A Station Eight Fan Web Site
Ask Greg Archives
REVELATIONS 2012-02 (Feb)
Archive Index
: « First : « 25 : Displaying #71 - #95 of 299 records. : 25 » : Last » :
Posts Per Page: 1 : 10 : 25 : 50 : 100 : All :
Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...
I was wondering your opinion on the New 52. Not the execution, I have a hunch you don't have the time to read much of any of it, but the idea of it.
Although I have found a few books I really like, in general I object to heaving aside continuity and trying to rejam the history back into a too short time frame while wiping out character development. The idea of accessibility is a red herring because if they were capable of sticking to self contain arc inviting to new readers they wouldn't need a reboot to do so. Then again, I came into comics after Crisis on Infinite Earths and am conditioned into thinking it was necessary.
Greg responds...
As you noted, I have NOT had the time to read the New 52, so I will not comment on that specifically. Whether or not it works creatively depends more than anything else on execution. Since I haven't seen the execution, I can't respond to how it works creatively. But I KNOW that commercially it's been a HUGE hit. I like to believe that it wouldn't have done quite so well, if it wasn't executed well too.
But generally, on the idea of reboots, I do have a handful of thoughts:
1. I don't want to be a hypocrite. When we started Spectacular Spider-Man and again on Young Justice, we were effectively doing a continuity reboot. I feel when adapting something to a new media, that's essential, but it doesn't change the fact that (a) we did it and (b) I was relieved to be able to do it. Relieved to be able to jettison elements that I felt didn't work or were redundant or confusing, etc. Our goal, particularly on Spider-Man, was to come up with something Classic, Cohesive, Coherent, Contemporary and Iconic. So how can I object if the comics themselves want to do this?
2. In the end, whether or not either SpecSpidey or YJ was/is successful depends on our execution of our ideas, additions and cullings. I like to think both shows are successful, but that's a judgement each individual viewer would have to make for him or herself.
3. I was working on staff at DC Comics during the publication of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. In fact, during my very first editorial meeting, I raised the question as to why we weren't starting ALL our books over (with the numerical exceptions of Detective and Action Comics) with issue #1. I remember very clearly a collective groan rising up from the conference room table. (They had dealt with this question for months before my arrival.) On the one hand, they wanted Crisis to be a real sea-change, a true reboot (before we knew that term). On the other hand, if you truly reboot Batman, then Robin doesn't exist yet. No Robin, no other sidekicks either. So no Teen Titans. And at the time, the New Teen Titans was the company's best selling book.
4. So the end result was that some things got rebooted and some did not.
5. This was complicated by the fact that certain creators came late to the party, and certain characters got reboots too long AFTER Crisis.
6. And so, as a READER, I couldn't help feeling that - rather than simplifying the continuity - Crisis made it more complicated. This will happen in general, naturally, as time passes and more and more comics are produced by a variety of creators and editors, but Crisis seemed to exacerbate the problem for me personally.
7. In part this was because, I really liked the DC Multiverse. I agree that it was abused to the point of confusion. (And I think it was nuts that Earth TWO had the forties heroes and Earth ONE had the sixties heroes. Just the odd backwards numbering itself created additional unnecessary confusion.) But if limits had been placed on the number of parallel earth stories and crossovers, I think it could have been fine.
8. ESPECIALLY, if they had created a new Earth-THREE, starting over with heroes of the eighties, with Superman and Batman (being new to the hero thing but) remaining relatively constant. But with a new Green Lantern (for example) as different from Hal Jordan as Jordan was from Alan Scott.
9. But that didn't happen. And in fact, though I've read very few comics since 1996, my understanding is that reboots have hit over and over at both DC and Marvel. That negates reader trust in the worth and weight of the stories they're reading. It's more insidious than obvious. And you risk alienating old readers, even as you may or may not attract new ones. You'll always get a short term gain off of a reboot, because everyone wants to check it out. But long term...
10. And going back to my first point - which is that most everything depends on execution - I personally didn't love the execution of some of the post-Crisis rebooting. Some people may have loved it. And that's totally legit. But some of the rethinking on certain individual characters didn't work too well for me.
