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REVELATIONS 2012-02 (Feb)

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Kit Walker writes...

I looked high and low, and did not see this question asked or answered anywhere on Ask Greg. Forgive me if I did manage to miss something.

Anyhow, you're very much on record as not being pleased with Grant Morrison's take on General Eiling (which I just learned I had been pronouncing wrong since I was a kid - I puzzled it out as I-ling while reading Morrison's JLA when I was nine...I'm 21 now). I was wondering how you felt about John Ostrander's addition to the character's history. Spoilers for "Suicide Squad: Raise The Flag' mini-series follow.

In that series, it is revealed that Rick Flag, Jr. was not the son of the original Suicide Squad's leader but instead was soldier that General Eiling brainwashed into being a weapon at Eiling's command. It was Eiling who placed him in charge of the second Suicide Squad and forced Waller to put him with the third (the most familiar version, with the villains). He was also more than willing to leave Flag to his own devices until activating he was in a position to be effectively used. I have not been able to track down your run on Captain Atom, so I don't rightly know how you handled the character and I am curious to see how that portrayal fit with your vision of the character. Hopefully, presuming you haven't read the mini, I summarized it well enough.

Greg responds...

Look, none of this is quite fair. Personally, I haven't read Morrison's take on Eiling, nor have I read Ostrander's.

The fact that I reacted negatively (once upon a time) to someone's synopsis of Morrison's version only proves... that like anyone, I can be guilty of judging something without looking at it myself, something that I abhor when folks do it to me.

So I'm just not going to respond to your question, because that's what it's inviting me to do. And I'm trying to be a better person. Or at least less of a hypocrite.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Who are the characters that are featured in the Season Two teaser poster for Young Justice?

Greg responds...

I'm not saying - because I like to torture you all - but it doesn't matter - because it's just a promotional piece. It's not canon.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

In Humanity, who was Red Torpedo disguised as when he was on the justice society? Was he an existing character, or did you just make it up? Also, Is red tornado the team's den mother again, or will they keep captain marvel around?

Greg responds...

Captain Marvel was only den mother for a week. Then it was Zatara's turn. Then Black Canary. (Maybe a few others in between.) Red Tornado is now back as their permanent den mother, though that doesn't mean you won't see other Leaguers hanging around the Cave.

The robot Red Torpedo was disguised as the human mystery man Red Torpedo. And, yes, that was an existing character. I did NOT make him up. But he wasn't ever in the Justice Society - though he was in the All-Star Squadron.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Cole writes...

Greg, I'm not sure if you do know a lot about guns, but I noticed an error in "Failsafe":

After watching "Failsafe", I noticed the US Marines in that episode were still using Vietnam War M16A1 assault rifles even though they've replaced them with M16A2s back in the mid-late 1980s. I can tell that they are M16A1s because the handgrips looks triangular (M16A2 handgrips are cylindrical) and the marines were firing their rifles on fully automatic mode (M16A2s fires in 3-round bursts).

Greg responds...

See the previous question.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

While watching the YJ episode Failsafe, one of my friends noticed that the American flag in that episode only had 48 stars. At first I just wrote it off as a technical error, but some things dawned on me after the reveal that Megan was controlling the simulation: Megan learned most of what she knew about Earth from 50's TV (at least, I think that's when Hello Megan is supposed to have aired) and that Hawaii and Alaska didn't become states until 1959.

So what I'm asking is did me and my friend miscount, was it a technical error, or was it a intentional hint you and the YJ team dropped?

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

How old was Selena Gonzalez from #3 and #4? Was she married?

Greg responds...

I don't know. You'd have to ask Art and/or Franco.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Brittney writes...

Thanks for the show!! also i understand why you don't wanna reveal spoilers. I mean honestly what's the point of watching the show if you know everything that's going to happen?

Anywho i wanted to ask after artemis died was she able to see what was happening with the rest of the team or was her consious mind just blank?

Thanks again! (and dude adrinaline rush the whole episode!! i swear it just gets better and better!!)

Greg responds...

