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?