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REVELATIONS 2012-07 (Jul)

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Young Justice Fan writes...

Hi Mr. Weisman! I love Young Justice. Absolutely fantastic show. The plot is so thick and intricate -- amazing for a literary junkie like myself!

I was wondering how far in advance you guys have the show planned? For example, when you and Mr. Vietti and Mr. Hopps and the other fabulous writers sat down to plot out Season 1, how much of Season 2 was clear for you guys? How much of a potential Season 3? No spoilers needed -- just a general question.

Thank you so much for your wonderful work and willingness to answer fan questions!

Greg responds...

While developing Season One, we had a solid idea of what we had in mind for Season Two - including the time skip. And we had/have solid ideas for Season Three, including another time skip.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Ed writes...

1. I don´t understand in the YJ comics White Martians look exactly like Green Martians do except they´re well white. So why does Megan´s true form look the opposite and I understand that not all aliens will look human or humanoid?

2. How different are Kryptonians from humans except the superpowered part?

Greg responds...

1. In the comic, M'gann was describing visuals to her friends that were false. But keep in mind that White Martians and Green Martians DO look pretty much alike. If you think J'onn's showing his true form, you're wrong. He is Green, but he doesn't look like Martian Manhunter at all.

2. Visually, not different at all.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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David writes...

Will Gargoyles ever be released on Region 2 DVD? UK fans are missing out, and I'm becoming desperate to watch it again!

Greg responds...

I have no idea.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Leslie writes...

Hi, um, I apologize if you've already answered this; I did search the archives beforehand, but just in case I somehow missed it, I'm sorry.

My question is about Robin from your TV series, Young Justice. When you listed the languages that each member of the team speaks, you confirmed that Robin is multilingual, and named a few languages he's fluent in. But you didn't mention anything about Romanian, which I thought was his mother tongue. So which language in your show-Romanian or English-is his first language? And what is his nationality, then?

Thank you, both for reading/answering this, and for Young Justice, which is truly Phenomenal. :D

Greg responds...

He's American born. Perhaps he speaks Romanian too. But I have to admit, this is the first time in over forty years of reading comics that I've heard anything about Dick Grayson's nationality being Romanian...

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Dan writes...

Hi Greg. I wanted to tell you I was impressed with the most recent YJ episode Image. I did NOT expect the topic of Meg's appearance as Hello Megan to be broached in this way, nor did I expect Meg's, evidently crippling, fear of her appearance being known to be presented and exercised in this way. This show keeps breaking expectation. You've become very skilled at taking the less obvious path, even in the minutia. I love it, and wish you many, many years of renewal.

Also found the creator credits for the Hello Megan intro amusing. Was it fun scripting & storyboarding the show's intro & segments? You got to break genre for a bit there. I liked Superboy's reaction to finding out his namesake a lot. I'm curious to see the fallout, if any.

Greg responds...

Doing "Hello, Megan!" was a TON of fun.

Writer Nicole Dubuc even made us "Hello, Megan!" crew t-shirts, which a bunch of us wore to SDCC in 2011.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

1 - Were Angela and Broadway still virgins by the time of "Phoenix?"
2 - Goliath and Demona became mates during "Vows", did they lose their virginity that night?

Greg responds...

1. No.

2. Yes.

(Both of these are canon-in-training answers, of course.)

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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P. N. Guinn writes...

First, I just want to say that Gargoyles is one of my all-time favorite shows, and I often return to it when I'm lonely and I'm always pleased by how fresh episodes like "Vows" remain after many viewings many years later. I'm also a big fan of Young Justice--to be honest, it took a while for the show to win me over 100% (of course, very high expectations were in place, both because it's a DC animated property and because you were working on it), but, I'll admit I've watched the Brazilian "leaks" up through "Unusual Suspects" and those episodes are pitch perfect, so, great job, and many thanks. I'm VERY excited for what's next.

