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Anonymous writes...

if you only intended for there to be a handful of characters that are leads, why didn't you keep the cast small like season 1 instead of adding a bunch of characters you have no intention of focusing on? that way, people could have focused on the mains without being distracted by the characters who are background. can you really blame people for being disappointed when their favorite character shows up, only for the show to do nothing with them and move onto someone else?

Greg responds...

I don't blame people.

Why are you blaming me for making the show I want to make? (Or more accurately, the show that Brandon and I want to make, and which many, many, many fans seem to enjoy?)

I've already answered over and over again why we have always continued to expand our cast. Why some characters are leads in a given season. Why some are supporting. Why some are cameos. Why our spotlight moves around as it does. Feel free to go through the ASK GREG archives and get the lowdown. I'm definitely not in the mood to repeat myself.

But I will make these points:

Blue Beetle was a lead in Season Two. In Season Three he was supporting. In Season Three he only cameod. But should we have NEVER introduced him, just because we didn't make him a lead EVERY season?

Zatanna was supporting in seasons one, two and three. She became a lead for a chunk of Season Four. Should we never have introduced her either?

And if, for example, we made Wonder Girl a lead in Season Five (assuming we get a season five and assuming that's in our gameplan), should we have waited UNTIL Season Five to introduce her? Or might not her Season Five characterization BENEFIT from her having been introduced earlier and us having watched her grow at least a little from a Wonder Woman fangirl in Season Two, to the leader of the Outsiders in Season Four, leading up to whatever might be depicted in Five? And if we then dropped her back down to Supporting in Season Six, would that mean we should never have made her a lead in Season Five?

Different fans might disagree about their specific favorites, but I'd bet anything that NO FAN wanted us to have six heroes and NEVER introduce any more ever. It's a big DC Universe out there. And nearly every fan is frickin' greedy for their favorites to appear.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Notice how in season 1, no one felt the need to bring up the fact that Aqualad is black? He just is, and he was a well-developed character. Same with Jaime in season 2 - he's clearly Latino by his name and appearance and sprinkles Spanish into his speech, other than that his character had a compelling storyline that had nothing to do with his race. That's how you do diverse representation properly.

Whereas with Halo and Khalid, the audience is outright told that they're Muslim instead of shown, and it's a big part of both of their arcs. YJ is a superhero show with an ensemble cast that doesn't go super deep into the character's personal lives, and religion is personal - that's why we don't know the majority of the characters' religion.

To harp on it so much with the two Muslim characters reinforces this idea that Muslims are "others," that we're not "normal" like white Christians and that we're all extremely conservative and ultra religious. It would have been nice to have a character that's visibly Muslim (Halo's hijab) or shown to be Muslim in subtle ways (like by saying certain Arabic phrases or mention celebrating a holiday) and just let them be a normal character with a compelling storyline.

You guys had representation down perfectly in the first two seasons, I don't know why you've changed the approach?

Greg responds...

Wow, I disagree with just about EVERYTHING you've written above.

For starters, you're not TOLD Halo is Muslim. You're shown that they're exploring whether Islam might hold some meaning for them. You're not TOLD Khalid is Muslim, you're shown what his Muslim heritage means to him.

And I think both characters have extremely compelling storylines. You don't have to agree, of course. But I don't have to agree with you, either. And I think you're just WRONG.

And we sometimes do go into religion for other characters. Zatara immediately springs to mind since we showed his faith in the very same episode in which we explored Khalid's religion - and in the one that follows.

I don't think either Khalid or Halo are presented as ultra religious, either. Certainly, Halo's not. They're not even certain they want to be Muslim yet. (They're exploring!) I don't even think Khalid's mother is presented as ultra religious, really, though I'll admit you could make that argument about her. And Gabrielle's mother is talking about religion ONLY because Violet asked her about it. She's not proslytizing.

Zatara's the only guy, actually, whom we see kneeling in church and praying. Why doesn't THAT bother you? Is he suddenly "other" and not "normal".

I mean, sure, he is. That's the point. WE ARE ALL OUTSIDERS. Everyone is different. With different needs and different wants. Faith being one of many, many, many variables worth exploring.

And we have other Muslim characters who NEVER mention their faith at all. Queen Bee and Noor Harjavti, to name a couple. One's a villain, and one's pretty minor. But my point is that we don't have any rules. We're doing what we think is right for each of our characters individually.

And I don't think we have "changed the approach." I think we've evolved it. We're going deeper. (Cuz, you know, we're in our fourth season.) Deeper in TONS of ways. Deeper into Beast Boy's mental health. Deeper into Artemis and Jade's difficult childhood. Deeper into Halo's sexuality. Why should religion be off-limits? Especially, since EVERY single Muslim we consulted with and who worked on the season liked what we were doing and helped us get there. This has a positive meaning to many people. I know cuz they've told me that. And again, that doesn't mean YOU have to like it. It just means you can't possibly claim to be speaking for everyone. Not even for every Muslim.

And while I'm at it, I wouldn't be shy about going into Jaime's Mexican heritage. Hasn't come up yet. But I'm not saying it won't. It could become a big issue, if and when we go deeper into his character. Might hit on his Catholicism. Might not. But I wouldn't shy away from it.

Kaldur's blackness is pretty much a non-issue in Atlantis, but we have dealt with his lack of "purity" to certain racist Atlanteans in our companion comics. It's a metaphor. And not a subtle one. So you are OBJECTIVELY WRONG when you say we didn't deal with race. We did. IN DEPTH.

But my real issue, is that I really, REALLY don't like you trying to rein us in and tell us what is and isn't worthy of our attention. It grates on me that you're speaking in absolutes, as if there's only ONE GOOD WAY TO MAKE A SHOW. And, again, I disagree. Strongly. (Or was that not clear?)

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Paul writes...

Hi Greg!

1) Is there any particular reason why Troia and Sergeant Marvel have their hair tied back? I ask because I don’t think this is the case in the comics, and because other superheroines in YJ do not have their hair tied back (Miss Martian, Zatanna, Wonder Girl). (I suppose maybe Artemis and Batgirl did though and I’m just not remembering that fact for some reason.)

2) How does Sergeant Marvel compare in terms of strength to Superboy, Troia, and Wonder Girl?

Greg responds...

1. Artemis did as Artemis. She doesn't as Tigress.

Out of Universe, it's a design choice, made in a three-way discussion between our character designer(s), Brandon and myself. In universe, chalk it up to each character's personal choice.

2. I've never liked these kind of comparisons, but of the four, Superboy is the strongest. The other three are all pretty close to equal. Although, everything is situational.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Secret writes...

Questions about the Memorial Holograms
1. How long does it take for them to display the memorial hologram when a hero has died?
2. Do they do it immediately or wait sometime until it’s ready?
3. Who came up with the idea to display the holograms in the first place?
4. Who is responsible for setting them when they are ready?
5. When exactly did the Team display Wally, Conner and Tula’s holograms? Specially day and month!

Greg responds...

1. I'm not clear on what your asking. Like how long does it take to prep a hologram? Not long.

2. How could they do it before it's ready? It would be fairly soon after the funeral, I suppose.

3. No spoilers.

4. I dunno. I guess ultimately it is the responsibility of the League Chair. The buck stops with them. Doesn't mean they do it personally.

5. Again, it would have been shortly after the funeral. I haven't fixed a specific date for it.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Freya writes...

Are Arsenal and Arrowette public heroes in Star City ?

Greg responds...

No. Not particularly.

Response recorded on October 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is Brion fully mind controlled by Zviad? Does he not have his own will? Is every decision he makes really a Zviad decision?

Greg responds...

He has his own will. As STATED CLEARLY on the show, Zviad can only nudge him toward his own worse impulses. (Or occasionally toward any impulse, really.)

Response recorded on October 03, 2022

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Apollo writes...

How many people (roughly, by orders of 10, or you can confirm that it's a non-zero entity if the specific number is a spoiler) has Jade killed?

What kind of notoriety does Jade have as a professional assassin in the grander world? Was her zenith ever just "another shadow" or did she build up a bigger rep to the level of her father?

Greg responds...

It'a a non-zero number.

Most people don't know she exists. She had an impressive rep in the clandestine world she operated on, but she was never a Super-villain, per se, like Sportsmaster.

Response recorded on September 30, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1-How durable are Martians in their natrual Form? miss martian was able to take a casual hit from superman so could she resist low calibr bullets with no physical damage? Or could she survive being hit by a bus?
2-Are atlanteans more durable than Martians in their natrual Form? (If comparing two races is not possible take martian manhunter and aqualad for comparasion)

Greg responds...

1. I doubt she could take any bullet - unless someone threw a bullet at her - without ANY damage, unless she was ready for it and used some combination of her morphing and telekinetic abilities to avoid injury. She might survive being hit by a bus, but I'm sure it would do damage.

2. Both are extremely dense, relative to your average Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Beyond that, I'm not interested in making hypothetical comparisons.

Response recorded on September 30, 2022

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Wysteria writes...

Here are some questions about M'Gann:

1. How did Martian Manhunter learn about the value of tolerance and acceptance? Given the fact that he went to Earth in the 1960's, he must have learned about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. He probably even learned about the Holocaust. Was the Civil Rights Movement the reason how J'onn learned about acceptance?

2 Since Earth television was introduced to Mars in the 1960's, what classic TV series would the Martians have seen?
Did these include I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and Bewitched?

3. What about when M'Gann and Em'Ree started watching Hello Megan? Did the Martians watch series such as Little House on the Prairie, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family and Happy Days?

4. Would the Martians be exposed to classic films, such as the Godfather, The Wizard of Oz, and Dirty Dancing?

5. Given the caste prejudice occurring on Mars, have the Martians ever seen TV series that deal with racism, such as All in the Family and some episodes of Little House on the Prairie?

6. In India, there is also a caste system that is quite similar to the one on Mars. The Indian caste system is based on one's surname. Like the caste system on Mars, there are four to five categories in the Indian caste system. There are also priests in the caste system that are similar to the yellow Martians. I would like to know if the caste system in India is an inspiration for the caste system on Mars?

If you don't know anything about the caste system in India, you may want to google it and learn more about it.

Greg responds...

For the record, please note that her name is M'gann. Not M'Gann.

1. There's no simplistic answer for me to offer here, and I'm not going to write a novel about J'onn's early adventures on Earth on an Ask Greg post.

2. I'm also not going to come up with anything like a comprehensive list. So feel free to use your own imagination for now.

3. Same.

4. To some, yes. I'm not going to give specific examples.

5. I'm sure they've had access to television that deals with racism, yes. I'm not going to give specific examples.

6. It was, in part.

Response recorded on September 30, 2022

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Apriel writes...

Why did superman not realize Garfield was also has depression over suberboy's death during the trip back to earth from mars?

Greg responds...

The trip back was on the Javelin, which can travel at post-light speeds, and thus took very little time to return to Earth. AND BOTH OF THEM were understandably down over Superboy's death. It's hard to notice any distinction between depression and mourning, especially in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy.

Response recorded on September 30, 2022

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FallenLegend writes...

Hey Greg, after watching the spectacular Spider-Man a thought came to me about Young Justice’s Mary.

Do you think her situation with power obsession is comparable to what happened with Eddie Brock? With him being obsessed about Being Venom,

The biggest difference I see is that the symbiotic is somewhat sentient, and the power of SHAZAM is not.

Second question was that power withdrawal /obsession Mary suffered something Black Adam, Billy or Freedy also felt?

Also, do you think Mary’s obsession with her power had to do with low self steem on her normal self?

Blank Adam is also transformed all the time, but he also has that rapid aging problem to have him don’t bother, doesn’t he?

It seemed like this only affected Mary of all the holders of Shazam we know so far. Unlike, say, Venom who was trying to corrupt the minds or both Peter and Eddie, The problem seems to be on Mary’s end completely,

Thank you Greg.

Greg responds...

1. It's an interesting thought.

2. No spoilers.

3. I don't want to oversimplify, but I think that's in the mix.

4. No spoilers.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on September 29, 2022

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Steve Hockensmith writes...

What happened to Dr. Strange before Economos became warden?
When did Courtney Whitmore become Stargirl?

Greg responds...

