Greg responds...

Not particularly, though of course I had read Watchmen -- in fact, I worked at DC Comics when it came out (and provided Rorshach's thumbprints) -- so it's possible that Veidt had a subconscious influence. But Xanatos has WAY less in common with Ozymandias, then he does with General Wade Eiling from Captain Atom.

Greg responds...

I'm a huge Batman fan. As you may know, I also worked at DC Comics for years. And one of my personal favorite Captain Atom issues which I wrote for them, was a Batman-Captain Atom crossover.

I pursued writing work on The Batman, AND I was offered said work... first by story editor Duane Capizzi (for the first five episodes you list) and then by story editor Michael Jelenic (for the last two). All seven scripts were close collaborations.

I liked the show, and they seemed to like my work on it. Glad you liked it too.

Greg responds...

1. Well, I kinda like them all, so I'd recommend you pick up 33-41 and 48-50. As with Gargoyles, you get more out of the stories by reading them in order.

2. I'm afraid it's been so long that I can't remember. And I don't have the info here at the office. Sorry.

But know that I'm thrilled that Captain Atom's getting some attention. I'm very proud of Cary & my run on the book.

Greg responds...

I've made it very clear to the folks at DC that I would love to do Captain Atom again. Ball's in there court.

Greg responds...

1. Nope. There was an earlier draft without the Flash, and my editor asked me to do a rewrite so that the JLE membership didn't come off as quite so feeble.

2. I don't think so.

3. I haven't. But maybe I will someday.

My favorite word in the entire story is "Thomeheb."

Greg responds...

Chris,

You did great work on that Captain Atom/JLE/Gargoyles parody story in JLA SHOWCASE back in February of 2000. Thank you. I think the story turned out great. Self-indulgent as planned and as noted, but pretty darn funny to Gargoyles' fans.

Of course, I'm not sure if your offer still stands to attend the con, as two years have past.

Greg responds...

I've never worked with Neil Gaiman, though I once used Death in an issue of Captain Atom. An appearance that I've been told he hates, though I think it was misinterpreted, since I made a tremendous effort to be careful and respectful.

For example, Captain Atom asks Death who she is relative to the Black Racer. She asks him (in essence) to guess. He guesses. I heard (third hand) that Neil really disliked Cap's interpretation, but that's why I didn't put it in Death's mouth. It's only Captain Atom's guess. If it's wrong, no harm done. Or so I thought.

It certainly was okay with Karen Berger, Neil's editor on Sandman, who was shown the appearance before it was published. In my defense, I had permission, and we were all working in a shared universe. I would have been happy to have talked with Neil about the appearance in advance. But all I got from Karen and Denny O'Neil (my editor) was a go-ahead, so I figured it was all right. I certainly didn't write it to piss him off.

But after he protested, I know that I was forbidden from using Death again later.

Was I influenced by Neil? I don't think so, but I think we both share influences, obviously. Shakespearean and mythological influences for example. There's one way that I know Gaiman's work effected Gargoyles. When I was interpreting the Weird Sisters for the series, my first thought was to do the traditional Maid, Mother and Crone moon goddess. But because Neil was using that in his books, I went with the Triplet version that you saw.

I haven't read much of Neil's work beyond the comics he was doing in the 90s. But I liked that stuff -- a lot. I somehow doubt the feeling is mutual.

Greg responds...

Let me handle your questions in reverse order.

When Alan Moore first suggested Watchmen, he was indeed planning to use the Charlton Characters. My memory is hazy, but I think it broke down as follows...

Dr. Manhattan = Captain Atom
Rorshach = The Question
Night Owl = Blue Beetle
Comedian = Peacemaker
Ozymandias = Peter Cannon?
Silk Spectre? = Nightshade?

Dick Giordano, who was executive editor at the time, was fond of the Charlton characters (having worked at Charlton way back when) and didn't want Alan to decimate the line-up that he had worked to get DC to acquire. He suggested that Alan create new heroes for the story, and I think everything turned out for the best.

Meanwhile, DC was reinventing all those old Charlton characters, and the job to revamp Captain Atom fell to Cary Bates and Pat Broderick. Cary brought me in to help.

As for other comics I worked on, well, there were many entries in Who's Who. Many letter columns for Tales of the Teen Titans, JLA and others. An issue of DC Challenge that I ghosted (the only time I've ever ghosted). Some Secret Origins stuff. And a bunch of stories that never got published. My one and only consistent comics writing gig was Captain Atom.

Greg responds...

The alien metal was the skin and substance of Silver Shield, one of the so-called "Quantum Fish" aliens that exist as part and parcel of the quantum field. The metal is composed of pure quintessence, which was bonded to Cap (and later to Major Force) by atomic power.

Silver Shield was a Quantum Fish stranded on the material plane.

Or so I recall without looking it up. It's been awhile.

Greg responds...

Aside from a single flashback story (involving Captain Atom and the JLE, meeting gargoyles in Paris) I haven't done any work for DC Comics since 1991.

I do miss working on Cap. Next to Gargoyles, it's the series I miss the most. But I long ago stopped following the character. The stuff they did immediately following my departure was as out of character for Cap and his supporting cast as Goliath Chronicles was for Gargoyles. More, maybe. (Simon Del Monte, are you out there to confirm?)

I have more than once expressed an interest to DC to coming back to either the character specifically or the DC Universe to play. But so far there hasn't been much interest. And I'm definitely not privvy to their plans.

But I'm glad you liked the stuff.