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Elliot writes...

Hello Greg! After just watching the first two episodes of YJ Phantoms on HBO Max, I just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it! I'm so excited to see where the Mars storyline takes us, and meeting M'gann's family has been quite the surreal experience. M'gann's attitude and confidence was a sight to behold whenever she (unfortunately) had to deal with the Green Martians' prejudice and outright assault. I love to see it! Anyways, here are some questions:

01 | Did Roy go back to school after being rescued from the Light? It's assumed that Will was the one that finished his education in Roy's place, so was Roy homeschooled after the fact or did he go back to attending public/private school? Was he not schooled at all? Or was Roy (pre-frozen) homeschooled from the get-go and, as such, so was Will?
02 | In the tie-in comics, it's apparent that Dick and Bette hooked up on the eve of his birthday. Given the retcon (if that's the appropriate word) of the Wayne/Kane family relations in the comics, as well as on the show (with the addition of Batwoman and your confirmation that Bette and Martha Wayne are related), would it be safe to say that neither Dick nor Bette knew that they were distant cousins to some degree?
03 | While I assume it was for budgetary reasons, was there a specific reason you guys chose to use Talia's whitewashed design with the same overtly sensualized/sexualized outfit from the recent DC Animated Movies instead of the more appropriately Arabic and regal design Christopher Jones gave her in the tie-in comics?
04 | A lot of stuff has changed very recently in the comics regarding character sexuality, what with Tim Drake and Jon Kent both being confirmed bisexual (though, as of this writing, I don't think Tim's put a label on it one way or another). Whether or not you were privy to such a development isn't what I'm asking about, per say, but you've stated in earlier posts that you'd never take away an LGBTQ+ character's sexuality away (the question was in reference to Renee Montoya's sexuality in the show), so even though I highly doubt it would effect S4 at all, would the change be taken into consideration in later seasons? I'm not asking about Tim and/or Jon specifically, by the way, just the notion itself. Would a previously perceived straight character getting recently confirmed/retconned as another sexuality impact your interpretation of that character? Just for example, Alan Scott has been gay in the comics for quite a few years now, same with Wonder Woman and her bisexuality. Given that you make histories and timelines regarding most of the characters on your shows, I assume you've done the same with these two back in S1 when they were first introduced, but back when in the comics they were straight. Has the retcon changed things for you guys, or is it largely a non-issue?
05 | Not really a question, just more love for Phantoms! The poster alone was phenomenal, and I'm so stoked for what's to come, especially given the trailer, the first two episodes, and the new opening! I'm so glad Raquel is (seemingly) taking a bigger spotlight this season, hopefully we can finally find out who she married!

Greg responds...

1. I honestly haven't thought about these issues.

2. Dick's not blood-related to Bette, either way.

3. She's still Arabic in my mind. Phil chose which design to use, but I don't believe we colored her white.

4. As a rule, I wouldn't change an LGBTQ+ character into a heteronormative character. But being with a partner of one sex doesn't preclude someone being bi, obviously. And even, say, with a character like Alan Scott, given the environment and era he grew up in, he could be gay - not bi - and still have been with women in his past. I have contemporaries much younger than Alan who didn't self-acknowledge their sexuality until long after they were adults in adult relationships with members of the opposite sex.

5. I LOVE those posters! All props to Brandon, Chris and Jason for their work on them.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Michael Morningstar writes...

Hey Greg!

Today, I just saw the first two episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms on HBO Max and I have to say, I am completely blown away by the animation quality of this season! Studio Mir really nailed it with this season and the animation is on par with the first two seasons (not to say the animation companies who did Outsiders was bad but still could've been better) and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and pray that Warner Bros. Animation or HBO Max renews the show for a fifth season.

