Kenny writes...

Hi Greg I was wondering how many comic book tie ins of YJ do you plan on writing? Do you have a set number or are you going to keep writing issues for as long as you can?

Chaz! writes...

sorry, after watching "Targets" it reminded me of a few other questions I have.
1 does Bruce commute from Gotham to Metropolis every day or was there a specific reason he was hanging out there in "schooled"?
2 another city question, Do Philadelphia and New York exist on Earth 16 or have Metropolis & Gotham replaced them?
3 is Mercy a cyborg or an android.

Fe writes...

Mr. Weismen, I want to first thank you for creating quality programming that I grew up with and for creating Elisa, a strong female figure that matched my own background in terms of race.

1.Would you say that Aqualad is a younger non gargoyle version of Goliath in terms of personality?

2.You revealed Flash’s, Batman’s and Superman’s ages, would it be okay to ask how old is Aquaman and Mera?

Thank you for looking over my questions and I wish you all the luck with current and future projects.

Kenzey writes...

Hey Mr. Weisman! First off love Gargoyles and Young Justice, and I have a couple of questions about the latter...
1 How long have Superman and Batman known each other in this world, were they friends before the league?
2 Why doesn't Superboy want to be leader of The Team?
Thank you for reading :)Kenzey

Mary writes...

First off, I just want to say how wonderful Ask Greg is. It's so nice of you to take time out of your busy schedule working on the show we love to answer fans questions about them. I'm sorry you get so much negative feed back and rude comment, because you don't have to do this, and we are lucky that you are willing.
I have some questions about Young Justice
1. Do all the members of the Justice League know Batman's secret identity. If not, who knows
2.Who were the founding members of the Justice League
3. Do Bruce and Barry know that Dick told Wally his secret I.D. How long has Wally known?
4. How is Roy supporting himself financially, trick arrows are expensive after all, as are trips to Asia and boat rentals.

DC HERO writes...

Really quick question hope you it doesn't count as a spoiler. 1. Will Aqualad use any kind of modern weaponry? I asked a question like this a few months back after watching the Green Latern trailer. Basically will he use aforementioned weapons or do Atlanteans stick to ancient weapons and sorcery. 2. Didn't plan on this but who do you like more Aquaman or Namor? I'm surprised no one mentioned the fact that The Teams reason for forming is practically ecatepec to the reason the outsiders were formed. They were formed by Batman to do covert missions for the League so none of the Leaguers had to damage their publicity or popularity.

Greg Bishansky writes...

One more...

Settle something. When Demona sits back and relaxes, what is her drink of choice? ;)

I now return you to your regularly scheduled "fishing for Young Justice spoilers" line of questioning. Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

Greg Bishansky writes...

Another Spidey question. This one is both Spectacular related, and about your Amazing Spider-Man back-up story.

When you wrote and produced "Spectacular Spider-Man," you tried to get to the core truths of who each and every character was. Well, I need to ask you about who Betty Brant was in your series. We've never seen much of her besides Peter trying to ask her to the Fall Formal, and Ned asking her out on a date. She didn't even have a single line of dialogue in the entire second season.

I ask, because in the comics, and this is something that often seems forgotten by most people, Betty Brant is a pretty horrible human being. It's not something I was even really conscious of until my friend, Josh Bertone, started writing a series of articles documenting the history of this character.

She was pretty bipolar when she dated Peter. Constantly flipping out at him if he so much as glanced at Liz Allan, or another human being who lacked a penis. And then, turning around and playing around with both him and Ned Leeds.

She later married Ned and then abandoned him on their honeymoon. Had a one-night stand with Peter, and was later on having an affair with Flash Thompson that lasted for months and months. Which was driving Ned nuts, although, his brainwashing at the hands of the Hobgoblin arguably made things worse. But the affair started well before this Hobgoblin business. Hell, she had the nerve to ask him if their marriage meant anything to him as he was walking out on her, and he replied with "more than it means to you" and he was right.

Of course, Betty now blames the Hobgoblin for all of her marriage's problems and never once really acknowledged any wrongdoing on her part. It's almost Demona-esque how neatly she's able to deflect any feelings of guilt.