Now, on to my questions:

As several people have pointed out, Brazil and Turkey are ahead of the US in terms of airing schedule. I don't know if you're aware, but fans have undertaken to sub the broadcast episodes back into English. I know you have mixed feelings on the subject of fanfiction, but I wonder if you have feelings on the practice of fans sub titling your work, originally created in English, back into English with their own translations? (And if you do have feelings/ideas on the subject, would you care to share?)

And while we're on the subject of fanfiction--I know a lot of authors who engage their fans have a public policy of not reading fanfiction, and you're among these. IIRC, the reason is because you don't want to incur the risk of being sued by a fan who claims you stole their work. I'm a law student and something of a nerd/geek, so I'm intensely curious to know where you picked this idea up. I'm taking copyright right now, and two of the doctrines we've learned seem to be in contradiction with the viability of this fear: (A) The idea/expression distinction (ideas are not protected under copyright, only their expression, so the idea of having Prospero on Gargoyles, even if you got it from another source, would probably not be considered infringement since the idea of having Prospero on Gargoyles is probably too abstract, whereas if there were a specific fanfic which predated a Gargoyles comic by five years and the Gargoyles comic carefully followed the plot of the fanfic, that could be a case of copyright infringement). And, (B) Infringing works are deprived of copyright protection, so if a fanfic infringes on a copyright (which, presumably almost all fanfic does, unless fanfic is fair use), it would have no copyright protection. (Here a critical question is whether fanfiction is fair use, which is an odd little quirk of the law, in that it's a well-known black hole in the law of copyright that seems unlikely to be adjudicated, and therefore, unlikely to ever be resolved.)

Of course, I'm not a lawyer (yet) and this is by no means intended to be legal advice, and I'm also not suggesting that you read fanfiction (personally, I'd rather you produce your awesome original stuff than spend time reading fanfic). But as a law nerd, I'm intensely interested in the relationship between perceptions of the law and the law on the books, and to what extent the law (and perceptions thereof) impact professional practice.

Thank you both for your wonderful works, and for your time.

Greg responds...

1. I am HORRIFIED that people are watching episodes for the first time on YouTube - and in a different language no less. Given that those episodes were due to air in the U.S. in a matter of mere weeks, I think it's appalling that anyone would choose to watch them that way. So then having someone sub or dub it back into English seems beyond preposterous - and again mildly HORRIFYING. Just be patient and watch the shows as they were meant to be watched. Don't spoil them for yourselves.

2. I learned this fear from corporate attorneys at EVERY entertainment company that's ever employed me. And I've also learned this fear from personal experience from fans and others who have filed lawsuits or threatened to. And that's the key. It's not about who has a valid case, it's about who can make me miserable by filing suit - and how I can protect myself (as much as possible) from exposing myself to that misery.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Hey greg! First of all, I just wanna say that Young Justice is my favorite show, and whatever you're doing, keep doing it. :) I just had a few comments on the last couple of episodes...
IMAGE- loved it. I really liked how M'gann was forced to become her true self and I especially loved the ending with Queen Bee telling her to 'cooperate or everyone will know'. Nice touch, really enjoyed it.
1) Why did it seem like Robin didn't really want to be leader? Was it because of what happened in Failsafe?
2) Where was Zatanna? I thought she was a part of the team, but i didn't see her here.
3) Does Martian Manhunter know that M'gann is not really a green martian? Does anyone else know, or does everyone believe her?
COLDHEARTED- I liked this one, not my favorite necissarily, but I definatly enjoyed it, and I can't think of any question I have that wouldn't be classified as a spoiler.
MISPLACED- I had been waiting for this episode since the series stopped in 2011, and let me just say it was worth the wait. I loved it, I loved Zatanna's heart breaking cry to her father just before he put on the helmet, I loved how Captain Marvel seemed to make the terrible situation funny. And again, no questions without spoilers...
Thanks for reading and I hope I didn't waste your time! Sorry if there are any spoilers or anything, I tried my best to stay away... Please answer as best as you can :)

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. You also didn't see Artemis or Aqualad.

3a. Yes.