11. Though personally I think the Bates-Weisman-Broderick reboot on Captain Atom from his Charlton incarnation was brilliant. ;)
12. So, personally, my feeling on reboots in general is that you either do them or you don't. You've got to be thorough and ruthless about it, or don't bother, because otherwise - long term - you're creating more problems than you're solving.
13. And still and all, ultimately, it all depends on execution.
Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...
Most recent comics....so I see how General Eiling could get into Failsafe through the teams experience. That still leaves the question of Bard, and as someone else caught, Reid.
Secret- didn't blow me away like the other recent episodes...but I don't need to be completely blown away each episode. Few things:
1- Loved Mal showing up in Conner's original comic costume... and Conner not liking it. I've always preferred him in a real costume, though in context of the show it makes sense he doesn't have one. (Also loved Marvin the Martian's 'appearance'.)
2- It's been ages since I've reread the original Young Justice comics, but since Peter David also wrote this ep, I guess some connections can be drawn. The connection I seemed to have missed way back when was that Harm actually loved Gretta. Given how he seemed such a sociopath even in childhood flashback, it never occurred to me he killed his sister because he actually cared for her. (He seemed to harbor no such feelings for their parents.) Very vaguely I now remember a scene in Gretta's swiss cheese memory implying a relationship. It leaves me in the awkward position of wanted to reread the books to refresh my memory and not wanting to as not to confuse the show.
3-I was surprised how negatively Artemas reacted to Conner and M'gan's relationship. I had gotten the impression that she was knowingly pursuing Wally. That said, I like Zatanna picking up on it and her general offer and pushing for talking about the various things Artemas has bottled up.
4-I was also surprised that part of the team, well, excluding Wally, still thought Artemas was really Green Arrow's niece. I figured they all just assumed that the League vouched for her. So did Robin figure it out or did Bruce tell him?
5-The description of M'gann's origin differs gratefully with he own words in the comics. Er...I can't think of a single question that wouldn't qualify as a spoiler request.
Greg responds...
4. Robin figured it out. Batman would not have betrayed Artemis' confidence.
Alex Y. writes...
This is a less serious question, but I find myself particularly curious. If Robin and Aqualad hadn't skipped out on the dance to have a meeting with Batman and Red Arrow, what would they have dressed up as?
As a closing note, Secrets was a wonderfully done episode, with many shocking and powerful moments in it(seriously thought the sword was going to kill Harm for a few seconds after it rejected him. Would have been an interesting end, albeit a bit too... gruesome for a kid's show, though the fact that I believed it could happen shows how much you guys take the audience seriously, and I like that)
I also liked the insight into Artemis' character, though it would have been nice for her to open up just a bit... or at least finish that sentence, even if we did know what she was about to say.
Greg responds...
1. I don't know.
Anonymous writes...
In "failsafe" during the scene where red arrow Zatanna are getting ready, and Garth and Tula come through the teleporter, who is the other girl standing next to Zatanna?
Greg responds...
Rocket.
warrior93 writes...
1. why did ya'll deleted some of my questions?
2. Do durlans exist on earth 16?
3. Are the light members equal or is there a rank?
Greg responds...
1. I didn't. If our moderator did, it was because you broke one of our rules.
2. SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.
3. They're equals.
Dude from NYC writes...
I liked Queen Mera, will she make more appearances?
Greg responds...
SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.
Anonymous writes...
Greetings Mr. Weisman,
I want you to know Young Justice is my favorite new show on cartoon network and that I LOVED the episode "Secrets," it was SO CREEPY that I almost forgot I was watching a cartoon (which in alot of ways is better than live action in my opinion lol). Harm was one seriously spooky bad guy, super powers and magic sword aside, what made him truly horrifying was how he came across as a realistic sociopath, a monster you could, god forbid, encounter in real life as opposed to a killer android or alien invader, etc. He wasn't scary because of his powers & magic sword, he was scary because he was a madman who just happened to acquire super powers to go along with his already impressive skills (worse possible scenario for the good guys). What I'd like to ask is...
1) Did Harm's super powers, his crazy strength & invulnerability, come from the Sword of Beowulf along with the lightning bolt attacks or were they powers he already possessed? I only ask because I was confused by the scene where Gretta removed the tattoo mark from over his heart...I know Harm lost control over the sword when Gretta shook his resolve & made him feel guilt, but was the tattoo the physical manifestation of his link to the Sword or was it somekind of magic seal he already had in place to grant him all those other powers?
