NoOneSpecial writes...

Okay so I have to be REALLY careful about how I ask this question. If you cant understand my meaning then its probably my own fault and for that I'm sorry, but I thought this was a very interesting concept. It's about xanatos's letter to himself.
Here we go. So in Vows, Xanatos travels back in time and sends himself the coin that he will eventually use to amass his fortune. He also sends a letter that is to be delivered to himself twenty years after the coin which explains how he has to get the coin, which as he said in the episode he received that very letter a week before the wedding. So I guess the best way I can phrase this is, is that the EXACT same letter and by same I mean the same piece of paper. The way I see it that letter is over a thousand years old and must be pretty worn(unless of course it was carefully preserved). So when xanatos gets the letter, does he just send back the same one he got or copy the information on a new piece of paper and send that back instead? If its the first one then that piece of paper must keep accumulating age to it. He sends it once, its over a thousand years old. He sends it a second time, its another thousand years old, and so on. So the piece of paper could eventually become so worn that it would be either unreadable or destroyed. So does xanatos just make a new letter every time he gets it or send back the one he received? PS loved rain of ghosts, hope you get to make all nine books.

Ben writes...

I just have a quick question about Rain of the Ghosts. I was wondering if there are currently any plans to release it in a hardbound version or if that is currently not an option? I for one would really like to have it in that format. While we're at it getting the Gargoyles and Young Justice graphic novels released in hardbound form would be great too, but I understand that would probably be a bit more problematic. At any rate thanks for the entertaining stories and please keep up the good work.

fallenlegend writes...

Hello Greg!

Just a quick question this time. The other time I asked you something about gargoyles and you said that you wouldn't write it for free... wich came as a bit of a shock to me as you have said before that it is your baby proyect.

It's understandable as this is your job and main source of income... But I have to wonder if you would ever have or if you have a personal proyect wich you would do for free.

You deserve every cent you get paid but.. Many (amateur/fanfic) writters write stories for fun and I wonder if this is the case with you. thank you!

Ghosts Reader writes...

Dear Greg:

I have a few trivial questions to ask about Rain of the Ghosts:

1. Throughout the novel, Charlie Dauphin's father was only ever referenced in relation to the watch he left Charlie. Is he deceased, or will he otherwise appear in the future?

2. In the novel, Callahan is hired by a mysterious Setebos. Was there an intention for you to reference the Tempest character with a similar sounding name (Caliban) and the deity he worships (Setebos)?

3. When Rain first encounters Callahan, she had the impression that he was chasing after her. Considering that this was before the band was transferred (and her "awakening"), was she correct or just mistaken?

4. Considering the etymology of the names of Rain's family (Cacique=chief, Bohique=priest, Nitainon=noble), is it safe to say the family descended from Taino nobility?

Thank you for taking the time.

Xum Yukinori writes...

A response to your "Rain of the Ghosts" typo contest. On Chapter 2, page 7, paragraph 4, Charlie says, "Not a record. But respectable." While "Not a record, but respectable." is grammatically correct, you may have been taking artistic license since it was dialogue.

I didn't notice any other glaring error... I was enjoying the book too much.

Best,
Xum.

Feedback writes...

If you don't mind me asking, has Rain of the Ghosts done okay in sales??

I actually haven't bought my own copy yet. Being in Med School is a bummer, haven't read a non-science book in ages. As soon as I get a break, I'm hitting Amazon!

Anonymous writes...

How well did Rain sell/is selling?

Masterdramon writes...

Wanted to post this separate from my review, for length reasons if nothing else.

The "sources" for several of the references included in RAIN OF THE GHOSTS are fairly obvious. Bernie and Maude, Broadway-Niner-Niner-Four, and Terry Chung all demonstrate that you continue to be as shameless as ever (and damn if we don't love you for it!), and it's probably easier to list what [I]isn't[/I] referenced from "The Tempest."

But I'd just like to quickly confirm if "Mr. and Mrs. John DeLancy" are meant to refer to actor John de Lancie, most famous as Q from "Star Trek" (and more recently, Earth-16's very own Mister Twister).

And if so, was there any particular reason that you gave him a little shout out there? Just mildly curious.

Thanks, and I hope that you enjoyed my review! :)

Masterdramon writes...

RAIN OF THE GHOSTS

"You don't belong back there," the woman said gently. "Leave it all behind."

Rain nodded. That's right. That's right.

"You have the whole world to explore," the woman said warmly. "There's so much to see."

Rain could only nod. So grateful. So much to see. She wandered forward. The snow was white and warm and glowed softly, quietly. So much to see.