And finally, there was Betty's appearance in the back-up story for Flash Thompson that you wrote (loved that story), and when Betty first sees Sha Shan, she is mad. I think I'll quote my friend Bertone, who said it better than I could:

"The icicle speech balloons are a cool callback to the Ditko days but take a look at that scene again. Betty isn’t responding to Sha Shan…Betty starts it! Betty doesn’t greet Sha Shan with an apology or any remorse. No! She’s mad at Sha Shan! Why? What did Sha Shan do to her? It’s not like they had a Betty/Veronica relationship. Betty stole Sha Shan’s man! Sha Shan has a right to be mad! Betty doesn’t!

"Betty Brant is the only woman who will have an affair with your boyfriend and then somehow be mad at you as if she was the victim. What a horrible person."

The above isn't a criticism of the story, or how you used Betty. It's a criticism of Betty as a person.

So, I have to ask. Would your interpretation of Betty, had the series gotten more in depth with her have been this terrible, awful individual? In the comics, she makes Sally Avril look as cool and fun to be with as Mary Jane by comparison! If so, I'd say Peter dodged a major bullet there, when Aunt May put a stop to this in "The Invisible Hand." Come to think of it, May never liked Betty in the Lee/Ditko run either. Betty is definitely not the girl you bring home to meet mom.

Greg Bishansky writes...

I know I wrote to you about a year ago with some thoughts on “W.I.T.C.H.,” but I just went through the series for a second time, and rather than just watch it, I was able to study it, catch all the clues and pieces of foreshadowing and other things that I missed.

Last year, it took me two weeks to make it through the first season, and twenty-four hours to make it through the second season. This time, well, I wanted to let the second season breathe a little more, which is why it took twenty-seven hours to make it through this time.

What can I say, it’s addictive.

I think I’ll start with the large cast, which seems to be a feature in every series you produce. I don’t feel like anybody got the short end of the stick. Will, being the lead, of course got the most time. Everyone else was well balanced also. Casts this big can be pretty hard to juggle. Five main characters, and so many supporting characters, recurring characters, villains, etc.

Irma was probably my favorite of the Guardians. She just had so much spunk. A huge sense of humor. I enjoyed how she often seemed like she would be the most fun to hang out with, but at the same time, probably the meanest when she was in a bad mood. Cornelia at her worst has nothing on a pissed off Irma. Very scary. God help you if you push her to anger. I’ve known people like that in real life, but I find that TV seldom ever does it well. So I have to commend a series that can take someone so likeable and make them nasty without losing their likeability.

The theme of the season seemed to be growing up. Hay-Lin and Taranee change and grow the most this season. Cornelia does well too, learning to be a better sister to Lillian. Will growing in her powers, as a leader, in her relationship with her parents, and their new love interests, and in her own relationship with Matt.
Ironically, Irma seems to change the least over the course of the season, but that’s okay, because she still got a lot of characterization.

Surprising nobody, my favorite character in the series was Nerissa. She always kept me guessing. Going through the series for the second time, I could really see her master plan and all the pipe-laying for her. I probably shouldn’t mention season one, but I paid much more attention to Trill this time, as well as the Mage. Nerissa just seemed to be everywhere, pulling everybody’s strings. I liked the twist that she wasn’t really out for vengeance, which is a twist that made sense. Watching it the first time, I asked myself why would she want to avenge Phobos, she wasn’t there. Well, she was, but you know what I mean. The Knights were all a distraction, and the second time, that seemed much more obvious. But I enjoyed how cold and intelligent she was. She was always scheming; always Machiavellian; and two steps ahead of everyone; all the while carrying around a mountain of repressed guilt. I once described her to a friend with the following words: “imagine if Xanatos and Demona had a baby together, that child would be Nerissa.” I thought Kath Soucie did a magnificent job.

I must also say that the twist that Nerissa was Caleb’s mother was brilliant. As I understand it, this was not the case I the original comic book. But I enjoyed it; I thought it worked quite well. It also made things even more chilling in that, when you think about it, she essentially raped Julian. Rape by deception is still rape, and that’s not something you see often in a cartoon. It almost reminds me of Merlin helping Uther deceive Igraine in order to create King Arthur.

