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Gothic-Cowboy writes...

Mr. Weisman, after reviewing the information revealed about Artemis in the upcoming Young Justice animated series and researching associated Green Arrow characters, I'm ready to take a stab at her identity. Is Artemis Bonnie King, the original Arrowette from the Golden Age and mother of Cissie, the more recent Arrowette from the Young Justice cartoon? Thanks for your time.

Greg responds...

No comment.

Response recorded on August 30, 2010

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Yojimbo writes...

On Young Justice, is the character Artemis better known as Artemis Crock, daughter of Sportsmaster and Tigress?

Greg responds...

As I said at Comic-Con, we need to keep a few secrets, so NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on August 26, 2010

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What's in a name...?

So I've been lurking a bit today on various Young Justice message boards (almost always a mistake), and I feel the need to respond on one point (ALWAYS a mistake).

Some people are asking (with various levels of outrage), why we are calling this series "Young Justice"?

They cite the fact that our Robin isn't Tim Drake, that our Kid Flash isn't Impulse/Bart Allen. That we're not using Wonder Girl or Arrowette or Secret and that even our Superboy is dressed more like the later Titans Superboy.

And, honestly, I can see their point. In some ways, I do almost (almost) wish we weren't using the Young Justice title.

But it would be nice if these people turned a more practical and realistic eye toward the question of title.

Some ask, why not call it Teen Titans, when you have Dick, Wally, Aqualad, etc.?

But the answer to that is beyond obvious. There was a RECENT hit series named Teen Titans. The name is TAKEN! Taken, by the way, by a great series that used the cast not of Teen Titans but of Marv Wolfman & George Perez's NEW TEEN TITANS with the tone of neither. In fact, the tone is/was much closer to Peter David & Todd Nauck's YOUNG JUSTICE. (Ironic, huh?)

And if, somehow, we DID call our series TEEN TITANS (again), how would that help? Another group of fans (with some overlap) would cry foul because we were putting Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis and a new Aqualad in with Dick and Wally. Where's Donna? And etc.

The thing is... we're not doing a straight adaptation of either Teen Titans OR Young Justice. We are, in fact, pulling from both properties and later Titans and decades worth of Justice League stuff to create something new with a new continuity on a new Earth-16.

So what SHOULD we entitle it? There just ISN'T one comic book title that's a PERFECT fit for what we're doing. So if you get past the impossible notion of finding a historically accurate title, you're left with coming up with a MEANINGFUL title. In which case, Young Justice fits perfectly - at least on THAT level. (Trust me, you'll see.) It's a flat-out BETTER and more appropriate and more meaningful title for our series than New Titans or Teen Titans or plain old Titans or Justice League Task Force or Justice League Europe or Extreme Justice or Justice League Babies or pretty much anything else you can come up with. I know. I tried. Nothing else captures the essence of our series as well. Baggage or no baggage.

That still leaves the perfectly legit argument: Why do this? Why NOT just adapt the David/Nauck Young Justice? Fair question, absolutely.

And the answer here is... we didn't want to. The creative people (myself, Brandon Vietti, Sam Register, etc.) behind the series premiering this November on Cartoon Network didn't want to. That's not meant as any disrespect for a great comic book. But again, we felt that the tone of the David/Nauck Young Justice book had been done recently and well on television as Teen Titans. Different group of teens, but the same feeling. We wanted to do something NEW. Maybe you'll like it. Maybe you won't. But writers as diverse as Peter David (yep, that Peter David) and Geoff Johns and, uh, Greg Weisman all like what we're doing, so maybe it's worth at least giving us a chance. Or not. That's the call of every individual.

But if you are going to give us a try, you might also try leaving a bit of baggage behind. We have six leads and many, many, many supporting characters (135 existing characters from the DC Universe just through episode 16 alone). As when I worked on Spectacular Spider-Man, we have tried VERY hard to be as true to the core truths of each individual character as possible. Some of the interpretations may be new. Some of the details. The timeline is start from scratch. (Parallel universe, remember?) But the core should hold true, or I haven't done my job.

And gang, stop pretending you know what's coming or what ISN'T coming. What characters will eventually be included and which won't. We haven't even premiered yet. It's fine to guess. But making a guess and then praising or condemning us based on that guess is a bit rough.

