have been born in 1986 (so 24 for S1 in TY0), while Hal became a Lantern in 2000 - where she'd have been 14. While obviously Hal and Carol aren't necessarily connected in YJ, I was curious if you had been considering these elements when assigning her age? (And ofc, knowing that since its CIT, that you could just as easily change it if it didn't line up to your intents)

5) Similarly, we have Superman and Lois, who are romantically entangled. You've said that Superman joined the Daily Planet when he was 21, so either 1998 or 1999. At this point in time, Lois would have been around 16. Is this something that you'd considered when assigning their ages? (again, knowing full well that you're able to change the ages to suit further elements as desired since they're not established in the show material).

Greg responds...

1. Probably, given the linguistic connections between Ancient Greek and Modern Atlantean.

2. See, you made my case for me.

3. I'm not sure where you're getting your numbers. But they don't match up with my timeline at all.

4. I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you saying Hal's too old for Carol? I mean, obviously, he is in 2000, but not by Team Year Zero.

5. All ages were considered relative to the relevant characters in their lives.

Response recorded on July 26, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1. How old is Charlie Dagget?
2. When was Sindella born?
3. How old is Johnny Drew?
4. How old is Penny Randall?

Greg responds...

1. Charlie Daggett was born in 1984.

2. Sindella was born in 1975.

3. Johnny Drew was born in 1997.

4. Penny Randall was born in 1998.

Response recorded on June 16, 2022

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Paul writes...

I have just used the search function to check whether my first question has been asked and it looks as though a similar question was asked last week, but I want to expand upon that person's question.

1) So, another person has asked you whether Mary Bromfield is Billy Batson's sister in YJ (for, I think, the first time since "Teg Ydaer!" aired). Since there was a comic book reboot which negated their blood ties and made them foster siblings, I don't think that asking whether they're siblings gets to the heart of the matter, so I would like to be more specific, please: are Billy and Mary related by blood in Young Justice, or are they foster siblings? The Billy illusion in "Teg Ygaer!" refers to Mary as "sis" but I think that this has confused some people, as some have taken it as a sign that they are related by blood, whereas others think that it's a nod to them having been foster siblings instead. However, going back to the season 1 episodes "Alpha Male" and "Misplaced", Billy appeared to be living with Uncle Dudley and there didn't seem to be anyone else there, otherwise he would have turned to them when Dudley disappeared in the latter episode. So I think that Billy and Mary are NOT foster siblings, but rather are blood relations who were separated at birth (as in the early comics), and I wonder if you could confirm this, please.

2) Following on from the last question... if Billy and Mary are related by blood and you've confirmed this in your answer to question 1, then: are Billy and Mary twins? I ask because you've previously confirmed that they were born in the same year, and there is the matter of the fact that they were twins in the early comics. In YJ, one might still be older than the other by say 9-11 months (just because they were born in the same year, that doesn't mean they ARE twins for sure), but maybe you could weigh in on this, please.

3) And now, since the "sis" line in "Teg Ydaer!" has generated this discussion, I would like to also ask you about the "sister" comments in "Elder Wisdom", please. In that episode, Wonder Woman and Troia referred to one another as "sister". Halo also referred to Troia as Diana's sister and this wasn't refuted (though to be fair, this was in the midst of a fight, so of course Diana wouldn't immediately respond anyway). Are Diana and Troia blood relations? I know that Troia/Donna Troy has a complex comic book history, and so we could be dealing with a number of different possibilities here in terms of her origin, but I'm not asking about the bigger picture of the origin story itself. I would just like to know whether Troia is Diana's actual sister, or a sister in "spirit" (as I suppose all Amazons would be to Diana). The fact that you previously confirmed that Troia is a princess of Themiscyra would seem to confirm that Troia is Diana's blood relation. But then again, Troia could be adopted, so... I wonder if you could chime in on this, please. (It's confusing!)

4. Another Troia question: was her design in season 3 based on the look that Diana had in the 2017 Wonder Woman film, when she was living on Themiscyra? I thought that Diana's "in training" look in the live-action film looked very similar to Troia's U.N. Ambassador design.

Greg responds...

1. I'm not big on confirming things we haven't yet revealed in the series, as you may know. However, I'm pretty sure I revealed this years ago, during the long hiatus, so, to be clear: Billy Batson and Mary Bromfield are NOT foster siblings on Earth-16. That notion, from more recent Shazam comics, didn't exist back in Season One, so we didn't build for it. (That's not meant as some type of commentary on the idea. We just developed the characters based on the older concept.) They are twins, however, and - as you noted - were separated at birth, only discovering later that their genetic conection.

2. They're twins. Though of course one is older than the other. I haven't done the math, but I tend to guess that one is sixteen minutes older than the other. I just don't, as yet, know which one.

3. Since I haven't revealed this, I'm not going to now. No spoilers.

4. I don't know, honestly. Or at least, I don't remember. It's really a question for Phil Bourassa.

Response recorded on June 15, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Starting with Season 3 of Young Justice, you decided to have the first letters of each episode spell out a hidden message; which I find very interesting because I am trying to figure out what Season 4's message is. Do you regret not coming with this idea much sooner when you first started this series?

Greg responds...

Maybe a little. But only a little.

Response recorded on June 13, 2022

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Elm writes...

Has the production budget for Young Justice changed since it was on Cartoon Network? (Asking if S1, S3 and S4 have the same costs)

Greg responds...

It's basically the same. We have more money now than we had then. But things also cost more now. So overall, it's largely unchanged. We do have a higher budget for after-effects now in S4, then we did in S3, and WAY bigger than we did for S1 & S2.

Response recorded on June 08, 2022

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Ahadu Getachew writes...

Hey greg this is a two part question and i’m pretty this isn’t a spoiler question but when did Jason Todd become robin (Specifically how old was he) and how long was he on the team before he died? and thank so much for being the series back

Greg responds...

Jason Todd was born in 1999. He became Robin in Team Year Three. He died in the same year.

Response recorded on June 03, 2022

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Family writes...

When did Eric Needham become Black Spider?
When did Leonard Snart become Captain Cold?
When did George Harkness become Captain Boomerang?
When did Albert Michaels become Atomic Skull?
When did Teth-Adam become Black Adam?

Greg responds...

1. 2009.

2. 2001.

3. 1996.

4. 2006.

5. 1276 B.C.E.

Response recorded on May 16, 2022

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Marriages? writes...

Hello! I hope you're having a good day, I just wanted to stop by and ask some questions about the relationships (specifically, the married couples) in Young Justice.

1. You've been asked this before, but at the time you said that you never got around to calculating the date. I figure there's a chance you've done the math since then, so: what year did Orin and Mere get married?
2. What year did Clark and Lois get married?
3. What year did Jonathan and Martha Kent get married?
4a. What year did Jefferson Pierce and Lynn Stewart get married?
4b. What year did the two of them get divorced?
5. Given that Raquel had a bridal shower, it can be assumed she indeed got married not long after. Not asking for spoilers or a specific date or anything, but did you guys have the actual wedding date in-mind or just a vague timeframe?

I figure these are generally safe questions to ask, given that you've previously answered a similar question about when Iris and Barry got married. If not, though, I do apologize for wasting your time. I hope all is well, and given the nature of these questions, I hope your wife is having a nice day too! Enjoy!

Greg responds...

1. Nope. Sorry.

2. This one's easier to narrow down, but I haven't put it in the timeline, as of this moment.

3. 1956.

4a. Team Year Zero.

4b. Not yet on the timeline.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on May 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

So regarding the Meta-Gene from my understanding it is essentially a genetic marker that can unlock natural abilities due to experiencing extreme stress and duress. The meta gene also happens to be opportunistic in nature and now here is my big question What about the Flash Family they gained their powers through a specific experiment and have no blood relations to each other so why manifest powers so similar to each other.
2. Would Flash Family be considered meta humans or should we consider all humans with powers meta-human.
3. Should Superman be classified as a meta since he didn't seem to suffer by side effects of Granny's Anti Life Equation machine Device in Terminus or should we just attribute this to kryptonian endurance and yellow sun radiation.

Greg responds...

1. Something about Jay's accident, which Barry recreated under laboratory conditions and Wally recreated under garage lab conditions, leads to speed. (Bart inherited his speed from his grandfather.)

2. If tested, you'd discover that all four have the meta-gene.

3. The latter.

Response recorded on April 20, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

So I had a question with regards to Face Your Fears-
1. Wally is the first one to break out of the effects of Medusa Mask which he cites is probably due to his fast metabolism. Was this assessment of Wally wrong or right.
2. Does this mean Wally has more resistance or will the effects of emotion manipulation will have a shorter impact, basically does his fast metabolism give him any advantages.
3. Also Why has the Light not been able to create a speedster as fast as Barry, Wally or Jay, as you have revealed earlier Jaculi and Trajectory are both slower is it because of Barry's notes which the Light doesn't have, so does that mean Barry's note are under lock and key meanwhile Light has weaker speedsters than even Barry.

Greg responds...