3b. They all know now.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Jasae writes...

Hello there mister Weisman, I am a big fan of your animated works (gargoyles in perticular) Admittedly im not very versed in dc comics though I really do enjoy the young justice series and as i was watching through it I developed a few questions I was itching to ask if its not to much trouble.

1. What was the original t.o morrows motive for creating the red robots?
2. Ive heard alot of people talk about legal issues regarding characters use and even a rumor that you intended to use 'wonder girl' but couldn't. I know legalities is probably not your forte but I was just curious what sort of legal issues could arise if their all characters owned by dc comics.
3. Assuming in theory that the show turns out to be a sensational hit with the audience and the network (which it already is) for many years to come, how long would you want to keep the show running? Possibly a silly question but what im trying to ask more is 'do you have an overall ending planned for the series or will you invent more story so long as your able?'
4. and i really really really hope this does not offend but I wanted to say I found your four response to this set of questions http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=14460 to be hilariously amusing. XD
By chance do you have any other 'spoilers' along those lines for any of your projects past or present?

Greg responds...

1. To infiltrate and destroy his heroic opponents.

2. I don't know. Though to correct your "rumor" - we were informed before we even really got started that WG (both of them) were off limits, so she was never really included in our development of Season One. Obviously, that changed during the Season, so we included Cassie during our development of Season Two.

3. No set ending, no. I'll keep going as long as they're willing to put up with me.

4. Yes, I can tell lies until the cows come home. But I have to be in the right mood.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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I'm Sexy and I Know It writes...

How did Cheshire survive on her own when she ran away?

Greg responds...

How does any runaway with the skills of an assassin survive?

Seriously, I'm not saying there isn't a fun story (or sixteen) to tell about this, but this is NOT the forum where I'd tell it (them).

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

i remeber reading in the archives that you pitched a premise for transformers in the 80s. when you say premise do you mean like a story arc or single episode. do you remeber what your idea was? be interested to hear what you would have done with that universe.

Greg responds...

Cary Bates and I pitched five separate springboards for individual episodes. No arcs.

Here's one:

THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Transformer Premise
by Bates and Weisman
(4-11-86)

After endless study of Transformer programming specifications, Quarto Quintesson, a young programmer-artist has designed a construct that has a 97% probability of starting a devastating war between the Decepticons and the Autobots.

The Quintessons send a few Sharkticons to one of Saturn's moons. The Sharkticons drop off the construct and retreat. Earth sensors detect the Sharkticon intrusion. Rodimus Prime, Spike, Blurr and Bumblebee are in the vicinity on a diplomatic mission. They pause to investigate. Arriving on the moon, they discover the construct. The construct is a small crystalline "sculpture" on a rotating stand. The "sculpture" looks like an over-sized three-dimensional micro-chip. As it turns on its stand, colored light refracts through the crystals and a soft music is played.

Spike says: "Hey, it's like an old-fashioned music box!" But it takes him a few seconds to realize that the Autobots are absolutely entranced by the beauty that they perceive in the "Ultrachip".

Cut to Chaar, where Quarto has arrived to seek an audience with the mad leader Galvatron. He informs Galvatron of the mysterious Ultrachip that all Transformers will desire, but that the Autobots will attempt to keep from the Decepticons. Cyclonus suggests that such an Ultrachip might help Galvatron consolidate his rule over the divisive Decepticons. Galvatron is infuriated at the suggestion that he needs any help and attacks Cyclonus but then unpredictably changes his mind and sends Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps to appropriate the Ultrachip.

Meanwhile, on Saturn's moon, Spike is explaining the concept of art to the Autobots, who like eternal soldiers, have never had the time to think about such things before. Spike accesses computer hologram records of various earth masterpieces...Rodin's The Thinker, Warhol's Soup Can, Bisin's Quantum Lady, etc. None has any real effect on the Autobots. The Ultrachip, however, is something new and wonderful to them.

