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GREG-SPONSES 2010-10 (Oct)

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Gothic-Cowboy writes...

Mr. Weisman, in Young Justice, would I be correct if I assumed that Artemis has no superhuman abilities?

Greg responds...

Yes.

Response recorded on October 29, 2010

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Gothic-Cowboy writes...

Mr. Weisman, the Dc Showcase dvd coming out in November says that, in addition to a new story pitting Superman and Captain Marvel (for once not being made to fight under the slimmest of pretexts) against Black Adam, it features expanded versions of the three previous Showcases. Since you wrote the Green Arrow short (very good, by the way), do you know if any material was held back from this dvd for the later release?

Greg responds...

I really don't know.

Response recorded on October 29, 2010

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Gothic-Cowboy writes...

Mr. Weisman, why was Valmont called Brother Valmont? Was he a member of a religious order, or does he just pose as one?

Greg responds...

He's not a poser.

Response recorded on October 29, 2010

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Alix December Frost writes...

I was just reviewing the guidelines for asking question. i just want to make it clear, that I wasn't trying to submit any ideas.

Also, what DID Demona do during WW2?

Greg responds...

Stuff.

Response recorded on October 28, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

So my last question apparently didn't get approved. I'm a tad dissappointed, but I read the terms about a post being removed if it had just one idea-thingy in it, so I'd like to repost it minus the questions I think it got disapproved for:

1. Would you ever consider doing crossovers with other dc shows, if the opportunity came?

2. Was it a conscious decision not to make Robin the leader to avoid a huge similarity between Young Justice and Teen Titans? I know such a notion might be a little offending, but I think it's a fair question.

3. Are you in any way for or against the idea of using voice actors for a part that they have played earlier in other DC shows?

4. I'm not an expert on the DC comics, but I heard that, some time ago, it was revealed in one of them that Bruce Wayne has a son who eventually becomes the new batman. This is in opposition to the JLU and Batman Beyond continuety, where Terry McGinnis becomes Batman. If it comes to it, which continuety do you think you would use in Young Justice, if any?

5. Have there been, or do you expect there will be, any problems with censoring, where you
want to show something, but you're not allowed to?

6. Will you have story arcs, or maybe just returning villains, that will focus on developing one of the six main characters more so than the others?

7. Would you consider making other DC shows in the Earth-16 continuety, in the style of this show, after Young Justice ends, if it is possible?

I really hope this makes it through to you. I'm really hyped about Young justice and I got more than half a dozen other questions that I left out this time. There are things in the trailer I thought looked weird, but I thought the same about Spectacular Spider-Man and it turned out fantastic. And lastly, I don't want you to answer any questions if it means spoiling the show of course.

Greg responds...

1. Other DC SHOWS? Um, that seems unlikely, but I guess I wouldn't rule it out without knowing the specifics.

2. Ask again after you've seen the first half-dozen episodes or so...

3. Not on principle. But there may be specific instances where I would choose not to reuse someone.

4. I'm not currently familiar with either continuity you're referencing.

5. Not particularly.

6. Sure.

7. Definitely. Though of course, it's not up to me. (And of course, I'm in no hurry for YJ to end either.)

Response recorded on October 28, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

Do you have any favorite moments or anecdotes from the voice sessions from any or all of the shows you've worked on? And if so, could you share a couple or more with us?

Greg responds...

I probably do, but none spring to mind, and this isn't really the kind of forum for me to just wax nostalgic... unless I'm inspired to write a ramble, which I'm not at the moment.

Response recorded on October 28, 2010

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Storyseeker writes...

I was just wondering something... The Praying Gargoyle has the power to bring Gargoyles to life, does it not? Then couldn't it have brought Goliath and clan back to life, while they were stuck in stone sleep? And if so then why didn't Demona do it, or at least try?

Greg responds...