1. He freed everybody and ran.

2. Team Year Nine.

Response recorded on September 29, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

How exactly did Granny Goodness know about Mary Bromfield's magic power-abusing problem, and what exactly does she have to gain by manipulating Mary into becoming Sergeant Marvel again?

Greg responds...

1. That's a very good question. Maybe she's following her on Twitter?

2. A lot. See episode 426 for starters.

Response recorded on September 29, 2022

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Friendly CIA Spook writes...

1. Since it seems original to this series, what influenced the decision to make Harm's sword specifically a sword of Beowulf? Was it possibly a reference to DC's 1970s sword-n-sorcery Beowulf book, just a personal fondness for the original poem, or some other reason?

2. Some DC properties drawn on the Juedo-Christian Bible- i.e., sometimes the Phantom Stranger is hinted to be Judas Iscariot, or Vandal Savage to be Cain. Without going into any specific future character plans, are you COMFORTABLE incorporating details like that, given... ah... possible contention? (I think you mentioned something like that being a concern when working on Gargoyles)

Anyway, I love all I've seen of work and hope you are well.

Greg responds...

1. So long ago... I'm guessing it seemed to fit our needs. Though I am very familiar with the Beowulf story, so that may have had an influence.

2. We haven't hit any walls in that regard so far. And I doubt we would on HBO Max. So, the short answer is, yes, I'm comfortable.

Response recorded on September 29, 2022

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walkie writes...

In episode 4x11,

1. Was the version/appearance of Billy Batson seen by Mary his 2010 appearance? Or was it meant to mimic his hitherto unseen 2014-ish appearance that he would have looked like the first time he convinced Mary to stop transforming? And whichever the answer is, why did Mary/Nabu (whoever conjured the illusion) choose to make him appear that way?

2. Is there a reason besides availability that Eric Lopez voiced Billy here and not one of the previous voice actors? I thought it was good, but you could kinda tell that it was an adult trying to be a child.

3. Is the fact that she needed outside intervention (if an illusion of Billy even counts as outside intervention since she may have conjured it herself) a sign that she kinda cheated the test and was not in fact ready for the fight?

4. Previously, as far as I can find, the only descriptor given by you of the Marvel family's relationship has been that the other 3 are Billy's "three best school friends". Is there a reason beyond that that he referred to her as sis, or are they just that close of friends?

Thanks!

Greg responds...

1. It seems it was supposed to be his 2011 appearance. I can't remember why.

1a. Her subconscious brought forth this young version of Billy. I'll leave it to each viewer's interpretation as to why she chose that specifically.

2. In nearly ALL animation, adults play children. YJ occasionally was the exception to that rule. Robert Ochoa, the original actor for Young Billy is no longer that young, so it didn't make too much sense to bring him back and have him pretend to be young. I'm very happy with the job Eric did. And it saved us money on our budget, which is always a concern.

3. That was our thinking, yes.

4. I think I've revealed before that Billy and Mary are biological twins, separated at birth. They eventually learn that they're siblings.

Response recorded on September 29, 2022

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Manny writes...

Hi, Greg. Amazing show, loving Phantoms so far (ep. 13, waiting for the date for the 2nd part of the season).
Why you can say that Robin (Tim) and Wonder Girl (Cassie) are done for but not if Zatanna and Dick are done for? It’s because Tim and Cass are not as important as Dick and Zee?
Did you expect for your new relationships to be as well accepted as they were or they surpass your expectations? I’m talking about Spitfire, SuperMartian and Chalant that became fan favorites in no time.
Anyway hope you and yours stay whelmed and much health to all of you.

Greg responds...

1. This is exactly why I shouldn't ever say anything. Because fans compare responses to different questions and then make assumptions based on those comparisons. Cassie and Tim are very clearly over in the show. Dick is very clearly with Barbara. Beyond that... write your own fanfiction, I guess.

2. Everyone forgets. Back in the day, I got a TON of negative feedback on both the Superboy/Miss Martian relationship and on the Artemis/Kid Flash relationship. Now, they're held up as perfection and used to attack what we've done since. It's a head shaker, mostly.

Response recorded on September 28, 2022

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Crossoverparinglover writes...

Hey, follow up to an earlier question.

https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=25376

This one, specifically two where you were confused. By Stellar Geography I had meant a map of the Milky Way Galaxy in the verse, like this one that Transformers Animated has.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d3/c8/1f/d3c81f1674ad458e634f4fa1a597e0d0.jpg

You also see them in series like Star Wars and Star Trek, where there are maps to show you how close planets are and where they are relative to each other. Do you have anything like that for Earth-16?

Greg responds...

Nope.

Response recorded on September 28, 2022

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Mark writes...

Is the Klamulon Commander from "Nightmare Monkeys" Der'Chow, or a different character also played by Harvey?

Greg responds...

A different character also played by Harvey.

Response recorded on September 27, 2022

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Fallenlegend writes...

Hey Greg, got some multiverse questions. Not going to ask about earth 17 as I know that:s a spoiler…but ignoring that:

1.- How open would you be to earth 16 interacting with other universes?
2.- How open would you be to the idea of Canon crossovers with other shows for earth 16 ? I know there are plays, but those aren’t canon. Say Teen titans and the team of Young justice meeting for real instead of that Beast boy nightmare.

2b Also how do you feel about the ides of canon crossovers between other shows with Gargoyles (not counting your planned spin-offs like Bad guys’’
3.- Do you view Earth 16 as being isolated from the multiverse? As in part of the multiverse, but more bound to interact with other universes?

Thanks Greg

Greg responds...

1. Not very. It all sounds like fun in any individual story, but I think it's extremely ripe for abuse. EXTREMELY RIPE FOR ABUSE.

2. Same answer.

2b. I don't much care for the idea on the surface. But we did have plans to cross over with the Team Atlantis Universe. Or rather a version of Gargoyles existed in the Team Atlantis Universe. And a version of Team Atlantis exists in the Gargoyles Universe.

3. I really am not sure I understand either way that you phrased the question.

Response recorded on September 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

For Young Justice why did you guys have damian so young? By season 4 if everyone aged right shouldn't damian be around 10-15 because during the new 52 movies he is apart of the teen titans. I guess what I'm trying to ask without spoiling the plot of the show is why wait till now to introduce damian and why at such a young age?

Greg responds...

We have NOTHING to do with the New 52 movies. Nothing. NOTHING. I mean, we don't even have a team called the TEEN TITANS. Anything relating to other media interpretations of the character is completely moot, unless Brandon or I state clearly that something is either canon or canon-adjacent to Earth-16.

Damian is a baby in Season Three. How would it make any sense for him to be 10-15 in Season Four when so little time passed between seasons.

I really can't win. Some folks complain about the time skips. You're complaining that we didn't skip 9-14 years. If we did, Dick Grayson would be somewhere between 32 and 37 years old already. Is that what you want?

As for why we started Damien out so young, it's because we want multiple generations and sub-generations of characters. Not everyone needs to be the exact same age or appearing at the exact same time.

Still, you'll note that Jonny Kent is close in age to Damian. Artur, Lian and Amistad are just a bit older, etc. So down the road - WAY down the road - that does create possibilities, at least.

Response recorded on September 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Since Vandal Savage has taken numerous aliases of famous historical figures, does that mean that, in Earth-16's historical records, the birthdates of these figures are actually FALSE; while the dates of their "deaths" are technically TRUE in some sense (assuming Vandal Savage disappeared during each "death.")?

Greg responds...

Stands to reason, I suppose.

Response recorded on September 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

If Icicle Jr. was technically still in love with Tuppence Terror (despite the fact that Miss Martian having posed as her), than why haven't asked her out yet? Is because he's worried that her twin brother, Tommy, will beat Icicle, Jr. up if he tries to date his twin sister?

Greg responds...

I think it's clear he HAS asked her out. Multiple times. Probably an inappropriate number of multiple times, knowing Junior. I don't think he's worried about Tommy. I don't think Tommy's worried about him. And Tup can handle herself.

I also don't think Junior really is "in love" with Tuppence. He just wants to be in love.

Response recorded on September 21, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

In “I Know Why the Caged Cat Sings,” Lois believed that if Clark had gotten to Mars five minutes sooner, then Clark likely would've died alongside Conner. Just between you and me, would that have actually happened in such a "what if?" scenario, and, if so, then why would that be the case even if Clark would've been at full power due to just arriving; whereas Conner was already becoming increasingly vulnerable due to spending time on Mars?

Greg responds...

I'm not big on hypotheticals. He clearly would have been at risk. Look what happened to Lor-Zod, after all. I mean, you've literally got thousands of microscopic bits of Kryptonite shrapnel, which you're neither immune to or invulnerable from, headed your way.

Response recorded on September 21, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Questions in Regards to Earth-16's Martha Kent:

#1. Is her current full name Martha Clark-Kent; since Clark is her maiden name?

#2. Did she and her husband (Jonathan) tried to have a child of their own before Kal-El eventually came into their lives, and if so, how many times did they tried and what was the medical reason why Martha was ultimately unable to have a child?

#3. Since nothing is known at all about her own family in the comics, does she have any siblings (brothers or sisters or both) on Earth-16, or was Martha an only child in her family?

Greg responds...

1. No. Clark is her maiden name. But she did not hyphenate. Her name is Martha Kent now.

2a. No spoilers.

2b. How many times did they try? Is that a serious thought-out question? Are you seriously asking me how many times the Kents had unprotected sexual intercourse? Cuz I'm not answering that. Yeesh.

2c. No spoilers.

3. No spoilers.

Response recorded on September 21, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Questions in regards to Earth-16's Lois Lane:

#1. Is her current full name Lois Joanne Lane-Kent?

#2. Is her father General Samuel "Sam" Lane?

#3. Is her sister Lucile "Lucy" Lane?

#4. Does she have a younger paternal half-brother named Leonardo "Leo" Lane; like in the comics?

#5. Are she and her husband (Clark) currently taking sabbaticals from the Daily Planet in order to raise their son, Jonathan "Jonny" Samuel Kent?

Greg responds...

1. I don't know her middle name. I'd have to research that. She did not hyphenate her last name. She's still Lois Lane.

2. Her father is Samuel Lane.

3. No spoilers.

4. Never heard of him. But no spoilers.

5. Define "currently"?

Response recorded on September 20, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hello "waves"
Season 4 has been amazing so far and I really do look forward to what happens next (what a cliffhanger!). I'm curious about something, though.

During her final fight with everyone, Child's forehead cracked and showed her energy form beneath it. Was that because she was straining to use a lot of power or something else? For that matter, would something similar happen if Klarion strained?

Greg responds...

I really don't know what you mean. Child took on her quote-unquote demon face. Is that what you're referring to? I'm sure you've seen Klarion's demon-face.

Response recorded on September 16, 2022

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Shouta writes...

In the young justice universe how did Beast Boy find out Superman was Clark Kent?

Greg responds...

I don't tell stories in this forum.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Troia writes...

Why does Cassie wear a hairband into the field if her hair still falls in front of her face?

Greg responds...

I assume she likes it for some reason or another.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

The light seems to have policy where once a member has been caught they are left to rot. Does this policy include vandal savage? Since he is the founder of the light and has centuries of knowledge. Would the light just replace him if the heroes are somehow able to capture him or would they make a exception for him and try to release him?

Greg responds...

It's a really good question. One that I can't believe you thought I would actually answer. No spoilers.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

We know that the light has this project lifeboat which entails that all light members and their chosen companions would evacuate to the warworld for certain planetary situations.
My question is what would be the light’s plan going forward if there would be a situation where the earth would be destroyed(or at the very least become uninhabitable)? Since all of their efforts had been to make earth the dominant power in the galaxy. Would they just seek another planet and start over there?

Greg responds...

No spoilers. (Plus, I've never been big on hypotheticals, as any regular reader here at Ask Greg could tell you.)

Response recorded on September 14, 2022

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Kevin writes...

1. What are Magog's powers/abilities on Earth 16?
2. Is the character J.W. from the play canon to Young Justice or was that just for the radio play?
3. Would telepaths be considered metahumans or is it's own thing?
4. What does Martian sorcery consist of? By that I mean if Atlantean sorcery is hard water constructs, Zatanna speaks backwards for a variety of effects what does Martian sorcery do? If that is too broad what was it doing onscreen was it light manipulation?
5. Why didn’t the Scarab explain it wasn’t allied with the Reach because of it malfunctioning?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. Not canon. At least not yet.