And then there was Prince Phobos. It’s impossible to discuss what was done with him in the second season without talking about the first. I thought he was pretty one note throughout the first season, but season two did something far different with him, and you really felt how this guy could have held the entire world of Meridian under his control for so long.

I felt the same way about Lord Cedric, he got old really fast in the first season, and when he finally gets out of his cell in season two, he’s not doing much that he didn’t do in the first season until what had to be the shock moment of the entire season. I won’t say anymore, but it was nice to see a character I thought so poorly of get that moment. What inspired that twist, I wonder.

The Shagon mini-arc was very well done too. It seems to be a theme in Weisman produced shows to have a character change into something else, all under the control of a villain. David Xanatos turned Derek Maza into Talon; the Green Goblin turned Mark Allan into Molten Man; and Nerissa turns Matt into Shagon. What I also enjoy is just how different each of these scenarios really are. Shagon was a nice personal antagonist towards Will. As I understand it, this is another case where the TV series deviated from the comics for the better. Turning Matt into Shagon just gives that character a lot more chemistry with our heroes than he otherwise would have had.

Would I have liked to see a third season? Sure. But aside from the mystery of who this new teacher was, I thought it was all wrapped up very well, and didn’t leave me “needing” to see more the same way “Gargoyles” and “Spectacular Spider-Man” did. It was great television, and I’m sorry I didn’t get to see it when it was originally airing.

Greg Bishansky writes...

And, I'm back with another Demona post. Surprise, surprise, surprise. ;)

Anyway, I've watched and re-watched the 2009 Radio Play many times. I know it's not canon, but I also know you kept everyone in character and they reacted to things as they normally would.

What's been leaping out at me was Demona's behavior towards Obsidiana, because it shows a side of Demona we haven't quite seen before.

Allow me to post the line:

"For she wears the mystic Obsidian pendant fashioned by human sorcerers. Even that is enough to put her in my thrall. She has relinquished her gargoyle birthright."

This line, and the way Marina Sirtis delivered it just hit me like a truck. So, now Demona is going around deciding which gargoyles are and aren't pure enough to be "true gargoyles?" But, as far as we know, she doesn't know Obsidiana. She's never met Obsidiana. I can understand her hatred and desire to wipe out the Manhattan Clan, they stand against her and are her enemies. She's completely wrong to do it, but I tactically understand it.

Obsidiana, on the other hand, for all she knows she had a potential ally there and among the Mayans. While the Mayan Clan, as we have seen them, don't harm the human locals, I could easily envision a scenario where she talks them into some kind of anti-human alliance in the interests of protecting the Green.

But then there is this next line:

"Impossible. I am the last true gargoyle left on this world."

I know Demona has a superiority complex wrapped around her guilt complex, but wow. She is this much of a supremacist now? After she wipes out humanity, what happens when the surviving gargoyles refuse to acknowledge her as their divinely appointed empress? Well, I think I have a pretty good idea of that "what next" would be in that completely hypothetical scenario.

Actually, we've seen some of this already in "Reawakening" where she said "We are the true gargoyles, they have been corrupted by the humans!" But the Obsidiana moment felt even more extreme.

This attitude is actually pretty Hitler-esque, what with his witch-hunt against those who weren't German enough, a test which he'd fail also as he didn't have his idealistic blonde hair and blue eyes (and may have had Jewish blood). Actually, reminds me of Demona and her daytime form as well, but the bigot being what they despise is a trope that has always fascinated me.

By no means do I find that line out of character, actually, for me, that was one of the most chilling moments I've ever seen her depicted in. And yes, it does feel like a logical progression based on what we've seen of her. I know she's going to get better in "Gargoyles 2198" but if this is any indicator of where she was heading in your third season, or any comic book continuation, it seems like she's going to get a lot worse before she gets better.

Very cool, and by cool I mean chilling. It will be very interesting to see how her affection for Angela, who was raised by humans and is maybe more of an idealist than even Goliath would play into this.

Greg Bishansky writes...

Targets

This is a show that, I swear, gets better with each episode. I've been enjoying the Red Arrow character since the first episode, so I really dug this episode. He had a lot of character development, and while I can't see him joining the team yet, I do think the door is open for it.