1. I think it's wise to leave that to your interpretation.

2. It doesn't hoit!

3. Barry is considerably faster than Jay or Wally ever were. Bart is more or less at Barry's level, though not quite. Still, he's younger, so he may some day wind up even faster than Barry. Trajectory is not as fast as Jay. Jaculi was not as fast as Trajectory is. After Wally stole Barry's notes, Barry made sure no one else could ever steal those notes again.

Response recorded on April 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg - YJ is a great show that obviously resonates with a lot of people. But sometimes I feel like the writers don't realize why people love the show so much.

I think most people got hooked on the character development and world-building of Season 1. Seeing our favorite comic characters reimagined in this unique universe you've created. The rest of the seasons have been more focused on driving the plot forward, at the expense of character. The time skip disappointed a lot of people because years of character development and interactions happened off screen. And as the cast got bigger, it became clear that only some characters were going to get screentime while others were basically scenery. This was also disappointing for the fans of characters that were introduced in later seasons; especially for characters that have never been properly portrayed in DC media like Cassie, Tim, Cissie, Cassandra, Stephanie, etc. I wanted to see all of them get the same type of treatment the Season 1 cast got, but there are so many characters that we barely know anything about. And with the time skips, we may never get to know them because the writers have decided they're not important for the plot.

I remember lots of fans gave you this type of feedback during Season 2, and you tbh you were kind of dismissive about it and then doubled down on the approach in Season 3. I know this is ultimately your show, but I wish you would take the feedback from the fans who fell in love with it.

Greg responds...

Hi, Anonymous. I don't mean to be dismissive. But at the end of the day, I don't see HOW we could possibly satisfy your criteria.

I mean think about it. If this were a quote-unquote "normal show," we'd have stuck with our original six characters with no time skips. You'd never have even SEEN Cassie, Tim, Cissie, Cassandra and Stephanie, let alone gotten any character development for them. By season four, we'd still be in the middle of the first time skip. You'd have Raquel. Zatanna. Maybe Troia and Garth. Maybe Jason. But we wouldn't have even touched on the names on your list.

And I don't agree that we sacrificed character development in Seasons Two and Three for plot. Those seasons were indeed plot driven, in the sense that who we focused on was driven by plot. Hence, S2 gave Jaime a lot of focus that he hasn't had since. And S3 gave Garfield a lot of focus. Etc. But each season was, I think, objectively rich in character development. But just not for the characters that you personally were most interested in seeing developed. And I am 100% sure that there are many, many fans who would chose the exact same characters as you for their development preferences. But there are also many, many fans who would only pick some of the characters you listed and substitute other choices for the ones they don't care so much about. And many, many fans who would have an entirely different list from yours. There's literally no way to satisfy everyone. And so when you say we should listen to fan feedback, whose should we listen to? Yours? Some other fan who has a different set of priorities?

In the end, we can't listen to anyone except ourselves. We have to be passionate about the show, or else we can't expect anyone else to be passionate about it. We just have to cross our fingers and hope that our preferences resonate with as many fans as possible. So far, that's worked out pretty well for us. Though there have been plenty of fans who haven't been thrilled, and many who are downright disgruntled with us. Such is life. Again, that's not me being dismissive. It's me being realistic.

And, in any case, with the obvious exception of Wally, if your primary interest was in the original group (i.e. Dick, Kaldur, Conner, M'gann and Artemis), then I think the time skips have aided us in developing these five characters to a greater degree than we could have done without them. Again, without them, you'd have never seen Kaldur go from Aqualad to Aquaman. You'd have never seen him go undercover with Black Manta. You'd have never seen him with Wynnde, etc. We'd still be stuck in a perennial Season One mode. There'd be some character development of course, but nothing near the level we've been able to bring to you across our four seasons.

And in any case, season four is extremely character focused and on the seven characters shown in the season's main title: Dick, Kaldur, Conner, M'gann, Artemis, Raquel and Zatanna. Those seven might not be your first choice for development, and I can understand that. But five of those seven have been our leads since the beginning, so per your own argument, that's who we SHOULD be focused on.

Response recorded on April 11, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

Jade always acts "pissy" when she talks to Artemis. My reading of Jade's attitude is that it's a cover for her feelings of guilt over having not been a better sister or mother. Is this a good reading?

Greg responds...

I don't think "pissy" is a good reading. I don't think that describes even half of their interactions over four seasons and a video game.

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Ram writes...

Hi Greg,
1. How broke is Green Arrow?
-Hes dressed rather smart for someone whos broke.
-He could afford a hospital room for Speedy.
-Hes able to afford to run several vaults fully equipped with weaponry and the electrical bill that comes with it. He also repaired the damage from the bomb Speedy planted in it.
-He can afford arrows for himself and his protege.
-He can support himself and Roy (and probably also the medical bills that come with sending him to therapy, etc.)

2. How successful is Bowhunter Security?
3. How was Roy a shareholder in Bowhunter despite being a minor? Was Ollie a caretaker for his share as his guardian?
4. Did Ollie help Will start his Private Security business? How did he find investors for it?

Greg responds...

1. He's not destitute. He's just not a millionaire any longer. You're assuming he paid for Speedy's healthcare, but that's not a safe assumption. The League has funds for that sort of thing. Also, Oliver set up a substantial trust for Roy before Oliver lost his fortune. That trust went to Will, but he's since given the bulk of that over to Roy.

2. Fairly.

3. Roy's no longer a minor. Technically, i.e. legally and chronologically, he's about 28 during Season Four.

4. No. (I mean he didn't hinder it, but he didn't help financially in any way either.)

4a. By "he" do you mean Will or Ollie?

Response recorded on March 31, 2022

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Daniel Jacob writes...

A lot of Beast Boy trauma all began with Queen Bee- killed his mother, and took over his childhood home. From joining the Doom Patrol-The Team- becoming Meta-Human Advocate/Celebrity Actor- and now leader of the Outsiders. Aside from his inspiration to bring justice to the world, is there any personal motivation for bringing justice to Queen Bee for her crimes that motivated Gar to become a hero.

Greg responds...

I'll leave that to your interpretation, for now.

Response recorded on March 18, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

1) I'm really amazed that Artemis has a genuine interest in literature! She always struck me as the kind of person who would rather kick ass than engage in solitary intellectual pursuits. In season one, she shows little interest in reading. She was enrolled in comparative literature in season 2, but that is a major young people often choose when they have no idea what they want to do with their lives.

1) Was Artemis being a reader something that you had imagined pre-season one or is it something that developed over time?

2) Who are Artemis' five favourite living writers? Of any genre?

3) Who are Artemis' five favourite dead/historical writers? Of any genre?

4) Does Artemis dislike Milton? (I ask because I see him as being too elitist for Artemis' personality.)

5) Does Artemis have a specific field or era of interest? The field of comparative literature is rather large.

Greg responds...

1. I find it more telling about you that you are "really amazed Artemis has a genuine interest in literature!" You saw nothing in S1 that justifies the statement "she shows little interest," which implies somehow that we showed other characters showing much interests, which of course, we didn't. There just wasn't the screen time for it. So really what you should be saying is that we showed nothing at all about Artemis' academic interests, which is a fair statement. And again, I find your statement that Comparative Literature is a major chosen by people who have no idea what to do with their lives very judgmental. I majored in English, myself. I'm sure some English majors weren't sure what they were going to do with their lives, but others like myself, did. (I wanted to be a writer, in case that wasn't obvious. I also briefly flirted with the idea of being a professor but decided against it.)

2. I think we always thought she was a reader. But we always thought ALL of our characters were readers. In terms of her specific long-term secret identity career interests, pre-S1 we didn't have that planned out for anyone except Kaldur. But Brandon and I both believed that the Comp Lit track felt right and matched up what we knew about Artemis' character.

3. I'm not playing this game.

4. I like Milton. Not sure why she wouldn't. But I haven't put too much thought into her thoughts on this one specific writer.

5. Her dissertation, which she's still working on as of S4, is on Vietnamese literature and its resonance (or lack thereof) with archetypes in Western Culture. But her interests are wider.

Response recorded on March 16, 2022

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Rob writes...

why has kaldur always been a pretty emotionless character in YJ was this always apart of his arc?

Greg responds...

I don't think of him as emotionless at all. I do think of him as stoic. He doesn't reveal as much as some others do. At least not on the surface. He does keep a tighter rein then his fellow heroes.

I don't know that I'd say it's part of his "arc," but it is part of his character. Stay tuned for more in the second half of Season Four, which premieres on March 31st, 2022.

Response recorded on March 15, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

In the Young Justice Wiki, Gretchen Goode's designation in The Light was confirmed to be L-11. But you've recently said in a response posting that this is now Ultra-Humanite's designation in The Light. Is this actually true, or is Ultra-Humanite's designation is supposed to be L-12 and Zviad Baazovi's designation is supposed to be L-13? The next question I want to ask is why The Brain is no longer a member of The Light? Finally, my last question is why was Black Manta expelled from the Light?

Greg responds...