She was in a coma.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

I was watching the episode "Denial" on iTunes and noticed that the bio in the cave computer stated that Kent Nelson was born in 1928 and other information that matches up with his DCU bio. Is this accurate to Earth-16 or is this similar to the Red Tornado bio situation from "Welcome to Happy Harbor"? I appreciate it!

Greg responds...

Argh. Yes, it's similar to the Red Tornado situation.

Someone trying to be helpful and/or clever added that without informing us - and thus made my life more difficult and our series more flawed and inconsistent.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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John writes...

Will hal jordan or john stewart have a center role in any of the upcoming episodes?

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Failsafe

Well, this one kept me guessing. Mostly between dream and simulation. I know that teleporting beams were a possibility, but one I dismissed. Story structure wise, you don't do something this, well... apocalyptic, early in a series. I knew a twist was coming, but I had no idea which of the two it would be. Surprise, surprise it was both.

I've already seen people compare it to "Over the Edge," an episode of "The New Adventures of Batman" I always thought was severely overrated. In that episode, Barbara Gordon falls off a building and dies, Gordon blames Batman and swears vengeance; Batman is publicly unmasked, becomes a fugitive; Gordon is kicked off the case and then hires Bane to help him take down Batman; Bane betrays Gordon; Gordon and Batman die; and then Barbara wakes up and it was a nightmare induced by Scarecrow's fear toxin. She then vows to tell her father the truth to prevent something like that from actually happening and then doesn't. And then I throw my remote control at the TV. What a crock! Not only is there no internal logic to the nightmare, I mean... who has a dream or nightmare where they are dead and their mind is playing this? And then she decides to do something that would result in character development and change the status quo in an interesting way and doesn't? Really! Then I got on the internet and found out this was one of the most revered episodes of the series.

I've seen "Failsafe" get compared to "Over the Edge" several times already, and while "Failsafe" isn't perfect, it doesn't cheat anywhere near as much as "Over the Edge" did. If it did, the entire Team would have been killed in the first two minutes and this still would have been their simulation and dream. That, and the outcome of what happened here will likely have lasting consequences as opposed to Barbara deciding to tell and then not tell her dad she was Batgirl. I'm a firm believer in continuity and actions having consequences, and while I loved "Batman the Animated Series" and its spin-offs quite a bit, it tended to shrug off long term consequences to keep a certain status quo.

I think a closer comparison would be to the "Gargoyles" episode, "Future Tense." Like "Failsafe," that episode was both a dream and an illusion. Apocalyptic things happen, and you keep waiting to find out what the twist is going to be, but it also throws so much at you, you're distracted from thinking about it... you just know that something is wrong. Overall, I thought "Future Tense" was far more effective at distracting you on that first viewing. I also felt that it played fair more than "Failsafe." In "Future Tense," we never left Goliath. He was in every scene, and we saw everything he was seeing, and nothing else. While "Failsafe" was cutting to civilians hiding in bunkers, and other moments that no one on The Team was witnessing. And if they weren't witnessing it, why was it part of the simulation and their dream?

"Failsafe" was better than "Over the Edge" but not as good as "Future Tense." But then, few things are. It may be a little unfair of me to make the comparisons either way, but that's where my mind went and those were the comparisons that I drew. A comparison to a similar premise in a DC animated production and in another Greg Weisman production.

I really enjoyed seeing General Wade Eiling make his animated debut, at last. And with his proper design and the correct pronunciation of his name. Eiling appeared in "Justice League Unlimited" but with a different look, since General Hardcastle's design was pretty close to Eiling's comic design, and back in 2007, when Greg Weisman and I were having lunch together at a Taco Bell near the Sony studio he was producing "Spectacular Spider-Man" at, we briefly discussed Captain Atom, and I pronounced Eiling the way JLU did, and he corrected me. Since he co-created the character with Cary Bates, I think he'd know. Just like Dennis O'Neil knows the proper pronunciation of Ra's al Ghul even if Christopher Nolan does not.

I hope to see more of Eiling. I've read some of Greg and Cary's Captain Atom run, and he's a terrific character.