Now, I know that this message will invariably read like I've got a big chip on my shoulder. And/or that I'm whining about fans pre-judging the work. That's not the TONE I want for this message. But it's hard in text to get tone across. The tone I'm looking for is more like... weariness. (Not wariness, but weariness.) Honestly, all I'm trying to get across here is that perhaps the conversation would be more productive if folks weren't stuck on preconceptions.

Oh, and one more thing for the record: I know a number of people -- even a few individuals legitimately attached to the series -- have been quoted saying the original title of the series was "Young Justice League". It wasn't. Ever. For better or worse, we were "Young Justice" from Day One of our development. And why not "Young Justice League?" Well, frankly, cuz it sounds awful, don't you think?

Non-sequitor, but since I'm in correcting-internet-incorrectness-mode: Miss Martian is the NIECE of Martian Manhunter. NOT his daughter. Someone misquoted us there.


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Steven writes...

Mr. Weisman -

First off, I am a long-time fan of your work, so thank you for the many years of great entertainment you've provided.

Your new "Young Justice" series brings you to the WB/DC camp, where there are already some fairly well-known names in the animation world: Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Andrea Romano, and so forth. While I know you've freelanced a few scripts for prior DC series, now that you're producing a show in the DC house, I was wondering if this series has provided you the opportunity to work with any or all of the aforementioned (or otherwise unmentioned) names. And if so, how has that experience been?

Greg responds...

I've worked with Bruce, Alan and Andrea many times before. Alan and I go all the way back to the DuckTales movie. Andrea and I go back to Bonkers! And I worked with Bruce and Alan as recently as the Green Arrow short I did for DC Showcase. Most recently worked with Andrea on the last Brave and the Bold I wrote.

I've never worked with Paul Dini, though of course, I've admired his work from afar.

None of them are involved in Young Justice.

Response recorded on August 20, 2010

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Tyler writes...

Hi Greg,

Congrats on the new YJ show. I'm extremely excited for the show. I have a couple questions. The first is there going to be any major character or minor character deaths in the first season of the show? Also another question I was wondering is what do you personally think of the new Aqualad, do you think he's leadership material and do you believe he'll be a likeable character to watch? My last question is how much creative guidance do you have on this project, are as much creative control as you did in the spectacular spiderman?

Greg responds...

1. No comment.

2. I'm stunned by this question. OF COURSE, I think he's leadership material and believe he'll be a likable character to watch, since Brandon and I co-created him, made him the leader and put him in the show. Seriously, what did you expect me to say?

3. Brandon and I have been given full creative control. Which is not to say that we don't have guidance from Warner Bros., DC and Cartoon Network. We do. But I feel very free on this show, as I did on SpecSpidey.

Response recorded on August 20, 2010

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Steven D. writes...

Hello again.
I have one other Young Justice question.

I was always a fan of the shows set within the DC animated universe.
While doing some of the most faithful adaptations I have ever seen, they still occasionally created a brand new character for the show. Some would get so popular, they would eventually find their way to the comics themselves, becoming a full part of the mythology (Harley Quinn being the most famous example).

This is obviously the opposite of what you did with Spectacular Spiderman, which drew entirely from the Spider's already rich mythos.

Since DC has just as rich of a mythos to draw from, I'm curious, which path are you taking with Young Justice:
1) Drawing entirely from the existing DC mythology, or
2) Occasionally creating a brand new character.

Also, are there any lessons you've taken from past DC adaptations for developing Earth-16?
Thanks again.

Greg responds...

All of the above.

Response recorded on August 18, 2010

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Mo writes...

Hello again Mr. Weisman. First, let me say how sorry I am that Spec Spidey was cancelled. It truly was the best show Marvel ever produced and was the first I honestly felt told stories of the web-slinger and didn't talk down to it's audience. Bravo on making an excellent program.