Well...it's finally time.

While I first acquired my copy of your inaugural novel a few weeks ago, it wasn't until recently that I managed to find the time to finish it; starting a new job the week before Christmas tends to eat up free time. But plenty of car rides to and from airports at the holiday season gave me ample time to breeze through the latter half of the book, and I've spent the last couple of days mulling over exactly what to say about it.

[NOTE: From here on out, there may be references to minor SPOILERS. If anyone hasn't read the novel all the way through yet, stop right here and go do so.]

If I had to boil down my reaction to RotG into a single word, it would be "intrigued." Reading through it, I felt transported back to third grade, making my way through "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone" for the first time. RotG has a similar "feel": simultaneously a single story and a rapid-fire barrage of future plot hooks, designed to impress upon the reader the sheer size and scope of the world it is building, while leaving room for that world to expand greatly in future installments.

Rain herself is a good encapsulation of this. As a protagonist she is simultaneously extremely likeable, and precisely the opposite. Hot-tempered, impulsive, abrasive, and constantly taking Charlie's loyalty completely for granted, she is...well, a teenager. She has a good deal of growing up to do, and it's hard to fully get "on her side" until she does.

But as this book series all-but-promises to be her Bildungsroman, I'm confident that Rain's gonna continue to grow on me. And her "voice" is so uniquely enjoyable that I'm very much EXCITED to go on that journey with her, so that's certainly a point in the character's favor.

The rest of the cast was a joy, for the most part. Charlie was, admittedly, probably the weakest link for me. I LIKE him well enough, don't get me wrong, but on this first outing I can't help but find him a little bland. He's more than a tad snarky, crushing hard on Rain, and possessed of the patience of a saint...but beyond that, I find it hard to come up with many descriptors for his character. Here's hoping that we get to explore his perspective and his history a little more in future books.

I adored 'Bastian/The Dark Man, however. His "I don't really know what to think about this" attitude toward being dead, oscillating between casual detachment and sorrowful contempation depending on the situation, felt very REAL to me, and made his scenes a constant delight. I don't know how long he's going to stick around, but I'm hoping that it's for at least a few more books. There's just something undeniably "cool" about having a ghost in a bomber jacket as one of your leads.

As for the supporting cast...again, "intriguing" is probably the best word I can use. Everyone's got their secrets, and you did a masterful job at teasing just enough information to encourage the audience to chase down every last one. From Miranda's father to whatever the deal is with Ariel, from Maq's and Obie's roles in all of this to Callahan's history...it's a brave new world, and I very much want to learn more.

Personally, my favorite character is hands-down, Judith Vendaval/The Tall Woman. Thing is, I couldn't possibly tell you WHY. Functionally, she does basically nothing to advance the book's plot.

But there's something about the "air" to her, even moreso than the other "mysterious" characters wandering the periphery of this story, that grabs me and won't let go. She's still at the inn at the beginning of the second book, according to the excerpts included at the end, so I doubt we've seen the last of her. And I am SO looking forward to it.

The plot itself is straightforward, but layered; at least three stories (Rain's present-day grief, the regrets of WWII resurfacing, and the "real" story going on behind the scenes, which our heroes are largely oblivious to) running through each other, with little hints sprinkled EVERYWHERE of more to come. It's not an unfamiliar feeling from your work...but it is a welcome one.

Without a doubt, the most enjoyable scenes from me were the two "Villain Tags" near the end - Maq and Obie confronting "Hura-hupia," and Callahan's meeting with his employer. Questions abound about this "Mr. Setebos," not the least of which being exactly how indicative his name is...but I'm comfortable being patient for THOSE kinds of answers.

The one other thing I want to comment on before wrapping this review up is the writing style. I've never read a novel precisely like this one in that regard, and in-and-of-itself that is neither a positive nor a negative trait.

Even if I didn't already know it going in, it wouldn't be hard for me to guess that the writer of RotG has gained much of his experience writing scripts for television and comics.

Take, for example, the frequent jumping of perspectives from one character to the next - some of it even within a single paragraph. A lot of readers seem to have found that quite jarring...and yeah, I won't deny that it threw me for a loop the first couple of times, even if I got used to it after a while.

But in a comic? This wouldn't seem remotely odd at all. All it would require would be separate thought balloons in the same panel.

Once again, though, there's nothing BAD necessarily about this stylistic choice; it's just...different. And in all fairness, you certainly took advantage of its narrative benefits. Maq and Obie would have a much harder time fulfilling their current roles if you had to devote a full chapter to them every time they needed to chime in.