Now, when I was rewatching the show a few weeks ago in preparations for its fourth season's debut this year, something interesting popped up in my mind while I was watching the first three seasons:

1. In the first episode of Season 2, John Stewart/Green Lantern explained to the Justice League and The Team that Kroloteans's culture revolves around stolen alien tech. If this species is so involved in stealing technology from other alien races, how were they even able to travel outside their home planet in the first place? Were they originally an intelligent race like the Rannians and the Kryptonians that successfully managed to travel outside their homeworld and establish first contact but eventually became jealous of other alien species advanced technology so much so that eventually caused them to cease all homemade Krolotean tech and resorted to stealing alien technology for themselves?

2. A decade ago when the first season of Young Justice was going strong on Cartoon Network, you responded to a question stating that New Gods are ageless beings. What does this mean exactly? Are they immune to the effects of aging and disease and can potentially live forever? The reason I'm asking is because Dreamer stated to Superboy that fellow New God Serifan grew up watching Earth Western movies on New Genesis. Does this mean that New Gods like Serifan are born similar to Humans and age like them but at some point in their lives, they hit a certain milestone and effectively stopped aging like regular Humans and become Ageless beings?

3. Regarding Lords of Order and Chaos. In Season 3's episode Evolution, it showed that Nabu/Doctor Fate was originally a human but after he died, he somehow ascended to become a Lord of Order. How is it possible that Nabu became a Lord of Order in the first place? Are certain humans capable of becoming a Lord of Order after death? Can this also apply to Lords of Chaos like Klarion? Was Klarion originally born a human like Nabu but became a Lord of Chaos after his death?

4. You mention that everything that has happened in real life has also happened in Young Justice like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 Financial Crisis, and the COVID-19 Pandemic. I guess this means that certain Islamic terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, and Hezbollah also exist in Young Justice? How do these groups react to groups like the Justice League and certain events on Earth like the Reach Invasion and Meta-Human Trafficking? Do they believe these events shook their faith in their religion and their supporters in the Middle East? Or do they use them to their advantage to bolster their plans against the West and the rest of the world?

5. How does a Lord of Chaos like Klarion view the state of Earth it is in? I can imagine that he must be thrilled with events like the Syrian Civil War and the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in 2021 since they bring Chaos to the world. Has he secretly pulled strings behind the scenes to bring Chaos to Earth or does he let events transpire on its own without getting involved?

Greg responds...

1. I can think of a couple of possible scenarios, but I'm not going to tell a story here at ASK GREG. As always, NO SPOILERS.

2. Did I really say "Ageless beings"? Well, that doesn't make much sense to me now, assuming it ever did. Some New Gods are clearly older than others. Relative to Earthlings, they may SEEM ageless, though.

3. No spoilers.

4. I'll leave that to your interpretation. As for Covid, our show was too far into production to be able to incorporate Covid into our storytelling. So maybe on Earth-16, the pandemic hit a year later. Maybe.

5. Again, I'm not telling stories here. I'll leave that to your interpretation.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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ruby writes...

This is my first time writing in, so I just wanted to say thanks for having this website up! I can't imagine the amount of time it takes to answer everything. It's truly appreciated. I picked up YJ not long after the third season wrapped up, and I'm delighted I got into it when I did.

I especially have to thank you (and the rest of the YJ crew, of course) for Artemis. I was in a bit of a rough patch when I watched it first, and I saw a lot of myself in her. Watching her overcome her fears, especially in the first season, was a reassuring inspiration. There's been more than a few times when I found myself thinking of her as I braved through things. She means a lot to me, and I'm thrilled to see her still working things out now, even though she's been through so much. (I was beyond excited when we found out she's leading the Team now! I can't wait to see that!)

Anyway, I've had these lying around for a bit, so here we go.

1) You recently mentioned some of the organizations you’ve reached out to for help with YJ’s characters of color, cultures you’re unfamiliar with, and the LGBTQ+ community. It’s wonderful to hear that you’re working with them! Which other groups have you worked with (both today and during the first and second seasons) and how does that relationship work?

2) What does a day in the life look like in the YJ acting booth? (I have to imagine it’s pretty fun with that particular group of actors and directors!) Any idea when you’ll be able to record in person again?