3. Not all telepaths are meta-humans. Not all meta-humans are telepaths. Miss Martian is a telepath, but she's not a meta-human. She's a Martian. Looker is also a telepath, and she is a meta-human. Static is a meta-human, but he isn't a telepath. Basically, think of telepathy as an ability. Like walking. Dogs can walk. Cats can walk. But not all dogs are cats, etc.

4. There's not one thing. Not even for Atlanteans. La'gaan's specialty has nothing to do with water manipulation. As for Martian sorcery, I feel like we showed a range of things on screen. I'll leave it at that.

5. I assume you're asking about S2. But I'm not sure I understand the question. Initially, it didn't talk about the Reach because it had no memory of having any connection to the Reach. Or of the Reach at all. If you're asking why it didn't tell Jaime it no longer wanted to serve the Reach after the Reach took control of it and Jaime, the answer is because it was being monitored at all times.

Response recorded on September 14, 2022

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Mohammad Reza writes...

Hello Mr.Weisman
You've already mentioned that increasing volume is fairly easy for a martian but they can't change mass, my question is could they absorb the matter around them (e.g. the ground) to add mass?
And if so, would Shape-Shifting into gigantic sizes makes them stronger and more durable? (because they gained more weight and density)
I also wanted to thank you all for making such a great series. I hope you keep it up.

Greg responds...

1. No.

2. See above.

3. Thanks for watching!

Response recorded on September 14, 2022

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Parker writes...

1.Is project match still a loose end in the show? I haven't read the companion comics but know a little bit of his fate there, does that mean the original project match is gone both in the comics and the show. I have scowered the wiki but it's a little confusing.
2.Are companion comic events canon to the show?
Anyways love what you are doing and I love y'all's vision(hopefully matter eater lad is in that vision), keep up the great work you guys do it means more than y'all might know.

Greg responds...

1. Well... maybe you should read the comics, including recent issues of Young Justice: Targets. The answers regarding Match are all there.

2. Yes, the companion comics are all fully canon. (To be clear, I'm talking about the actual companion comics, which are now available in two trades - Young Justice: The Early Missions and Young Justice: Growing Up - plus our new six issue mini-series, Young Justice: Targets. I am NOT talking about the old 90s comics or the more recent "Wonder Comics" issues, which are also titled Young Justice. They may be great stories. But they're not canon to Earth-16.)

Response recorded on September 14, 2022

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Joey writes...

How do you feel about the fans of young justice not liking Garfield and Perdita breaking up and not geting back togather later in young justice story?

Greg responds...

It depends what you mean about "liking." I'm glad they cared about the relationship enough, are/were invested enough to want them to stay together.

Response recorded on September 13, 2022

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RJB writes...

Hi Greg,

1. Do you think that "quality of writing" is something that the average person might have a stronger opinion about compared to other subjective creative forms like art or music? Does that make it more likely that you'll get people complaining about the quality of the writing in a show rather than any other aspect of it?

2. Is it fair to say that a lot of complaints of this nature are ignorant of the many factors that go into making a show outside of purely creative decisions? Stuff like budget, scheduling or availability that might influence what's reasonably possible to do in a specific time frame?

3. Have you noticed these kinds of criticisms getting worse over time? I feel there wouldn't have been as many people complaining about "Hello, Megan" during the time of Gargoyles, or maybe even Spidey.

4. I get that armchair criticism has always been around and that social media has provided a bigger platform for it, but the recent negative reception to stuff like the ending of Game of Thrones or Star Wars The Last Jedi has made me curious about your perspective on this kind of thing.

Greg responds...

1. I do think that. My hypothesis - untested, unconfirmed - is that in a literal sense, nearly everyone knows how to "write". They know how to grab a pencil, pen or keyboard and put words on a page in an order that is at least comprehensible to another human being. So there is, perhaps, a subconscious assumption that if they just set their minds to it, that they could write stories, too - as good or better as most of the professional writers out there. On the other hand, to take your examples, not everybody believes they can draw or make music. Those talents seem esoteric, special, unique. I believe they strike a bit more awe - at least generally - than writing does. So the writing becomes the easy target. Or at least the easier target. But, of course, I'm a writer that can't draw or make music. So it makes sense that I should believe I'm under attack more. Human nature. So take it all with a grain of salt.

2. I think that's very fair to say. (And this is reading a bit like I posted these questions myself in order to defend myself with the answers. Not that I'm complaining.)

3. The internet is... well... awful... in so many ways. And its spread and influence has increased over the years, so, yes, it is definitely getting worse. But it hasn't really changed. Back in the pre-internet days, I'd still get nasty letters (sent via the post office) on Captain Atom. And the basic percentage of praise to criticism to abuse is really about the same. It just feels multiplied by the internet. The quantity of feedback is exponentially larger. And, again, human nature being what it is, I can get literally 50 tweets of praise, which are then wiped out of my mind by one mean tweet.

4. Well, I hated the ending of Game of Thrones, too... and I had mixed feelings about Last Jedi... but that wasn't the point of your question. It definitely FEELS worse. The main thing that people don't seem to get is that I LIKE MY SHOW. Brandon and I like what we've done. Not every frame, mind you, but overall, we LIKE OUR SHOW. And we are making the show WE WANT TO MAKE. I don't mind that people don't like it. (It'd be lovely, I suppose if we had 100% praise for the thing, but I honestly don't expect that. Ever.) What gets on my nerves is the assumption that many "fans" (or hate-watchers) have that we should be making the show that THEY WANT US TO MAKE, and that we're failing because we're not MAKING THEIR SHOW instead of MAKING OUR SHOW. That does grind on me. You want to shout out: "GO MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN SHOW!! No one's forcing you to watch ours!" But, of course, that's not a particularly politic statement to make. And more hate-watchers are still more watchers.

Response recorded on September 13, 2022

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Verdragon writes...

1. How much (if any) variation in skin color is there within the Martian castes? Like, in the same way someone from Norway would likely have lighter skin than someone from Greece, are there Green Martians with skin that's closer to turquoise or lime than J'onn's?
2. Are there inter-caste Martians that, like mixed race humans, have a skin tone between their two parents (like in the case of the M'orzz family, could someone like Em'ree have skin that's a lighter shade of green)?

Greg responds...

1. I think you probably saw some slight variations on Mars this past season. B'arzz's skin-tone isn't exactly the same as J'onn's. But asking a red-green color deficient showrunner about subtleties between different shades of green isn't going to get you very far, I'm afraid.

2. We haven't played it that way at all. We haven't made any distinctions between shades of green or red or white or yellow. To be honest, the metaphor is fraught enough, as it is.

Response recorded on September 13, 2022

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Paco writes...

First at all. Thank you and Brandi for making YJ. Loving the season 4 so much, looking forward for the second half.
Since we learned that Kent is closed to Zatara’s family…Why didn’t Zee attended to his funeral? but her dad did as we saw in YJ comic issue 11

Greg responds...

That's a really good question. The out-of-universe answer, of course, is that we hadn't yet (a) introduced Zatanna to the Team and (b) figured out how important Kent was to Zatanna's childhood years.

In universe... hmmm. Maybe she was TOO grief-stricken to attend? (Not sure I buy that myself.)

I'll leave it to our wonderful fans to come up with a crazy legit explanation, I guess.

Response recorded on September 13, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

On Earth-16, Jason Todd was Bruce Wayne's second legal ward, am I correct?

Greg responds...

Um... yeah.

Response recorded on September 12, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Is the correct way to say the name of Superman's biological mother is "Lara El" (which you mentioned in a previous response) or "Lara-El" (which is how it is stated in the Smallville TV series by Kara to Clark in a Season 7 episode)? Also, please explain why whichever version of the name you choose here is the correct one in the Earth-16 continuity?

Greg responds...

I have nothing to do with the choices made on Smallville, and am largely unaware of them. They hold no relevance.

In the Earth-16 continuity, male names are hyphenated. Female names are not. So Jor-El and Lara El. Dru-Zod and Ursa Zod. Unmarried females use their father's full last name as a surname, e.g. Faora Hu-Ul.

These choices - while obviously (and perhaps unfortunately) paternalistic - had the virtue of clarity and consistency for us, on the show, while lining up with tradition from previous comics continuity.

Response recorded on September 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

I might have made a mistake in a previous question in regards to Bruce Wayne and Kate Kane' relationship. So just for clarification:

1. From Bruce's point of view, Kate is his maternal cousin.

2. From Kate's point of view, Bruce is her paternal cousin.

3. Points #1 and 2 are stated in this manner because Bruce's mother (Martha Wayne) and Kate's father (Jacob Kane) are siblings.

As such, are these three facts correct in the Earth-16 animated universe?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.

Response recorded on September 09, 2022

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Kelly writes...

1. Does Jim Harper still work at Cadmus? If not, what does he do now?

2. How big is Will’s business

Greg responds...

1. No.

1a. He works for Bowhunter Security.

2. I'm not sure what you mean by "big". But I think of it currently as small but growing.

Response recorded on September 08, 2022

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Chen Jining writes...

Why didn't Garfield call Perdita and apologize to her after he end his time taking drugs and ask her to resume their relationship?

Greg responds...

You wrote this question back in January before you could have seen how the whole plotline turned out, so I assume by now the answer is moot. But your question seems to assume he stopped taking drugs immediately after she discovered his pill-stash. That wasn't the case.

Response recorded on September 08, 2022

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pal writes...

since technically humans are considered animals, and we saw Garfield in Season 2 living in a form that combines man and monkey elements Can he create other combinations of related species? or add to his human form elements from another animal, like wings?
on the same note why Garfield can not change to a Martian? if humans are part of the animal kingdom shouldn't martian be also a part of it?
sorry for the bad English, not my native language.... hope you still understood the questions

Greg responds...

1. In theory, I suppose, it's possible. But that's gotta be much harder. And a human with wings might not be able to fly. In a battle situation, trying something like that might not be smart.

2. It's not impossible, I suppose. But it doesn't come naturally to him.

Response recorded on September 08, 2022

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Elisa&Goliath writes...

Hi Greg!
I am a lifelong fan of all of your work! Especially gargoyles and young justice. I wanted to ask 3 questions that I didn’t see waiting to be answered already.
1 did you intentionally include props from gargoyles in young justice season four at the Tower of fate? A.k.a. the Phoenix gate, The eye of Oden, grimorum arcanorum.
2 are there more gargoyles Easter eggs throughout YJ?
3 I have recognized the voices of many of the actors on young Justice, as actors who also voiced characters on gargoyles. Do you like to work a lot with the same people?
I think it’s pretty fantastic, but sometimes when I hear the voices I think of their character from gargoyles instead of who they are in young justice.

Greg responds...

1. If I said it was an accident or coincidence would you believe me?

2. Here and there.

3. I do. Very much.

Response recorded on September 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

With all due respect, why do you keep dismissing the feedback that there are too many characters? it's probably the biggest criticism i see of the show, even among fans, but the cast has only gotten bigger since season two.

Greg responds...

What do you want or expect me to do with that criticism?

I think it's valid in and of itself.

But it assumes something about the show that just isn't true in our minds.

This is the show Brandon and I want to make. A big expansive view of the DC Universe from the point of view of its young - but maturing - heroes. One that moves forward through time and isn't stagnant, which by definition means we're always going to be introducing new young heroes as our original leads continue their growth and maturity.

That's the show. So, again, what would you have me do with this criticism?

Change the show to fit the critics?

I mean, frankly, anyone else could make the sort of small cast show that this critique suggests. And it's been done and will continue to be done over and over again. And that's great. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that approach.

But simply put, that's not OUR show. That's not Young Justice.

So I'm not "dismissing" it, as you say. I'm just shrugging and ignoring it. Cuz it's irrelevant to what we're trying to do.

I don't think there are too many characters per episode or per season. We never attempt to focus on EVERYONE every year.

