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REVELATIONS 2012-10 (Oct)

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CGYJ writes...

Mr. Greg Weisman,

On this posting, there will be no questions. However, it seems only fair that I’d tell you something that I feel you may want to know. You may recall from at least two postings that I telling you about the post-Flashpoint DC multiverse. My suspicions were correct; DC Comics appeared to have cleaned the entire DC multiverse and are starting fresh. Here’s what I do know thus far and wish to share with you:

THE NEW DC MULTIVERSE THUS FAR (Post-Flashpoint):
a. First, we have our mainstream DC universe (aka. DCnU), but we still don’t know if its designation still remains as New Earth/Earth-0.

b. We have Earth-23, which was introduced in Action Comics #9. The Superman of this Earth seems to be modeled after our current President. His Kryptonian name is Kalel (and that’s how it’s spelled within the comic), while his human name is Calvin Ellis. I’d like to tell you other things I found out about this Earth, but I not that good at explaining it in great detail. Also, other parallel Earths were shown in that comic, but unfortunately there were no designations shown.

c. The last one is the re-imagined Earth-2, which is introduced in the new title, “Earth 2.” Just like the first Justice League story arc when the relaunch started, the first issue took place five years in the past. Apokolips is the threat once again, but here, Steppenwolf, and not Darkseid, is leading the invasion. Earth-2’s Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman die stopping the invasion, while the Supergirl and Robin of Earth-2 (who become Power Girl and Huntress as will be shown in “Worlds’ Finest”) follow an unknown person through a Boom Tube and end up stranded in the mainstream universe (at which in this point in time the events of the first arc of the relaunched “Action Comics” was taking place). Also, we get see the new younger versions of Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and Al Pratt before they became the heroes they are supposed to be.

This now leaves the place of at least two pre-Flashpoint parallel Earths within this new DC Multiverse in question (or at least, in my mind, it does):

a. Earth-16 is the first one. While this world was introduced with existing information post-Infinite Crisis, this world was never touched upon again until you “rebooted” it for the setting for “Young Justice.” I might say that was the best decision you’ve ever made. You may recall from an earlier posting that I asked if you or your co-workers have ever confirmed with the higher-ups at DC Comics on whether or not your interpretation of Earth-16 still exist within the new DC multiverse. I’ll probably find out your response to that particular posting when it comes.

b. Earth-1 is the second one. This parallel Earth is the setting for DC: Earth One graphic novels. It’s hard to describe, but what I can say is that it’s sort of like the equivalent of Marvel Comics’ Ultimate Marvel universe (by way of being introduced to new readers, among other things). I think J. Michael Straczynski was the guy who started this parallel DC universe.

Hope you didn’t mine me telling you all this. I just felt that you needed to know what’s been going on in the new DC multiverse.

Thanks for taking the time to read this posting!

Greg responds...

Thanks. I haven't always had time to keep current. None of this effects episodes of YJ, which was all locked long ago.

Response recorded on October 02, 2012

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Foxwolf writes...

Hi Greg

As someone who is interested in writing episodic stories, I was wondering if you could share your approach on how you write a season for a series like YJ. I remember seeing an image on Brandon Vietti's blog where he had post-it's on a board mapping out all of season 1.

1. Do you start with the season's overall story first, eg. "The Light wants to take control of the Justice League and Red Arrow is the mole who will help them" and then do you just come up with plot points/events that move the story forward and scatter them across episodes?

2. Do you come up character development separately or in tandum with the story? I ask because in my own writing I have growth of some characters mapped out but have struggled to come up with plots to tie that growth in with the overall story arc.

3. If you're able to recall, would you be able to share some of the content on the post-it's from a particular YJ episode?

4. And what are your thoughts on "filler story episodes". My interpretation was "Secrets" and "Performance" were filler, in that they didn't drive the overall season story forward, but did have character development. Do you think it's important in writing for a series to give the audience a break from the story arc at regular intervals?

Thanks for your time Greg on sharing your writing process.

Greg responds...

1. Yes, more or less. (For example, I'm not sure Red Arrow was the FIRST thing we came up with, as your example implies, but it was pretty early on.)