3) From what I understand about acting (both voice and “regular”), it’s incredibly important for actors to be able to play off of each other. How does that work with recording during the pandemic? Do actors record lines individually and then play off those recordings, or are Zoom meetings used to imitate the booth as much as possible?

4) One last question about voice acting: how much influence do your actors have over the characters' personalities? Are their ideas about the characters integrated into the writing?

5) I’ve always loved the glimpses we’ve seen of YJ’s interpretation of Atlantis. Many of the versions I’ve seen are basically just a very large underwater city with little oceanic inspiration. YJ’s version seems to have been created with a lot of thought toward how the structure of the seafloor and plant life interact with it, as well as the intense influence of magic. The colors also often feel particularly vibrant and ocean-like. Given that you’re not one of the artists, I’d guess you may not know much about how it was designed, but is there any insight you could give to choices made regarding Atlantis’s design and culture?

I've just seen the first episode of Phantoms, and it's looking spectacular so far. Good luck with finishing up post-production, and thank you again for your hard work!

Greg responds...

1. I'm going to hold off answering which other organizations we've worked with for now, as I think revealing the organizations would by default reveal content. I'd be happy to answer this after the season's over. But I've already stated that we've been working with GLAAD and OUT and MPAC (Hollywood Division). Plus, we've run every single outline and script by Dr. Janina Scarlet (superhero-therapy.com and @shadowQuill on Twitter). She's helped us with psychological and therapeutic details, while also generally acting as a sensitivity reader for our work. And there's also Warner Bros' own DEI department, who've been very helpful. There are more organizations, but the rest will have to wait for now. As for process, it can differ slightly. But generally, we discuss the stuff we were thinking about doing with them and get their feedback. Then we show them our outlines. Then our scripts. Sometimes even animatics or animation. At each step, we listen, take their notes and make sure everyone feels good about what we're doing before we take the next step in the process. We don't do anything that doesn't work for our story and characters. But we admit to ignorance on many fronts and many levels, and we like educating ourselves and allowing that education to be reflected in the work.

2. Well, it is fun! (Or, you know, most of the time. Nothing's perfect.) But pre-pandemic, we'd bring a majority of any episode's cast in together. (Although our casts are SO big, that sometimes we might split that cast into two shifts, trying to get folks who have scenes together to record together.) Jamie usually has them do a first run through without much direction. Then he might dive in and nuance an exchange or a line. Or even a certain phrase. We like to have options, but we want to make sure we get at least one version that hits the nail on the head. And we also make sure that we have at least two versions of every line. Post-pandemic, everyone was recording alone. Which is still great but not quite as much fun. There's a lot of playing back what one actor did for the other actor. (Whomever went first, kinda gets to set the tone for any scene, in these cases.) As for when we'll get back to recording in person, I don't know. Not on Season Four. That's all fully recorded.

3. See above.

4. After an episode or two, we definitely begin to incorporate their performances into their characters. With regulars or our long time recurring actors, we often sit down and talk to the actors about their characters, and I'm not at all adverse to listening to their takes on their own characters and importing those ideas into future episodes.

5. We wanted to fully bring their culture and milleu to life. To see Posiedonis - which is all you've seen of Atlantis so far - as its inhabitants see it.

Thank you for watching!

Response recorded on October 25, 2021

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Nick writes...

Hi, Greg! I just wanted to take a second to thank you for taking the time to go through the queue this summer (including my many taxing age questions). It’s awesome that you’re still taking the time to answer us fans’ questions DECADES after starting this site. Seeing you go through all the answers these past couple of months has been super exciting as we've looked ahead to Season 4. Seeing the premiere today was incredibly exciting and I'm having a blast talking with the community again as we prepare for all the exciting stuff to come with PHANTOMS. Rest assured, we are campaigning for Season 5.

I have... several questions that I've built up over these past few months as you've been answering the queue, and thankfully, this time most of them aren't age questions.