The real underlying truth behind the criticism, I believe, is that for the critic, we're not focusing enough on the SPECIFIC characters they WANT us to focus on, because we've chosen to focus on other characters instead. So it's less about there even being too many characters than about the choices we make as producers/creators/writers.

I'd wager most everyone's good with us focusing on the original six, but most everyone has at least one or two favorites that they'd specifically like to see us add to that spotlighted group. And odds are good - because overall we indeed do have so many characters - that we're just not putting their specific picks under that spotlight.

Thus, if we just happen to focus on Joe's faves, that means we're not focused on Julie's faves. Etc.

So for Julie... the problem can't be that her favorite character doesn't merit the spotlight right now, doesn't fit with the goals of the season. It must be that all the other over-abundance of characters are forcing her favorite OUT of the spotlight. Then THAT must be the problem: Too many characters!

<shrug>

Meanwhile, the series may - quite legitimately - not be everyone's cup of tea. I can accept that. But for the most part, I think our fans like the show we're giving them - which NOT incidentally is the show we want to make.

We're passionate about it, and hopefully that passion shines through and makes the fandom passionate about it, too.

Even with 777 characters and counting...

Response recorded on September 07, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

I have some Young justice questions for you Mr Weisman 1. Zatanna once told the team that ''All magic requires energy which usually comes from within'' Does this same principle apply with Martian magic as well? 2.Besides weddings, and entertainment purposes, What else does the yellow Martian order use there magic for? 3. Does Black canary ever wear a baseball cap or newsboy cap when not in costume ?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. All sorts of stuff, I suppose.

3. EVER? Sure. I guess. Why not?

Response recorded on September 07, 2022

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Mark writes...

Could you confirm the names of the two great leaders mentioned in Involuntary please?

The subtitles call them King Ma'arrun and Queen Sykara, but I'm sure I hear something more like King Ma'arell and Queen Jakara. I'm also suspicious about the lack of an apostrophe in Sykara.

Greg responds...

M'aarell and J'karaa.

Response recorded on September 07, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hey Greg!, so i love kaldur, hands down my favorite character!
you have mentioned that kaldur dosent really idetify with surface sexuality tags, does atlantis have any sexuality tags that he does identify with??

Greg responds...

Kaldur believes in loving whomever he loves.

Response recorded on September 02, 2022

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Matt Itelson writes...

How is Vandal keeping Leaguers busy on Appellaxia?
What happened to Bear and Dreamer's relationship?

Loved M'comm's view of the Greens as "a superstitious and cowardly lot," by the way.

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. It's progressing slowly.

Thanks. That was fun for us, too.

Response recorded on September 02, 2022

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Mark writes...

In season four, Cheshire mentions that she has been on the League of Shadows's hitlist since betraying them to save Red Arrow. However in Young Justice: Legacy, we see her working with the Shadows in Greece after she helped Red Arrow.

Was the contract only taken out against her later, perhaps for another reason? Or was she able to come to some temporary arrangement with them around the time of Legacy?

Greg responds...

After Jade left Roy, she was able to briefly reconcile with the Shadows, who placed her under probation, temporarily suspending the contract on her life. Once she realized she was pregnant, she fled the Shadows again, and the contract was reinstated. But it was an open contract. Not considered a priority. And once she and Roy had reconciled, after she had given birth to Lian, it's unclear whether that now put Cheshire/Jade under the terms of the Light's Nuclear Option. Even Jade herself doesn't really know.

Response recorded on August 31, 2022

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Mark writes...

1) Where did the Outsider's mission against Kobra seen in flashback in "Volatile" take place?

2) What date did the flashbacks to Joker's attack on the UN and Barbara's paralysis seen in "The Lady, Or The Tigress?" take place?

Greg responds...

1. Near a radio tower.

2. January of Team Year Eight.

Response recorded on August 31, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

My question would be : does Child's pillars of fire have anything to do with the pillars of fire on Apokolips ? Wonderful work on YJ it's the best animated serie I've watched since 15 years ! Thank you Greg :)

Greg responds...

Nope.

Thanks!

Response recorded on August 31, 2022

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Suzie writes...

1. Why did Jamie keep his Scarab talking to him a secret when he first joined the Team?
2. What kind of wedding were M’gann and Conner planning on Earth? A Church, Beach?
3. Did Adam Strange and Alanna become a couple at some point between seasons 2-3?
4. Does Wonder Girl know that Zeus is her father?
5. What year exactly did Jade leave Will and Lian?

Greg responds...

1. He was afraid of what people would think about it. Plus, he couldn't prove it was really happening.

2. Something along the lines of what they did in 426.

3. Yes.

4. No spoilers.

5. I haven't locked that in yet, but it's sometime between late 2016 and early 2018. So 2017 is probably the best bet.

Response recorded on August 31, 2022

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have a nice day writes...

Hello Mr. Greg Weisman I'm a fan of Young Justice and I have a few questions about the series. First allow me to apologize for my bad English, although it is probably already understandable by the text here I live in a country that English isn't the native language. So I'm want to apologize if something that I'm writing her perceived as disrespectfully or as an unclear way that not the meaning of mine.

1. In season 4. when Lady Shiva (a real name by the Young Justice Wiki Fandom "Sandra Wu-San") said that she can order to kill Barbara Gordon (in Episode 8. of season 4. "I Know Why the Caged Cat Sings") is that was truly an empty threat? I mean Lady Shiva herself kill Ocean-Master (a real name by Young Justice Wiki Fandom Orm) because he tries to do something similar (at Episode 9. of season 3. "Home Fires") but there the people that he chose to target in that house was in most of them a group of a normal people (and kids) that not works as heroes, here Lady Shiva said that she order to kill Barbara Gordon that worked in her past as a hero under the codename Batgirl and still work as one under the codename Oracle is that case also considers as part of the "Nuclear option of the Light" or not? And who exactly the Nuclear option" included the "heroes" family, the "heroes" friends, "heroes that stop works as heroes"? After all the Light attacks and kill "heroes" in the past like Blue Beetle (a real name Ted Kord).

2. What happened to Captain Marvel when he returned to be Billy Batson at Episode 26. of Season 1. ("Auld Acquaintance") it seems like he was free from the "Brainwash" so why did he not say "Shazam" once more return to be Captain Marvel and help the members of the Team to free the others Justice League members from the "Brainwash"?

3. Is the race of the "Forever People" like Moonrider, Metron, and Darkseid are immortals to normal damage (damage that not created by a specific weakness of the race like Kryptonite is for Conner Kent/Superboy) and all the kind can be haled themself imitate like "Halo"/"Violet Harper"/Gabrielle Daou" does. I question that because the question that Forager asks "Halo"/"Violet Harper" after she healed herself from the damage that Sensei give to her in Episode 6. of season 3. "Rescue Op".

4. I see that question on the page of Young Justice Headscratchers in "TV Tropes" and I was wondering about it by myself why the Meta-Human Youth Center uses Inhibitor Collar could they not find something else more comfortable like a bracelet or at least change the design so it was not so big?

5. How many people in the Team/Bat Family/Justice League know about the identity of Orphan and the details about her like her past, being the daughter of Lady Shiva (Sandra Wu-San), that she can't talk, that she was involved to what happened to Barbara Gordon and the reason (if even have one) that even the leader of the Team Tigress (Artemis Lian Croc) don't know about of this.

Have a nice day. And my apologies again if something that I write here was unclear.

Greg responds...

1. It's iffy whether or not Barbara would fall under the Nuclear Option. That tends to be reserved for non-combatant relatives of the heroes. Oracle would be on the bubble. But it was - largely - an empty threat. Shiva would probably need approval up the ladder for that kind of assassination. It's considered "fair game" to kill the heroes in combat. But to assassinate them - even if they don't fall under the Nuclear Option restriction - is another ball of wax.

2. That's a good question. Maybe he did. But all those actions scenes were taking place simultaneously. By the time he got involved, it might have all been over. Or perhaps he didn't want to risk changing back and maybe still be under Klarion's control.

3. Forever People isn't the name of a race. They are a group - like the Team or the Outsiders - who have banded together for adventures. Moonrider is a member of the Forever People. But he's a New Genesian. Metron is a New Genesian, as well, but he's not a member of the Forever People. Darkseid is an Apokoliptan, and obviously isn't one of the Forever People team. All three are New Gods. Strictly speaking, New Gods are not immortal. They age - VERY SLOWLY - and will eventually die. They can also be killed. But that's not easy. They can take a lot of punishment. And they have Motherboxes or Fatherboxes, which can also heal them. I'm not sure if that answers your question. But I hope so.

4. No. Or at least not easily. The collar, in essence, interacts with the spine or the brain. And it has to work on all sorts of different powers. It's big and clumsy, and thems just the breaks.

5. They all know she can't speak. Most know she was involved in Barbara's injury. Most DON'T know she's the daughter of Lady Shiva. Although word of that is gonna spread now.

Response recorded on August 30, 2022

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Suzie writes...

What does Dick for a living or does he need a job since he is Bruce Wayne's foster son? Also what does Kaldur do for a living or is his job as Aquaman his full time job?

Greg responds...

Dick sometimes works as Dan Danger at Haly Circus. Other times, well.... no spoilers.

Kaldur is the Atlantean Minister of Justice, when he's not being Aquaman.

Response recorded on August 30, 2022

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Suzie writes...

In Volatile Miss Martian shifted to her natural Martian form while still wearing her engagement ring. Did Superboy get some kind of special material so the ring can be accustomed to her shape shifting to prevent it from being destroyed or falling off?

Greg responds...

No, it's normal ring material. She must have adjusted her shape-shifting enough so that it would all be copacetic. Typically, I don't think she'd wear it on most missions, from this point on.

Response recorded on August 30, 2022

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jellyj'onn writes...

Hi Young Justice fan here
Just want to know that even though the Martian race survives in the cartoon is J'onn still a widower or was he never married?
thanks

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

Response recorded on August 30, 2022

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Ben writes...

Thank you for Young Justice: Phantoms! I've been really enjoying this season! A couple questions I've come up with:
1. Not sure how much you've thought about this but what was the in-universe reason for the change in Wonder Woman's costume? (Or for that matter, any of the League's in between seasons 2 and 3 if you've thought about them.)
2. This is a logistics-y question. Was the fact that you had a character model of a (blue) Isis from 2.18 (Intervention) inform your decision to use a (living) version of her in 4.13?

Thank you! As ever, I appreciate this deeply nerdy place!

Greg responds...

1. Having gotten past fitting into the super-hero aesthetic, Diana decided to wear something that better reflected her roots.

2. It didn't hurt.

Response recorded on August 29, 2022

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Paul writes...

A few questions about Mary Bromfield:

1) I know she was just an illusion in this scene, but what was the biological equivalent age of the little Mary that we saw in "Teg Ydaer!"?

2) I noticed that little Mary was wearing a white dress, and then when she transformed into Sergeant, she was also wearing white. This reminded me of how Billy wore red (with blue) and that his Captain Marvel colors are/were predominantly red. Are the Marvels' color schemes specifically based on what they like to wear when they first transform at a young age or is this just a co-incidence?

3) Obviously the marionettes we saw in Thirteen's scenes were exaggerated versions of those characters (Zatanna, Blue Beetle and Beast Boy) with all three of them sounding a bit different and far more chirpy (Beast Boy even sounded like he did in the original Teen Titans cartoon) so it's fair to say that those were NOT accurate depictions of those characters. They were exaggerations and reflections of how Thirteen viewed them. Therefore, is it fair to say that the very pushy little Mary Bromfield and the super angry Sergeant Marvel were NOT accurate depictions of how little Mary and Sergeant typically behaved? Would it be right, instead, to say that what we saw of little Mary and Sergeant was some sort of extreme exaggeration, based on how Mary of Team Year Ten thinks of those versions of herself when looking back?

4) Possible spoiler request here, but I would like to ask anyway while I'm here: has Mary Bromfield been raised by a wealthy family in Young Justice, like she was in the original comics?

Greg responds...

1. Eleven.

2. I tend to think it's not a coincidence, but I don't want to lock myself in to anything yet.

3. Yes, that's fair to say.

4. I guess it depends on how you define wealthy. The Bromfields aren't on the Wayne or Luthor level. But they are well off. Upper middle class, I'd say.