1. The first thing to keep in mind is that the L-Designations for the Light aren't really in-Universe. We needed something to identify members of the Light in the credits during Season One before we revealed their identities. The fans latched onto them, understandably, but I haven't quite tracked them in the same way that I've tracked the heroes' designations. Then there was that goody bag created for SDCC, which seemed to enshrine the L-Designations and/or etch them in stone. But I'm not even certain they were correct on that bag. (I have it in storage somewhere, but I can't get to it this minute.) So let's try to work 'em all out now:

L-1 Vandal Savage
L-2 Ra's al Ghul
L-3 Lex Luthor
L-4 Queen Bee
L-5 Ocean-Master
L-6 The Brain
L-7 Klarion
L-8 Black Manta (replacing Ocean-Master)
L-9-11 Deathstroke (replacing Ra's al Ghul)
L-9-11 Ultra-Humanite (replacing The Brain
L-9-11 Gretchen Goode (replacing Black Manta))
L-12 Zviad Baazovi (replacing Gretchen Goode)

The obvious problem is that Deathstroke, Ultra-Humanite and Gretchen all joined at approximately the same time. And since there's no in-universe L-Designation, any of the three could be L-9, L-10 or L-11 - though Zviad is clearly L-12. I gather from the YJ Wiki that the San Diego bag assigned Deathstroke as L-9 and Gretchen as L-11, but that Ultra-Humanite's L-11 came from a somewhat half-hearted answer here at ASK GREG. So let's, for the hell of it, correct that answer, and make Ultra-Humanite L-10. Cool? So, now...

L-1 Vandal Savage
L-2 Ra's al Ghul
L-3 Lex Luthor
L-4 Queen Bee
L-5 Ocean-Master
L-6 The Brain
L-7 Klarion
L-8 Black Manta (replacing Ocean-Master)
L-9 Deathstroke (replacing Ra's al Ghul)
L-10 Ultra-Humanite (replacing The Brain
L-11 Gretchen Goode (replacing Black Manta))
L-12 Zviad Baazovi (replacing Gretchen Goode)

2. As with Ocean-Master's "unfortunate incarceration," the Brain being in prison (especially a prison like Belle Reve) makes it difficult to serve effectively.

3. Ditto.

Response recorded on March 14, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1. If Roy asks Ollie to get rid of his goatee, will Ollie do it?
2. Do the members of Arrow family like the chili Ollie make?
3. Are Dinah and Babara good friends?
4. What was Green Arrow doing in Season 3, he let Arrowette work with the Bat Team but what was he doing in the season?
5. In the very first episode, why would Green Arrow tell Red Arrow (still speedy at that time) the Hall of Justice isn't the real base instead the watchtower is?

Greg responds...

1. The question feels moot to me because why would Roy do that?

2. Um... sure.

3. I would think so.

4. He was also working with Batman's group. And doing his own thing. And successfully reconciling with Dinah.

5. Information is power. The rest I'll leave to your interpretation.

Response recorded on March 08, 2022

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Jay writes...

Is there a reason people wear the same civilian clothes every day? (I know this is for budgetary reasons for most animation but considering how much thought goes into this world, I figured I'd if there's an in-universe reason)

Are people actually wearing the same clothes every day? Or are we, the audience, just seeing a false version of their clothing? If they are wearing the same clothes every day, do they have multiple identical articles of clothing?

Regardless of all of the above, how many Superman t-shirts does Conner have? If it's just the one, how many times a week does he wash it?

Greg responds...

If you'd read our companion comics, you'd know Conner bought many of the exact same black S-Shield t-shirt at Forever Sixteen ten years ago.

Otherwise, no. In theory, people are not wearing the exact same thing every day, sequentially. Ultimately, we just don't have the person-hours to constantly design new civilian clothes for everybody.

Response recorded on February 18, 2022

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Ash writes...

Hi Greg, I'm not anticipating a lot of Wonder focus this season given the arc structure, so thought this would be the best batch to try for now in a way that shouldn't spoil anything upcoming by the time things get answered.

1) You’ve said that Amazons don’t age while they’re on Themyscira before, https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=17241 would this apply to non-Amazon women who live there as well?

2) You have given a chronological and biological age for Troia, but only an unspecified (but presumably chronological) age for Diana as of S1 and for Devastation. I was curious if you would give biological ages for Diana and Devastation for the two.

3) You have stated that a part of the reason for the Amazons enhanced abilities (in general, not for the Special Ones), is partly due to the Purple Healing Ray. I was curious if it was technological or mystical in nature?

4) Themyscira is represented as an entity by the UN - but we also see that Atlantis which we know to be composed of several kingdoms/city states and described as a continent is represented as an (apparently) single seat. I was wondering if Themyscira; as represented by the UN, composed of additional islands or settles, and if so if the protection from aging extends to these islands.

Two of those sort of push the limit of being one question, so I'll refrain from asking a fifth. I find the differences that exist within Earth-16s portrayal of its entities (even those not in focus) to be fascinating and was just hoping for a few additional details that I don't think would constitute a spoiler so much as logistics. Thankyou very much for a beautiful world beyond the show.

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. At the start of Team Year Ten, Diana is biologically 39 (more or less).

2a. At the start of Team Year, Devastation is biologically 28 (more or less).

3. Have I? Well, in any case, No spoilers.

4. No spoilers.

So, just because we're not likely to get to something this season, doesn't mean the questions aren't still spoiler requests.

Response recorded on February 11, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Will was wearing his Red Arrow costume in episode 5 of Phantoms. Was that a one time thing again like in "Private Security" or is he fully back as RA?

Greg responds...

Occasionally, he's back as Red Arrow. But not often.

Response recorded on February 08, 2022

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Steve writes...

1: Is Zviad Baazovi from markovia? He was a soviet originally in the comics.
2: How many lords of chaos and order are there usually at a time?
3: Why did Wonder Woman return to man's world after returning home following world war 2?
4: Was John smith/red tornado Connor's legal guardian? I remember seeing that here but i couldn't find it in the archives
4b: Did anyone else took over for torando like ma and pa kent?
5: If Tornado was Connor's legal guardian, does Connor view as a father and by extension Traya as a sister?

Greg responds...

1. He's Markovian in YJ.

2. I've never counted.

3. No spoilers.

4. I seem to recall that as well.

4b. Eventually, yes.

5. They're not quite that close. But they are fairly close.

FYI, Conner is spelled with an o and an e.

Response recorded on February 08, 2022

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L writes...

1: Was Barbara Gordan named after her mother or did her mom have a different name?
2: Was Mist's father a villain named mist too?
3: Is Luis Garcia a character from the comics?
4: Did the other Babylon/Mesopotamian gods exist as Vandal's children?
5: Does Vandal all ways kill his elderly children?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers.

3. Yes. Although he may be something of a composite.

4. No spoilers.

5. Not necessarily.

Response recorded on January 31, 2022

Nobody here but us chickens.


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L writes...

1: What year was Orm sent to prison in Atlantis?
2: Does the atlantean family have a surename or house name?
3: Do atlanteans not usually have last names?
4:What city is Tula from?
5: What year did FIre debut as a hero? Was she a teenager like Ice?

Greg responds...

1. Well, we know he wasn't in prison in September of Team Year Zero. We know he served six years. We know he was out of prison by September of Team Year Eight. So that puts the start of his prison stay between September of Team Year Zero and September of Team Year Two.

2. If you mean Orin and Orm, no. Orin sometimes uses Curry.

3. Some do, some don't.

4. Poseidonis.

5. Beatriz da Costa debuted as a hero in Team Year Six. She may have just barely been a teen when she debuted, as I haven't set a specific date of birth for her. But she was twenty years old by the end of that year.

Response recorded on January 31, 2022

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Suzie writes...

How many leaders have the Team had over the past 10 years and can you tell us how long they were in charge. For example when did Miss Martian become leader of the Team and how long was she in charge before stepping down.

Greg responds...

Not a lot, surprisingly. Aqualad gave over to Nightwing, who then turned it back over to Aqualad, until he joined the League as Aquaman, at which point Miss Martian took over until she resigned, at which point Tigress took over.

Response recorded on January 27, 2022

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Emily writes...

1: Does Kate know that bruce is her cousin and batman?
2: Did spoiler start off as in independent hero? Did she get any training from batman or another bat family member?
3: Was damian Waynethe product of a consensual sex with talia and Bruce? I've always hated the retcon it into being Talia raping Bruce.
4: Is there a reason that so many aliens look so much like humans on earth 16? I've always hated comics making aliens looks so human looking
5: When did Red tornado officially started using his John Smith body?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers. But, yes.

2 No spoilers.

2a. No spoilers, but of course.

3. No spoilers.

4. Other than Kryptonians, who looks human? Icon? He was organically reengineered to look human. John Jones and Megan Morse? They're shapeshifters. Hawkman and Hawkwoman? Those wings aren't accessories. They are winged humanoids.

5. Sometime after Season One.

Response recorded on January 25, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg, hope your doing well.
1.Has Zatanna ever dated someone else after breaking up with Dick ?
2. Has Dick dated someone else after breaking up with Zatanna and before dating Barbara ?
3. Had Dick and Zatanna ever wondered to set back together after breaking up ?
4. Had they ever regret they break up ?
Thanks for your time !