No, the Praying Gargoyle definitely does NOT have the power to bring Gargoyles back to life. It was designed to be used in a variety of different ways to "protect the protectors".

Response recorded on October 28, 2010

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MasterGhandalf writes...

Regarding Oberon:

1. Do the Third Race as a whole view Oberon as their most powerful member, or do they follow him for other reasons (royal bloodline, his overthrowing of Mab, etc.) Are there any who might stand a chance of overthrowing him, or would even want to?

2. Is Oberon regarded as a tyrant by his subjects? Obviously neither Puck nor Banshee wanted to go to the Gathering, but what is more general opinion of Oberon's rule?

3. Several of the Third Race are venerated as gods by mortals (such as Anubis and Odin), while Oberon himself, so far as I'm aware, has never been the object of a major religion. Is he at all irritaded by this, or would he even care?

Greg responds...

1. Probably all of the above.

2. Nah, I think generally most are loyal to him and believe he's ruled relatively wisely. Although, "relatively" may be the key word, as their previous ruler was Mab.

3. No.

Response recorded on October 28, 2010

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Alan Parlin writes...

Dear Greg: Were you a fan of the Green Arrow as a young boy? And were you excited for the Showcase short to be GreenLit?

Greg responds...

1. Yes, very much so.

2. Well... it was greenlit before I came aboard, but I was definitely psyched to be invited to write it.

Response recorded on October 26, 2010

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Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

...and here's my second Bad Guys question:

On the cover of Issue One, above the Wanted poster for Matrix is another piece of paper which reads in part: "... modified and so[und?] ... N/A ... Descr[iption] ... Date of Birth: December 16, 1962 Place of Birth: Sacramento, Californi[a]"

1. Does this paper refer to any specific character? In other words, have you decided yet who it refers to?
2. Does it refer to any character already depicted in the comics or TV show, or mentioned in canon-in-training?
3. Does it refer to a member of the Redemption Squad? According to GargWiki, all of their birth dates have already been revealed, except for Matrix's "birth" date, but it was created in the 1990's in Australia as far as I know, not in 1960's California.

Thank you.

Greg responds...

Hadn't even noticed that until now.

Response recorded on October 26, 2010

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

Hi,

Not actually a question- Someone mentioned hearing an interview with you at comicon- I heard it too and thought it might be helpful to post the link-
http://content.libsyn.com/1/5/4/1545c1d0e3a460de/OneShot291-WBToons.mp3?nvb=20100929164902&nva=20100930165902&sid=73393720addb82db8902f843616afa33&l_sid=18877&l_eid=&l_mid=1987581&t=07bf25a0ee09ff0e50192

It's Comics News Insider ep291 http://www.jimmyaquino.typepad.com/comicnewsinsider/ .

Tangentially the longer Andrea Romano interview mentioned in 291, does actually happen 293-294. I found it fascinating. Mmm... one small question - I think you said Jamie Thomason is voice director on YJ, and that he and Andrea Romano are tops in the field. IIRC Romano has done most DCU cartoons on the past, have there been any double takes when people see it isn't her? (I still do little double takes when Batman doesn't sound like Kevin Conroy no matter how excellent the actor is.)

Greg responds...

If folks are double-taking over Jamie, no one's mentioned it to me.

Response recorded on October 26, 2010

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Comic Fan writes...

Do you have a premeire party when the shows you work premeire on TV?

Greg responds...

Depends on the studio.

Response recorded on October 22, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

So sorry if you've answered this, but I just had a question. Black Canary is going to be on the show, correct?

Wikipedia says something about her playing a sizable role on the show, but the article it references for the statement is a 15 minute long interview with you, so I haven't heard the whole thing.

So will Black Canary have a speaking role, or will she be just one of the wallpaper heroes you mentioned, like Captain Atom?

Greg responds...

I don't believe I ever used the phrase "wallpaper heroes" even for Captain Atom.