Response recorded on August 29, 2022

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Lance Alvers writes...

Hey, love the show, here's hoping for season 5.
In Og Htrof Dna Reuqnoc!, Mary references the destruction Child could do to New York and El Paso to Khalid and Traci, supposedly referencing their homes.
My questions are:
1) Is Traci from/lives in El Paso?
2) Is Khalid from/lives in New York?

Greg responds...

1. Traci wasn't born in El Paso, but, yes, that's where she's lived for the last few years.

2. Yes. Khalid is a born and bred New Yorker and still lives there.

Response recorded on August 26, 2022

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Ariel writes...

Why did you not let Perdita get Garfield to Liston to her to save their relationship ang help with his drug problem in the 13 episode of the four season of young justice? Because that is what most fans wanted to happen.

Greg responds...

Strangely, I'm not here to give fans what they (think they) want. I'm here to tell a good story that respects character. Hopefully, by now you've seen how the whole thing plays out.

Response recorded on August 26, 2022

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Nores writes...

Hey Greg ! First, I wanted to thank you and Brandon for this show, its writing is a-m-a-z-i-n-g ! Hope you'll get season 5 !
Since Conner still had some powers left on Mars, why didn't his cut heal ? I mean, he still had some healing powers, right ? So a little cut wasn't a big deal...

Greg responds...

It would've healed over time.

Response recorded on August 26, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

In the comics, Detective Chimp tries to put on the Helmet of Fate but it doesn't fit him. In Young Justice, it's said the Helmet needs a Human host. I have a few questions about how Nabu would vet the viability of a host.
1. Does this mean that a Martian or a Kryptonian could never become Doctor Fate?
2. What about a human/alien hybrid like Conner or Gar?
2.(b) If Beast Boy could put it on, could he shapeshift? The idea of an animal Fate is amusing though I imagine Nabu would not agree.
3. What if one of the Red Androids that attacked Mount Justice or Red Tornado had tried to put it on?
4. Would Violet or Vic's relationship with Father or Motherbox disqualify them from the Helmet?

Greg responds...

I'm not too big on hypotheticals. So I'm just going to say, NO SPOILERS, and - for now - leave this to your imagination.

Response recorded on August 26, 2022

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Hari writes...

a) When did Arsenal (Roy Harper) know/heard about the Outsiders?

b) How come Arsenal never thought of joining the Outsiders? I bet Static (Virgil Hawkins) and El Dorado (Eduardo Dorado Jr.) would've loved to have him join.

c) Does Arrowette (Cissie King-Jones) dislike Arsenal for any reason?

Greg responds...

a. Shortly after it was announced. It was a pretty splashy announcement. Hard to miss.

b. Roy was kind of doing his own thing until Artemis asked him to rejoin the Team.

c. No. Why?

Response recorded on August 25, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hello, Greg

I know Young Justice Phantoms focuses on the core characters of Season 1, but how come Roy isn't even a main character in Phantoms? He also played a significant role, just like the other characters (except Rocket).

Greg responds...

Ultimately, we only have so much screen time allotted to us. And Will (I assume you were referring to our current Will Harper when you said Roy) isn't really doing the super-hero thing right now. So if we had had, say four more episodes, I suppose we might have done an arc focusing on Bowhunter Security. But we didn't. Still, you got at least a bit of that in the first issue of Young Justice: Targets.

Response recorded on August 25, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

why dont why see the mentors and protégés interact like we used to? that was one of the best things about the show imo, i know the second season took the seniors and freshman angle with the team but it wasnt explored with the same depth and then it was cast aside the next season.

Greg responds...

It wasn't really cast aside. You specifically saw Nightwing, Superboy and Tigress mentoring Geo-Force, Halo and Forager over and over, in Season Three. Then in Season Four, you saw Superboy and Miss Martian mentoring Beast Boy and J'emm; Tigress mentoring Orphan, Onyx and Cassandra Savage; Zatanna mentoring Thirteen, Khalid and Mary.

It's one of our themes, and we have been fairly darn consistent about it.

Response recorded on August 25, 2022

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Family writes...

Is Steel a fan of Superman? It would seem so based on his red cape and S-shield.

Greg responds...

Agreed.

Response recorded on August 25, 2022

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Nick writes...

Hi Greg! Sending all the good vibes I have to whenever you're reading this, hoping we have a Season 5. Young Justice absolutely deserves it and I dearly hope that the powers that be grant you, Brandon, and your whole crew and cast the chance to complete that original five-season outline... and hopefully more! #NeverTheEnd

Anyway, I have a few questions that pertain to Season 3. I don't think Season 4 will touch on them and I don't think they're particularly spoiler-y, but I understand if you can't answer them.

1. In "Rescue Op," M'gann makes a point of saying that no one is currently living on the Watchtower as part of the reason why she decides to have Forager bunk up with Brion in Bio-Ship. Two episodes later, we see Orphan in action alongside Robin's team. Given that the flashback in "The Lady, or the Tigress?" contains the Season 2 designs for the Bats, I'm interpreting that as to mean it happens before Season 3. So if Orphan wasn't living on the Watchtower (which makes sense since she wasn't a member of the Team) or in any of the hero teams' HQs, where was she living, considering she's a minor and all? Pretty confident it was Barbara or Bruce based on what we saw in S4, but if the answer is more spoiler-y than that, I understand. Really enjoyed seeing Cass so prevalent in Artemis's arc and I'm excited for whatever comes next!

2. On that note, were Dick and Barbara living together in Season 3? The only time we saw anything resembling 'home scenes' for Dick was at Barbara's apartment, but he certainly just have been stopping by. Still, I'm curious given their renewed relationship status in OUTSIDERS.

Very excited for Catwoman: Hunted and can't wait for Season 4B! Hope you're having a good day.

Greg responds...

Thanks, Nick!

1. Wayne Manor.

2. They weren't living together, but they did spend a lot of time together at her place.

Hope by now, you've seen and enjoyed both Catwoman: Hunted and the second half of Young Justice: Phantoms!

Response recorded on August 22, 2022

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Suzie writes...

1. When did Karen and Mal learn the truth about M'gann and Conner?
2. When did Karen become BumbleBee and join the Team?
3. Who on the Team aside from Superboy was aware that Miss Martian was abusing her powers and if so why didn't they stop or confront her about it?
4. When did the original Team meet and learn about Lucas Carr?
5. Did Tim join the Outsiders to get close to Cassie in the hopes of reconciling their relationship? Also do you ever wish to get more focus/screentime for them since they have very little time or development compared to the other couples?

Greg responds...

1. I haven't nailed that down specifically, but it was in between S1 & S2.

2. Team Year Four. (And that helps narrow down your first question a bit more.)

3. No one.

4. Well, you saw when Megan and Conner met Lucas during Season One, on their first day at Happy Harbor High. Wally probably met him on Halloween of that year. Not exactly sure when the others met him, and I haven't nailed down when they learned about his connection to the Justice League.

5. No. He joined because he remembered that the original Robin had been a public hero and thought it would be a good idea for Robin to go public again.

5a. I ALWAYS wish for more screen time (or page count) for every character.

Response recorded on August 22, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Does being the host of Nabu and the Helmet of Fate prevent the need for bodily functions? Zatara was Doctor Fate for ten years, and I doubt he had any bathroom breaks. Will Zatanna, Khalid, and Traci not have any bodily functions for each month they don the helmet? Are menstrual cycles and periods still a concern? What about sweat? Hell, what about libido? If everything's magically frozen (even though the host still visibly ages for some reason...), can the host even bleed?

Greg responds...

The host can bleed, poop, pee, menstruate, sweat, etc. Nabu has some magical resources for dealing with what he would perceive as the unpleasantness of the human condition, but it's not like he's unaware of that condition. He was human once, too. As for libido, that's probably suppressed in Nabu. But as we've seen, the host's consciousness - while not in control of the body - is still quite present in Nabu's mind.

Response recorded on August 22, 2022

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Ashton writes...

Blue Devil is the den parent of the Hub so why did Blue Devil not report to black canary abut beast boy's behavior after blue devil talk to him after Mist said she empty the refrigerator for beast boy?

Greg responds...

First off, what makes you think he didn't report back?

Secondly, for the sake of argument, let's say he didn't. What exactly did he have to report back at that stage? That Beast Boy was still tired and grieving after his trip to Mars? That he accepted Andi's offer to cover his chores? That when confronted he made it clear that he was basically all right - just a bit tired - and that he'd pick up the slack on his chores? Is any of that damning evidence of anything at all? Especially to an untrained non-professional when dealing with a legal adult?

Response recorded on August 19, 2022

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Brie writes...

In Season 4 Episode 11 did the line "The only requirement was a human host body capable of channeling Nabus mystic power. Such hosts were not always easy to come by" mean that certain humans are not capable of channeling Nabus mystic power and because of that hosts are hard to come by or did it mean that all humans can channel Nabu's mystic power and that hosts were just hard to come by for other reasons?
Every host besides Wally had magic. So is this implying that there was a specific reason why he could wear it or is it implying that anyone could wear it?

Greg responds...

Kinda both. Anyone with a head, I guess, can put it on. And Nabu can take over. But Nabu's limited by the body he's occupying. Someone with low stamina - or someone ill - or someone with no affinity for magic would severely limit Doctor Fate's abilities.

Response recorded on August 19, 2022

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Hafiz writes...

Hey Greg,
Hello Greg.
Trevor Doyle writes...
Hello Greg. Congrats on the success of Young Justice so far. I just have one question, but I've noticed it takes about a month to reply to a post. So my question might be answered simply by watching each week. None the less. I just wanted to know if in this Young Justice time line if Jonathan and Martha Kent are both dead, or is Martha still alive? Thank for taking the time to answer our questions.

You responded by saying that "They never existed in Earth-16 continuity. Instead, Jor-El and Lara came to Earth with Kal-El, were found by the U.S. Government and given witness relocation identities in Smallville as the Kents."
Doesn't this contradict what we saw in "I Know Why the Caged Cat Sings" or are both "Martha" and "Jonathan" are kryptonians in disguise?

Greg responds...

Take a look at the date of my response, specifically the month and day. (The year's not important.)

https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=13173

Response recorded on August 18, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

To what extent does the League understand Vandal's true agenda? Do they understand Vandal has an agenda beyond forcing human evolution? Do they understand that Vandal is doing what he is doing to fight Apokolips & Darkseid?

Greg responds...

Up to a point, yes.

Response recorded on August 18, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

When ocean master was a member of the light was he aware that klarion and vandal savage’s sunk Atlantis?

Greg responds...

Don't know. Probably not.

Response recorded on August 18, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

How come Miss Martian and Superboy got an arc that was self-contained and completely focused on their story but Artemis and Zatanna's arcs shifted around? I get wanting to keep the stories connected but it felt kind of unfair that we got so many m'gann and beast boy scenes in the other arcs when they already had so much screentime, especially when some of them weren't necessary for the plot.

Greg responds...

I guess it depends on your definition of self-contained.

The first arc split its time between Miss Martian's story, Superboy's story, Beast Boy's story and J'emm's story. You could also probably throw in some Em'ree and S'yraa subplots. A little Perdita. Etc.

The second arc split its time between Tigress' story, Cheshire's story, Onyx's story, Orphan's story and Oracle's story. And throw in a little Beast Boy and Miss Martian.

The third arc split its time between Zatanna's story, Mary's story, Traci's story and Khalid's story. And throw in some Vandal, Zatara, Nabu, etc. Maybe a little more Beast Boy and Miss Martian.

But, honestly, I don't see a significant difference in "fairness" between these three arcs.

But mostly I don't understand the purpose behind your question. Why do we need to be "fair"? What's the point of being fair? I've got about 775 characters (and counting) in this world (so far). Is there some requirement that I fairly give the same amount of screen time to each and every one? Of course not. I doubt anyone would argue for that. Which means Brandon and I need to make choices about whose stories we're going to focus on. "Fairness" doesn't enter into it.

Response recorded on August 18, 2022

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Mark writes...

Hello! I have a question about the Crock family's finances.

It's been shown that Artemis lived in the same rundown apartment not just after Paula got out of jail and Crusher left, but before that as well.