Greg responds...

1. Technically, that's a spoiler request, but the obvious answer is yes. So... yes.

2. Dick's dated a lot of people. Some of whom he's had more than one go 'round with. So that just becomes a complicated question to answer while still avoiding spoilers.

3. There's clearly at least one typo in here, and maybe two. So I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. But if you're asking whether or not the THOUGHT has eve crossed their minds, I think the answer must be yes.

4. Depends what you mean by regret. Regret with a capital R? No. With a lower-case r? Sure. We all have moments of regret.

Response recorded on January 13, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Who created those speakers that Gar uses when he is in beast form? How do they work? What is their name?

Greg responds...

1. Well, if you're asking who created the core technology that they utilize, the answer is the Brain.

2. They translate mental speech impulses into a synthesized voice.

3. We call them "the little speakers on Beast Boy's collar."

Response recorded on January 11, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr Weisman i have some Young justice related questions for you 1. Does Mrs M'orzz watch hallmark movies on a frequent basis as she was more familiar with the purpose a wedding ring then Mr M'orzz was? 2 Are any of Miss Martian sibling's (Em'ree and M'comm aside) members of the yellow Martian order? 3. what does Black canary do for a living?

Greg responds...

1. Only ones starring Danica McKellar or Lacey Chabert.

2. No spoilers.

3. She's a therapist, and she also owns a flower shop.

Response recorded on January 11, 2022

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Izzy writes...

Hello! I've seen the last three episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms and I'm eagerly awaiting the fourth. The relationship dynamic between M'gann and her family (especially M'comm) is rivaling Artemis's in terms of pure curiosity and intrigue. I love it and I want to know everything! And given what was shown in the trailer, it looks like even more of Artemis's family dynamics are going to be explored, which is fantastic. I think this is going to be something they'll bond over this season. But who knows! Anyways, on to the questions:

01. You mentioned in a recent Tweet that ‘Catwoman: Hunted’ is, like your Green Arrow short, a story that also occurs similarly on Earth-16. Given that information, is it safe to assume Catwoman exists on Earth-16?
02. Are Lucas Carr and Bethany Lee alumni of Happy Harbor High School, or did they graduate elsewhere? Given that Snapper was at least living in Happy Harbor as a teenager, I assume he attended the public high school. The same can be said for Bethany, if her backstory from the comics as the daughter of Happy Harbor’s police chief before becoming one herself is largely unchanged.
03. Given you are a Stanford alumni and have thought about what dorms Wally and Artemis spent their Freshman years in, did you give any thought into who their respective roommates were? Not asking for spoilers about who they were, just merely if you guys ever bothered to come up with them.
04. Is Batwoman Jewish on Earth-16 like she is in the comics? If so, wouldn’t that make Batman (by proxy, if not in practice) Jewish as well, at least on his mother’s side?
05. This is a long one! I know birthdays aren't something you come up with unless the story needs it, but do you have the same line of thinking with babies born during the story? Artur, for example, was born on February 1st, 2011 (according to the YJ wiki, which got the date from Legacy). For Lian, however, we only know she was born in September 2015. Do you have a birthdate in mind for her, or just the month? For Don and Dawn Allen, you answered in an ask that their due date was sometime in the September following Invasion. I’m not asking if that due date was accurate or when, if you know it, their actual birthday(s) are, but merely the concept as a whole. Was Artur the only one assigned a birthdate in-story because the diary entry needed a timestamp? Since then, a whole bunch of other super-kids (Anissa and Jennifer, Jonny, Traya, Amistad, and most recently Rhea) have been introduced, with Rhea being (according to Unknown Factors) born on January 21, 2019. While Rhea’s birthday is obviously a byproduct of the story and thus laying credence to your stance on only assigning birthdays when needed, she was also the only one explicitly shown. I guess this whole question can be summed up to: do children (emphasis on children somehow connected to the main cast) born DURING the story get assigned birthdays even if the story doesn’t necessarily showcase/reference their birth outright? If not birthdays, then just birth-months? Or is that only come up with when needed as well?

Greg responds...

1. Yes, in some form.

2. Yep.

3. I actually did give a little thought to Wally's roommate. I have a notion, but I'm not locking it in unless or until a story requires it.

4. Yes.

4a. I think it must be true that Martha Kane Wayne was Jewish. That means by Jewish tradition, Bruce Wayne is also Jewish. But I think it's also clear that he was raised as a Protestant Christian. Beyond that, again, I'm not going to go into details until or unless a story requires it.

5. Just birth years, unless the story indicates an obvious (thus necessary) birth month. And just birth months unless the story requires or dictates a birthdate.

Response recorded on January 04, 2022

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Young Justice Statistics

Well, as I tweeted today, YOUNG JUSTICE: PHANTOMS is complete, with all 26 episodes in the can. I've also updated all my various reference documents to include everything from Season Four (not to mention Seasons 1-3, our various comic books, the AudioPlay and the video game). And since statistics kinda fascinate me - and since maybe they might fascinate you as well - here are a few.

The Young Justice Timeline is currently 718 pages long. In the past, I've reported that the length of the timeline mysteriously differed between my laptop and my desktop computers, but during the pandemic, my (relatively) ancient desktop finally bit the dust. So now the laptop page count triumphs.

There are 759 characters confirmed - one way or another - to be in the Earth-16 Universe. Some have only been mentioned or referenced briefly. Others, obviously, have had entire arcs dedicated to them. Calling some of them "characters" might also be a bit of a stretch, but I have reasons for including every single one. And - anal individual that I am - I have actually ranked them all in order of their importance to the series. This is something I once did as a hobby for the Buffyverse (which you can find in the ASK GREG archives under the heading of "Buffyverse Geek-Out"), and I've been perfecting my ranking system ever since. The idea is to attempt to make an incredibly subjective thing as objective as possible, based on things like screen time and amount of dialogue and the amount of times other characters reference them, etc. It's still not perfect because I do wind up with point scores, and especially with the lower ranking characters, I wind up with a number of ties. Thus, in order to break any tie, I'm forced to apply more subjective criteria.I was thinking about listing them a few per week, starting with 759 and working my way backwards toward number one. But some of the names haven't been intro'd yet. So it occurs to me that I need to wait until the Phantoms' season finishes airing.

Across four seasons (98 episodes) an AudioPlay and a video game, we've used 128 actors, a phenomenally talented group if ever there was one. Some have only voiced one character. Others have voiced over a dozen. I'm honored to be included among them - even if hiring myself is a rather dubious way to earn this distinction.

There's probably more, but this will do for now.

Just a little peek into my weird brain. Hope you enjoyed it. And I hope you enjoy the show.


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M. writes...

I dare say that Jade and Will's relationship is one of the best in the entire show. You, Brandon and the writers have managed to develop something that feels so true and pure without showing much on screen. But If ever you had the chance, would you write a story about their relationship?

Greg responds...

I feel like we have. But if you're asking if we'd be interested in exploring it further, the answer is clearly yes.

Response recorded on November 19, 2021

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Verdragon writes...

Does Black Canary have formal training in psychology?

Greg responds...

Yes. (Or, at least, the Earth-16 version does.)

Response recorded on November 19, 2021

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Will writes...

1. Is Dreamer the New God a more powerful psychic that can get information that normal telepaths can't at least without harming them like she did in her first appearance?
2. What were the Light’s traditions that Ultra Humanite was referring too?
3. Why didn’t the Light dispose of Speedy when they were okay with it for the other sidekicks when they were captured in Cadmus?
4. What was the official reason/cover story that Lex Luthor had held Speedy captive for so long?
5. Could martians have children with humans or atlanteans or
even other aliens?

Greg responds...

1. "More powerful" than whom? I'm not too big on power comparisons. Her powers are different but overlap with other psychics we have in the series.

2. I think he states it fairly clearly in the episode.

3. They thought he might be useful, and by that time there was no fear that his existence would out their clone.

4. I don't understand this question. Cover story for whom?

5. It's a good question... that I'm not going to answer, as any answer could constitute a potential spoiler.

Response recorded on November 08, 2021

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Verdragon writes...

What is your favorite episode of each (complete) season of Young Justice so far? Which ones do you think are objectively the best of each season?

Greg responds...

I don't have conclusive or definitive feelings about them in the way you seem to be implying.

I am very fond of Independence Day, Misplaced, Summit, Endgame, Evolution and Overwhelmed. But I honestly love every episode (like a proud papa).

Response recorded on November 05, 2021

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Emory writes...

a) What is Ollie’s relationship with Roy and Will like right now?

b) Did Roy join school after he left the team?

c) Is Roy Native American in YJ as well?

Greg responds...

a. Pretty solid.

b. You're the second person today to ask me that. I haven't thought about it, strangely.

c. He might have some Native American ancestry, but generally, he's a white guy.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Elliot writes...