And I have to say, the fact that you don't have the patience to listen to a fifteen minute interview, but have no problem taking time out of my day to answer a question you could easily find the answer to by EITHER finishing the interview or checking the ASK GREG archives makes me half inclined to blow off your question entirely.

But the answer is easy, so...

Yes - as has been stated many times and in many places -- Black Canary has a significant (speaking) role in the series, as she is responsible for the Team's training and also acts as a something of a councillor to them.

Now, if someone wonders why it takes me so long to get through the backlog of questions here at ASK GREG, I can point to this as one of the reasons...

Response recorded on October 22, 2010

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Jess writes...

Heya Greg! I have a quick question RE a fairly obscure adaption of the Arthurian mythos and your knowledge there-of.

Have you ever seen the episode of the '80s Twilight Zone series called "The Last Defender of Camelot"? If you haven't, to give an explanation without spoiling too much, it involves Lancelot, Morgan La Fay, Merlin and a modern boy named Tom *cough cough*. I was a little surprised to see many of the key themes that show up in Gargoyles, such as immortality, and how power and good intentions can lead one astray.

If you haven't seen it, and it wasn't an influence, I'd recommend checking it out if you should get the chance. Despite a certain cheestasticness and pretty bad special effects, there's some really solid and interesting writing.

It just struck me as an odd coincidence how the tone reminded me so much of Gargoyles at times (in the best possible way. It brought a smile to my face.) Though working from the same source material, not to mention pretty universal themes, some similarities would be inevitable. I guess I'm just curious as to whether it was kismet, or a case of one work having an influence, however small, on the other.

I wish you all the best and am waiting with bated breath for Young Justice's premiere!

Greg responds...

I have seen the episode... or at least a chunk of it... but only recently. It didn't influence Gargoyles, though I'm sure both had common influences.

Response recorded on October 22, 2010

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ananymous writes...

hey greg let me say im very excited for young justice i currently have one question you said the show takes place in earth 16 in the dc multiverse
i did a searched on the internet and it said that earth 16 is home to the "super sons"which is not connected to young justice. so im wondering they you know this before or did you ignored it.

Greg responds...

We asked DC for one of their unused 52 Earths, and they assigned us Earth-16. I wasn't aware at the time that pieces of it had been explored already. So we're ignoring that stuff...

Response recorded on October 22, 2010

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Grant writes...

Did you have Darth Vader in mind when you made Manta, the father of Aqualad?

Greg responds...

You'd have to ask Geoff Johns. That was his idea. (Though I LOVE it!)

Response recorded on October 22, 2010

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Steven D. writes...

Hello again, Mr. Weisman.

I've had a question in the back of my mind for some time, and now seems like a good time to ask it.
Recently, you released the writer's rotation for the first 24 episodes of YJ.
I've always been fascinated with television writing,as there seems to be no one way to do it, so I wanted to ask a few questions on how you approach it.

1. Back when i first wanted to ask this, I checked the SpecSpiderman archives to see what you mentioned about writing for that show. When going over writing duties, you mentioned that some of the episodes that you "reserved" some of the episodes you wrote. Since Young Justice finds you in a similar position of being both a producer and staff writer, I'm curious to know, what factors do you use when picking episodes to reserve for yourself (and confirming that reserve wasn't just a metaphor you were using)?

2. While I'm here, I was hoping you could also shed some light on how much freedom your freelance writers are given. Do they ever get the chance to write an episode completely from scratch, or because the shows you work on are so arc based, are they always given a firm foundation to start with, and if so, how rigid is this foundation (generally)?

Thanks!

Greg responds...

1. Sometimes I end up writing an episode for pragmatic reasons... or a combination of the creative and the pragmatic. For example, I wrote the two-part pilot of Young Justice (i.e. episodes 1 and 2). Of course, I had a creative desire to write these episodes, but it also would not have been pragmatic for anyone else to write them. I needed to set the tone of the series for the other writers to be able to get it.