And then Cyclonus and the Sweeps attack. The Autobots defend themselves, and the Ultrachip is momentarily forgotten, until the Decepticons get a good look at it. They too are mesmorized by its beauty. Without truly understanding why and having little to do with Galvatron's orders, they know that they must have it at any cost. The Autobots feel the same.

Spike pulls Rodimus aside and asks whether this "music box" merits all this trouble. Rodimus must explain that to Transformers, there can be no greater prize. Nevertheless, he offers Cyclonus a compromise. The Ultrachip will be left in a neutral location, where both Autobot and Decepticon can admire it. Cyclonus refuses the offer. Only the Decepticons may gaze upon the Ultrachip. Blurr in turn says that only the Autobots will be allowed to admire it.

Watching on his viewscreen, Quarto is practically gleeful, soon this skirmish will escalate into a full fledged war.

The battle continues. And the fragile Ultrachip is nearly destroyed by the conflict. Rodimus makes the extremely difficult decision to let Cyclonus take the Ultrachip. Better that the Decepticons get it, than that such beauty should be destroyed. Thus the Quintessons' latest plot is foiled by Rodimus' reason and compassion.

Cyclonus takes the Ultrachip back to Chaar and gives it to Galvatron, who orders everyone to clear his chamber. When he is alone, the mad leader destroys the Ultrachip...(or maybe he doesn't).

And on Cybertron, Kup is talking to Rodimus about the Ultrachip: "Too bad the Decepticons got it, we got a raw deal!"

But Rodimus opens a door, where we see Bumblebee, playing with crystals, constructing his own personal artistic Ultrachip, and Rodimus points out, "They may have gotten the chip, but we got the inspiration."

Now, before ANYONE posts questions about this premise, please keep in mind that this was TWENTY-SIX years ago. I remember NOTHING more than what you see above. NOTHING.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Some questions about the YJ episode "Image."
1. How old is Marie Logan and when did "Hello Megan" originally air?
2. If the show is so obscure it's not on the Internet, why were the reruns on the Comedy Classics Channel?

Greg responds...

1. At the time of "Image", Marie is 47.

1b. "Hello, Megan!" aired during the 1979-1980 television season.

2. They were checking to see if it would get any ratings.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Nelson writes...

Just a funny question I can think of:

How would Commissioner James Gordon react if you played the song "Bad Boys by Inner Circle" (The same theme song from the TV show "Cops" and the "Will Smith & Martin Lawrence movies") when he's around?

Greg responds...

I guess it would depend on context.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Jeff H writes...

Hey Greg,

First of all, thanks for the great work on Young Justice. It is incredibly enthralling and engaging. I definitely feel the same investment to catch every episode week to week as I did with Spectacular Spider-Man. The great ingenuity in storytelling is quite apparent here as it was in SSM.

I've had the great pleasure to catch the latest episode, Image, and I had noticed something in the end during the scene between Queen B and Miss Martian. It seems that during some angles in the scene, there is someone in the corner, hiding in the shadows, watching the whole exchange. I couldn't tell if what I saw was genuine or a pixel issue due to my TV being quite outdated, and I tried confirming it by watching the rerun, but to no avail. I have a belief that it was Robin in the corner, but can you confirm this? If the figure was meant to be ambiguous, can you confirm that here was a figure in the corner at the very least? Or are my eyes just seeing things? Thanks for your time.

P.S. Huge kudos to the introduction of Gar. What a fantastic approach to such a fun character as well as the references in the Hello, Megan credits.

Greg responds...

I think you're seeing things, I'm afraid. Let's blame the pixels.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Jasser writes...

I'ed like to start off with a complaint, really guys? I understand you have questions about unaired episodes, but do you HAVE to word them like plot summeries? the probebly twist's of the FOUR episodes are now compromised. Sorry Greg, but i don't think ill be checking the unawnsered question section anymore, the next month of episodes have soured because of it. I'm sorry, but i just really enjoy that sense of surprise when you get deeply immense in a show and they hit you with that curve ball, it's no fun seeing it coming.