2. In tandom. Though we have a pretty clear idea of who all the leads are when we start.

3. Okay, first, not post-its. INDEX CARDS. Second, that board came down to make room for the Season Two board some time ago. And when I moved offices, even the Season Two board came down. That stuff's all boxed at the moment. But I do have issues #20-25 up on the board now. And since issue #20 has seen print, I'm willing to spoil THAT one here. Now the comic is slightly different. Particularly within this truly jammed-packed six-parter, my index cards literally broke things down page-by-page, and everything is color-coded to make it easier for me to refer to where a particular sub-plot left off:

I'll transcribe it all here, exactly how it's written on the index cards:

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

YOUNG JUSTICE: INVASION #20
"Players, Chapter One: Wheelbarrow, Shoe, Thimble"

PAGE ONE - WHITE - Y0 - Cave - DG's Bday. Z kiss on cheek. KF told Z.
PAGE TWO - YELLOW - Y5 - Blud - DG's Bday. WW, AC call. BK exits bedroom.
PAGE THREE - YELLOW - BK & Gotham Academy Yearbook.
PAGE FOUR - YELLOW - Cave - Splash, Logo, Subtitle. Nw, Sb, MM, Bb, LB, Rob, BBoy, Bg, WG, MD, W. Comp announces Z & Roc.
PAGE FIVE - YELLOW - Leaguers Z, Roc enter "slumming". Nw's ex Z Bday kisses Nw on mouth.
PAGE SIX - YELLOW - Ex Roc kisses Nw on cheek. Rob to join Bm. Roc pix of AE. Nw talks to SB, MM.
PAGE SEVEN - YELLOW - Sb, MM can work together. Nw starts briefing.
BLUE - Metro - Beta - Meg links Con, KB, BG in crowd. Camo'd B-S...
PAGE EIGHT - BLUE - Bored LB at helm. BBoy as warbler is on edge. NH fundraising. QB a threat.
PAGE NINE - WHITE - Y0 - Logan Sanct - GL, Monk watch TV re: RH's impeach. ML tells GL: Meg, Con here.
YELLOW - Y5 - El Paso - Alpha - Nw, WG, S-C.
PAGE TEN - YELLOW - New recruit WG glad to be w/Alpha, recruiting next recruit. Reveal Blue.
PAGE ELEVEN - BLUE - Metro - Beta - Meg alert, longing Con.
WHITE - Y0 - Logan Sanct - Meg, GL, Monk hang; Con w/Sumac.
PAGE TWELVE - WHITE - Meg kisses Con. Reveal Clark, JO interview ML.
PAGE THIRTEEN - WHITE - Intros. ML calls Meg her daughter. Clark & Con meet.
PAGE FOURTEEN - WHITE - JO intro. Clark requested Logan gig. Clark, JO cover impeach. Clark offers ride to get to know kids.
PAGE FIFTEEN - WHITE - Meg turns down ride. Clark may see them in Dhabar.
BLUE - Y5 - Metro - Beta - Clark greets Con.
PAGE SIXTEEN - YELLOW - El Paso - Alpha - DG, CS wait for and discuss Blue/JR.
PAGE SEVENTEEN - YELLOW - Blue into JR. CS greets JR. CS, DG confront JR.
PAGE EIGHTEEN - YELLOW - JR tw/CS, DG.
BLUE - Metro - Beta - JO, Meg, Con look no different. Clark linked, spots Dev. Clark to suit up.
PAGE NINETEEN - BLUE - Dev vanishes. Sm vanishes. Con vanishes. Meg reacts.
PAGE TWENTY - GREEN - Br Ship - Orb-One sends First Leader Ks' go ahead to Br. Reveal Br. Logo, Title, Credits.

4. There's no such thing as filler episodes on any series I've ever done. There ARE change of pace stories, but even they wind up playing into the larger tapestry. For example, one could easily view "Targets" as a change of pace, focusing as it does on Red Arrow, Sportsmaster and Cheshire with just a little Aqualad thrown in at the end, but obviously, it wound up being crucial to the season as a whole. Neither "Secrets" nor "Performance" were filler in our minds. Both advanced the overall story, the arcs of multiple characters, the dynamics between those characters AND held clues to what was still to come. They clearly drove the season forward. Having said all that, I do think it helps to have 'breathers' in there, where some plotlines and/or characters are rested, to allow time for growth, to build suspence, to let off-screen events take place, etc., etc.

Response recorded on October 02, 2012

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nygma619 writes...

Hey Greg, I remember from one of your answers about Artemis that you’d discuss the question on why you made the creative choices with Artemis AFTER season 1 was over. And since I can’t find any question similar to this I’ll get this ball rolling on my 2nd favorite character on the show (Wally’s the first):
1.)What inspired you and your team to take Artemis Crock who was pretty much a villain in the comics and revamp her to being a hero and pretty much filling Arrowette’s place on The Team?
2.)How did you come up with the idea of making Chesire her sister, in this canon since she wasn’t in the comics?
3.)At what age did Sportsmaster start training her daughters?
4.)You can just respond yes or no to this question, but was there a specific incident that caused Artemis to NOT want to follow in her families villainous footsteps and walk a more heroic path?