Another example: staff writer Kevin Hopps and I were set to write the last two episodes (25 and 26) of the first season. Though we know the basics of what takes place in them, based on meetings that Kevin, producer Brandon Vietti and I had over a year ago, we hadn't broken those episodes yet, and creatively I hadn't decided which of the two I wanted to write. But scheduling realities last week made it apparent that Kevin would HAVE to write 25, meaning I was writing 26. All of which is just as well. I started the season; I might as well finish it. But the decision wasn't creative; it was purely pragmatic. The creative decision might have been no different. But the creative decision became moot for pragmatic reasons.

On the other hand, I've also written three other episodes. In those cases, the pragmatic need was for me to write one episode each between 6-11, between 12-17 and between 18-24. Within those parameters, I chose 11, 15 and 19 for purely creative reasons. Those were the ones I felt a special affinity for (based on reasons I can't reveal now without spoilers). So going into the three writers' meetings for each of those three "sets" of episodes, there was SOME flexibility as to which writer took which episode (keeping scheduling pragmatism in mind), but I had "reserved" for myself the one I wanted to write in each case.

2. My freelancers have, for better or worse, very little freedom when it comes to WHAT stories we are telling. The premises were all approved long before the freelancers came aboard. If a specific writer feels no affinity for a specific story, then he or she doesn't have to take that episode. I always try to give each writer an episode that jazzes him or her. But the basics of the stories are set. Now, the writers are very involved in the execution of those stories. That's where their freedom comes in. But they still have quite a gauntlet to wade through... beat outlines, outlines, scripts (and notes from many sources). Ultimately, I take responsibility for every episode, and I'm the guy doing the final pass on every beat outline, outline and script. But I couldn't do this job without stellar writers providing me with great stuff. And on this series, I couldn't do it without Brandon and Kevin actively participating in the inception and breaking of every single story.

Response recorded on October 22, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

Not a question but...THAT GREEN ARROW SHORT WAS F***ING AMAZING!!! Hard to believe a ten minute dvd short is better than half the crap superhero movies hollywood is putting out. Thank you and everybody else who worked on it for this.

Greg responds...

Glad you liked it!!

Response recorded on October 19, 2010

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Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

Hello Greg,

Following (far) behind my long-overdue reaction to Bad Guys, here's my first question about it:

Why does Yama ask which specific gargoyle and human Sevarius used for the mutate DNA he was planning to use on Robyn and Yama? Why does Yama care? Is some human DNA more undesirable than others, or is he just curious?

Thank you.

Greg responds...

I'll leave that for your interpretation for now.

Response recorded on October 19, 2010

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Charisma82 writes...

Did Matt ever tell Elisa that he was a member of the Illuminate? I ask because in the episode Revelations Matt says that it didn’t pay to keep Elisa in the dark about things (speaking about the incident with the Dracons in The Silver Falcon). After going on and on about how they should trust each other in the episode Revelations, it would seem contradictory of what Matt had just been through to not tell Elisa. But then, maybe he has his reasons to keep it a secret. Care to shed some light on the subject?

Thank you for your time and all that you do,

-Charisma82

Greg responds...

I do not care to shed light on the subject.

Response recorded on October 19, 2010

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Anonymous writes...

In High Noon, why could Elisa see Coldstone, Demona, Macbeth, and the gargoyles at the park when no one else could due to the spell that Demona had cast on them?

Thank you for your time and all that you do,

-Charisma82

Greg responds...

It was a condition of the spell that bystanders wouldn't notice, but "players" would.

Response recorded on October 19, 2010

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Charisma82 writes...

Does Talon have a second in command down in the Labyrinth?

If so, who? Neither Maggie nor Claw seem like leader material to me, but then I could be wrong. I figure one of the clones might work, maybe. If not one of the clones, does Talon have someone else in mind to lead in his place, maybe someone we haven’t seen who lives down in the Labyrinth (a human)?