The ending of the episode opens a lot of possibilities and lasting consequences. M'Gann is more powerful than previously thought. I have some theories on where this will lead, but I am not well versed in DC lore, so I intend to keep them to myself... except for one. I am convinced she is a White Martian. And hey, this episode has plenty to make both people who love and hate the character happy. People who like her get a great episode that focused on her. While the people who hate her can make an animated gif of her getting stabbed by Martian Manhunter. Everybody wins.

Great episode, and if you will indulge me one more comparison to "Future Tense," well was it a dream or a prophesy? With the second season being titled "Invasion," that's something to ponder.

Greg responds...

Well, we figured very few people would believe we were killing everyone off. So we intentionally put in the "teleportation" option to distract from the possibility that it might be a simulation or dream (let alone both).

I haven't seen "Over the Edge" so I have no comment on that one. As for comparisons to "Future Tense"... well... I'll leave that to you and others to weigh.

For more of Eiling, try to pick up issues 9 and 10 of the Young Justice companion comic.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Will we be seeing more of Dick Grayson's uncle Rick in the YJ series? Does the explanation of Robin's origins in the comic book mean that the series will not really focus on it?

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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GGG writes...

1. Is Icon a part of the Justice League?
2. How old is Icon?
3. How old is Rocket?
4. Why was red arrow, rocket, and zatanna all together? are they their own team?
5. How old is zatanna?

thank you so much... great episode!!! loved it.

Greg responds...

1. ASKED AND ANSWERED.

2. I don't know.

3. ASKED AND ANSWERED.

4. Red Arrow, Rocket, Zatanna, Tempest and Aquagirl were the back up Team in the vision/exercise. Don't read too much into it. It wasn't real.

5. ASKED AND ANSWERED.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Veronica writes...

Oh my God, you guys scared me to death with episode 16! First Wolf, then Artemis, which is by the way my favorite, then Aqualad, then Superboy and then Robin and Kid Flash. I love that Wally was so determined to get Artemis back! Anyway, to my question, how important are M'gann's powers in YJ??? Just curious, very understandable if it's a spoiler request.
LOVE YOUNG JUSTICE! YOU GUYS ROCK!

Greg responds...

They're important. All their powers are important. (Am I not understanding this question?)

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Knickerbocker writes...

Who was that soldier Superboy insisted go in front of them when they were evacuating? Was he anyone special or a cameo from the Comics?

Greg responds...

Jason Bard.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Jack-Pumpkinhead writes...

Dear Greg,
Just watched Failsafe and WOW, that was INTENSE!! I mean, I knew something was up, but I did not see that ending coming. That revelation about M'Gann was awesome. And you even got a cameo of future detective Jason Bard, very cool. No questions today, just praise.

Greg responds...

I'll happily take praise. (I have no shame on that score.)

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Comet writes...

Was it ever planned to reveal more information about the "Blue Beaked Gargoyle" from Demonas Clan in CoS?

Greg responds...

Eventually.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg! You've probably heard this a million times before but I LOVE the work you and Brandon do on the show Young Justice, I wasn't a comics fan until watching it, not I am. Anywho, if it's not too much trouble, I have some questions.

1. How long ago did you start working on the show?

2. What are the birthdates of the characters on the team?

3. For those heroes who made brief appearances on Revelation (Blue Devil, Plastic Man etc.) Are they now members of the League or were they just momentary team ups to stop those giant plants?

Again, huge fan. Thank you for making the most wonderful show I've seen in years. You can tell Brandon I say thanks too. :)

Greg responds...

1. I think it was February or March of 2009.

2. ASKED AND ANSWERED.

3. ASKED AND ANSWERED.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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ern writes...

I was just wondering that since Season 2 will be a complete arc, what would happen if Cartoon Network decides to order a few more episodes for season 2? Will the Invasion arc be extended or a will completely different story be told? Just wondering. Not saying that it will happen but just a thought since such a thing has happened like when the CW ordered extra episodes of Nikita at the very last moment.

Greg responds...

Twenty episodes is the full and total order for Season Two. Of course, I hope they order a Season Three eventually, but twenty will remain the total for Season Two.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Vanotd writes...