Sportsmaster and Cheshire both make welcome returns. And Cheshire is a character that has really grown on me. I love the chemistry she has, not just with Red Arrow, but with everyone. Kelly Hu is doing a magnificent job with that character. So are the writers and animators. She just personifies the sexy badass, and I am eager to see more of her.

As for Sportsmaster, well, I still don't know too much about him. But I am told he is a D-List villain in the comics who is really shining in this series. He's intimidating, badass, and I guess I'm eager to see more of him to. And while we're talking about villains, for the first time in this series, two of the DC Universe's A-List villains have finally been formally introduced.

I was really happy to see Ra's al Ghul, he's one of my favorite Batman villains. Oded Fehr did a great job with his voice, even if I'll have to take some time to get used to it. I guess David Warner's voice has just imbibed itself into my brain for that character, that Fehr has a lot to live up to. But I enjoyed his performance and I am eager to hear more of him. I also enjoyed his skills not just as a leader, but as an assassin. With just pure skill he knew Red Arrow was watching his meeting with Cheshire and Sportsmaster and from where. Very cool. This is why he's the master of the League of Shadows.

And then, there's Lex Luthor. Lex is a character I have never, ever liked. I'm not quite sure why, it's like oil and water with me. I've always thought of him as the poor man's David Xanatos, even years before I ever met the character of David Xanatos. I don't know why. That being said, I did enjoy Mark Rolson's performance as Lex, he brought a lot of charisma to the role. Clancy Brown did the same thing for Lex Luthor too, loved the performance even if I still didn't like the character. Will this version of Lex break the mold and make me like the character? Time will tell. But Greg Weisman managed to make me like Venom, a character I've always detested. Again, time will tell.

Also, looks like we can finally, officially, identify two members of the Light. Oded Fehr voiced L-2, and Mark Rolston voiced L-3. May I just say, and I understand that this might be a bit petty, how ecstatic I am that Lex Luthor is not L-1? If these numbers are indeed a rank, then I would have been disappointed if Lex, again, took center stage. That's one of the reasons why the "Justice League" cartoons disappointed me, because they put too much emphasis on Lex Luthor (who already had that in the Superman cartoon that preceeded it) and not enough on a guy like Vandal Savage, who's appearances in "Justice League" really impressed me and who I felt should have been the main antagonist of that show.

The school scenes were pretty fun, although I was wondering why Superboy needed it, or a secret identity at all. But then, knowledge aside, Superboy could definitely benefit from learning more social skills, so I understand it. Miss Martian too, who seems to have learned everything about interacting with humans from a 50's sitcom.

And who is that, voicing the teacher. Hmm... someone couldn't resist now, could he? ;)

BTW, I loved the origin of the Conner Kent alias, and where they all think the "Kent" part came from.

hallofjustice writes...

Me again Greg, I've got a few Batman: The Brave and the Bold questions:

1.Why did you let Jeff Glen Bennett reprised his role as Abra Kadabra from B:TBATB onto YJ?

2.Is Captain Atom your favourite male DC hero?

3.Have you heard that James Tucker, Michael Jelenic and JM DeMatteis have all expressed interests in doing a Justice League: International animated series spin-off?

4.Out of all the Justice League: International members I've listed, who do you think is the funniest and why? Green Lantern/Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle/Jaime Reyes, Aquaman.

hallofjustice writes...

Firstly Greg, I've went back and started watching Kim Possible again while YJ was on a very long break and I have to admit her show still holds up very very well to this day plus it's still funny. I have a lot of KP questions, I would like to ask you.

1. Have you heard there's going to be a fan convention? It will be held on 8-10 June 2012 in Southern CA. You should tell Nicole Dubuc and Jamie Thomason that.

2. Do you know what Christy Carlson Romano and Will Friedle are currently working on? BTW I made a promise to all Kim Possible fans that any upcoming cartoon series that stars either those two, I will certainly watch it.

3. I'm not sure if you've watched the movie So The Drama, but did you know Jesse McCartney's songs "Why don't you kiss her" and "Get Your Shine On" were featured in that movie?