If not, why doesn’t Talon have an official second in command? Wouldn’t he know that (if something happened to him) without a leader the Labyrinth could turn to chaos trying to get a new one (worst case scenario)?

Thank you for your time and all that you do,

-Charisma82

Greg responds...

Talon isn't a gargoyle, and hasn't particularly structured the Labyrinth after a clan. He's more or less been elected leader. I guess he figures - if he thinks about it at all -- if he goes down, someone else will get elected.

There are people down there he trusts, like Thug and Maggie and Claw... and I'd guess Delilah.

But nothing official.

Response recorded on October 19, 2010

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YOP writes...

Hey Greg,

I'm going to hope that this isn't one of those pesky "question masquerading as an idea" things, but here goes. Any chance you've seen this? It's a fairly recently made mock trailer for a "Saturday Morning" style cartoon based on Watchmen by a prominent member of the flash community who goes by "HappyHarry".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w

You worked on Watchmen as an assistant editor and on several animated shows as a development executive during the late 80's/early 90's, I'm assuming at least some of them were of the "Saturday Morning" variety, so I just thought you might have an interesting perspective on the general idea behind that video.

The video is obviously a joke and exaggerated on several levels, but practically speaking could that kind of thing have been made in that style back then? Which is to say, would it be the kind of thing that would have a reasonable chance of getting picked up as a series, in your opinion?

And while I'm on the subject.

What did your job on Watchmen consist of while you were at DC?

Did you ever work directly with Alan Moore or Dave Gibbons during that time?

What led to you being the fingerprint model for Rorschach?

Greg responds...

I NEVER worked on Watchmen. I shared an office with Julia Sabbah, who worked on designing the book. And she used my thumbprints for Rorschach's criminal file because, frankly, I was there. That's the sum total of my involvement in the project.

And, no, I can't see Watchmen as a Saturday Morning cartoon. But there are a lot of cartoons that are on that I still am mind-boggled by, so what do I know?

I've never worked with either Alan Moore or Dave Gibbons. I met Alan once when I was 21 at San Diego Comic-Con (1985). Never even met Dave.

Response recorded on October 15, 2010

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Phoenician writes...

I originally posted this in the comment room a few weeks ago when I finally got the chance to buy the first issue of Mecha-Nation from my local comic shop. Bad timing had the Ask Greg question queue already closed. Nevertheless, I thought I'd post my review and comments here, as I've been genuinely excited and eager for some Greg Weisman/Vic Cook/Greg Gular material all summer (I blame the lack of a complete second season DVD of SpecSpidey . . . I reckon I'll just buy the last four volumes after a few more paychecks come in *sigh*).

***MECHA-SPOILERS FOLLOW***

The first issue starts 'in media res' with First Wave fighting . . . well, our heroes with a to-be-determined team name.

Team-themes aside, the Mecha-teens go by Stealth, Blast! Tank, Charge, and Fahrenheit. First Wave on the other hand consists of Flood, Grunt, Crane, Velocity and Pulse. As you probably can tell, each individual's name relates to their particularly unique power (like Fahrenheit able to wield fire and Stealth being able to be camouflaged in his surroundings).

They're still shopping for team names mid-battle as a matter of fact (well, at least Blast! is), which rightly leads to some standard obligatory banter . . . which is SO a rule, according to Blast (his profile at the end of the issue lists Dragonball and X-Men as favorites of his, though I wonder and hope if he's seen Spectacular Spidey, hehe).

The battle ultimately cuts short and just as Charge calls it out for what must be an entirely pointless battle, First Wave tells our new heroes that in coming out to fight nearby a Glass Lake Senior High Bowlathon so quickly, they've quite possibly just slipped their hand and given away their non-Mecha-identities. Cue a few Dun Dun Duns.