In closing, if the main purpose of RotG was to ensure that I'd desperately want to read eight more books set in this world, then it damn well succeeded. True, my first reaction to learning that the structure of the series corresponds with a nine-item "fetch quest" was to bristle a bit...but there's enough to intrigue me about the first zemi that I'm quite excited to search out the rest.

What form do the others take? What are their powers? Where do they come from, and who made them? And what exactly IS the "true Mystery of the Ghosts"?

A deep widening groove. An oval ring. A larger, more circular ring. A shallow groove. A semi-amorphous cross. A thick equilateral triangle. And a small cylindrical hole.

One Key down, eight to go. This is gonna be one wild ride.

Soraya writes...

Hi! Hope all is well and that Rain of Ghosts is selling well (I'm reading it on my tablet and it's awesome so far!) anyways a question I've wanted to ask for a while now was is the title for The Usual Suspects in season one of Young Justice in reference to the movie?

Thank you!

Harlan Phoenix writes...

I finished Rain of the Ghosts earlier today and to cut to the chase, I absolutely loved it. I spent a lot of my early teens reading middle school and up fantasy series like Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, or His Dark Materials and Rain of the Ghost felt right at home with the tone of those stories (maybe slightly less so with His Dark Materials, but eh). In a weird way, Rain of the Ghosts was laced with a lot of pleasant nostalgia for me despite being a brand new property in your body of work. I have two young nieces and Rain is the exact heroine I would love to see them grow up on. When they're much older (being a toddler and baby respectively), I more than intend to raise them up on Rain of the Ghosts when they're old enough to relate to Rain and empathize with her journey. After all, they'll need something to read when I'm not watching Gargoyles with them.

As mentioned in my Mecha-Nation review, your heroes are really among the best in animation (and, now, general all ages fiction!) and Rain of the Ghosts continues that trend. I absolutely adore Rain as a protagonist and even though I'm a decade older than her I can definitely relate to her fears of a future locked in stone. 'Bastion was an incredibly welcome return to your love of WW2 iconography and his backstory, and his scene with Rain near the end was nothing short of adorable. Charlie brought a lot of welcome humor and awkwardness to the story that only emphasized his strength as a friend to Rain. It's a solid cast and I am very eager to see their next adventures.

And Opie may tie with Matrix as my favorite character you've ever written. I adore Opie. And Ariel definitely fascinates me and I like to imagine she, Owen, and Mercy Graves have the most intense poker games ever.

All in all, it's a lovely book that took me back to a time that makes me feel warm and fuzzy but with the added benefit of your personal style. Though I love all of your writing, there's something nice out of getting an original property amidst the more common adaptations. It's why, as great as Young Justice is, I felt a bit more connection to Mecha-Nation. It's a truly underrated comic that I'm sad we've yet to get more of and though it was Victor Cook's brainbaby, your voice really did come through and presented genuinely intelligent themes in a charming Saturday morning guise.

So I felt a nice connection to Rain. I've been a fan of your work essentially my whole life and with Rain, I feel like I'll be able to instill the Weisman love to the next generation of my family because, quite frankly, I'm a big enough dweeb to immensely value that. I'm with Rain for the long haul and am endlessly happy I've gotten to read it. Here's hoping some more of your ideas find their way to fruition and, in the mean time, here's to Spirits of Ash and Foam and Star Wars Rebels. I am very excited for both of them.

Now to shamelessly exploit your errors for attempted personal gain.

RAIN OF THE GHOST TYPO CONTEST

For my stab at finding a typo, I'm going to point out an anomaly with your tenses. Though your italicized thoughts for the characters are all in present tense (as thoughts should be!), there's one instance where this isn't quite so.

Second full paragraph, page 171, which reads as such:

"Here!" He guided her hand. [i]All those video games were finally paying off...[/i]

My tags note the italicized portion of the paragraph, i.e. the final sentence. I was hesitant to make this my entry, since the possibility of it being a stylistic choice is always there (and I didn't recall seeing it in your proofreader notes on the site). But after leafing through and comparing it with the other italicized thoughts throughout the book, it doesn't feel consistent with them and sounds more in tone with Opie's narration than Charlie's internalized gratitude.

Therefore, my submission to the contest is the final sentence of the second full paragraph of page 171, specifically the tense created by the use of "were."

Rain Fan writes...

Whose voice do you imagine when writing lines for Rain, Charlie, Bastian, Opie, and Julia?

Just a Nerd writes...