1. In the interest of age/debuts questions: I know you don’t always love to reference the real years for YJ and prefer to operate on the ‘Team Year’ system. Still, for the sake of saving you some math, would it be okay if I started phrasing my questions as ‘What year was x born?’ instead of ‘How old is x?’ Just want to know if that’s faster since it could make things easier on your end.

For this question (https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=24832), you weren’t sure whether or not you had confirmed that Bruce Wayne was Tim Drake’s legal guardian in the past. In this 2012 answer from quite a while ago (https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=17071), you said: “Batman is [Barbara’s] mentor, but not her legal guardian (unlike Dick & TIM).”
2. Is Bruce Wayne the legal guardian of Tim Drake as you implied in the above answer, or have plans changed since then?

If yes, would you now be willing to answer:
3. Was Bruce Wayne the legal guardian of Jason Todd?
4. Is Bruce Wayne the legal guardian of Orphan/Cassandra Cain?

And just for my own understanding of the legal terminology:
5. Has Bruce Wayne legally ADOPTED any children, or was Dick, for example, simply a ward like in the classic comics?

I'm incredibly excited to see what you, Brandon, and the team has been cooking up these past couple years and I'm very excited for the future. Hope you're having a great one!

Greg responds...

1. Probably.

2. Nothing is truly canon until it appears in the show (or the comics, etc.). Plans haven't changed. But the way the Barbara question was asked, I may have been lured into answering the way I did. So... no spoilers.

3. No spoilers.

4. No spoilers.

5. There's a difference between being a ward and being adopted. But whether or not Dick was adopted is also a spoiler.

I feel like this is probably a disappointing set of responses. But I am extremely grateful for your enthusiasm!!

Response recorded on October 25, 2021

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Terry writes...

Why did you choose to have Negative Woman on your iteration of Doom Patrol instead of Negative Man?
What are her powers?
Is she human?

Greg responds...

1. Given what we were doing, which doubled as a nod to Teen Titans Go!, it worked for us to equate Beast Boy with Beast Boy, Chief with Robin, Elasti-Girl with Starfire, Robotman with Cyborg, and Negative Woman with Raven. Using Negative Man wouldn't have been as much fun for us - or for Tara Strong, who played Raven and Negative Woman.

2. Her powers are basically the same as Negative Man and Negative Woman's are in the comics. But we reserve the right to do our YJ twist on those powers if and when we have the opportunity to go into more detail on the character.

3. No spoilers.

Response recorded on October 25, 2021

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Terry writes...

Who founded the Doom Patrol?
When was it formed?
Where was their HQ?
When did they die?
Who killed them?

Greg responds...

1. Chief.

2. Team Year One.

3. I honestly haven't locked this down.

4. Team Year Five. And of course, neither Mento nor Beast Boy died.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on October 25, 2021

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Justice for Helga writes...

In "Illusion of Control" Helga let Paula know that Artemis was back with the Team. Was that accidental or on purpose?

Greg responds...

I'll leave that for your interpretation.

Response recorded on October 25, 2021

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Space Trek Stan writes...

When did Space Trek 3016 debut and how many seasons did it have?

Greg responds...

Production began in TEAM YEAR SIX.

"How many seasons did it have?" Geez, Stan! Who says it's over?

NEVER THE END!!!

Response recorded on October 25, 2021

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Terry writes...

Can you elaborate on Jochi and Tolui a little bit?

Who is who?

How old were they?

Greg responds...

When Darkseid attacked, Jochi (the fire-bender) was 27, and Tolui (the lightning-bender) was 16.

For more information on them, I'd try the following:

https://youngjustice.fandom.com/wiki/Jochi_and_Tolui

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jochi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolui

Response recorded on October 25, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Did Phil Bourassa work on Young Justice: Phantoms?

Greg responds...

No, though of course many of his designs are still being used in the series, and what new designs that were created for S4 by Model Supervisor Dou Hong and Character Designers Jerome K. Moore and Austin Reinkins were designed based on the template and design style Phil set for the series. Also, Dou worked with Phil on Season Three, and Jerome worked with him on Seasons One and Two.

Response recorded on October 25, 2021


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