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Spitfire writes...
I bought a DCU membership soley for YJ, but since there's a number of shows available on the platform I decided to start watching Batman Beyond too (i'm 3 episodes in, but so far so good)
(1) Do you have a favorite episode/moment that you liked from Batman Beyond?
(2) Thoughts on Terry McGinnis?
Greg responds...
1. I only ever watched the pilot. And that was when it first came out.
2. I'm just not that familiar with the character.
B writes...
In https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=22687, where Mo asked "I just rewatched spectacular spiderman and I feel there were a few bits inspired by the Rami trilogy, is that true?" and you said "Since I don't know what the Rami trilogy is, I'm gonna say no.", they must have been referring to the original trilogy of Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire and directed by Sam Raimi. The Raimi trilogy.
Greg responds...
Oh, I get it. In that case, the answer is definitely yes. Sorry I misunderstood.
Anonymous writes...
"Young Justice: Oustiders" Questions:
1. So the Outsiders on this show is essentially the DC equivalent of Marvel's Secret Avengers...?
2. Barbara is now Oracle; that means "The Killing Joke" happened, right? No point in denying it... Anyway, hope Barbara will be able to recover and walk again...
3. Why is the Roy Harper clone going by the name Will now...? Did you get this idea from Star Trek: The Next Generation; more specifically, William Riker and his duplicate Thomas Riker?
Greg responds...
1. I'm not familiar with Marvel's Secret Avengers.
2. Something happened.
3. Will is Roy's middle name. It's a logical choice for him to give Roy full possession of the "Roy" name. I've seen those Thomas Riker episodes of the Trek franchise, but I don't think we really borrowed it from there. Just the same logic.
Jason R. Carter writes...
1) Thoughts on Jurnee Smollet-Bell playing Black Canary in the Birds of Prey movie?
2) Who would you have cast as a live-action BC?
Greg responds...
1. Haven't seen it. But based on Lovecraft Country, I'm a fan of hers, so it seems like a good potential fit.
2. I've largely stopped playing that game. I've come to think it winds up being potentially insulting to the actors involved, both those I might propose and those who wind up with the roles.
Karney writes...
Hey, Greg.
I just wanted to know what kind of stuff you read as a kid that got you interested in the whole mythological genre. Are there any good books you recommend, and are there any you read as a kid that you just couldn't put down?
Greg responds...
D'aulaire's Norse Gods and Giants and D'aulaire's Greek Myths started me on the path to loving mythology. Mary Renault's The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea were also influential, as was Mary Stewart's tetralogy about Merlin, King Arthur and Mordred. Also Roger Lancelyn Green's King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. There were many others, too. But those got me started.
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.)
Stinkbutt writes...
Are you a fan of digimon if so I have a question for you if a human falls in love with a digimon and the two get married do you think they will adopt a child
Greg responds...
Never seen the show.
Anon writes...
Is there a character in comics that is your personal favorite that you'd like to bring to life in an animated show given the chance?
Greg responds...
You mean beyond the ones I've already done?
Alex Costa writes...
Hi Greg, I read somewhere you're a big X-Men fan. Now that I think about it, I do see some surface similarities between Brooklyn and Scott Summers. Would you say there was some inspiration there or no?
Greg responds...
No. I don't see them as having much in common.
Cyclops is/was originally built in the Gary Cooper mode: solid, laconic tall, thin, heroic, unfancy.
Brooklyn is way more Errol Flynn.
Marvelman writes...
How do you like the plays of Checkhov? In particular, did you enjoy the 1962 black and white version of The Cherry Orchard with Judi Dench as Anya and John Gielgud as Leonid?
Greg responds...
1. I've seen some great productions and some nothing productions.
2. Haven't seen it.
Marvelman writes...
Do you remember Superman: TAS?
There was an episode in which Darkseid creates a nuclear fireball and shoots it towards the center of the world to turn Earth into a second apocalypse. Superman stops the fireball by drilling up and down through the ocean floor around the fireball to allow the salt water to quench the fireball. It was an impressive shot with Superman flying up out of the water and then diving back down again, using his own body as a drill - a real money shot.
Two questions. Do you remember the scene I am referring to? And, is YJ Superman powerful enough to perform the same feat?
Greg responds...
1. I didn't see much of STAS after the pilot. That's not commentary; I simply never had the time. So, no, I don't remember that scene as I'm pretty confident I never saw it.
2. So, since I've never seen it, it's hard for me to evaluate. But from the way you describe it, I'd guess the answer is no. But it's just a guess.
roni writes...
hey greg! gotta ask:
1. How have you been? :)
2. So, what's your opinion on Voltron: Legendary Defender, the one currently airing on Netflix made by Dreamworks? Have you watched it, or worked with anyone who has also worked on it?