But it appears Sportsmaster was a high level assassin and mercenary employed/contracted by very powerful and wealthy organisations, not least the Light and League of Shadows. And Huntress too, pre-injury/capture. I'd assume that would pay pretty well, so why do they live in such poor conditions? I wouldn't expect Wayne Manor levels of opulence, but they surely could have afforded much better than that apartment.

Could you shed any light on their financial situation please? Or am I just overestimating how much assassins get paid? I have my own theory for why, but that might constitute an original idea, so I won't mention it here.

Greg responds...

No one ever accused Crusher of being a genius with money.

Response recorded on August 15, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg! Great work on Phantoms so far; the mid-season finale was incredible and I'm excited to see how the rest of the season turns out!

I have a bit of an obscure question, but I was wondering if you and the Young Justice team had discussed how Mount Justice was formed? I understand that the mountain itself has been used in other DC media before YJ, and it's mentioned in the first season of YJ that Superman and Green Lantern had hollowed out this universe's mountain and reinforced it, but I was wondering if you had a general idea about how the mountain itself was formed? I'm not familiar with Rhode Island geography, but a singular mountain of that size on the coast seems like a super unique occurrence!

If you guys hadn't discussed this weird little tidbit, no worries at all. Thanks!

Greg responds...

Yeah, sorry. It's never come up before now.

Response recorded on August 15, 2022

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FictionalCountryGuru writes...

1. Did you and Brandon ever bother coming up with Queen Bee's actual name?
2. Were Troia and Garth's relations to Man's World and the Surface World respectively what gave them an edge in beating out other candidates for becoming the ambassadors for Themyscira and Atlantis? If not, were their relatively young ages (physically in Troia's case) and, as such, lack of experience in intergovernmental and foreign relations seen as a problem by some?
3. Are Themysicra and Atlantis the most recent additions to the United Nations, or did Greater Bialya join after them?
4. Troia is the current Secretary General of the UN. How is this possible given her young age (again, physically) and what is surely only a handful (if that) of years worth of experience, not to mention the country she represents being one of the newest additions to the UN as well?
5. Is Vlatava a member of the United Nations?

Greg responds...

1. Is it me, or is that question just LACED with attitude? Did we bother? Did DC Comics bother? Maybe we CHOSE not to reveal any prior identity.

2. Their experience with the "outside world" was a determining factor.

3. I haven't tracked that, but Greater Bialya is just the successor to Bialya. So it's been with the U.N. longer.

4. Politics.

5. Yes.

Response recorded on August 12, 2022

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Kevin writes...

1. What does Vandal Savage in general think of religion? Not asking a specific one just what are his thoughts on spirituality since he was born before organized religion.
2. Why doesn't Vandal Savage want his story to be told wouldn't he want to be known/remembered as a hero/leader of humanity?
3. Does Vandal Savage have an enhanced memory along with enhanced strength and healing? Does he have a better grasp of recollections of past events or is he closer to what regular humans have?
4. What made Vandal Savage choose his current name "Vandal Savage"? I am guessing Savage is for what is needed to survive but why did he choose Vandal?
5. Does he know the difference between Survivor of the Fittest and Social Darwinism? As in one who adapts to environment and not the ones with the best physical/intellectual traits that Social Darwinists think they have.

Greg responds...

1. It's useful.

2. No. He prioritizes his plans for the future over any fame regarding his past.

3. Better than normal.

4. I don't know at this time. Obviously, we kinda inherited the name on YJ.

5. He believes in both, I think. I'm sure he knows the difference.

Response recorded on August 11, 2022

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Matt Itelson writes...

If Tora Olafsdotter was 15 when she became Ice, how old was she when she joined the Justice League?

Greg responds...

Tora, formerly known as Ispike and Icemaiden, joined the Justice League in Team Year Seven, as Ice. She was twenty.

Response recorded on August 10, 2022

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Mark writes...

I also had a couple of clarification/confirmation questions for the wiki:

1) Is Sensei's sword from "Rescue Op" the same one Rako used, or is it a different sword forged with the X-ionizer?

2) Is the Vault from Artemis's arc in season four the equipment locker Roy accesses in "Satisfaction" or a different one? There are some differences, but there could have been some remodelling after the explosion.

Thanks so much!

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. It's the same.

Response recorded on August 10, 2022

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Mark writes...

Hi, I had a few questions regarding the Javelin and space travel in YJ.

You recently confirmed that all of YJ takes place within the Milky Way galaxy. Episode 402 tells us that the Javelin can get from the other side of the galaxy to Earth in just two days. That seems like an incredibly fast speed for a setting where everything takes place within a single galaxy.

1) Is this kind of speed typical of interstellar ships in Earth-16, or is the Javelin an uncommonly fast vessel (like the Interceptor in Green Lantern TAS)?

2) Is the Javelin purely Earth-designed and built, borrowed tech (like the Watchtower), or an Earth design built upon alien technologies (like the Earth ships in Stargate)?

3) How fast is the Warworld? (Not asking for a numerical speed, just similar to or signifcantly slower/faster than the Javelin)

4) Similarly, how fast are Green Lanterns using just their rings?

Greg responds...

1. It's pretty fast.

2. It's not Earth-tech at all. It belongs to the Hawks.

3. Slower than the Javelin on shorter distances. Close to the same for long hauls. But the Warworld has to be way more careful about where it exits subspace into the three-dimensional universe. It's big enough that it can create quite a mess. So it may not be able to get quite as close as quickly.

4. They're comparable.

Response recorded on August 10, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is teekl 1 monster transformation something teekl 1 is capable of herself or can she only take on that form with klarion’s magic?

Greg responds...

Both.

Response recorded on August 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Did klarion and the child always have a bad relationship?

Greg responds...

Like were they born that way? Probably not. But for some (very) long time, yes.

Response recorded on August 09, 2022

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Ash writes...

So this is an analysis on gender as I gathered from the Marzz arc, there are some questions at the end though.

The first notable element of gender roles within Marzz society is how for the Orthodox Martian Wedding, it is the blessing of the man's parents rather than the woman's, as is standard custom on Earth. From this flipping of roles, the basic assumption would be a relatively Matriarchal Society.

This idea in human culture at least, stemmed from the idea of the woman being given to the man's family. Which ties in nicely with the next point. This may be coincidental, but the only instances we had where a Martian's given and surnames did not match were older males (Ress Edda, Rohh Karr, Karr Mangg, Sternn Jaxx) who would likely or definitively been married, or an instance where the woman's family had disowned her (Jann Morzz). This takes the original name for Emree into account, rather than her changed name. This pattern would appear to indicate that it is customary for males to take the woman's family name when marrying.

Then we have the Altar and Canopy building ceremony, and it shows that it wasn't a simple flipping of Gender Norms for a Matriarchal Society. The Male Ceremony, the Altar Building, requires Strength and Physicality, endurance to withstand the heat of the Lava and providing hard Structure to the Altar. It is the foundation for the marriage. While the Female Ceremony, with the Canopy, is a mental task, with the challenge coming from synchronicity with family, overcoming the baggage of previous relationships to move forward and the Canopy providing shelter. This association of Male=Structure/Strength, Female=Shelter/Emotion, is a fairly standard human perception of gender.

Or so it seems, but when one considers that M'arzz is a highly Mental based society, we would assume that the mental challenge is considered more significant, fitting for that initial assumption of a matriarchy.

Now, in saying that the elephant in the room to the Matriarchal Assumption is that Sternn was the ruler of Marzz prior to his death, at which point Jarlia took over. There are two solutions that I see here; the first is that much like Earth, while Marzz developed from a matriarchy, it now doesnt possess that clear delineation and permits male rulers. The second, ties into the ideas presented in the Altar ceremony. Structure, is perceived as a masculine trait by the religious orthodoxy, and structure is rather necessary for a society. So it stands to reason that the leader is seen as one who provides Structure; the male leader, while still having that perception of women as more responsible for other facets of Shelter within a society.

This leads to some more speculative interpretation of the Yellonn. Ceridyall, a Goddess, appears to be most significant - or at least most significant for the elements of Marzz society which we see. The most prominent Yellonn we see is a woman, while there are certainly Priests as well, it would make some sense if the "pope" of the Yellonn, as a key representative of Ceridyall, were a woman in turn. So this leads to the idea that the Matriarchy comes from the Theology.

With how the Yellonn perform that birthday inaugeration ceremony (which features Life in the form of animals, life being an aspect of Ceridyall), and how they present Jemm into a lineage of great rulers, it appears that the Yellonn are essentially recognised as giving authority to the crown - the Male Government is given its power by the Female Faith.

With that, I turn to questions.

1) You had recently (as of writing) said that the Yellonn were supposed to remain apolitical. This would seem to go against the interpretation that the Yellonn are the power that grants the Blahdenn authority; but given that the Yellonn are involved in the coronation for Jemm, this seemed to be a political matter, rather than apolitical involvement. So I'm curious towards how you resolve their apoliticalness with their involvement in seemingly poltical events.

2) "His, her or their", simple but effective in conveying that the Orthodoxy is at least partially supportive of a nonbinary view of gender. However, given the seeming gender segregated roles of the Altar and Canopy building, I was curious to how "they"s fit into the wedding schema. If there were a nonbinary facet akin to the Altar/Canopy which represents ideals that the Orthodoxy holds towards nonbinary individuals, a component which is left out of weddings not featuring a nonbinary individual (just as the component of the gendered individual is left out accordingly in the enby wedding presumably) or must they decide on a gendered role to perform?

3) Similarly, with the gendered Altar and Canopy, how would same-sex marriages (if they are permitted), function? Would a wedding have two Canopies or are there different traditions to accommodate (assuming they are accommodated at all)?

Greg responds...

1. Think of it this way: if, say, a Catholic priest, here on Earth, spoke the invocation for a Republican president's inauguration one year, and four years later did the same for a Democrat, then that priest is still officiating at a political ceremony, but isn't choosing sides.

2. Even on M'arzz, things are in flux these days. S'yraa was clearly more open-minded than many or her older counterparts. She was atypical as a priestess, as was noted. Her language choices may not yet be the norm.

3. Different clergy have different standards of Orthodoxy. So same-sex marriages are permitted by some priest/priestesses but not all. For those that permit them, I would think that both brides or both grooms would work on both builds.

Response recorded on August 08, 2022

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Quinn writes...

1. How old is Jane Nassour?
2. How old is Muhammed Nassour?
3. What field of medicine was Khalid pursuing?
4. How physically old was Arion when he died?
5. Was Arion the maternal or paternal grandson of Vandal Savage?

Greg responds...

1. Jane Nelson Nassour was born in 1973.

2. Muhammed Nassour was born in 1970.

3. I don't know enough about studying medicine to be confident in this answer, but he's only recently started Medical School. I don't know that he's picked a specialty yet. I'd lean toward Emergency Medicine for him... assuming that's still a thing - or assuming that's still what it's called.

4. He was biologically 34, chronologically about 900.

5. I don't remember.

Response recorded on August 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Are Kent Nelson, Madame Xanadu, Zatanna and Zatara Homo Magi?

Greg responds...

Zatanna and Zatara are.

Kent and Nimue may be, but until we tell more of each one's story, the answer for them is NO SPOILERS.

Response recorded on August 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

If you were to guess, what is the minimum number of episodes or tie-in comic issues you would need to tell the story of the Earth-17 fiasco?

Greg responds...

I dunno. At least two or three, probably more.

Response recorded on August 05, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

after watching zee's arc im confused on what young justice is supposed to be about at this point? its no longer about the team its not about the teenage heroes and its not really about the original cast either, it kinda feels like its trying to cover the entire dc universe but its stretched too thin

Greg responds...

In my mind, I agree it's no longer about the Team, per se. It's still about the original cast and how they grow, mature and change, which I believe Phantoms demonstrated to an amazing degree. It's ALWAYS been about the entire DC Universe, but I don't agree that we're stretched too thin. I think we show the bits of the DCU that we want to show, that are relevant to the specific arc, with an understanding that the rest of the DCU moves on without us. That's life.

But you are, of course, entitled to your opinion.

Response recorded on August 04, 2022

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Matheus Heibel Feitosa writes...