Damn it, Greg. It happened with Young Justice. It happened with Gargoyles, though I was a (very) late comer. It happened with YJ: Legacy. I told myself it wouldn't happen again. But, once again, I am obsessed with a Greg Weisman production. Rain of the Ghosts was fantastic! An amazing story, a perfect amount of humor, mysteries that made my head ache, and lovable characters. I won't say anything plot-wise, due to not wanting to spoil.

But one thing I found interesting: I found myself atributing voices to the characters, taken from YJ and Gargoyles. Rain's dialogue came out as Elisa's voice in my head. Charlie was Jaime/Blue Beetle, while Bastian became Peter Maza. Callahan changed often, jumping from Vandal Savage to Macbeth to Deathstroke, though none of those are Australian. Probabley shoulda gone Dingo. (I'm an odd, odd person.) And I don't say this to say the characters were carbon copies, or even a little similar; it's just what my brain did.

Overall, a very enjoyable read. Don't think i spoiled anything but character names. (And, by God, I love Maq and Opie already.)

Giant Boy writes...

I've been rewatching The Spectacular Spider-Man, mostly the second season so far, and decided to rewatch "Subtext".

I really like Molten Man's character and looked him up. I also by chance happened to come across Blackie Gaxton in Betty Brant's page on the Spider-ManWiki.

It said that her brother was put in a similar situation with Blackie that ended similar to what happened between Spidey, Mark, and Liz in "Subtext".

After thinking about it, I'd have to say it was brilliant that you decided to do that story with Mark and Liz, whether or not Betty's brother would have appeared since Molten Man had his story.

Looking foward to Young Justice Legacy, Rain of Ghosts, and Star Wars Rebels.

Todd Jensen writes...

I bought my copy of "Rain of the Ghosts" at the local bookstore yesterday, and just finished reading it.

Thanks for mentioning me in the Acknowledgements; it was a pleasant surprise.

* SPOILERS FOLLOW *

I enjoyed reading it. I was put off a bit by the "head-hopping" (switching from one character's point-of-view to another in the course of a chapter), until I understood that the narrator was able to tell what all the characters were thinking.

As I'd picked up from the blurb, a lot of references to Shakespeare's "The Tempest" - even more than the names mentioned in it (Prospero, Miranda, and Sebastian), with Alonso, Ariel, Sycorax, Setebos, and maybe Iris (since the Iris of Greek mythology turns up in the play during the masque Prospero conjures up). Plus a different Shakespeare reference (or at least, one to 15th century history) in Charlie Dauphin's name, and a Mark Twain allusion with Rebecca Sawyer from Hannibal. (The preview of the next book also had a J. M. Barrie allusion with the Kim children's names.) And, to top it off, another Terry Chung.

I found Rain, Charlie, 'Bastian, and those around them vividly-characterized, and the adventure, especially the last flight of the "Island Belle", exciting. (Was that part of the story, incidentally, inspired by the loss of Flight 19? The time period and location in the area of the Bermuda Triangle both reminded me of that.) And I can see why you plan it to be a nine-book series, with the other eight objects to be found. There'll obviously be more developments to come (such as finding out more about the objects, what Callaghan and Setebos are up to, Judith Vendaval, and, of course, the true nature of your narrator - apparently a dog, but a remarkable dog - and Maq), and I'll be keeping an eye out for the next book next year.

*SPOILERS END *

Congratulations on becoming a published author, Greg.

An effective story with Rain and Charlie vividly characterized.

James Musgrove writes...

Caught your appearance on the nerdy show (linked from bleedingcool.com) and I'll be honest...I wasn't looking for a new book series. It was your passionate talk about how you wanted to tell Rain's story that got my attention and I just picked up my copy today. Tearing through it! Very relatable dialogue and clear narrative! Anyways, I had a few questions regarding this book:
1) Rain Cacique...how is this pronounced?
2) is Charlie's last name pronounced the French way?
3) while I definitely wouldn't expect it anytime soon because you're selling the book now, but would you give some thought to posting the script for the radio play/pilot some time in the future, after book nine comes out? :)
I don't suppose the audio of this exists and would ever be postable?
4) without SPOILING (of course), can you give any insight to elements that were changed/dropped/added in the rewrite of book one from the original manuscript?
5) all I can add right now is that I'm spreading the word and I haven't event finished it yet. That and WE NEED EXPANDED UNIVERSE RAIN OF THR GHOSTS COMICS!!! :)

Thanks so much. I'll probably be around here quite a bit!

Allison writes...

Hello, Greg! Super-excited to get my hands on Rain of the Ghosts and ready to come to you for questions but first, a question about the London Clan:

Since the clan runs the shop Into the Mystic, does that mean that they have to pay taxes on it? If so, how are they registered in the system? Do they have aliases, or do they have the human employees do all the work?