This does, however, make me all the more excited about Young Justice. I never read that specific series, but i've been a fan of Teen Titans for a while (including the trippy TV series) and am really looking forward to this series. I have a few questions, though:

1) Why the change in Aqualad's character? Was Garth just not interesting enough or was Jackson just cooler? And did the idea for him come from the comic first or did you guys make it up?
2) Why add Ms. Martian to the roster? She's a fun character to be sure, but doesn't exactly scream classic Titans/YJ member (It sort of seems like she's a stand-in for Starfire as the 'alien immigrant' of the team).
3) Will any voice actors from Spec Spidey be working on Young Justice?

Thanks again.

Greg responds...

Just to be clear, Marvel did not produce Spectacular Spider-Man, though of course they were very involved. But Sony produced the series, not Marvel.

1. The idea came from myself, Brandon Vietti and Phil Bourassa, though we had many, many conversations with the folks at DC, including Geoff Johns, obviously. And obviously, we think he's an interesting and cool character, or we would not have put him in there.

2. She's not a stand-in for Starfire at all - not in our minds. She's not a stand-in for anyone. To be honest, you need to get out of the mindset of some kind of fixed team, where all we did was substitute a few characters here for a few characters there. That wasn't our process AT ALL. We began with a list of over fifty teen heroes (male and female) and chose the ones that worked best for us on a number of different levels, ranging from chronology, power mix, personality, iconicness, dynamics, etc. We really started from scratch, with no preconceptions. It would be best if the fans did the same.

3. Yes, some.

Response recorded on August 18, 2010

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Tank writes...

Hi Greg! Love your work! Anyway, Can you tell me if any of these characters will appear in Young Justice: Raven, Zatanna, Starfire, Wonder Girl, Harley Quinn, or Joker will be appearing? Telling me if any of them will appear will be really Nice! Thanks!

Greg responds...

Yes, I can tell you that some of the characters you named will be in Season One.

Response recorded on August 16, 2010

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AJC writes...

Very excited for your new series! Its good that you can move on to something else, especially after how spec spidey ended.

My questions are, how much have you watched of teen titans and justice league and JLU?

Will you watch the new ultimate spider-man cartoon when it comes out?

Greg responds...

I've watched many Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans episodes (particularly from the early seasons of each) but not every single episode.

And, no, I won't watch Ultimate Spider-Man, though that's not a dig at it. If it's great, it'll just drive me crazy with envy. If it's not, it'll just drive me crazy with frustration. It's a no win proposition for me. So I might as well just avoid it.

Response recorded on August 16, 2010

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Steven D. writes...

Hey Greg.
I'm a first time asker but a long fan.
This summer I used my DVR to rediscover the Gargoyles series on DisneyXD, and finally saw the first 65 episodes at least once. I truly feel it is one of, if not the most, underrated action cartoon of all time.
I also was a big fan of Spectacular Spidey, and it was the first time in a very long while I was really saddened to see a show I like come to an end.
I really hope both will find ways to live on in the future.

Anyways, I am now looking to the future at Young Justice. I have felt a great emptiness in quality action cartoons lately, and being a DC fan, I'm excited and intrigued.

As I've been reading up on it, I found the premise particularly interesting, specifically how the Justice League maintains a constant presence, and their own fame prevents them from operating, and require their wards to carry on the fight.

The main reason I found this interesting is in the Teen Titans cartoon, (which it sounds like you're familiar with. Apologizes if you are not), some of the situations seemed so dire and world threatening, you had to wonder sometimes why the experienced Leaguers NEVER intervened, or at the very least why Robin never called on his old partner.

I know a few of these were based on old comic story lines (like the Judas Contract), so since I've never read the originals, I don't have any reference to how world shattering events were dealt with in the original stories.

But regardless, was the decision to include the Justice League and give them a reason to not be actively involved in the story influenced by the sometimes in implausible absence of them in past adaptations, like Teen Titans?

Thanks Greg, and good luck on the show.

Greg responds...

Brandon Vietti and I wanted to cut our own path, navigating between Scylla & Charibdys, i.e. between the incredibly impressive creatively and commercially successes of the Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans television series. So our tone and depiction of the DCU would be different from both. But I'm NOT confirming your last statement, which sounds like a dig at Teen Titans to me. Everything we're doing is organic to the show we developed and no longer any kind of reaction to or against anything in those other series.

Response recorded on August 16, 2010


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