Hi Mr. Greg!
I am a huge fan of your work! And i wanted to ask you something. Well, i'm from Brazil, and in the 3rd season you mentioned Fire, she is a Brazilian hero, so my question is she will appear in the show?
And i have one more question... Can you release the Designation numbers from 27-36?

Thanks for your work creating the BEST super-hero/spy drama ever!
~Matheus Heibel

Greg responds...

1. I hope so, eventually.

2. I could. But Brandon and I decided that Designation numbers are more fun when they are revealed organically in the show, as needed.

Thanks for your kind words and support.

Response recorded on August 04, 2022

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Spectacular Spider-Geek writes...

Hi Greg,

Hope you and your family are staying healthy. I’ve been introducing Spectacular to a lot of my friends and had a couple of questions since rewatching it.

1. What did Ock do to mitigate his powerpack from losing power after his debut episode?

2. In Final Curtain, why does “Chameleon-Norman” need to hire Gargan to find Menken? In the episode, “Chameleon-Norman” is told by the Oscorp employee that the only people that can remove Menken’s address from the Oscorp database would be Norman or Menken. I thought that the real Norman would know where Menken would be since Menken says that Oscorp rented the apartment for him? I’m just confused on why the real Norman wouldn’t know and tell “Chameleon-Norman” where Menken’s location would be in order to lure Spider-Man to Menken.

3. Who came up with the idea to frame Menken? Was it Chameleon or Norman?

My friends are enjoying the show and it’s been a joy to rewatch the show. It still holds up. I’ve been enjoying YJ: Phantoms as well. Finally, I wanted to send my condolences to you for the loss of Dave Schwartz. Hope you are well and stay safe.

Greg responds...

1. Something very smart and clever, I'm sure.

2. It's been a while, but I think the point was to maintain the illusion that Menken was missing and that Norman didn't know where to find him. The real Norman did, of course, know where Menken was.

3. Norman. But it was less a frame than misdirection to lure Spidey into a trap.

Thanks for your kind words. Dave is missed.

Response recorded on August 03, 2022

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Galvino writes...

In episode 9 of YJ Phantoms, when the new chaos lord (child) is coming to Earth, on screen there are 10 Lords of Chaos and 11 Lords of Order but then after this point, both Chaos and Order respectively only have 8 Lords shown on screen. Was the time the screen showed more than 8 Lords from each side an animation error or are there actually more than 8 Lords from each side?

Greg responds...

There are probably thousands of Chaos Lords and thousands of Lords of Order. How many are gathered at any given moment is variable.

Response recorded on August 01, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

why don't we see more about the outsiders as a team and learn more about the members? it's a bit hard to connect to them..it's odd how they're made to be such a big deal in the show when we really only get beast boy's perspective

Greg responds...

Are you talking about Season Four?

They weren't the focus of the season, obviously. Instead we focused on two specific Outsiders (Superboy & Beast Boy), three members of the Team (Nightwing, Tigress and Miss Martian) and three members of the League (Aquaman, Rocket and Zatanna).

I mean the Justice League is also made out "to be such a big deal in the show" and we rarely give them time at all.

It's a show about characters. And different characters get the spotlight in different seasons. It's been that way from the beginning.

Response recorded on August 01, 2022

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Kiba writes...

Why did you make the decision that Garfield and Queen Perdita breakup despite most young justice fans like Garfield and Perdita as a couple together?

Greg responds...

We follow where the characters lead us.

Response recorded on August 01, 2022

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Troy writes...

What did people of Queen Perdita's country think of Peridia dating a meta human Garfield before the breakup?

Greg responds...

The response was hardly monolithic. Some thought it was cool. Others thought it was an embarrassment to the Crown. And every reaction in between and more.

Response recorded on July 28, 2022

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YJ Love Nut writes...

Dear Greg, my friend seems to think Vandal is "white" while I'm under the impression that his race is ambiguous or the application of race is beyond such a primordial being. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Greg responds...

He's not white. Not in the sense we understand it today. He was born in the region we currently call Mongolia.

Response recorded on July 28, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Were Ishtar and Nabu meta-human?
What year did the Starro invasion take place in Babylon?

Greg responds...

1. Yep.

2. @1,800 B.C.E.

Response recorded on July 28, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

How exactly does the chain of command works for the Outsiders? For example, if and when Beast Boy is unable to lead the Outsiders, who is usually the one to step up as the leader of the Outsiders during that time until Beast Boy resumes his leadership duties?

Greg responds...

Wonder Girl. But I'm pretty sure that was made clear in episode 401.

Response recorded on July 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Can anyone practice magic or they have to be a Homo Magi?

Greg responds...

I don't know that you have to be, but it certainly helps, especially if you want to get VERY good at it.

Response recorded on July 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is Atlantis the largest nation on the planet?

Greg responds...

It depends on what you mean. If you go by claimed territory, then yes. If you go by the acreage of the eight city-states themselves, then no.

Response recorded on July 27, 2022

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silversam writes...

Hi Greg, appreciate all the work you’ve done for the show, I’m loving this season. Something I’ve always been obsessed with is the designations. I know you won’t reveal them, but I’d like to ask:
1. Will all of the designations for justice league members who have joined since 3 began (Batwoman, blue devil, hardware, etc) be revealed at some point?
2. Do characters who have joined the outsiders (stargirl, livewire, looker, etc) join the team and/or get B-Designstions before getting D designations?
Thanks again for making this show! Looking forward to the next 13 episodes and hopefully a fifth season.

Greg responds...

1. They'll be revealed organically, I would think. Eventually, I would hope.

2. Any hero who joins the Outsiders at this point, gets a D-designation out of the gate. There's no requirement to join the Team first anymore. It's a choice.

Response recorded on July 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Does Atlantis cover two-thirds of the planet?

Greg responds...

It depends what you mean.

There are eight Atlantean city-states in the modern era. Each city-state claims territory, which when added together, encompasses the entire world ocean, which covers about 70 percent of the planet.

Response recorded on July 26, 2022

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Ash writes...

Hi Greg, Excellent finish to the Zatanna arc. I appreciate it a lot as someone who understands the magic principles that I feel shaped the arc ("A Magician performs the real trick while their Assistants occupy the minds of the audience").

There was a few minor things that I was hoping you could provide some clarity on, not necessarily giving spoilers - more a curiousity if some seeming inconsistencies are thought out and intentional.

1) I enjoyed that the sinking of Atlantis lined up to ~9000 BC, as stated by Plato when he first described Atlantis. But, Plato also alleged Atlantis to be at war with Athens (despite us knowing historically that Athens as it was wouldn't have existed then, nor Minoan or Mycenaean Greece). I was curious if some Proto-Minoan state which would eventually become Greece may have existed in that era to survive with the stories of Atlantis?

2) On that train of thought; was curious if this potential society, may have contributed to the Atlantean Language origins?, since Modern Atlantean is based off of Ancient Greek, but Atlantis' sinking and presumably its linguistic drift would have occured long before Ancient Greece became a language.

3) So obviously the 12 000 Years aren't necessarily precise, but taking them as being such, we get the Babylon Events (or rather Vandal's Babylon's rise) as being 7586 years post Atlantis. Assuming it was 9000 BC exactly; that gives us a date of 1414 BC.

You've previously given Ishtar's birth as 1816 BC, indicating a rather long lifespan - presumably immortality. But, Ishtar was first known by history as of around 2400 BC - to be syncretised with Inanna in the Akkadian Empire.

1414 BC is also within the Kassite era of Babylon, far from the most prominent or first Babylon - With Hammurambi's Code (which seems like a good thing for the Lords of Order to lay witness to) being in around 1700s BC.

Question is basically if you had considered these dates and elements, and if you had a reason for the inconsistencies (would love if you'd lay out the reasons, but understand if that would qualify as spoiler, so would be satisfied in knowing if it had been considered or not previously)?

4) These next two are slightly different, but similar wheelhouse in dates and ages. First, Carol Ferris. You've said for her to have been born in 1986 (so 24 for S1 in TY0), while Hal became a Lantern in 2000 - where she'd have been 14. While obviously Hal and Carol aren't necessarily connected in YJ, I was curious if you had been considering these elements when assigning her age? (And ofc, knowing that since its CIT, that you could just as easily change it if it didn't line up to your intents)

5) Similarly, we have Superman and Lois, who are romantically entangled. You've said that Superman joined the Daily Planet when he was 21, so either 1998 or 1999. At this point in time, Lois would have been around 16. Is this something that you'd considered when assigning their ages? (again, knowing full well that you're able to change the ages to suit further elements as desired since they're not established in the show material).

Greg responds...

1. Probably, given the linguistic connections between Ancient Greek and Modern Atlantean.

2. See, you made my case for me.

3. I'm not sure where you're getting your numbers. But they don't match up with my timeline at all.

4. I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you saying Hal's too old for Carol? I mean, obviously, he is in 2000, but not by Team Year Zero.

5. All ages were considered relative to the relevant characters in their lives.

Response recorded on July 26, 2022

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Rove Taylor writes...

Hi Greg, how you feel about people who are fans of young justice not liking Garfield's personality change during the episodes of Phantoms showing Garfield on earth up to episode 13 after Conner sacrifice on mar in episode 4?

Greg responds...

I don't think it's in the show for people to "like" it. We were trying to get an honest depiction of his challenges and how those challenges would play to those around him.

Response recorded on July 26, 2022

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NoOneSpecial writes...

Some questions regarding Chaos Lords and their familiars

1. Can a Chaos Lord, in theory make anything in the material world as their familiars? Or does the object and or creature they use need to be special in order to compatible with them? Like was the crystal that became Flaw some way magical itself or was it just a regular piece of crystal? And was the cat that became Teekl something special or was it really just an ordinary cat?

2. Are familiars limited by whatever forms they have or are they generally equally powerful in most cases? Could Teekl say, take the same level of punishment that Flaw could, or is Flaw more durable because he is made of a crystal substance? Seemed like Flaw was impervious to most attacks, whereas Teekl could get knocked around much more easily. Likewise Teekl was killed by Flaw breaking her neck whereas Flaw was much harder for the heroes to put down.

3. When Klarion was using the bus as his anchor, does mean the bus was his familiar at that time? If not, then how was the bus distinct from Teekl?

4. Nabu referred to Klarion and Teekl sharing the 'bond of naming', making Teekl his anchor, but Child only named Flaw after she chose him as his familiar and gave him a name as a 'gift'. So, do Chaos Lords have to name their familiars to make them good anchors?

5. Klarion said that the 'cat', has to look for him. Now Klarion’s inability to explain things clearly in general notwithstanding, what does this mean? Was Flaw looking for Child when they bonded? Or is this more a case of every Chaos Lord is unique in how they chose familiars?

Greg responds...

1. It wasn't a crystal. It was a diamond. And, yes, both the diamond and the two cats were special. They were also ordinary.

2. Flaw is more durable because he wasn't a crystal, he was a diamond, the hardest substance, etc.

3. No. An anchor and a familiar are not equivalent. Nabu's helmet is his anchor. It doesn't have a personality or independent life. A familiar can anchor you to the plane, but it is not merely an anchor.

4. Teekl Two anchored Klarion, but was not merely an anchor. And, yes, naming a familiar has power.

5. More the latter.

Response recorded on July 26, 2022

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Rick writes...

How was the superheroes able to save everybody from getting kill by Child's rampage on earth in young justice phantoms?

Greg responds...

Everybody? Not sure they could or did save EVERYBODY. But they saved many - even most - bodies.

Response recorded on July 22, 2022

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CM3 writes...