Thank you very much, and I hope Rain of the Ghosts sells a kajillion copies!

Philip Anderson writes...

Greg, congratulations on [i]Rain of the Ghosts[/i] and [i]Spirits of Ash and Stone[/i]! I'm looking forward to reading them and hoping to see the rest of the series, too.

As a writer myself (search [i]Pirate Journey[/i] on Amazon) I know that writing the manuscript is only part of the challenge. I've found that finding a publisher can be just as hard, in different ways. So here are my questions:

1. How did you get connected with St. Martin's?

2. If you have a publishing agent/agency, how did you connect with them?

If you have time, either here or in future rambles, I'd like to read your thoughts on your publishing experience (aside from your writing experience which you've chronicled pretty well with your chapter updates). Any information or advice or encouragement for aspiring and struggling novelists would be appreciated.

Thanks, and congratulations again!
Phil Anderson

Todd Jensen writes...

I noticed that in the blurb for "Rain of the Ghosts" a) there are a few names borrowed from "The Tempest" (such as the Ghost Keys also being called the Prospero Keys, and your protagonist has a friend named Miranda), and b) the story is set in the area of the Bermuda Triangle. Was this influenced by the theory that one of the inspirations for "The Tempest" was a shipwreck in the Bermudas in 1609?

Masterdramon writes...

ASK GREG LIVE! - WONDERCON 2013 REPORT

First, a little background. I'm going to quote a section from the introduction I made to to Station 8 Comment Room, waaaaaay back in July 2010:

"Given that I was three when Season 1 of 'Gargoyles' first began airing, I was obviously quite outside the target audience at that point, and if I watched any of the episodes on first airing I definitely don't remember them. Rather, my first clear memories of 'Gargoyles' were watching it during the late 90s when Toon Disney was first starting up. This produced some interesting experiences; for example, I never saw and indeed never even had a clue that 'Deadly Force' existed until Toon Disney started airing it again in 2002 or so.

At the time that I first was watching this show voraciously it was amongst a litany of dozens of other cartoons, some well-written ('Batman: The Animated Series,' 'Darkwing Duck,' etc.) and some...well, not so much (here's looking at you, 'Captain Planet'). To an eight year-old, there was little differentiation between the relative qualities of these shows, and it was not until a few years on that I really began to appreciate what a true gem 'Gargoyles' was.

I'm not entirely sure when my perspective changed, though it might have had something to do with the aforementioned first viewing of 'Deadly Force.' By this point I was a pre-teen, and old enough to understand the basics of S+P...so to see one of the protagonists shoot another one in the chest accidentally, nearly causing her to die was an absolute revelation to me. Around this time I began watching the entire series with new eyes, and what I saw astounded me.

The depth, the complexity, the characterization was unlike anything else I had ever seen on the small screen, live-action or animated. The little things that escaped me on the first, second, or even tenth viewing (yes, I watched a LOT of Toon Disney) suddenly rared to life and showed me how amazing this show was, is, and always will be. Everything from the sheer emotion that Tony Shalhoub brought to the show's single greatest cameo role to the little nuances about Lexington that made me think, 'Oh, of course!' when I learned that Greg considered him to be homosexual all became clear to me, and clearer and clearer with each viewing.

'Gargoyles' did much for me over the years. To take a particular example, when I first began really reading Shakespeare during mandatory reading times in high school, I went with 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' then 'Macbeth,' and then, after the obvious 'Hamlet,' moving to 'Othello.' It shouldn't take too many guesses to figure out what attracted me to those plays specifically.

I have many obsessions in my life, some that have faded and some that have stayed with me forever. 'Gargoyles' stayed with me forever, and by the time I was about 13 or so it overtook virtually all of my other obsessions to become forefront in my fiction-dominated mind. I began searching around the internet for various little tidbits and behind-the-scenes stuff, and was blown away when I first discovered Greg's Master Plan. That someone could have so intricately designed such a massive and complex fictional universe intrigued me to no end...particularly 'Bad Guys,' since Dingo was at the time my favorite character.

On one of my frequent revisitings of the Master Plan in 2004, I ended up clicking around some links that brought me to the FAQ...and consequently to AskGreg. If the Master Plan had blown me away, then this site caused my mind to spontaneously combust. So many hints and clues to what the future might hold for the series, should Disney allow it to somehow continue...straight from the mouth of the creator himself! In all the years since that I've been up and around the world wide web, never have I again seen such a direct, easy-to-access method of communication to the artist behind such a masterful work.