Okay, that was unnecessary and whinny,but hey-moving onto questions...

1. When megan retained her human eyes in her ''fake'' real martian form, was that an oversight on her part/attempt at remaining connectable, or do girl martians really look like that.

2.Could you please elaborate on Queen Bee's form of hypnosis?Sorry for vagueness, but the wiki entry is dry and i'm curious.

3.Can Teekle be killed? (that sounds like something that would be asked in the past..)

4. Is the whole ''Hello ,Megan!'' catchphrase going to continue now that it's origin has been revealed?(you must have been laughing every time someone said is was forced and tiring-considering that was almost the point..that was the intended reaction.mind=blown).
5. Dose doctor fate need sleep? and what dose he do when he's not survaying the world for magical threats and what not..

Greg responds...

0. I understand and feel your pain, but it's now fair game to check the unanswered questions as the moderators are booting all spoilers out.

1. It was fake.

2. It's pheromone driven.

3. Sure. But not easily.

4. On occasion.

5. Nabu doesn't, but his host does. And when is he NOT on duty?

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Chaz Alexander R. Clark writes...

So mr. weisman. When you pitch the comedy version of the gargoyles. Why it got rejected? that could be a cool show.

Greg responds...

You'd have to ask Michael Eisner that question.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Brazilian Guy writes...

Could you give us a few details on what the process to create an episode is like? I have no idea what doing online and locked picture mean...thanks!

Greg responds...

Sure.

1. We start/started by breaking down the entire season on index cards on a VERY large bulletin board.

2. Once the basic arc was approved, I wrote up premises for every episode in the season. Each premise is about a page long.

3. We brought in our freelance writers and broke down a handful of episodes at a time, with each writer in the meeting (myself included) taking one episode as their own, but with every writer in the meeting contributing ideas and notions to everyone's story.

4. The writer goes off with my written premise and the notes from the meeting and writes up an outline. This is a prose document, broken down by scene/sequence of about 8 to 10 pages in length. For me, as a story editor this is a VERY important step, as it nails down the story, making script writing much easier.

5. I do a rewrite on the writer's outline and submit it to WB, CN, DC, Brandon Vietti and the episode's director for notes.

6. The writer goes off with my revised outline and all the notes and writes a script.

7. I do a rewrite on the writer's script and submit it for notes to WB, CN, DC, BV, S&P, legal and the episode's director. Usually showed it to Kevin Hopps as well, who was great at catching my mistakes. The first season, Kevin was on staff, and it was part of his job. The second season, he just did it as a favor. Good guy.

8. I do another rewrite or polish based on all the notes.

9. We record the script, casting any new rolls, etc.

10. Simultaneously, the storyboards are begun...

11. While at the same time, design work for the episode begins: characters, backgrounds, props, effects. This is ALL black and white line-art at first.

12. The boards are roughed out and get notes from the director.

13. The boards are cleaned up and submitted to Brandon and myself.

14. Brandon and I give notes, and the boards are revised.

15. Meanwhile, designs are approved and then we go through the same process with color and background painting.

16. Boards are slugged for time to make sure the show isn't too long or too short.

17. X-Sheets (timing sheets) are created to give detailed information to the animators about how long each individual action will take and to give mouth movements to the characters.

18. All these materials are shipped to Korea to either Moi or Lotto to be animated.

19. We occasionally call for "Wedge Tests" that allow us to preview important or tricky bits of animation in advance to make sure we're getting what we want.

20. The animation comes back rough from overseas. Our editor Jhoanne Reyes compiles it into what we call an A-Frame. It's a very ROUGH cut.

21. Brandon, Jho, David Wilcox and myself call retakes, i.e. we ask the overseas studio for animation corrections. We also call out visual effects for Matt Girardi.

22. Brandon, Jho and I edit the episode, LOCKING it to the exact time that the network requires.

23. We spot the locked episode with our composers, Dynamic Music Partners, pointing out where and what we are looking for in the music.