Hello Greg! After just watching the first two episodes of YJ Phantoms on HBO Max, I just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it! I'm so excited to see where the Mars storyline takes us, and meeting M'gann's family has been quite the surreal experience. M'gann's attitude and confidence was a sight to behold whenever she (unfortunately) had to deal with the Green Martians' prejudice and outright assault. I love to see it! Anyways, here are some questions:

01 | Did Roy go back to school after being rescued from the Light? It's assumed that Will was the one that finished his education in Roy's place, so was Roy homeschooled after the fact or did he go back to attending public/private school? Was he not schooled at all? Or was Roy (pre-frozen) homeschooled from the get-go and, as such, so was Will?
02 | In the tie-in comics, it's apparent that Dick and Bette hooked up on the eve of his birthday. Given the retcon (if that's the appropriate word) of the Wayne/Kane family relations in the comics, as well as on the show (with the addition of Batwoman and your confirmation that Bette and Martha Wayne are related), would it be safe to say that neither Dick nor Bette knew that they were distant cousins to some degree?
03 | While I assume it was for budgetary reasons, was there a specific reason you guys chose to use Talia's whitewashed design with the same overtly sensualized/sexualized outfit from the recent DC Animated Movies instead of the more appropriately Arabic and regal design Christopher Jones gave her in the tie-in comics?
04 | A lot of stuff has changed very recently in the comics regarding character sexuality, what with Tim Drake and Jon Kent both being confirmed bisexual (though, as of this writing, I don't think Tim's put a label on it one way or another). Whether or not you were privy to such a development isn't what I'm asking about, per say, but you've stated in earlier posts that you'd never take away an LGBTQ+ character's sexuality away (the question was in reference to Renee Montoya's sexuality in the show), so even though I highly doubt it would effect S4 at all, would the change be taken into consideration in later seasons? I'm not asking about Tim and/or Jon specifically, by the way, just the notion itself. Would a previously perceived straight character getting recently confirmed/retconned as another sexuality impact your interpretation of that character? Just for example, Alan Scott has been gay in the comics for quite a few years now, same with Wonder Woman and her bisexuality. Given that you make histories and timelines regarding most of the characters on your shows, I assume you've done the same with these two back in S1 when they were first introduced, but back when in the comics they were straight. Has the retcon changed things for you guys, or is it largely a non-issue?
05 | Not really a question, just more love for Phantoms! The poster alone was phenomenal, and I'm so stoked for what's to come, especially given the trailer, the first two episodes, and the new opening! I'm so glad Raquel is (seemingly) taking a bigger spotlight this season, hopefully we can finally find out who she married!

Greg responds...

1. I honestly haven't thought about these issues.

2. Dick's not blood-related to Bette, either way.

3. She's still Arabic in my mind. Phil chose which design to use, but I don't believe we colored her white.

4. As a rule, I wouldn't change an LGBTQ+ character into a heteronormative character. But being with a partner of one sex doesn't preclude someone being bi, obviously. And even, say, with a character like Alan Scott, given the environment and era he grew up in, he could be gay - not bi - and still have been with women in his past. I have contemporaries much younger than Alan who didn't self-acknowledge their sexuality until long after they were adults in adult relationships with members of the opposite sex.

5. I LOVE those posters! All props to Brandon, Chris and Jason for their work on them.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Michael Morningstar writes...

Hey Greg!

Today, I just saw the first two episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms on HBO Max and I have to say, I am completely blown away by the animation quality of this season! Studio Mir really nailed it with this season and the animation is on par with the first two seasons (not to say the animation companies who did Outsiders was bad but still could've been better) and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and pray that Warner Bros. Animation or HBO Max renews the show for a fifth season.

Now, when I was rewatching the show a few weeks ago in preparations for its fourth season's debut this year, something interesting popped up in my mind while I was watching the first three seasons:

1. In the first episode of Season 2, John Stewart/Green Lantern explained to the Justice League and The Team that Kroloteans's culture revolves around stolen alien tech. If this species is so involved in stealing technology from other alien races, how were they even able to travel outside their home planet in the first place? Were they originally an intelligent race like the Rannians and the Kryptonians that successfully managed to travel outside their homeworld and establish first contact but eventually became jealous of other alien species advanced technology so much so that eventually caused them to cease all homemade Krolotean tech and resorted to stealing alien technology for themselves?

2. A decade ago when the first season of Young Justice was going strong on Cartoon Network, you responded to a question stating that New Gods are ageless beings. What does this mean exactly? Are they immune to the effects of aging and disease and can potentially live forever? The reason I'm asking is because Dreamer stated to Superboy that fellow New God Serifan grew up watching Earth Western movies on New Genesis. Does this mean that New Gods like Serifan are born similar to Humans and age like them but at some point in their lives, they hit a certain milestone and effectively stopped aging like regular Humans and become Ageless beings?

3. Regarding Lords of Order and Chaos. In Season 3's episode Evolution, it showed that Nabu/Doctor Fate was originally a human but after he died, he somehow ascended to become a Lord of Order. How is it possible that Nabu became a Lord of Order in the first place? Are certain humans capable of becoming a Lord of Order after death? Can this also apply to Lords of Chaos like Klarion? Was Klarion originally born a human like Nabu but became a Lord of Chaos after his death?

4. You mention that everything that has happened in real life has also happened in Young Justice like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 Financial Crisis, and the COVID-19 Pandemic. I guess this means that certain Islamic terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, and Hezbollah also exist in Young Justice? How do these groups react to groups like the Justice League and certain events on Earth like the Reach Invasion and Meta-Human Trafficking? Do they believe these events shook their faith in their religion and their supporters in the Middle East? Or do they use them to their advantage to bolster their plans against the West and the rest of the world?

5. How does a Lord of Chaos like Klarion view the state of Earth it is in? I can imagine that he must be thrilled with events like the Syrian Civil War and the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in 2021 since they bring Chaos to the world. Has he secretly pulled strings behind the scenes to bring Chaos to Earth or does he let events transpire on its own without getting involved?

Greg responds...

1. I can think of a couple of possible scenarios, but I'm not going to tell a story here at ASK GREG. As always, NO SPOILERS.

2. Did I really say "Ageless beings"? Well, that doesn't make much sense to me now, assuming it ever did. Some New Gods are clearly older than others. Relative to Earthlings, they may SEEM ageless, though.

3. No spoilers.

4. I'll leave that to your interpretation. As for Covid, our show was too far into production to be able to incorporate Covid into our storytelling. So maybe on Earth-16, the pandemic hit a year later. Maybe.

5. Again, I'm not telling stories here. I'll leave that to your interpretation.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Did Phil Bourassa work on Young Justice: Phantoms?

Greg responds...

No, though of course many of his designs are still being used in the series, and what new designs that were created for S4 by Model Supervisor Dou Hong and Character Designers Jerome K. Moore and Austin Reinkins were designed based on the template and design style Phil set for the series. Also, Dou worked with Phil on Season Three, and Jerome worked with him on Seasons One and Two.

Response recorded on October 25, 2021

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Andrew writes...

Hey Greg, got two questions for you

1. How did you meet Brandon Vietti?

2. I ask because I'm a big of the DCAU, how did Rich Fogel get involved with the series?

Greg responds...

1. Brandon and I met a couple times when I was at Sony and when I was freelancing for WB. But, honestly, we really didn't meet for real until Sam Register teamed us up to develop a new series for WB Animation. (That series was a Green Lantern series that was never made, followed by a Space Ghost series that was never made, before we finally were assigned to Young Justice.)

2. Rich and I go way back to my Disney days. He and Mark Seidenberg were partnered up, editing Gummi Bears. We've kept in touch, on and off, over the years. And more recently, we were both staff writers on Shimmer & Shine. I truly loved the Shimmer & Shine writing staff (Stephanie Simpson, Dustin Ferrer, Kevin Hopps, Cisco Paredes, Andrew Blanchette and Rich), so when YJ started up again I tried to get everyone to write an episode for Season Three and/or Four. Stephanie and Dustin haven't had the time, but the rest have all pitched in for an episode or two. (Of course, Kevin was already a YJ writer.)

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Andrew writes...

Hello Greg, In YJ, what is the thought process behind each season's time jump, how do you and the creative team decide the length of each jump and how do you believe they add to the characters and the overall narrative?

Greg responds...

Again, this has been covered in the ASK GREG ARCHIVES multiple times. But generally, we think it allows us to show the growth and maturation of our young characters.

The length of the time jump is generally determined by both what we want to hide (and later reveal) about our characters and when in the timeline does the story fall that we want/need to tell.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Sebastian writes...

English is not my mother tongue, so I wanted to ask you 2 questions
1. in Earth 16 Superboy is the best friend of the third robin Tim Drake and Kid Flash / Bart Allen as is the case of the new Earth and Young Justice Rebirth?
2. the fourth season in which month of 2020 will it leave?

Greg responds...

1. I think for Earth-16, what you see on screen is what you get. Conner is friendly enough with Tim and Bart, but they were in a younger class, and he's closer to/with the folks he came up with.