Over the years, I have read virtually every single post in the AskGreg archives, some of them several dozen times. It is one of the websites that I frequent several times a day without fail, and I have gained an uncountable amount of enrichment from reading it constantly. It was through this site that I first learned of the DVDs and comics, all of which I purchased as soon as I could possibly get my hands on them, and of the Gathering, the scope of which shocked and awed me.

One of my greatest regrets is that I was never able to attend one of these amazing events; convincing your parents to let you fly out of Hawaii to the mainland for a convention on a 90s cartoon isn't the easiest thing in the world. And although I WAS actually in town for the final one, Gathering 2009 happened to fall on the EXACT same weekend as my college orientation. If the Gathering had been just one week later, or my introduction to Pomona College just one week sooner...but I guess it's pointless to deal with hypotheticals.

In any event, my praise goes out to all of you unbelievably dedicated individuals who kept it alive for so long. If ever you are able to arrange some sort of smaller event in the future, you have my word that I will attend.

AskGreg also gave the chance to really get to know Greg Weisman (or at least, as much as this is possible without real-world contact), and he is currently one of my absolute greatest heroes in all of entertainment. I am not using hyperbole when I declare him to be the single most talented writer in animation history, and in my mind absolutely anything he touches turns to solid gold. I avidly watched 'W.I.T.C.H.,' 'The Spectacular Spider-Man,' and the various episodes he freelanced for favorite shows of mine like 'The Batman,' 'Kim Possible,' and 'Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!'...many of which turned out to be some of the best in their respective series. And I wait with bated breath (and fanboyish panting) for 'Young Justice.' Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel superhero and DC is my favorite comic book universe...so to have Greg interpret both with his usual flair for complex, multi-layered story arcs and deeply involved character development has left me positively salivating."

Now, as you can probably tell from these words, this was a moment I've been waiting on for nearly 10 years. So as you might expect, I was...anxious. Despite my personal contact with Greg over the past couple years due to my moderating duties here, as well as friends who had met him previously who assured me that he was a really nice guy in-person, I was still a little worried I'd screw this up somehow.

Thankfully, ASK GREG LIVE! turned out to be a great experience, and truly the highlight of the weekend. There was somewhere between 15-20 guests in attendance, including myself, my girlfriend, and Blaise (whom it was awesome to meet in person). Kudos to Matthew for holding up the event sign for over an hour, and to whoever it was that cosplayed as Batgirl.

We pretty much just jumped straight into an hour-and-a-half of questions, which I hope I didn't hog too many of. A few highlights from the revelations presented therein:

- Following the Season 1 finale, Vandal immediately called up Hugo Strange and told him, "Open all the doors." Which explains a lot. Now, Greg W. ALSO said that by Team Year Five, Belle Reve was fairly full again...but at least it explains why so many imprisoned villains were walking the streets again in Season 2.

- The Joker was originally considered to appear in "Auld Acquaintance," controlling the Justice League. But for a variety of reasons (mainly budgetary; they needed Klarion anyway for the "magic stuff"), they switched him out for Klarion.

- Greg also responded to my question about whether the Joker of Earth-16 knows he's in a cartoon show by saying, "I think he's crazy enough to believe that, even if he's NOT."

- Lieutenant and Sergeant Marvel were originally considered to be on the Team in Season 2. But with only 20 episodes, several intended arcs were cut or reworked to have occurred during the Time Skip: a Marvel Family arc, a Red Tornado arc, and a Zatanna arc. With nothing to do anymore, Mary and Freddy were slotted into the Time Skip.

- He hinted pretty damn strongly that we'll be hearing more about "poor, disgraced Ocean-Master." Presumably in "Legacy," which I am personally excited as all hell for.

- Clone!Roy, post-"Satisfaction," is a stay-at-home-dad. For the most part. He and Cheshire are "trying to make it work," to the degree that people like them can.

- I asked if working on YJ had made him give more thought to who the 16 Sixteens in the Illuminati are. He basically said, "not really," while adding that he's got most of the major players in the Illuminati pretty well figured out, and has for a while. Which isn't to say he doesn't leave a fair few slots open for moments of epiphany.

- Darkseid has been the Light's silent partner since Season 1. Which most of us had assumed, but it's nice to have firm confirmation.

- Victor Cook did a fly-by. No time for questions, just said hi and name-dropped "Mecha-Nation." But still...really cool.

- He described Jason Spisak's last recording with them. Jason came up afterward and said that it was rare for an actor to be able to end his role on such a great, final note, "instead of just flying off into the sunset, with no one having any idea if you survive or not." Having now seen "Dark Matter," Greg believes that may have been coded snark.