24. We do the same thing with Audio Circus, our sound effects experts.

25. We preview the music in advance of the sound mix to make sure it's on target.

26. Generally, by now most of the retakes have come back from Korea and Matt's done most of his effects work too.

27. We mix the show for sound. That is we sit in a room and painstakingly balance the sound effects with the foley with the music with the dialogue.

28. We "On-Line" the episode. This is our last final view of the finished product to make sure everything is as good as time, budget and our abilities will allow it to be.

There's obviously more to it than all of the above, but that should give you the basics.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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Curious writes...

(1)So obviously Bialya and Qurac along with the two asian countries in the episode with Red Arrow and Cheshire were all fake. Do you guys choose to create fake countries in order to not offend the real countries?
(2)I saw that you guys kept the cat mask concept on Cheshire from Teen Titans. Is there anything else that influenced you from the Teen Titans show? If yes you can just say yes, you don't have to go into detail about the influences if they cause spoilers.
(3)Is Young Justice going to be formatted like the Justice League t.v series episodes where like only a few members of the team get to go on missions? For example, in the justice league series Batman, Haw Girl and Wonder Woman would have an adventure and in the next episode It was Flash, Man Hunter and Green Lantern.

Greg responds...

1. No. It has more to do with already existed in the DC Universe (pre-New 52, which didn't exist yet when we were working on our seasons).

2. I can't think of any other conscious influences, but I won't deny that it's all part of the soup.

3. The Team is big enough now - and has been, frankly, since the beginning - that it doesn't always make sense for everyone to go on every mission. That's why we have squads.

Response recorded on July 17, 2012

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SDCC 2012

Leaving in just a few hours for San Diego Comic-Con. Looking forward to a fun weekend with my kids and old friends. I'm doing a few signings too.

Thursday, July 12th from 12pm - 1pm - I'll be signing Young Justice comics and trades at the DC Comics Booth #1915.

Thursday, July 12th from 5:30pm - 7pm - I'll be signing Gargoyles comics and trades at the SLG Comics Booth #1815.

Friday, July 13th from 5:30pm - 7pm - I'll be signing Gargoyles comics and trades at the SLG Comics Booth #1815.

Saturday, July 14th from 9:30am - 10:30am, I'll be signing Mecha-Nation comics and trades at the APE Comics Booth #1804.

Saturday, July 14th from 1pm - 2pm - I'll be signing Young Justice comics and trades at the DC Comics Booth #1915.

Saturday, July 14th from 5:30pm - 6pm - I'll be signing Gargoyles comics and trades at the SLG Comics Booth #1815.

Autographs are free. So stop by and say hello!


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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg, big fan of the show. In "Alienated", we saw a museum of sorts within the Hall of Justice. Guardian's costume was in a display case, so I was wondering, is he retired as a superhero as of the beginning of season 2? Thanks!

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

JIM HARPER: "We get it, you're a clone! But you're not the only clone on this rooftop, and I know from personal experience how tough it was to come to grips with being a copy of someone else. That's why I gave up my identity as Guardian - so that I could figure out exactly who Jim Harper is supposed to be."

[From "Young Justice" episode 204, "Salvage." Originally aired May 19, 2012.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

What is your take on yj fan fiction? Have you read any?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"I'm very ambivalent toward fanfiction . On the one hand, it's very gratifying. I've created something that has taken on a life of it's own. That people like enough to invest their time into and create anew. On the other hand, I have a territorial instinct that exhibits a kind of knee-jerk negative reaction to seeing other people controlling the destiny of my characters. (That's the main reason why Goliath Chronicles was so painful for me to watch.)

For example, I know that TGS is doing their own TimeDancer spin off. That's very cool, but somebody mentioned (though I don't know if this was the final word) that they're not naming Brooklyn's son Nashville, because they think the name is silly or because they hate country music or whatever. I can't help resenting that. (I know it's not rational, but I'm trying to be honest about my emotions here.) I haven't explained the Nashville name. I don't intend to explain it yet. Obviously, I have no intention of making Brooklyn into the next Garth Brooks, but I'm not in the mood to go into my reasons yet. But when someone else decides that GREG THE GARGOYLE MASTER made a misstep regarding the name of a character, I bristle.