4. Do you have a favourite episode that Nicole Dubuc wrote?

5. Why didn't Jamie Thomason worked on Season 4 in voice casting? During the final scene/end credits in the Season 4 episodes, his name never popped up. It only said Lisa Schaffer.

6. Do you have any ideas what does Kim's one liners "So not the drama" and "Jinx! You owe me a soda!" suppose to mean? She always says it but I have no idea what does it mean?

7. What do you think were the best and funniest moments in Queen Bebe and Big Bother in your opinion?

8. In Big Bother, is Ron wealthy? He managed to buy so many bags of flour (and sugar) from Smarty Mart!

9. Do you have a favourite Christy Carlson Romano song?

10. Do you still listen to the theme song "Call Me Beep Me"? Trust me that song will never ever leave your head!

Thanks

Anonymous writes...

1. Has Artemis meet her older sister yet?

2. Has anybody on Earth have died and come back to life yet?

raymond writes...

if they ever decide to create a video game based off of the young justice series would you have any say in the developmental process...and would you even want to see one made in the first place. thanks for your time and all the great shows.

1234 writes...

Does the emotional spectrum concept exist on Earth 16?

unknown writes...

1. Is the history of Earth 16 that much different than the history of our world?

2. What makes Earth 16 so different from all the other multiverse earths?

3. What happened in Earth 16 during the gap between the 1940's and the 2000's and where there super heroes and villians during that time.

Liam writes...

1) Is Mercy an android or a cyborg?

2) How did this version of Clayface get his powers? In Batman the animated series, he had a pretty tragic origin, in which he was disfigured, hooked on a special drug, and then forced to have an overdose which transformed him into Clayface. Was his origin on Earth 16 anything like this?

3) How old is Lex Luthor? How old is Ra's al Ghul?

4) Could Brick breathe beneath that foam stuff that Roy shot at him? If so, was he arrested and convicted?

5) Where is Metropolis located? Where is Star City located?

6) Did the Hook kill Boston Brand in this universe?

7) Did Bane spend most of his life in prison, like in the comics?

8) Is L-7 an existing supervillain in the comics?

9) OK, this is a minor detail, but it's kind of distracting. Where did Roy get his Red Arrow suit from?

10) What is the relationship between Marvin and Wendy? Friends? Relatives? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Are they even close?

Anonymous writes...

1) How long have Robin and Kid Flash known each other?
2) How long has Wally known Robin's secret identity?
3) If it's not a spoiler: what made Robin decide to tell him? I know they're best friends, but considering how secretive Batman is about that kind of thing, it seems like a pretty big deal.

Anonymous writes...

Here (http://youngjustice.wikia.com/wiki/Infiltrator#Trivia) it says:

When Cheshire is about to kill Dr. Serling Roquette at the end, she desists because the creation of the virus is completed. When this happens, Roquette's laptop emits a sound that's very similar to that of Ben's Omnitrix in Ben 10, another Cartoon Network show.

Was that on purpose?

spence writes...

Will season two only have 20 episodes, or is there still a change of reaching 26 episodes?

DC HERO writes...

Hey Greg has it been some time and got a lot of questions. 1. Since Kobra is in this universe does that mean a chance of Checkmate existing in this universe. 2. Has Superman and Batman worked together before the League. 3. Who was that Miss Martian look-a-like in the front of the classroom. Did you run out of character models, an animation mistake, or was that supposed to be the actor from "Hello, Megan". 4. I'm surprised Superboy showed restraint from fighting Mal Duncan just because of Miss Martian. Just really telling me their relationship has gone very far. 5. I just want to comment on the description of episode 11. Does Batman know what he's doing by sending Miss M and Superboy to island of supercriminals. Sure it'll give them some time as if they didn't have enough but isn't that a little too much for teenagers.

Anonymous writes...

Are you aware of this?

http://youngjustice.wikia.com

spence writes...

Hi, Greg! I have a few questions I have been compiling all this time:

1) Will the Ice Family Attack from "Independence Day" be revisited/explained?

2) Will we get flashbacks, a la "City of Stone"?

3) You say you don't like to spoil your own shows, but you revealed here that Marina Sitris would be voicing Queen Be. Wasn't that a big spoiler since she was also voicing L-4? Or were you sandbagging us somehow?