Hi Greg, enjoyed all your series so far. Gargoyles, Spectacular Spider-man (the artwork was "interesting", but still an enjoyable cartoon), and Young Justice. I had to laugh when you answered a fan's response about Young Justice coming to Blu-ray (which is a format for High Definition DVD's. I guess working on Young Justice must exhaust you.). Anyway, just a couple of things i wanted to know.

do you keep all the concept art for all the characters you have made for each show, and are you allowed to give the art to people?

will we have any opportunities to see other Justice Society of America members in cameos? considering Jay Garrick has been seen along with Dr. Fate.

keep up the good work!!

Greg responds...

1. No, the art is not mine to either keep or give away.

2. SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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chi fong writes...

hello, i was wondering if robin is goig to die. he is my favorite charecter and i would hate that

Greg responds...

SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Angie writes...

Hi, Greg! I just really wanted to say how much I love Young Justice (EHEM understatement) so far!! Honestly, I don't think there's anything you can do that could change that (I would seriously hope not, at least.) I also have been reading some of the archive, and my life is pretty much Tumblr haha, so I've seen much "fan" hate towards you as well as the show in general. Which I think is utter horse crap. Obviously no one is getting the whole "Earth-16" concept, 'cause I see complaints about you guys using different characters a lot. I'll admit I've never read the Young Justice comics, or many of the DC comics due to the fact that I'm mostly a Batman/Dick Grayson fan, but even if I had I still wouldn't mind the characters you guys decided on. I love all of them!! At first I definitely favored Robin, but since new episodes started airing again I've come to the realization that, for once, I have no least favorite character. I seriously can't think of anything that I strongly dislike about YJ. Except the fact that the episodes are only 30 minutes long haha!! I'm so stoked to see how things turn out with The Light!!! :O
Sorry for my ramble-[Halloween] candy does this to me. Any who, I apologize for the extremely rude people you've had to encounter. I really hope this fandom isn't completely ruining the fun of producing the show :[ And before I end this novel of an ASK, I do actually have a question that does not pertain whatsoever to any show you've worked on hahaha hope that's okay. What's your favorite color???
Alright I'm done. Can't wait to see more Young Justice-everything about it is amazing!! <3
Hope you have a good day/night/week/whatever! --Angie--

Greg responds...

Dark Blue.

Thanks for the kind words!

Response recorded on February 07, 2012

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Some YJ Statistics...

Today we recorded (most) of Young Justice episode 220, i.e. the final episode of Season Two. We had a nice little cast party today, which is bittersweet, of course, since we don't know if we're merely taking a break with a pickup coming some day - or whether this is it.

By the time we've finally recorded everyone (probably sometime next week), this single episode will have TWENTY-FOUR voice actors in it. That's 24 actors playing 35 speaking parts. And those 35 speaking parts make up less than half of the 77 total characters that will (likely) appear in the episode.

Other stats (of interest only to the truly nerdy geek):

Across two seasons, we'll have used 91 actors to play all the speaking parts.

Season One had 179 name characters (not all of whom speak, of course) over its 26 episodes. (At least through the script stage. A few, like Catherine Cobert, may have been cut for time by the time the episodes aired, and I haven't recalculated for that.)

Season Two had 145 name characters over 20 episodes.

Together (i.e. if you merge both lists), the two seasons had a total of 241 name characters over 46 episodes.

Season Two scripts ranged between 30 pages long (episode 216) and 36 pages long (201 & 220).

Line counts ranged between 197 lines per script (203) and 255 (214).

Number of actors used per episode ranged between 6 (202) and 24 (220).


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Tupka writes...

How many years ago did the flashback at the beginning of "Homefront" take place?

Greg responds...

Six years.

Response recorded on February 06, 2012

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PinkiePie writes...

Hey greg what’s up I just want to make some commentaries about superman and your opinion of them.

I consider you an amazing writer and I am a big fan of your shows. I specially think that your main strength is creating interesting plot with complex 3 dimensional characters and some of the best villains I have ever seen.
That being said I would like to comment on your portrayal of superman. I am aware that a mayor theme on young Justice is grey areas. You as a great writer have to give flaws to each character. Even goliath from gargoyles had flaws that made him relatable.