But going back to the first hand, I have to acknowledge that once a thing is created and sent out into the world, it no longer belongs to the creator, but to the interpretations of those who received it. If a fan believes that Gargoyles were created by fey sorcery, then to that fan they were, no matter what I might say to the contrary in a comment room. Fanfiction is the ultimate example of fans interpretating (and extrapolating upon) what they've seen."

[Response recorded in the Station 8 "Gargoyles" FAQ, Section XXXIV.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

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the greenman writes...

I just have more of a comment about spoilers.

My issue is we (being the general public audience) may not be clear of what constitutes in the area if spoiler request. Granted yes, certain questions clearly ruin a lot about story, however when it comes to character that's a little too ambiguous. If someone ask questions about love life for a character, it could end up becoming a story element and thus a spoiler.

Its the difference between asking some women their birthday and their age. One is considered a little rude while the the other isn't unless of course the woman takes it to that level out of context. I may not come out and ask her zodiac sign, but asking her b'day is simpler and should be received with the simplest answer, then if the answer is either May 4 and not May 4 1970 you perceive the the short answer is probably because she's being protective of her age.

I've noticed that sometimes a question got shot down and was never addressed (to my knowledge anyway) on the show (YJ).

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"Questions that ask me to SPOIL my own show are exasperating. As I've said over and over, I'm just NOT going to do that. Why would I? Even obvious stuff can't be addressed, because if I acknowledge anything, the stuff I don't comment on is spoiled by default. So please, please, please refrain. Any question that falls into this category will simply be answered: SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT."

[Response recorded on March 29, 2011.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

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FanMan writes...

Being that the Spectacular Spider-Man was cancelled almost two years ago now, are you yet able to reveal details of what you had planned for season 3? Or do you still intend to keep that information back in order to use it on a later show or if Spec-Spidey gets (against all odds) renewed at a later time?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"I had many specific ideas, some of which would undoubtedly have changed over the course of production. But I'm just not too inclined to reveal them. It's not that I'm trying to torture you, it's just that there's no way I can do them justice in this format. I write 'X' would have happened, and that one statement will get dissected across the internet. And any idea is only as good as its execution - which you'll now never get to see. It may sound stupid here, but I might have been able (with the help of Vic Cook and all my other many collaborators) to pull it off on the series and have everyone think I'm a genius. Or not. But at least it would have had a shot. I just don't feel like opening myself up to potential second-guessing based on raw notions as opposed to executed episodes."

[Response recorded on August 5, 2010.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

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Derek writes...

I'm a big fan of continuity as I gather you are too based on your use of dates, your shows in general and an interview you did years ago critizing the X-Men for not evolving and moving forward. I think DC has some fantastic characters and concepts, which is one of the reasons I like Young Justice. However, I've found that without fail whenever I start reading their books and enjoying them, they erase characters and storylines I've become fond of from existence in a big reset or reboot in an effort to become “new reader friendly” e.g Linda Danvers, Helena Bertinelli, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Team Titans, Infinity Inc etc.

In the end, this practice alienated me as a reader and I no longer buy DC books because as a reader I find this extremely irritating. So first of all, I'm glad that your not doing that with Young Justice. The characters in show have already greatly progressed through season 1 and I'm very optimistic about the Season 2 based on the first episode.

I'm curious though as a comic book reader what do you make of DC comics and their practice of the "reset"?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"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."

[Response recorded on February 15, 2012.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

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Allan calderini writes...

where was Hal Jordan in happy new year I saw every memeber of the league except him are you using him little because of the Green lantern animate series?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

JOHN STEWART: "I'll alert Hal. He and Guy are on Oa with the Green Lantern Corps."

[From "Young Justice" episode 201, "Happy New Year." Originally aired April 28, 2012.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012


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