A Station Eight Fan Web Site

Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Ask Greg Archives

REVELATIONS 2012-07 (Jul)

Archive Index


: « First : « 100 : Displaying #113 - #122 of 122 records. : Last » :


Posts Per Page: 1 : 10 : 25 : 50 : 100 : All :


Bookmark Link

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

Bookmark Link

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

Bookmark Link

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

Bookmark Link

Jenny writes...

Hi Greg,
I finished watching "Happy New Year" today. At first I freaked out about the time jump. After I cooled down, I was smiling to myself thinking, 'This definitely sounds like Greg Weisman'. I LOVE the twists and turns you put into this show. It reminds me of Gargoyles, which I watched a few years back. I can't wait to see what the rest of season 2 brings. Fantastic work to you and your co-workers!

Is Batgirl voiced by Alyson Stoner?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"Alyson Stoner as Batgirl."

[Response recorded on June 4, 2012.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

Bookmark Link

Dave writes...

Wow I can't believe how negative some people are being about the time skip. I absolutelt LOVE the new team! I can't wait to see how the old team members have changed in 5 years. Also, I love that Zatanna is on the League now!! Kudos for taking such a big risk. So now my question: Do you have a plan for how the comic will run once the season 1 storylines are done in it? Would you prefer to set it up to show what happened in the 5 year gap, or show stories between episodes like you are currently doing? I'm more excited than ever to watch Young Justice!

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"All this has required some adjustments. The original plan was to finish all the stories set DURING Season One before rebranding the book. But TPTB at DC understandably decided that since the television show has already been rebranded, we shouldn't wait that long to rebrand the comic. And given that, I wanted to launch the rebranding with a BIG story that featured all - or nearly all - of the Team. So the Green Arrow, Black Canary, Artemis, Red Arrow story (set after episode 114), I originally had planned as a two-parter for issues 20-21 will have to wait. Given enough issues (keep buying those books people!), we'll get to everything eventually - including that Arrow-Family story. The new structure will use our timestamps to allow us to bounce back and forth (even within a single issue) from Season One to Season Two to the gap between seasons and BEYOND..."

[Response recorded on June 13, 2012.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

Bookmark Link

Joshua writes...

Does the number 16 have any significance?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"<chuckles evilly>"

[Response recorded on August 16, 2010.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

Bookmark Link

Robtanna writes...

Hi, I was wondering about Guardian in Cadmus at the end of Auld Acquantince(sorry for the spelling). Is he a clone too? Thanks for replying, if this isn't a spoiler ;)

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."

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

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

Bookmark Link

WG Supporter writes...

Who will voice as Wonder Girl? Is it someone as famous as Maggie Q who recently voiced as Wonder Woman? Can you give to WG fans a little hint like alphabet initials like I'm using right now?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"New voice actors, including Mae Whitman ('Arrested Development', 'Avatar, the Last Airbender') as Wonder Girl..."

[Response recorded on April 27, 2012.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

Bookmark Link

Ada writes...

Hello Mr. Weisman,
I was wondering if Queen Bee is voiced by the same voice actress that played Demona? Sounds offly familar...

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"Marina Sirtis as Queen Bee."

[Response recorded March 19, 2012.]

Greg Weisman says:

"Of course, the big news is MARINA SIRTIS, the voice of Demona, will be attending."

[Response recorded November 2, 2000.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012

Bookmark Link

Max writes...

In the pilot Green Arrow says to Martian Manhunter, "Glad he didn't bring you know who," to which he replies, "Indeed." Who are they talking about? I've been waiting all season for it to become clear or obvious, but I'm still baffled.
Is it suppose to be ambiguous or are you guys going to point it out? This has been bugging me all season.

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"Miss Martian."

[Response recorded on February 8, 2011.]

Response recorded on July 03, 2012


: « First : « 100 : Displaying #113 - #122 of 122 records. : Last » :