Greg responds...

1. We liked her parentage and the opportunities that presented in terms of her having secrets to keep and lies to tell.

2. Seemed to fit. Cheshire - in the comics - has always been trying to figure out who her father was. Why not Sportsmaster? And again, it created a very interesting relationship and dynamic between her and Artemis. Plus we knew we wanted to add ethnic diversity to the Team, so by folding the Eurasian Cheshire into the family, it made it natural to make Artemis half-Vietnamese, half-Caucasian, as well.

3. Probably from birth.

4. Yes and no.

Response recorded on October 02, 2012

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Mr. Curious writes...

When you organize your list of characters for use on Earth-16, do you categorize them as:

a.) Heroes, Villains, and Antiheroes?

0r

b.) Good, Evil, Neutral Good, and Neutral Evil?

Greg responds...

I really only had two lists that I actually TYPED UP, one for teen heroes and one for possible Light members or allies. But keep in mind, I also have literally decades of DC Comics trivia in my head, plus two complete iterations of WHO'S WHO on my shelves, a DC encyclopedia and e-mail access to the incomparable John Wells, DC expert extraordinaire! Plus, you know, my contacts at DC: Ivan Cohen (formerly), Geoff Johns, Mike Carlin and Sean Ryan - all of whom were VERY helpful. Plus most of the staff -and half the cast - are bigtime geeks also.

Of course, AFTER we went into production, I started new lists of characters that we were actually using. But those are broken down by episode, not by hero and villain.

Response recorded on October 02, 2012

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Blake95 writes...

im just curious, in hindsight, are you happy with the timing of the s1 finale/s2 premiere, coming out in the same month as issue 14-5? im just saying caus we didnt know ocean master and orm were the same but orm was said to be on their side in the finale, and now we learned some cool things about lagoon boy too before his role expanded

another lagoon boy question - when you had him played by yuri lowental in downtime, did you already know you werre going to use him in s2?

Greg responds...

1. I'm not UNhappy with how it turned out.

2. I believe so. That is, we knew we were going to use Lagoon Boy. We didn't make a final decision on Yuri until just before we began auditions for our Season Two cast. That's not meant as a reflection on Yuri AT ALL. We simply didn't discuss who would be playing what until then, at which point Jamie Thomason and Brandon Vietti and I sat down to figure out which characters we'd need to hold auditions for, and which we were already good with, which of course included Yuri.

Response recorded on October 02, 2012

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J the Drafter writes...

When Wally put the Helmet of Fate on his head, why couldn't he see what was happening in the outside world until Kent showed him? Do all of Nabu's hosts need to learn how to see what's happening to their body?

Greg responds...

Apparently.

Response recorded on October 02, 2012

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Rich... writes...

Hey Greg, Not a question but a comment... You and your team are amazing with what you did with Young Justice so far, and I cant wait to see what tricks you guys pull out of your bags next. Also, you "Ask Greg" forum is funny as hell! I love the way you punk people off when they ask you stupid @$$ questions!

Thanks, and may Young Justice live for years to come! Rock on, homie!

Greg responds...

Thanks. I'm not sure I'm trying to 'punk' anyone though - no matter how frustrated I might sometimes get.

Response recorded on October 01, 2012

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Marvelman writes...

Why did you choose the particular six leaguers that you did to tear up Rimbor? Was it a shout out to Bruce Timm's Justice League? Was it because many of them have proteges on the team? Or something else?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"But for example, the six Leaguers chosen to be missing for 16 hours was definitely influenced by the cast of the original Justice League series."

[Response recorded on September 12, 2012.]

Response recorded on October 01, 2012

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Anonymous writes...

Is Dick Grayson half Romany?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"NO COMMENT on Dick's backstory for now."

[Response recorded on October 20, 2011.]

Response recorded on October 01, 2012

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btgr writes...

In "Satisfaction", Lex Luthor's security force were seen holding guns that strongly resembles the French "FAMAS" assault rifle.

Any ideas why they personally prefer French guns over American?

An Ask Greg Helper responds...

Greg Weisman says:

"I don't know enough about guns to tell you."

[Response recorded on February 6, 2012.]

Response recorded on October 01, 2012


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