The story moves on to the next day with Kevin (Stealth), Marcus (Blast!), Zahra (Charge), Ray (Tank), and Fahrenheit (Susie) making their way to school, still somewhat shaken from last night's events. Determined not to out themselves as Mecha-Sapiens, they promise not to 'Metal-out' for any reason to varying successes. We're soon treated to a funny side effect when maintaining one's human form for too long ('the itches' . . . I can only imagine).

While the five try to hide in their metal shells, we get some fun social interactions at Glass Lake Senior High, where Susie is very much a popular and can never-be-seen by the "freaks and geek." Zehra, a 'freak,' meanwhile has connections at the school she would prefer to ignore, given her (and her teammates) current troubles.

The rest of the issue has some fun introductions with the science teacher (who's got a particularly annoying verbal tic) and the school principal, all the while with the blooming mysteries of who the First Wave folk are (and have we already seen them at school?) and what "The Factory" is (evidently First Wave's . . . employers?) Clearly the questions are rhetorical; no doubt I'll get a better sense of the answers in the next two issues . . . <Heh Heh> d:

Tangent -- One issue in, and already with the Shakespeare references? Granted, its Romeo and Juliet which seems to be the typical standard selection for all high schools these days (in my own case, I read it in Eighth Grade and thus begged my freshman English teacher if we could do another tragedy -- Macbeth, I wonder why I recommended that? haha -- instead of his initial selection of Romeo and Juliet). Still, as a long time fan of your work, this brief mention made me chuckle. :)

***MECHA-SPOILERS END***

Overall, a fun first issue that makes me want to see more very soon.

Greg responds...

Glad you liked it. We're really proud of Mecha-Nation and hope it catches on...

Response recorded on October 15, 2010

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nygma619 writes...

Hey Greg, a couple Spectacular Spidey ?'s that I hope you'll be able to answer:
1.) Someone asked a question on whether you had plans for S.H.I.E.L.D., and you said "No", not "No comment". So I'm curious, where do you see Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. at this point in time? Have the government approved the group, or has there not been a reason to create the group yet?

2.) The Lizard in his first appearance was not seen as talking, but was seen as a mute, savage beast. I'm curious, what was the thought process behind making him that way?

3.) What happened with MOI animation in the second season? Blueprints, Shear Strength, Growing Pains, & Gangland are in my opinion the weakest animated episodes of the series. Their season 2 work just felt alot less fluid than their season 1 work, and compared to Dong Woo and Hanho their animation from season 2 was alot more fluid looking than what MOI was doing. I know there's a camp of people who complained about Hanho going off model, but I always accepted the squash and stretch being used alot more, since that's how Victor Cook intended the animation to be.

These next 2 questions are tricky to ask since I'm not sure if they break the "won't spoil because their better off being revealed in execution" code you've gone by, but I'll give it a shot anyways:
4.) You said that Roderick Kingsley owning a perfume company would be brought up in his next appearance. Does that mean you had plans to introduce Belladonna?

5.) You said you know who the main villains of each arc would be in season 3, but you didn't have everything planned out beyond that. Hobgoblin sounds obvious, Scorpion, Maybe. So are the main villains of each season 3 arc, something you'd be willing to reveal(at the very least), or not?

6.) About the radio play, when Cleatus says to Demona, "I'll have what he's having.", how come Eddie wasn't saying "YES, YES, OH GOD YES" when he became Venom again before that?

Looking forward to Young Justice!

Greg responds...

1. I don't have my Spec Spidey research notes with me here at Warner Bros. But as I recall, Nick has not yet been recruited to run SHIELD yet. But in any case, at the time I'm sure I didn't have access to Nick or the SHIELD characters. Spidey Universe only.

2. It seemed right. He seemed more dangerous that way. More Lizardy.

3. I really don't remember.

4. No comment.

5. Not really.

6. For whatever reason, I didn't have quite as firm a grasp on "When Harry Met Sally" as you seem to. I was in a rush.

Response recorded on October 15, 2010


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