2) Where did Harm learn his fighting skills? He had to have received training in martial arts and swordsmanship from someone right? Or did he seriously teach himself all those fighting moves? Which, if that is the case, is pretty damn scary in and of itself O_O
3) Where were Harm's and Gretta's folks? Did Harm kill them too or were they orphans?
Greg responds...
1. His super-human abilities came from the Sword. She didn't take his tattoo. You misinterpreted the action.
2. He's mostly self-taught... through fighting others.
3. ASKED AND ANSWERED.
Anonymous writes...
Will we ever see a depiction of the planet Krypton on YJ?
Greg responds...
SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.
Young Justice Fan writes...
Love Secrets! Just wished it showed more of Artemis past. Anyway loved it can't wait until next episode.
Anyway just curious though, why was Artemis upset when she realized Miss. M. and Supperboy were a couple. was it A)She is crushing on Superboy? B)She sees Miss. M. as a sister/close friend and thought she would tell her if they were dating? or C)We will see why in a future episode?
Please give me a reason. Thanks:)
Greg responds...
A and B and more. It's complicated.
Anonymous writes...
Hey Greg,
I've got a curious questions to ask you.
a. Young Justice is classified as Earth-16 in the DC multiverse, although there had been contradictory information about this version of Earth prior to the announcement that the show would take place here. The first contraction claims that Earth-16 was the home of the Super-Sons (Superman Jr. and Batman Jr.) as indicated by early material such as DC Nation Issue #89. The second contradiction, which ruled out the Super-Sons continuity, claims that an alternate version of Superman (who was called Christopher Kent) was a native to this universe, as indicated by "Countdown: Arena" (This was a four-issue comic book series). This leads me to my question: When you decided you use Earth-16 for your show, did you (and your team) noticed these contradictions before when working on your ideas for the show, and did you set up some kind of story-wise explanation as to how these contradictions were removed?
b. At the end of "Schooled," Professor Ivo managed to evade The Team. However, in "Terrors," he somehow winds up in Belle Reve. Will this somehow be explained in a later episode of the show or in a future comic issue?
c. Miss Martian, as with all other Martians, are vulnerable to fire. However, in "Revelation," after Robin destroys the Ivy's plant transmitter, she was shown next to Robin and small flames were around them from the destruction of the transmitter. Interestingly, she was not shown to be vulnerable at that time. Was that some kind of mistake?
Thanks for reading.
Greg responds...
a. ASKED AND ANSWERED.
b. ASKED AND ANSWERED.
c. The flames weren't that close and/or weren't giving off that much heat.
Anonymous writes...
First of all this show it absolutely amazing. It is my favorite. All the other shows just are super boring! Please keep going! I was just wondering What are the episodes for December?
Greg responds...
Of what year?
warrior93 writes...
61. Where is harm now?
62. Where were harm parents?
63. What martial arts does batman, robin, and artemis know?
64. Did 9/11, hurricane katrina, or the iraq war happened on earth 16?
65. Have any other superheroes were involved in any other wars besides ww2?
66. Were any of the jsa members were active crimefighters after the jsa disbanded?
67. Did jay fight any supervillans during his semi retired days?
68. How hard was for ya'll to get alyson stoner?
69. Does robin school have any halloween events?
70. Where did captain marvel go trick or treating and how much candy did he get?
Greg responds...
61. (Why 61?) Anyway, he's awaiting trial and a psych evaluation in New York, most likely.
62. Dead.
63. Plenty O'
64. Yes.
65. Depends what you mean by "involved".
66. Yes.
67. Yes.
68. I don't recall it being hard, though of course we were glad to have her as part of the cast.
69. I don't know.
70. Fawcett City.
70a. Don't know.
Anonymous writes...
I think what that one anonymous person meant about Artemis living in Gotham is, if she's supposed to be Green Arrow's sidekick, shouldn't she be living in Star City, where she can be more available to, uh, do sidekick things?
Greg responds...
But she doesn't live in Star City. She lives in Gotham City. It's where she was brought up and where she lives. It's where her mother lives. Just because it would be convenient for Green Arrow, doesn't make it so.
Fortunately, Star City is just a Zeta-Tube ride away.