3. I wish you knew how excited I am for YJS3, because can't explain in words. :')))
hope you have a good day!
Greg responds...
1. Really good, actually. Got through the pandemic largely unscathed personally. My family stayed healthy, and we all stayed employed. I can't complain. (I mean, I DO complain all the time, but really I shouldn't.) Young Justice: Phantoms is going great guns through Post-Production. So all is well.
2. Haven't seen it, so I have no opinion, but I know a bunch of people who worked on it, and they're all great, so I imagine the show must be great, too.
3. Hope you liked it and are now equally excited for YJS4
You have a good day, too!
Bream writes...
How come Beast BOY did not figure out clack kent and superman were are the same person with the same face and voice ?
Greg responds...
How come Perry White didn't?
I'll refer you to the 1978 SUPERMAN motion picture, starring Christopher Reeve. Before that film, I always just had to suspend disbelief to buy that people didn't realize that Clark and Superman were the same person. But after seeing that movie, I no longer had any problem buying it.
Taha writes...
Would you be interested in working on the upcoming Carmen Sandiego series if you were approached? (And you weren't already busy with the new Young Justice season?)
Greg responds...
Potentially. But I honestly don't know anything about Carmen Sandiego, so it's not a natural fit. But I do consider myself a quick study.
Bob writes...
Hey Greg, just wondering your opinion on the last Jedi? The response is polarizing and me personally, I loved it aside from a few scenes where I'd edit out a line of dialogue out.
Greg responds...
God, it's been awhile now. I seem to recall there's a lot I liked about it. I had some problems with it, but most of my issues were really just extensions of my issues with the previous film's set up.
I liked Rose a lot.
Luthor writes...
I remember reading your mini run with The Amazing Spider-man.
Would you be open to doing a one off comic. I'd love to see you do something with Superman and Batman in the comics, like a fun one off. Like Max Landis does
Greg responds...
"mini run"? I wrote half of one issue. That's VERY mini.
I'd love to do more comics work for the big two. I haven't been invited.
FallenLegend writes...
Hey there it's me again. Sorry for asking so many things, but I admire your writing and love your shows.
I have two questions regarding your storytelling techniques.
First How do you manage to always see up us guessing? I know you're very protective on spoilers. But I mean, how do you plan these seeds of questions in our minds?
I have a lot of questions you won't answer because they are spoilers. But how do you manage to make us want to know in the first place.
Your questions are like Hydra. Whenever you answer a question we have as fans (like who are the members of the light) two more questions take their place.
Second
I've heard you mention that you would do series forever if you could. But how would you do that with licensed properties?
Specially after you said you do like characters growing.
Sure with Gargoyles you said you could keep the story after Goliath dies and sure you could make a lot of villains and plots. We already got Alexander Xanatos in the future for one.
But what about Spectacular Spiderman? by season 2 you had already introduced like 90% of his most famous villains. How could you've kept things fresh without creating original characters?
And with Young justice, not complaining about time skips, but eventually all of them will become adults right? Wouldn't you be running out of teenage superheros by time skipping?
I know you're skilled writer. But it seems like theres no way on making these lost longer and keep character growing without creating new characters that aren't part of the franchise.
I'm very curious. Thank you greg!
Greg responds...
1. Planning, I guess. (If I'm understanding your question correctly.) We block out our stories beat by beat over an entire season. Some of it's instinct, I suppose. A lot of it is experience. But our rule of thumb is if it intrigues us, it might just intrigue our audience.
2. The DC Universe has been going for over 80 years. The Spider-Man corner of the Marvel Universe has been going for almost 60. No one's run out of characters yet. And as I believe YJ proves, you can age your original leads and still constantly intro new young leads as you go. (We're not even vaguely close to running out of young heroes that are canon to DC.) If anything, I think our audience is sometimes annoyed that we don't focus enough on existing characters and keep introducing more.
FallenLegend writes...
Hey there Greg I wanted to clarify and fix question I asked you a while back about how making comics more apealing to the general public.
I correct myself as DC's Rebirth is indeed fantastic.
However new 52 was a disaster (their superman was awful) and Marvel is having a crisis of having low sales of these writting. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/books/marvel-comics-diversity-thor-hulk.html
The think is comics are very niche.
Best selling comics from the big two are at best on the hunred thousands (if they are lucky). And we are talking big names like Spider-Man or Batman.
They are dwarfed by TV. But not even the convenience of TV being free an accesible is an excuse becuase Manga (aka japanese comics) again dwarf them by selling on the millions range.
There was a time Fawcett sold in the millions. Yet today most people simply aren't atracted to comics.
A big issue in my opinion is how the continuity os a nightmare. Just a glance at the retcons and illy explanations like "superboy punched reality" are a nightmare to follow for new comers.