- Oh, and surprising no one with a head on their shoulders...Greg disproved the rumor that DC wanted Wally killed off because of the New 52. Though it WAS amusing to hear him call those rumors, and I quote: "Complete horse"...baloney.

- He said he's deliberately keeping mum on "Rain of the Ghosts" until he knows if his publisher is doing any advertising. If they don't, he may start teasing some plot tidbits on Ask Greg.

- He talked a bit about availability issues...about how it came to be that Wentworth, Kittie, and George were replaced toward the end of the season. Just a whole lot of REALLY bad luck regarding other projects. But he also revealed the replacement that almost was...if it wasn't for the fact that no one on Earth could do an impression that did justice to him.

That's right...they once almost lost Tim Curry.

He was shooting something or another toward the middle of the season. They simply could not get him before the episodes had to ship. So what they did...was Greg recorded the lines. Taaaaaaaaalking liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis sooooooooooo thaaaaaaaaat theeeeeeeey cooooooould AAAAAAADR iiiiiiiiiiiit aaaaaaaaafteeeeeeer theeeeeeey reeeeeetuuuuuuurned froooooooom ooooooverseeeeeeeeeeas.

Which they would NEVER do otherwise. For no one but Tim Curry. Greg had to do a bunch of takes, because Jamie kept having to stop him and shout, "SLOWER!" Needed the mouth movements SO exaggerated that no one would notice it was ADR'ed. Which I don't think anyone did.

- I think those are all the big revelations, but there was lots of real fun little stuff on Greg's writing process, the backroom thinking that went into Darkseid's cameo, and Greg's hopes for the future. As he said at one point, "I still haven't given up on Gargoyles, and that's going on 20 years at this point! Why would I give up on a series that ended THIS month?"

Beyond that, it was just an incredible experience to be in the presence of the guy - to hear him speak, to ask questions (even utterly silly ones) directly answered to our faces, to shake hands, and to be personally thanked for my years of hard work on Ask Greg...which, needless to say, was incredibly gratifying.

The atmosphere was great - casual, friendly, and with no pressure on either the askers or on Greg. We chatted, we laughed, and we got to hear Greg at his absolute "frankest." Which is to say, a little...off-color. And oh it was glorious.

At my request, we also did an impromptu signing at the end; I got my Clan-Building Volume 1 trade, my SpecSpidey Season 1 DVD, my Young Justice Volume 1 trade, a Captain Atom comic, and the essay I wrote for Contemporary Political Theory last semester (and submitted to Ask Greg afterward) signed, and pretty much geekgasmed into the floor. SOOOOO utterly wonderful.

[If you want to see pics of said signed stuff and/or other stuff I snagged at the Con, you can go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94547312@N04/sets/72157633137324644/with/8608204054/].

We also got to chat a bit privately, which was of course very good fun. And he even indulged my stupid, silly, obsessive request...to pose with my Fluttershy toy and say, "Fluttershy is best pony." His response was golden, too.

Greg: I have no idea what that means.

Me: I didn't expect you to.

Greg: Nah, what I mean is, am I saying something that will get a thousand angry bronies coming after me?

Me: No, most bronies tend to agree that Fluttershy is best pony, anyway.

Unfortunately, my girlfriend's phone appears to have recorded only the first second of the line. But I still posted it to YouTube because the image is gold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qVVtIsNeb4

Overall, my first in-person meeting with Greg Weisman proved to be everything I was hoping for it to be, and more. He's a massively cool guy who doesn't operate on any pretense; he is what he is, and what he is is a genius at writing/interpreting fiction.

It was truly an honor to spend that time with him, and I very much hope it won't be the last.

Greg Weisman, you rock (woo-hoo!). Don't let anybody tell you different. Because this kind of treatment of your fans makes me truly proud to be involved with helping out here.

Thank you for ASK GREG LIVE!

Thank you for all the wonderful shows you've brought us over the years.

And thank you for never giving up hope. I await "Rain of the Ghosts" with bated breath, and I can't wait to here the announcement when you get your next television gig.

Because it's coming. And I look forward to watching the hell out of that show, whenever it comes.

Steel_Goliath writes...

Hi Mr Weisman
i was wondering do you feel any anger towards the shows you work on get canceled before you can finish all the plot lines
also what do you plan to do now that young justice is cancelled

FallenLegend writes...

Hello greg

You previously said that you don't like gran finales and you don't intend to really give closure to any of your shows/stories. Not even gargoyles that as you described it is your "baby" even if you don't own it.