2. I think you asked this already, so I'm not sure why you're asking it again. I know English is not your first language, but I'm not sure what you mean by "leave". I can't tell if you're asking me an in-universe question about when the show is set, the answer to which would be NO SPOILERS - or a question about when the series will drop in 2020, the answer to which is obviously that it didn't and was never, ever going to be ready in time for 2020. Granted, you wrote this in 2019, so if you would want me to update the question for 2021, the answer is that the show will drop when HBO MAX decides it wants it to drop. And they haven't announced that yet.

Response recorded on August 13, 2021

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FusionSamurai writes...

So, firstly. Thanks for responding to all our comments, it probably gets a little bit annoying sometimes, but its really cool that you interact with your fans, and I hope you keep doing it! ^_^

So for my questions-
1. You've said you dislike how time travel works in DC. It does seem really confusing. I've flipped through all mentions in previous comments and have come up with a question regarding Bart.

So, you've said "Earth-16 had a history that Impulse thwarted. You can view his original history as Earth-16a, I suppose. Or you could just mark it up as GONE."

So, if such is the case, would Impulse be at risk of fading away? Does only the future itself fade, and Bart avoids it by not being there? Time travel is really complicated to write, so I just wanted clarity on that.

2. The team started with the original 6, being Superboy, Ms.Martian, Kid Flash, Robin, Artemis, Aqualad. Now there are somewhere around 19 members that are on the team or are associated with the team. Do you ever feel like it is hard to balance so many characters?

3.Does giving an individual character like Bart or Cassie development get harder as more characters are added?

Thanks for your time/responses, it means a ton to me. \(^_^)/

Greg responds...

0. I'm still doing it. It just took me a while to get back to it.

1. I kinda have addressed this in the past, but for now I'm going to say NO SPOILERS.

2. I do. Many fans seem to think it's even more difficult for us than we think it is.

3. Of course. But I'm basically okay with that. When the story dictates that one character or another is the lead, that's great - we'll move them into the spotlight. But until then, our leads remain Dick, Kaldur, Conner, M'gann and Artemis, with whichever two to four additional characters that the season dictates gets the spotlight.

Response recorded on August 13, 2021

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Aprotny writes...

I saw a message on the archives in regards to cloning and sexuality. As an identical twin, I know me and my sister do not have the same sexuality despite having the same DNA. I know there's also nature vs. nurture. Would you consider cloning to be similar to the shared DNA of twins in the YJ universe? If so, would it be possible for one of the Roys (like Jim or original Roy) to have an attraction to a guy or, say, a genomorph without a gender, in contrast to Will's clear attraction to women. I am not asking if that is the case, but rather if it is possible.

On another note, I am an avid Young Justice fan who loves your show and is looking forward to Season Four. I hope Starfire or Raven or Supergirl or other characters that are popular but have yet to show will show up!

One last question, do you ever look at the YJ fanfiction archives? Either out of curiosity or for inspiration? Just curious if you or Brandon ever peek at those!

Thanks and love your show!

Greg responds...

1. I honestly don't know enough about the science to be sure. But I suppose I could do more research. So the short answer is: "It's possible?"

2. We don't take requests. We can't take suggestions.

3. Never. It's legally dangerous for me to read fanfiction covering anything I work on professionally. The same is true for Brandon.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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CORRECTIONS

Fans pointed out some errors that I will correct here:

By the end of Team Year Zero:

Henry Fyff is 14.

Tatsu Yamashiro is 21.


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Kyle writes...

Hello Greg,

While I adored both the first and second seasons of Young Justice, and I have gone on to enjoy many parts of the third, I have to say that as of right now, I am very disappointed with what I've seen so far of Outsiders. Please know that I mean absolutely no disrespect to you, Brandon, the writers, the crew, or the actual show, but I feel this needs to be said.

I have watched all thirteen available episodes (by the time you get to this ask, I'm more than sure the second half of the season will have already aired in its entirety and you'll be well on your way into making the fourth season *fingers crossed!*) and the show has yet to come through in the ways I -- and many, many others -- had hoped it would prior to the season's airing. By the time you read this, I hope my complaints will have already been resolved and you can tell me I should have been patient and waited for the whole thing to air, in which I would agree. Fair enough.

But as of right now my complaints are still very valid and I would very much appreciate you addressing them, if possible. (Honestly, chances are you have already addressed these issues by the time you read this, if not in the actual show then on your Twitter page or in an interview. If so, I am sorry for wasting your time with a subject you've already gone on to spend a great deal of time on, but if not, here we go.

The pure lack of LGBT+ representation is, frankly, appalling.

I mean no disrespect, but it is 2019 for crying out loud. Men can marry men and women can marry women; boys can dance with boys and girls can dance with girls at their high school proms; those of us that are non-binary can express such freely and openly, when with the right crowd.

You have gone on record saying that LGBT+ people exist on Earth-16; you've gone on record saying that there have even been LGBT+ members of the Team and yet, still, after thirteen full episodes AND a twenty-page comic story where you COULD HAVE represented LGBT+ people, you've failed to showcase even ONE character and/or relationship of the sort. All of the while finding the time in these very crowded episodes and comic for not one, not two, but THREE new straight couples.

There's Garfield Logan and Queen Perdita. Then there's Helga Jace and Jefferson Pierce. And then finally Prince Brion Markov and Violet Harper.

And that's not even counting the suggestion of a relationship between Will and Artemis. Or the hinting that Bear and Dreamer have become exclusive, which would pretty much go against everything the New Gods (Bear himself, specifically, if memory serves) had preached to Conner about them finding satisfaction when they all come together as one back in the first season, which I thought was a pretty interesting way to sneak in the idea of them all being in one big polyamorous relationship. Which would have been SO COOL and SO PROGRESSIVE for a show back then to do.

The one -- ONE -- actual confirmed LGBT+ character you've ever had on the show in its entirety, not just Season Three, was then killed BECAUSE of said-sexuality. The sexuality-in-question, might I add, that we don't even get to know for certain, as when you were asked if she was a lesbian or just bisexual, you simply commented "Yes," as if there wasn't a distinguishable difference between the two in the long run, which just simply isn't the case.

And that's not even really a confirmation since it's plainly just Word-of-God in the grand scheme of things, rather than canon content that was stated out-loud or depicted, either on-screen or on-panel, in the comic. (I know that you weren't allowed to acknowledge it out-loud or in writing back then, so I'm not arguing on that. But you deciding to make her the ONLY LGBT+ character we ever got to see and then having her said-only character killed later in the same comic issue? Not only is it near-downright insulting, but it also fails to come across as anything other than a cheap and thoughtless try at representation.

(And with you and Brandon both going on about how you wanted to include an accurate representation of the world with a diverse cast, the pure lack of LGBT+ representation justs adds insult to injury.)

You've had significant time with Kaldur, who you hinted may not be entirely straight. And, yes, during most of that time with him you couldn't have genuinely acknowledged it either way in-show or out, but with Season Three, there is simply no such excuse. You've got the Brain and Monsieur Mallah, who, I'll admit, wouldn't exactly be my first choices for representation under any circumstances, but they still qualify. You've got Wonder Woman, who, albeit, wasn't confirmed bisexual until after YJ had finished its first two seasons.

But since the start of S3, the show has introduced us to Batwoman, a very prominent lesbian character on-par with Batman and the rest of the Bat-family; the show has given us a cameo of Renee Montoya; and, most recently, the show has given us the gay, married couple of Casey Klebba and Dale Gunn. Both of whom were in the same scene together with speaking lines and still -- STILL -- not even an ounce of content.

You've even introduced Harper Row, who I can't help but guess was only added to the character roster simply for the Harper-confusion joke. I'm hoping she will lead to actual, on-screen LGBT+ content in the next half of the season since that was one of her and her brother's most defining stories from the comics, but I'm no longer getting my hopes up.

And while I know you made no promises of actually having LGBT+ content in the third season, which I won't fault you for nor should anyone else, you KNEW you had a very large, very apparent LGBT+ fanbase. If you knew people were hopeful, don't string them along. If you honestly didn't have any LGBT+ content in store for us, just say so -- lest you be accused of queerbaiting down the line, and while it wouldn't be the case in technical terms in your case, it can still turn many, many fans against you.

Young Justice has and, up until I'm proven wrong, will always be a heteronormative show. The first season's finale got that message across loud and clear, with the second season's finale hammered it in, after you plopped in the surprise, secret romances of not one, but TWO more straight couples in the already-vast sea of straight couples. First, there was Virgil's surprise that Tye and Asami had gotten together, even though we got absolutely zero screentime showing anything of the sort, and was only included because, to you and Brandon, it "Felt right."

Then there's Tim and Cassie, who spent all five seconds of screentime together prior, with them only exchanging a conversation once. (Who then promptly leave each other's sides and enter a fight we're apparently meant to care about less than ten on-screen minutes later, in S3.)

And, now, Young Justice: Outsiders is pulling the same tricks but in a far worse fashion. The twelfth episode alone -- an episode all about Garfield going through nothing but hell, living through every trauma he's ever faced and then some, including the death of his LGBT+ mother, mind you -- ends with him kissing his girlfriend SECONDS AFTER recovering from nearly ending up catatonic. Because of hormones, or something.