As an outsider I see chaos and very confusing plotlines. But yes as you pointed out "zooming in" there are plenty of fantastic comics.
So my question is, how would you make comics more appealing to the general public?
And
How would you fix all these continuity nighmares caused by cosmic retcons like having hundreds of retcons ( superboy prime, antimonitor, etc)
Thank you Greg. Love your shows.
Greg responds...
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking me? How I would fix things if DC and Marvel gave me full and complete power over their respective Universes? That's a massively huge hypothetical, right?
Otherwise, on a somewhat more reasonable level, if you're asking what I would do with, say, my version of the DC Universe, you can see that by watching YOUNG JUSTICE.
FallenLegend writes...
Hey Greg the topics on my questions are about popularity. The other day I was thinking abiut gargoyles, and W.I.T.C.H and I always wondered why it didn't get a far better mainstream appeal.
This was odd for me as gargoyles being your baby, it does have brilliant writting and well developed characters.
I mean sure it does have a relative big following , theres a fan hosting this very site. But on the whole of dinsey propierties Gargoyles is a bit on the obscure side of things. I apologize if that comes as an insult. By the standards of a 90's disney cartoon your show is reasnably well rememebered, sure.
But had the fanbase being larger, the comic would've lasted longer I think.
I rather consider this a paradox. A brilliant show with great writting doesn't gett that much attention. Consider for a second how ducktales got a revival, and gargoyles is still waiting despite our best wishes as fans.
I think I found the reason.
Gargoyles lacks escapism.
I'm not saying that's a bad thing. You love your show and just how things are. Nothing wrong with that. I don't want you to change what you love.
Gargoyles are supposed to be feared and disliked as the whole point of them is a statment against prejudice. That's the entire point.
But it does affect their popuilarity.
Say people might want to be like Nightwing or spiderman as teens with incredible lifes. But I think few people would want to be a gargoyle hiding from the world.
People admire Goliath but I don't think anyone (mainly the kids of the audience) would like to be him nor Hudson or Lexington.
X-men has also the prejudiced characters. But there's a line of kids that would love to be like Wolverine or even Mystique.
I think it's safe to say that nobody would like to be in Puck's shoes.
Xanatos, Fox and oberon were probably the closes to escapist characters given their confort. But I think that's a stretch give the gargoyles are the focus.
So my question is what do you think?
Greg responds...
I simply disagree. There's plenty of escapism in Gargoyles. More, I'd argue, than in X-Men. Why would someone want to be Wolverine and not, say, Brooklyn? (I mean from an escapist, point of view.) Is it because Wolverine is a badass? Well, so is Goliath.
Warren writes...
In honor of their upcoming 50th anniversary
Why do you think the Duo of Hawk and Dove have struggled so hard in the Modern incarnations -post 2005, Dawn/Holly and Dawn/Hank Redux- compared to Hank/Don and Hank/Dawn 1.0 which are more fondly remembered?
Greg responds...
I can't answer that, honestly, as I have nearly no familiarity with the more recent versions.
Of course, Don and Hank were designed to be emblematic of the Sixties. And it can be tough to contemporize characters so locked to a specific time period. But I liked the Chaos/Order configuration they eventually laid across the characters. And it seems like a fun way to keep the concept going in theory.
Todd Jensen writes...
I thought you might be amused to learn that not long ago, the Titan Comics "Doctor Who" comics did a story where the Doctor (the Christopher Eccleston version) and his friends were tracking a living gargoyle (actually, a human who was turned permanently into a gargoyle - long story) through the woods at night, and encountered a young woman also searching for the gargoyle, who was wearing a red jacket, black t-shirt, and blue jeans. The jacket had a different design than Elisa's, but the overall look of her outfit was close enough to make me wonder if it was intended as a "Gargoyles" tribute. (Then again, Ellen Yin's similar outfit in "The Batman" turned out to be - apparently - a coincidence.) I hope it was intentional - meaning that someone working on that comic still remembered "Gargoyles" after all these years.
Greg responds...
That'd be nice. Also, the ninth doctor is my favorite.
Mecha Mach writes...
Have you seen the new Ducktales reboot? If so what are your thoughts on it?
Greg responds...
I have not. I hear good things.
unbbc writes...
I checked the archives and I couldn't find this question so,what do you think of new 52 superboy?
Greg responds...
I haven't read it/him.
Matthew writes...
I saw from a recent response that you love Ghost Rider. What do you think about the way the character was handled in the 4th Season of "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD"?
Greg responds...
It's not particularly wise for me to answer this kind of question. I'm trying to work in this industry. But, briefly, the version they created fulfilled a need in that show and looked cool. But it didn't have too much to do with what I view as the classic version of the character. Which is just fine.
Aaron writes...
Would you ever make a scooby-doo show?
Greg responds...
If someone asked me too, sure. I love Scooby.
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