Does that mean that we will always get cliffhanger endings from your tv show when they get canceled?

What about your new book series, will it end in a cliffhanger too?

As much as I am a fan of your stories Greg, It feels empty not to have any closure at all.

No offense but basic story telling has beginning-conflict-resolution and as fans we never get to see a resolution of the overall plot.

I mean having an ending that gives the illusion that "the story never truly ends" is great (that's not what I am critical of).

But I think that not having an ending that acknowledges that the story has to end for real life reasons(maybe becuase you simply can't write stories forever, becuase you aren't getting more episodes, becuase you have to move on etc)... is disrespectuful to your fans that expect to have a complete story.

Take JLU unlimited ending. It even ended with wonderwoman saying "...and the adventure continues" and even left two unresolved plot points, But at the same time it ended the main plots and acted as a send off/good bye to it's fans and it didn't feel empty.

Sorry for being so critical, you are a big inspiration and even if I don't agree with you always I think you are a fantastic story teller (an inspiration for me in fct) and I am planing on buying our new book.

KenRD writes...

Im interested in reading your book Rain of Ghosts because of my respect and fondness of you as a storyteller. I have yet to pre-order it however because I have not yet been able to find a summary for the story, so I was wondering if you had any idea when the details would start comming out?
Speaking of books what are your favorite authors?
My favorite is Sir Terry Pratchett, have you read any of his books? If not I would always recommend them as he has such and interesting take on the world and twists things in the most wonderful way.

DanM writes...

Hey there Greg, 1 - how are you?
DanM again here, I'd like to thank you for spending your time to answer my questions. Much appreciated.
I know quite a bit from the comics' market, industry and its works, and used to assume that it wasn't that much different from the animation universe. But your answer really enlightened me a lot about it. For instance it never crossed my mind that being a Producer would earn you nothing, financially speaking, this certainly made the level of respect I already had of you go way up to the stratosphere! And thank you for that! To me that doesn't just show how much you care for your stories and characters but also to you fans. Really man, thank you very much!
Said that, I do know that the characters and the show itself are not your property to do as you please, I just thought that you might have certain leverage w/ the guys at DC comics, you know, seeing how awesome and well received, for the comic fans, your work has been. I've gotta say that so far the New 52, for me at least, has been ok… w/ one or another good story popping up. But YJ bests them all easy. Seeing how Geoff Johns went on board w/ Ivan Reis to do that new Aquaman title, when the character wasn't really in DC's plan at all (That I DO know for a fact). It was really a shocker to me that he did not sign you to keep working w/ DC, you know w/ him being said to be the Chief Creative Officer and all. Especially when I could see the same kind of treatment both of you gave the characters. Well anyways, I'm really sorry your pitches didn't really hit jackpot, like I've said before I would certainly enjoy them.
And perhaps we all are mourning a bit more than it is healthy, but if the Teen Titans show is coming back, then to me there is still a chance for YJ too. Just hope that that chance doesn't come without you and/or your team.
I really wish you the best of luck on your upcoming novel and of course your work hunt, I'm sure it won't take long for you to land your next solid gig man! And as soon as Rain hits the shelves here in Brasil, you can count I'll definitely do my part to make sure you're properly rewarded. That's the least I can do for all your work in YJ, which gave me and the family lot of good times. 
Just so not to miss this opportunity here are a few more questions:
2 - Could I send you my copy for you to sign? (That is when I get it, of course).
3 - Do you work with movie scripts also?
4 - What do you think of Tolkien's work? Have a favorite?
That's all for now… Once again, thanks!!!

Tya writes...

Please Mr. Greg, I know that you're a very busy man and I am in love with you guy's work, especially Young Justice Series. Ever since the very first episode I have been in amazement by how good the series is. It really brought back how much eveyone truly loved all DC Heroes. I was extremely happy about the whole focus on the sidekicks,who proved to be much more than that. Now I have seen the finale now, and I hope this wont get my question deleted or anything, but I was wondering what was now next for you guys,since the unpredictable and sad ending to such a great series?

Anonymous writes...

I just finished watching "Endgame" and, as expected, it was golden. It's too bad Cartoon Network/DC didn't request more episodes so that concepts such as Tim/Cassie or Static or the whole...you know...Darkseid-Light plot.

Anyway, I was wondering. Obviously you had plans for a third season, but can DC allow you to at least release your plans for the show?

If not, I wish you good luck in whatever projects you do next. I hear you're writing novels soon. At least you can write whatever you want in them, from Shakespearean references to Xanatosian plots, and they won't be cancelled by higher powers.