Never mind the fact that he'd just rewatched many of his friends' deaths all over again, relived BOTH of his mothers' deaths, AND just realized that his boss -- someone who helped found a META-HUMAN YOUTH CENTER -- was using the Goode Goggles to abduct potential meta-teens and was continuously doing so, all over the country.

But, hey, let me make out with my girlfriend real quick first, right next to my sister and her fiance of the opposite sex, who then promptly make out as well, and just NOT rush to tell the proper authorities, the Justice League, the Team, or the Outsiders about ANY of this until after we're done showing just how straight we are to the audience.

I know this may come off as rude, critical, and/or entitled, but it is truly not what I wish for you to take away from this. Again, I mean no disrespect and do love -- LOVE -- many aspects of the third season, but some of the more recently established relationships and the actions that result from those relationships are the weakest links of an otherwise fantastic show.

I know I may be way off the mark/way too impatient and you actually ARE setting up stories with LGBT+ characters and relationships for the second half of S3, big or small.

If that's the case, I am truly sorry for wasting your time.

But I feel this needed to be said, and while I believe you already know this, I'll say it anyway for the other readers on this site: hinting that a character is LGBT+ off-screen (i.e. in a Tweet or an interview or something) does not adequately represent LGBT+ people at all. Either say it out loud and on-screen/on-panel or just, you know, show it on-screen/on-panel -- otherwise, what do you actually accomplish besides later being able to cry wolf and say that you had LGBT+ characters on-screen and therefore cannot be accused of NOT having them?

Once again, I'm sorry if this came across as critical and/or insulting to you, Brandon, your team of amazing writers/animators/voices, etc., but I promise you all that was not my intent in the slightest, and I hope when you get the time to respond to this (assuming it makes it to you, which I hope it does) it will be to say that I just jumped the shark, so to speak, a little too soon and that LGBT+ characters are all over the second half of S3, confirmed on-screen. It would be amazing, if so.

If not, though, then I would greatly, greatly appreciate an honest answer of why you and Brandon still haven't shown LGBT+ characters/relationships on-screen or on-panel, despite having no restrictions preventing you.

Sincerely,

Kyle

Greg responds...

Hey Kyle,

You were very polite. I have no problem with what you wrote. As you noted, I'm hoping that by now you've seen that we have - where we were allowed - objectively shown LGBTQ+ characters since the time you posted this. Hopefully, you were pleased with what we depicted. And, in any case, there's more to come in Season Four.

Still, I would like to respond to some of your points, as some of the people reading this may not know all we've dealt with on this subject.

1. I just want to point out that in the first two seasons, the video game and the companion comics that we've done up to this point, we were not allowed to objectively depict any LGBTQ+ characters or relationships. So we did the next best thing, which was to write and depict them with consistency for the day when we could.

2. Even in Season Three, TPTB wouldn't let us objectively reveal that one specific character, whom we had (in our minds) set up as gay, was gay - though they did let us depict others LGBTQ+ characters objectively. So we took the S1&2 approach to this one character.

3. As you hopefully have seen by now, we did have plans for LGBTQ+ characters in Season Three, and it's a justifiable complaint, I think, to ask why none of that was depicted in the first thirteen. But we wanted to introduce this stuff organically, and it just worked out for it to be back thirteen stuff. Not trying to defend that, per se. But that's how our stories broke down.

4. Killing off Garfield's mother is consistent with him being an orphan in the comics. I guess we could have kept her heterosexual as she was in the comics, since we knew she was going to die. But we didn't want to do that. It seemed to fit her character, and we didn't want to have one less LGBTQ+ character only because she was going to die.

5. I won't apologize for depicting heterosexual/heteronormative relationships simply because we've had restrictions on LGBTQ+ depictions. Chris Jones and I did equalize the scenes between Queen Bee & Marie Logan and Queen Bee & Ali in an issue of the comic. When TPTB wouldn't allow us to show Bee & Marie kiss, Chris and I wouldn't let Bee & Ali kiss either, as they were exact parallel scenes. But generally, we want to be able to be as honest as possible with relationships. So we're not going to create artificial restrictions when we don't have to.

6. Specifically, Garfield had a cathartic experience in "Nightmare Monkeys," and was grateful that his worried girlfriend had stuck by his side. The idea of them kissing at that moment wasn't us shoving heteronormative behavior in the face of LGBTQ+ viewers, it was us depicting what we believed was the honest and real response to all that had happened to both characters.

7. Bear and Dreamer being a couple is right out of the comics. In fact, in the comics they got married and had a kid. Now, of course, we could have changed that, but it seemed to fit what we were doing, so we didn't.

I'm not going to pretend that we've done justice (no pun intended) to these concerns, even including what we did in Season Three. But we believe the back thirteen episodes took a positive step forward, and we believe Season Four will take us multiple steps forward after that.

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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Lea1997 writes...

Can you please give a full description of Superman and Superboy's relationship with the Kent family in Young Justice.

Greg responds...

I could. But I won't. I'd rather show than tell.

Response recorded on July 23, 2021

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Chris B writes...

Hey Greg, loved the first three episodes of season 3. My only question is was a different animation studio used this season? It looks a little different than some episodes in seasons 1 and 2.

Greg responds...

Our two studios for Season One and Two were MOI Animation and Lotto Animation.

We used three studios in Season Three: DR Movie, Digital eMation and Studio Mir.

Our only studio for Season Four is Studio Mir.

Response recorded on July 23, 2021

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QueerGuy writes...

Big fan of your work. Not really a question, but I felt the need to clarify after seeing your response to another question regarding queer-baiting.

In your response, you (respectfully) provide some push-back against the concept, while expressing a willingness to learn more. I had a few quick responses to your comments I wanted to share.

You talk about some of the examples given in the Wikipedia entry for queer-baiting to be unfair, citing Sherlock Holmes and John Watson as an example. To be clear, in both the Wikipedia article and in popular usage of this example, people refer to Holmes and Watson as they are depicted in the BBC series, "Sherlock", and not (necessarily) in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories or other adaptations.

Queer-baiting refers to creators of media actively misleading a fan-base with hints or indications of "queerness" without any intent of follow-through. NOT -- as you indicated in your prior comment -- a fan-base misinterpreting close same-sex friendships and sexual. "Sherlock" (the BBC series) is a famous example of queer-baiting, as the series very often hints at homoerotic attraction between the two leads in the series' writing, the performances of the lead actors, and in the ways that other characters in series refer to their relationship. I won't go into specific details and examples from the series, but if you are interested in examples there are scores of them documented and easily locateable on the internet.

The key aspect of queer-baiting is the attempt to take advantage of queer fans by providing the bare minimum of queer(ish) interactions, without ever following through for fear of alienating a non-queer audience. This is very different from both presenting close same-sex friendships without any romantic or sexual relationship developing between the two characters, and the presentation of queer characters without the ability to actively show examples of their queerness due to external factors, such as network interference (such as Lexington in "Gargoyles" or Korra in "The Legend of Korra"). These are non-malicious and do not seek to mislead a queer audience.

To be clear, I don't think you have been guilty of queer-baiting in any of your work. I simply wanted to clarify the concept a bit more so that you can hopefully understand where the concern of the initial comment came from. Looking forward to "Young Justice" season three!

Greg responds...

I get the concern. I do.

And my response probably shows my (relative) queer blindness. I've seen every episode of "Sherlock," and never noticed any significant difference between how John and Sherlock are depicted here than in other versions.

I don't want to be defensive; I want to be open. But as you indicated, I've never intentionally queer-baited. Lex was gay to the extent allowed at the time (which was not at all). Some fans read a homo-erotic charge into the Dick/Wally relationship and the Bart/Jaime relationship, but that was never our intention - and I sincerely don't think we were trying to fool anyone. (Though one of those four characters is gay, in our minds, at least. But not in the minds of TPTB, even though TPTB did allow us to be objective about other characters on the show, starting with Season Three.)

Response recorded on July 12, 2021

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Coolest Aunt Ever? writes...

Hello Greg,

I wanted to thank you for defending the very real LGBT+ fans of pop culture & comics. My niece is one of those; I’ve always known she was on the spectrum and recently she came out. She loves action cartoons with prominent female characters (a rarity still do this day) and she loves watching those with me. Now she is too young for twitter but you better believe that I’m there searching high and low for children’s media where she can finally see herself represented. I really hope your show can provide that for her and viewers dying to see themselves in their heroes in more than just lip-service. My searches in twitter only ever brought promised LGBT+ representation leading to the usual bare-boned minimum. I wouldn’t mind so much, after all those shows are not about romantic development and characters don’t need relationships to be interesting or have enriched stories. Then I see the disproportion; it’s not fair when almost all the non-LGBT+ characters in said shows get to have tender moments, explicit development and definitive romantic intimacy. It’s harsh to tell a whole group of people that their feelings are problematic to explore yet it’s perfectly “natural” for another group. I’m not sure about DC’s protocol but I doubt you would settle for them telling you that the only way you can have a POC character is if you make sure their costume covers any indication of skin-tone and/or facial features and that their superhero name in no way draws attention to their ethnic background… also never remove the costume or use their real name. So please tell me that you will give your LGBT+ audience the same importance in the fight for diverse visibility in your non-adult media; please allow my niece to see herself reflected with the same fleshed-out, emotional connections that straight kids have the privilege of experiencing everywhere.