Anonymous writes...
Did mutants exist in the spider-man show?
Greg responds...
If you're talking Spectacular Spider-Man, then they might have if we had had more episodes and permission...
I definitely had plans for Cyclops, Beast and Professor X, at least. Iceman too. Heck, maybe Firestar, eventually.
warrior93 writes...
Why does it take you so long to answer questions?
Greg responds...
Because I get questions like THIS one, taking up my time.
And because people insist on bogging down the queue with spoiler requests and repeat questions.
And because I have a job and a life, i.e. other things that I NEED to do.
This, believe it or not, I do because it's fun. (Most of the time.)
warrior93 writes...
What was lex luthor hair color?
Was joe chill a hired assassian hired to kill the waynes and was he ever sorry that he killed them?
How did batman and co found out about venom?
Can kryptoians have kids with humans on earth 16?
What was the worst injuries batman ever recieved
Greg responds...
1. Red, I think.
2a. No.
2b. Not so far.
3. Batman's a detective.
4. I don't see how.
5. I don't know. Probably a gunshot wound of some kind. No broken backs, if that's what you're getting at.
bob writes...
why did clu kill his own men on tron betrayal.
Greg responds...
I have no expertise on Tron. And I'm betting you knew that.
warrior93 writes...
1. Why did Klarion joined the light?
2. What young justice questions are considered spoilers?
3. Are you bothered by the amount of young justice questions?
4. Where do most supervillians draw the line for instance do most of the belle reeve inmates hate sexual crimes?
5. How long has guardian been working at cadmus and how long has he been a superhero?
6. How long has green arrow has been a superhero?
Greg responds...
1. Mostly, because it seemed like fun.
2. Anything that asks about stuff yet to come.
3. Not by the "amount" of questions, but I am bothered by (a) the repeated requests for spoilers and (b) the repeated requests for answers that have ALREADY been answered. (That last category would include this question, by the way.)
4. The population of an entire prison is too diverse to answer this.
5. He's been a hero for two years and head of security at Cadmus for one.
6. Nine years.
conner writes...
1.Why did Artemis laugh when Zatanna asked how long have Conner and Megan been a couple?
Greg responds...
She thought Zatanna was confused.
Anonymous writes...
Hello Mr. Weisman,
I know that sometimes in DC Comics, there are storylines that are presented that usually take place a certain number of years ahead of the present, which usually show possible futures. In your opinion, will this concept be explored in the Young Justice Show at some point?
Greg responds...
SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT.
Anonymous writes...
About Failsafe - do the characters in the training actually exist? We know Eiling exists in the real world, but are Jason Bard and David Reid actual soldiers or only created for the mission?
Greg responds...
They are or were soldiers that Martian Manhunter knows.
Anonymous writes...
Hi Greg,
Without spoiling any names, can you please tell how many villains there are from each character's Rouges' Gallery (For example: Batman -## villains)? I don't believe numbers count as spoilers because technically you're not naming anybody, and giving the numbers allows fans to think about the possible candidates, since not every villain will show up on the show, right?
Thanks! Looking forward to the next episode!
Greg responds...
No. Just no. Aside from the fact, that this is a de facto spoiler, no matter how you spin it, it's also a massive pain to compile. (And that's aside from the fact that some villains could easily be listed under more than one hero. For example, Kingpin is both a Spider-Man and a Daredevil villain.)
Once the season ends - YOU CAN DO IT!
Otherwise, just exercise a little patience.
conner writes...
1.In terrors why didn't Superboy wait until they were back at the cave and weren't undercover to kiss Miss Martian?
2.How well do Conner and Mal get along?
3.Does anyone at school know Conner and Megan are dating?
Greg responds...
1. It was an impulse.
2. You've seen 'em. What do you think?
3. I think many people at Happy Harbor High assumed they were dating even before they were.
Anonymous writes...
If Zatanna was grounded, why was she allowed to gallivant around on Halloween?
Greg responds...
Who confirmed she was actually grounded - let alone for how long?
Lucia writes...
Is there anyone in Young Justice that can sing? It's a silly question, but just asking.
Greg responds...
I'm sure there is.
: « First : « 25 : Displaying #71 - #95 of 299 records. : 25 » : Last » :