4) Could you give us the titles of the episodes that are in the can?

FinalAvalanche writes...

You mentioned before that the timestamps for "Drop Zone" were fixed, however to date Cartoon Network has never aired the corrected version of the episode in all the times that it has been rerun.

1) On that note, does the hard-to-find Young Justice Season One Volume 1 DVD have the corrected version of "Drop Zone"?

2) Was Red Tornado's incorrect bio from "Welcome to Happy Harbor" ever fixed?

jw writes...

Does Nekron and the White Life Entity exist on Earth 16?

Who killed Batman's parents on Earh 16?

Warrior 93 writes...

1. Do the justice league members know each others secret identities?

2. Does Batman have a dog yet?

3. Who was the first superhero on Earth 16?

4. What other golden age superheroes besides the Justice Society existed on Earth 16?

5. Does Ra’s Al Ghul know Batman secret identity?

6. Does Ra’s Al Ghul uses the Lazarus Pit on Earth 16?

7. Did Clark Kent had any adventures as superboy on Earth 16?

8. So what happened to Earth 16 Chris Kent from countdown?

9. Has anybody from Earth 16 interacted with the other earths of the multiverse or has any knowledge regarding the multiverse?

10. How Lex Luthor did gain his wealth on Earth 16?

11. Is Lex Luthor father named Lionel?

12. Does Lex Luthor have a sister on Earth 16?

13. Has Clark Kent meet the Legion of Super Heroes yet?

14. Are there any other kryptoians besides superman and superboy?

15. Who are the Justice League love interests?

16. Is John Stewart a marine on Earth 16?

17. Does Hal or John power rings have a weakness against yellow?

18. Who were the members of the Justice Society?

19. Was Alan Scott the Green Lantern on Earth 16 and if so could his ring work on wood?

20. Are there any other different types of krptonites besides the green kind if so what are they and what can they do?

21. Why did the Justice Society disband?

22. Were their any superheroes during the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s?

23. What happened to the supervillians during the gap between the justice society and league? Were they still running around or were most of them locked up or killed?

24. Do superheroes on Earth 16 kill some of their bad guys at all?

25. Did Clark and Lex grow up together?

26. Did the Justice Society fight in Europe during World War 2 or were they kept away because of the spear of destiny?

27. Are the Freedom Fighters still around?

28. Were the Justice Society ever asked by the congress to unmask themselves in the 50’s to prove they were not commies?

29. Why didn’t ya’ll used Arkham in the episode terrors?

30. Are there any other power rings besides the Green Lantern Corps rings on Earth 16?

31. Do all the characters that exist on New Earth aka the DCU excluding the recent Wild Storm characters have a counterpart on Earth 16? Such as Static, Jonah Hex, Adam Strange, Kid Devil, Booster Gold, Rip Hunter, Cyborg, Deadman, Zauriel, Ragman and etc?

32. Why was the team fighting Clayface in downtime?

33. How Icicle Jr. did obtain his powers?

34. Does Earth 16 have the Meta-Gene concept?

35. Is the Light kinda of like the Illumanti of conspiracy lore?

36. Did Vandal Savage work with the Nazi’s during World War 2?

37. Why did ya’ll make Vandal Savage black?

38. Is the Light goals are to simply kill all the superheroes and take over the world or is it something more than?

39. Since the League has a U.N charter does that mean certain people in government know their secret identities?

Do other countries besides America have superheroes on Earth 16?

Anonymous writes...

1) Kent Nelson was said to be 106 years old, but was he aged by Nabu like in the mainstream DCU, or did he actually live 106 years?

2) How old are Cheshire and Green Arrow?

Anonymous writes...

Would you be so kind as to list the writers for Young Justice episodes 11-26 of season 1?

Anon writes...

Is Invasion the title of the second season of Young Justice, or is it just the title of the first arc of the second season?

FinalAvalanche writes...

1) Why was Mammoth chosen to be Kobra's champion?
2) Did Mammoth or Shimmer know the kobra venom would make him monstrous in appearance? Are either of them bothered by his new appearance?
3) How old are Mammoth and Shimmer? If they're the same age, who's the older sibling?