P.S. I’m not asking for spoilers, just no false promises to young viewers. Thanks again for defending your fans and their humanity!

Greg responds...

I'm not making false promises. We're just doing what we can, as we can. And we have a long-term goal to steadily increase LGBTQA+ representation on YJ, and we're working toward that. TPTB have been much more cooperative for Seasons Three and Four (though still not 100% cooperative) than they were for the first two seasons.

Believe me, I have very personal stakes in this fight. This MATTERS to me.

Response recorded on July 12, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

Hi Greg. I'm going to ask for a spoiler only because it is a spoiler you have already given us.

Years ago, you said that a villain from the YJ:Legacy would play a role in season 3 - if it ever happened. Is that still the case? (I'm guessing you were referring to Tiamat as she is the only villain specific to Legacy.)

Also, is the general plan you had for season 3 the same as it was when you completed season 2? I guess you'll be able to talk more freely about this after Outsiders has aired.

Greg responds...

1. There were a number of villains that Legacy and Outsiders had in common. I no longer remember who specifically I might have been referring to.

2. The general plan for the entire series (including S3) hasn't changed.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

I always imagined Wally and Jade liking each other for some reason, and then it hit me: Jade is like a darker, nastier, sultrier version of Artemis. So, my questions are:

1) Do Wally and Jade like each other?

2) Was it your intention to have the two sisters mirror each others personalities to some extent? Or, am I imposing my own interpretation after the fact?

Greg responds...

1. They don't have much of a relationship, honestly, i.e. haven't spent a ton of time together. But I think they had good days and bad.

2. Both.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Dylan writes...

Hi there Greg in regards to Young Justice, since the cancellation in 2013 and the revival now, have major ideas changed since then? Anything that would be considered a spoiler that you've decided against/change it?

Greg responds...

Our basic gameplan never changed.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

There have been many superhero stories about killing vs. not killing. (My personal favorite is Geoff John's Black Reign in JSA.) On the one side are heroes like Batman who say that taking a life is never justified even if the result would be good. On the other side are heroes like Wonder Woman who say sometimes the consequences of not killing would be so catastrophically bad that taking a life is sometimes necessary. Taking this further, you have anti-heroes like classic Wolverine who feels that anybody who uses lethal force against him should expect the same in return.

You touched upon the question as to whether the ends justifies the means in M'Gann's character arc in Invasion. But CN and other traditional media are usually very very leery about even saying the words "die" or "kill" in a cartoon directed at a young audience. Certainly, you could not have done a story like Black Reign while YJ was on CN. I mean... you COULD have but it probably would have been dumb because you could not have addressed the issue of murder in an open and honest manner.

So, the question is...

Are the standards of the DC streaming service permissive enough for you to address this issue in season 3 or future seasons? Or, would this kind of subject matter still be prohibited?

I hope you don't think I'm fishing for spoilers because I'm not. I just want to find out what kind of themes and subject matter would be acceptable for your new venue.

Greg responds...

We don't seem to have the same kind of limitations on Seasons Three and Four that we had on Seasons One and Two.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Chronos Typhoon writes...

Hey Greg,
Which animation studio(s) will be providing the animation services for Young Justice S3? Will MOI and Lotto provide the services this time around again?

Greg responds...

I'm not sure MOI and Lotto exist in the same way that they did back during Seasons One and Two.

Animation for Season Three was largely split between eMation and DR Movie, with Studio Mir doing a couple episodes.

Season Four is being entirely animated by Studio Mir.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Jaden writes...

I know Paula kicked Sportsmaster out of the house, but are they divorced? If not, how come?

Greg responds...

I'd say by now they are.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Hayden writes...

Will the complete young justice timeline be revel if all future seasons of the young justice you Mister Greg plan for the show to have are produce ?

Greg responds...

Never. Cuz we'll never run out of ideas for future seasons, and the timeline is constantly growing. Right now it's 694 pages on my desktop computer and 609 pages on my laptop. (I have no explanation for the discrepancy. It's the exact same document. My desktop is much older than my laptop.)

Response recorded on June 29, 2021

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THE SMARTEST MAN IN THE ROOM

The following needs saying, so I'm taking time out from my very packed weekend - not to procrastinate, which would not be unusual - but to write up something that I think is important.

But first, some backstory...

I'm not particularly smart about very many things. I am in many ways a bear of very little brain. Ask anyone. I use an iPhone 4.0 because I literally believe that I don't have the brain space to deal with upgrading. I'm a slow reader. My dyslexia makes math difficult as I am constantly transposing numbers. I'm afraid of change. Etc., etc., etc.

But one thing - maybe the ONLY thing - I am smart about is STORY. Now, I've studied story for decades and decades in small ways and large. I also believe I have an innate gift for story. Like a great pianist, the gift itself would have been wasted without years of study and practice. I've had and done both.

What that means is that - when it comes to story - I have often (not always, but quite often) considered myself - with no modesty and tremendous arrogance - to be the smartest person in the room. In any room where this is a topic of conversation, but especially in any room where story was being professionally discussed. (You can see why - with an attitude like that - I'm so popular with animation executives and the like, and why I've been fired from so many jobs.)

Even on the many, many occasions when I have felt that I am among peers who understand story as well as I do, I never felt like they understood it better than I. As good, yes. Differently, sure. Stylistically, of course. But not better. I never felt anyone knew story better.

Oh, I've made mistakes, missed opportunities, slipped up, ad nauseam. I'm human and have never claimed perfection. I've collaborated with some brilliant and wonderful people. The list is nearly endless. But none of that ever shook my basic feeling that when it came to story, I was as smart or smarter than anyone in the room.

All that changed with YOUNG JUSTICE.

So let me state it for the record: when it comes to story, BRANDON VIETTI is the Smartest Human Being in the Room.

I'd love to tell you - BELIEVE ME, I'd love to tell you - that he learned all this at my ancient knee, and that if the student has surpassed the master, the master can at least take some satisfaction in that. But that, dear readers, would simply be a load of crap.

From Day One of YJ, as witness Kevin Hopps could attest, Brandon Vietti knew story, understood it deep, the way I do. And he was smarter about it than I.

The ultimate example of this dropped this past Friday.

Episode 307 of Young Justice: Outsiders, entitled "Evolution."

SPOILERS coming, so if you haven't seen the episode then please go watch it first before reading any further.

Like all YJ episodes this season, Brandon and I broke this story together. A pretty even 50-50 collaboration. There were certain things I wanted specifically to see, like the Cave Bear. Certain things I had researched such as that in (actual documented non-DC Comics) mythology, Nabu was the son of Marduk. And there were certain things that BV wanted in there, like the meta-human kid that Kalibak sacrifices. Certain things he had researched like The Art of War by Sun Tzu (a.k.a. Vandal Savage, a.k.a. Genghis Khan, a.k.a. Marduk, a.k.a. etc.)

And together, we created a pretty kick-ass story for the episode. I don't actually remember the day of the week, but for the sake of simplifying the story, let's say we finished breaking/building the story with index cards all neatly pushpinned into my office bulletin board on a Monday. Monday evening. We both felt pretty good about it, or at least I did, and we left for the day.

Tuesday morning, he comes in and says, "Something's missing."

I tell him he's crazy. There's nothing missing from 307. Nothing. It's a great damn episode. Maybe one of our best.

BV says no. Something's missing.

I say, "What? What's missing?!"

BV says, "I don't know yet. Something. Give me a day."

I roll my eyes in as pronounced a fashion as I possibly can and say, fine.

Wednesday morning he comes in and says, "I want to add a character."

I'm resistant. "It'll mess up the works, I tell him."

But he explains, and of course, he's right. Because Brandon Vietti is the Smartest Person in the Room.

The character he wants to add is Olympia. Olympia Savage. (I take credit for the first name only.) That's right. In our first version of this story, Olympia simply did not exist.

Try to picture "Evolution" without Olympia. Be honest. It's still a solid story. A few of the actual things Olympia does, we had Cassandra doing. But otherwise the plot remains almost completely unchanged.

But not the ending.

With Olympia in the story, the episode isn't merely a solid YJ episode. It's not merely a great YJ episode. To my mind, "Evolution" transcends YJ. It is a phenomenal, even revolutionary twenty-plus minutes of television.

And I tried to talk the guy out of it.

Of course, BV's contributions don't end there. He wrote the script, too, which is fantastic. And if you knew how much he contributed to every facet of production it would humble you. It humbles me, and as you can see above, I'm NOT a humble guy.

But screw all that. I'm not talking about pretty pictures, or color, or sound, or music or even dialogue.

This post is ONLY about STORY. And when it comes to STORY... BRANDON VIETTI will always be the SMARTEST HUMAN BEING IN THE ROOM.

I bow to his greatness. And trust me, I do not do that lightly.

To be honest, he's so good, it's pretty damn annoying.

But it's an honor to be his partner.


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