However I feel a bit uncomfortable with your portrayal of superman. You aren’t portraying him as some kind of perfect that is always right pure good person. He needs to be flawed to be believable as a character. I also understand the fact that you want to give conflict to superboy by giving him a reason to angst.

That being said I think is a bit odd you choose exactly his relationship with superboy as his flaw. Without entering into the debate of whether or not Superman should parent him as batman suggests (he could have at least talk to him as a friend or as a mentor). His attitude towards superboy has been a bit “un-supermanly”. Not because flaws are unexpected from superman but because this is exactly the flaw I wouldn’t expect from superman (maybe from batman, captain marvel or whatever but not from superman).

As you may know in modern superman mythos, father son relationships have been a pretty big deal on the story of superman.

“The son becomes the father and the father becomes the son” that phrase coined by superman’s franchise sum up that fact. Superman is pretty much and orphan and a stray like superboy . We know that he is a good person thanks to his parent. I think Jorel from smallville summed it best:

Jor-El: We have been down our long road, Kal-El -- one paved with difficult trials. Those trials are behind you now. Any father can only hope that he is one day humbled by the feats of his son. But it is your soul, Kal-El, of which I am most proud. You -- and you alone -- possess the courage, the determination, and the compassion that will be required of you to life the darkness from the Earth. (returns the superman suit to Clark) I ask you to remember one thing. Your abilities may be of my blood, but it is your time in Smallville(Superman was much ore accepting of Conner in that continuity in fact), with Jonathan and Martha Kent and all the people there, that made you a hero, Kal-El.

I also couldn’t help to notice the fact that Goliath from gargoyles that as opposed to superman doesn’t have our idea of parenting was more accepting of his EVIL clone thailog than Superman is from (as far as he is aware) good clone Superboy
We superman fans admire him because he is a good person not just because of his powers. In fact that’s what makes him different from other “flying brick” characters like captain marvel, the sentry Thor or whatever and the reason this specific flaw doesn’t feel right with superman.

Nevertheless in my eyes you are a great writer, this superman dilema has brought a big debate with my friends. This is a testament that you even your subplots leave a lot to talk about

Thanks for yout time

Greg responds...

Okay... mostly, we'll just have to agree to disagree here.

But (a) Superman, or rather Clark Kent is NOT an orphan. He has no memory of being an orphan. He intellectually gets that he was one. But he was raised first by Jor-El and Lara and then by the Kents. He never knew life without parents.

(b) "The son becomes the father and the father becomes the son" comes from movies. I loved the first movie. Haven't cared for any of the others. But either way, I see no particular reason to make THAT a defining characteristic of Superman. I mean, what about his two mothers? Don't they carry equal weight?

(c) I loved the pilot to Smallville, but quickly lost interest after that. I'd tune in occasionally when a promo piqued my interest - but I'm not going to base our version of Superman on anything at all from Smallville. I can't. I didn't see most of it.

I'm trying to go to the CORE of the character, as I know him from years and years of reading, writing and thinking about the character. And, I agree the core of Superman is good. But it's not flawless. And I just don't feel like you're focusing on how TRULY DISTURBING Superboy's mere existence would be to him - on all sorts of levels. I also think that you're not focusing on how little time has passed. Also, he's convinced himself that Superboy is better off NOT being in his shadow. You may disagree. I may disagree. But it's a legitimate POV, and for now he's hanging his hat on that.

And generally, I still think you're looking at the entire issue in very black and white terms, allowing for no shades of grey. Which is EASY to do in our series because we're almost exclusively seeing the problem from SuperBOY's POV. And we're not seeing SuperMAN work through it.

But you know all this already, because I've said all this already. So, like I said - let's just agree to disagree.

Response recorded on February 06, 2012

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Jonny Modlin writes...

Can you please contact Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment to ask them if they are going to release Gargoyles Season 2, Volume 2 and Gargoyles Season 3 both on DVD in 2012?

Greg responds...

I don't know anyone there anymore.

Response recorded on February 06, 2012


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