Greg responds...

1. I think you probably saw some slight variations on Mars this past season. B'arzz's skin-tone isn't exactly the same as J'onn's. But asking a red-green color deficient showrunner about subtleties between different shades of green isn't going to get you very far, I'm afraid.

2. We haven't played it that way at all. We haven't made any distinctions between shades of green or red or white or yellow. To be honest, the metaphor is fraught enough, as it is.

Greg responds...

That's a really good question. The out-of-universe answer, of course, is that we hadn't yet (a) introduced Zatanna to the Team and (b) figured out how important Kent was to Zatanna's childhood years.

In universe... hmmm. Maybe she was TOO grief-stricken to attend? (Not sure I buy that myself.)

I'll leave it to our wonderful fans to come up with a crazy legit explanation, I guess.

Greg responds...

Um... yeah.

Greg responds...

I have nothing to do with the choices made on Smallville, and am largely unaware of them. They hold no relevance.

In the Earth-16 continuity, male names are hyphenated. Female names are not. So Jor-El and Lara El. Dru-Zod and Ursa Zod. Unmarried females use their father's full last name as a surname, e.g. Faora Hu-Ul.

These choices - while obviously (and perhaps unfortunately) paternalistic - had the virtue of clarity and consistency for us, on the show, while lining up with tradition from previous comics continuity.

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.

Greg responds...

1. No.

1a. He works for Bowhunter Security.

2. I'm not sure what you mean by "big". But I think of it currently as small but growing.

Greg responds...

You wrote this question back in January before you could have seen how the whole plotline turned out, so I assume by now the answer is moot. But your question seems to assume he stopped taking drugs immediately after she discovered his pill-stash. That wasn't the case.

Greg responds...

1. In theory, I suppose, it's possible. But that's gotta be much harder. And a human with wings might not be able to fly. In a battle situation, trying something like that might not be smart.

2. It's not impossible, I suppose. But it doesn't come naturally to him.

Greg responds...

1. If I said it was an accident or coincidence would you believe me?

2. Here and there.

3. I do. Very much.

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...