1. When Mary faced her demons in the form of Sergeant in Nabu's test, Mary said she could still be a better Hero than Sergeant that she could be just as important and just as powerful, I found this line very ominous, because even while she subdues her demon in that test she's still fixated on being powerful and important to prove that she is someone of value not on being a better person or someone who can help more people. Is this something you have done on purpose to show that she has not yet dealt with her power addiction issues or am I reading too much into it.
2. Also isn't Sergeant and the powers that come with it in a way a part of Mary, trying to renounce it and going cold turkey seems to me not quite the same as say trying to go sober or overcoming a drug addiction, it seems an issue quite similar to dysmorphia. Shouldn't the solution to helping her be confronting and being able to embrace Sergeant and finding a balance instead of while avoiding the issue altogether out of fear. And didn't Black Canary say that if she stopped talking out of fear of making everyone around her go deaf, that wouldn't be a solution. I just can't understand when people like Black Canary and Miss Martian who knows what it's like to do things out of fear, how can they all and much less Zatanna endorse such a solution especially when they already know that is not a solution to begin with. Ofcourse you do deserve the benefit of the doubt since there might have been things that happened offscreen that led to such results being taken. But for me based on that I have seen about Mary and her battle and all the other characters that had to face this same battle it seems too impossible that they will let Mary go forward with her issues with this path especially with Zatanna for example why isn't Mary working with Dinah. I don't mind seeing Mary have this sort of issue but others being okay with Mary taking such an outcome doesn't seem right to me.

I can't thank you enough though for doing such a storyline and clearly you are victorious in getting me to care a lot for a character that I have known for five episodes juggled along with multiple characters, but I am gonna find it a lot harder to comprehend heroes especially those have been under training as part of the Team to end up at this low note in this manner, once again no problem with characters reaching a low point but in this particular manner seems difficult to digest. Also really hoping for a season 5 can't get enough of the show.

Greg responds...

1. I don't think you're reading too much into it.

2. I don't think your parallel quite works. Mary Bromfield wasn't born with the powers of Shazam, not did they come to her naturally. They were gifted to her. A gift very much like a sword with a double edge. Sometimes, you just have to put the sword down to prevent injury. And, yes, there were events and incidents you don't know about - though they are things one might easily imagine - that took place that led to this decision.

Response recorded on July 22, 2022

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Mr. Yeon writes...

Mr. Weisman If nothing went wrong on the trip on Mars and Miss Martian and Superboy got married on Mars and return to Earth safely would have Garfield still breakup with Perdita and if so, why?

Greg responds...

I'm not interested in hypotheticals. If this interests you, more power to you: use your imagination!

Response recorded on July 22, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

In season 4 episode 13 of young justice both Khalid and Traci said Wow in reaction as Zatanna went to talk to Mary. Were they reacting to Zatanna's plan of alternating host bodies since they didnt act surprised when Zatanna put forward the idea to Fate about multiple hosts for Nabu or was the reaction of Wow simply about how Zatanna was dealing with Mary and power stealing habit and how Mary won't be a host for Nabu.

Greg responds...

The former.

Response recorded on July 22, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Is the reason child has such a powerful familiar because she had the support of the other chaos lords?
2 Why did the chaos lords send klarion as their agent of chaos for earth?
3 Can flaw communicate with the child similair to how only klarion is able to understand teekl 1 & 2?
4 In the comics child was a boy. So why did you choose to make them Into a girl for young justice?(I like the change just want to understand)

Greg responds...

1. Didn't hurt. But she also chose something powerful as its base.

2. Their reasoning was... chaotic.

3. Flaw was more primitive, but, yes.

4. We felt Klarion covered a "boy" version. We wanted contrast.

Response recorded on July 22, 2022

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ThunderCrash writes...

After the scouring the archives and re-watching episode s there is still something I am not very clear about,
1. When Billy or Mary or Freddy say Shazam, then is it like they are augmented and via magic become older and their bodies become adult like, or is it like something similar to how it's depicted in Miracle Man where there are separate bodies stored in a different plane of existence and they switch bodies , i.e the 18 yr old Billy body is in a separate place(which lets say is some sort of magical dimension) while he becomes Captain Marvel/Shazam.
2. I ask this because of the test of Mary by Dr Fate where she has to fight Sergeant, was the difference between the two(Mary and Sarge) was just a psychological thing and simply a manifestation of Mary's anxieties and fears. Or is that when Mary or Billy actually transform their superpowered selves are slightly different people with slightly different personalities.

Greg responds...

1. No, there aren't two bodies per character, with one in storage, as in Miracleman. Their bodies are transformed magically when they say, "Shazam!"

2. Billy wasn't actually there. Neither was little Mary. Neither was Sergeant. It was all a manifestation of her mind, but in the Tower of Fate, those manifestations were real - and really dangerous. But it has nothing to do with how her powers normally work.

Response recorded on July 20, 2022

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Fallenlegend writes...

Here are some Shazam/ Marvel family questions now that the we know more about them.
1.- Did Billy Batson became weaker, as in 1/3 weaker, by sharing the power with Mary and Fredy? Or was he given 1/3 of the power from the start?
2-. When you said Captain’s marvel’s speed depended on which season we were talking about, does that mean Captain Marvel became weaker due to sharing the power?
3.- When Billy fought Despero as Captain Marvel, was him losing so easily to Despero in part caused because he had already shared the power of SHAZAM and therefor was weaker at that one? If so I assume Superman would have fared better than him, wouldn’t he? Not an hypotethical, just Here are some Shazam/ Marvel family questions now that the we know more about them.
4.-Assuming he became weaker by sharing the power of Shazam does that mean Captain Marvel is not close to Superman’s or Icon’s power levels anymore?

Greg responds...

1. The former.

2. Yes. Season One, he was at full power. In between S1 and Season Two, he shared his power, permanently. Can't get it back. So from S2 on, he's at 1/3 power.

3. Yes, that's true.

4. Correct.

Response recorded on July 20, 2022

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FallenLegend writes...

Hey GregI’m one of the fans that’s been bugging you about seeing Mary Marvel…I saw the mid season finale of phantoms and just wanted to give you my thoughts on Mary marvel so far.

One one hand, I’m happy you finally got to write her, as she is very under appreciated. And you are a writer I admire, so if anyone is going to give her Justice that’s you.

But still gotta admit, I’m a little nervous about the whole evil Mary marvel arch.

Don’t get me wrong. I am in the minority of fans, but I agree with you that being power hungry it is flaw of hers that goes as early as Fawcett’s Mary Marvel issue #4. A powerless Billy sees losing the power as losing a weight over his shoulders during the fawcett run (other issues) , but Mary, in that issue, just breaks. During new 52 she is the one that gets the more attached to that power too.

Wasn’t a fan of the whole leyline sorcerer thing as sure, the overcoming addiction metaphor is great, but her transforming is kind the point of her character. Just like seeing Sailor moon transform or seeing the witch girls also transform. Just like mAry They are magical girls, so I feel we miss a lot by her abandoning that side

Also I have to say that the whole of her being addicted doesn’t have the same punch as we were told about it’s instead of shown because the time skip. Would have been best seeing her lose herself when she was in the team,

Also With granny being the one that corrupts her in the stingers…makes me ver pay very worried this will be an adaptation of the whole countdown fiasco were she had ugly pink hair, and acted completely out of character.

By the time you red this, Mary might show up again during phantoms, And if she did hope you guys went for the black suit, instead of the ugly pink hair one from apokolips,

Still ! i hope this doesn’t come the wrong way. This wasn’t how I expected to see Mary, but I am a big fans of your writting, so I’ve faith you will avoid the pitfalls of the whole Coundtdpwn Mary Marvel fiasco. Just like you did by adapting the Judas Contract.

Keep the awesome work.

So my question is

What are your thoughts about that ?

Greg responds...

Well, by now, I hope, you've seen the black costume. I'm pretty fond of our version of Mary Bromfield and Sergeant (ahem) Marvel. I haven't read Countdown, so we're not attempting to do a direct adaptation of that. I would've liked to have done more comics that told Mary's story - and that of the rest of the Shazam Family, but it was not to be. Maybe someday in flashbacks.

As to what's next for Mary... well, we'll need to #SaveEarth16 to find out.

Response recorded on July 20, 2022

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Michael Broder writes...

What month in 2008 did Zatara, Captain Atom, Black Canary, John Stewart, Captain Marvel, and Red Tornado join the Justice League?

Greg responds...

I have that down for August, 2008.

Response recorded on July 20, 2022

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Keth writes...

After Beast Boy return to earth from mars but before Perdita came to see Garfield at the Hub why did no one on the Outsiders team tell Black Canary about Garfield having problems so she could do therapy sessions with Garfield?

Greg responds...

That's a fair question, but you need to look at it realistically. In point of fact, the changes that came over Garfield were both gradual and easily explained - by him - and easily rationalized by others, even if deep down everyone knew something was really wrong. But he wasn't going on missions, so he wasn't endangering anyone. It was easier - as it is in real life - to NOT deal with such topics if one doesn't have to. This, we learned while making the season, is a very common real world response to psychological trauma. That's why it was so important for Garfield to - by the end of the season - be very public and open about seeking help for his condition. Mental illness is still stigmatized, and that needs to stop.

Response recorded on July 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

In the mid-season finale of "Young Justice: Phantoms," Connor's ghost/phantom is shown to have three parallel gashes of various sizes on his chest. Assuming he is in the Phantom Zone, is his position and condition meant to be an indirect nod to the "Injustice 2" tie-in comics; in which Superboy had to stay in the Phantom Zone in order to stay alive after being critically injured by Superman and Superboy would need immediate medical attention the minute he gets out of the Phantom Zone?

Greg responds...

I'm completely unfamiliar with Injustice 2, so it has no connection to that. And by now, I would think, you've seen both what caused those gashes and what happened to Conner once he exited the Zone.

Response recorded on July 19, 2022

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Karrin Blue writes...

Happy New Year! Some odds and ends I was wondering about:

1) Since Perdita now has a scar that goes up to her collarbone, where she didn't before, does that mean she's had another heart transplant since we last saw her in season 3?
2) Would Terra's earth powers be able to affect the crystal Flaw is made out of, like Khalid's life powers affected Teekl?
3) How much do Terra's powers work on? That is, we know they work on rock and soil, but what about sand, or natural glasses like obsidian, or materials like jet or coal that started as organic matter? Sorry if this is getting too granular, it's just always something I wonder about when a character has 'earth powers,' since the earth is made up of so much different stuff compared to the other classic elements.
4) Given that the Markovs are very definitely saying Mother of Goat and not Mother of God, does that mean that the Markovs aren't Christian? If so, is whatever religion they follow the dominant one in Markovia?
5) Does the Red Hooded Ninja actually wear that mask and goggles all the time on Infinity Island? What about when he sleeps?

Greg responds...

1. No. She stopped using make-up to cover up the already existing scar, which was from her heart surgery back in S1. She decided, in essence, to represent.

2. That's a good question. I haven't considered it. And it's largely moot now. If it wasn't, I guess I'd discuss that with Brandon.

3. Yeah, another good question. And something else that I'd want to discuss with Brandon before answering definitively.

4. They are Christians. I'm not 100% sure of the denomination. But it's Christian. Mother of Goat seems to be a common Markovian expression, so that one doesn't take the name of the Virgin Mother in vain. It's the equivalent of saying "H-E-Double Hockey-Sticks" or "Gosh darn it!"

5. Only when he's suited up. It's a uniform. It's not glued on.

Response recorded on July 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What's the name and age of Perdita's security guard from "Break my Heart"?

Greg responds...

His name is Denny Nielson, and he was born in 1981.

Response recorded on July 13, 2022

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Keaton writes...

Why did Beast Boy make the choice to breakup with Perdita when she offer help in young justice phantoms episode 13?

Greg responds...

I don't think he made that choice. He just didn't chose to do what he needed to do to stay together with her. It has the same result but isn't quite the same thing.

As for the why, I'll leave that to your interpretation.

Response recorded on July 13, 2022

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Bri writes...

1. Can Orphan read and write?
2. Since Orphan can’t physically speak as her vocal cords are damaged, would she be able to “speak” on a psychic link? Or she won’t be able to since she never learned how to speak?

Greg responds...

1. She's learning. So, yes, basically. Playing a bit of catch-up, but yes.

2. She could speak psychically. She's also learning ASL.

Response recorded on July 13, 2022

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B writes...

Several fans on Youtube got the impression that New Teekl was the same cat as Old Teekl in a time loop. Is that true?

Greg responds...

That's a fascinating idea. But nope.

Response recorded on July 11, 2022

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Claire writes...

1. So...Dr. Fate can send people through time?

2. Why is this not used more often?

3. Has Bart ever asked to be sent back into the future?

Greg responds...

1. That's unclear. He can clearly send people back to their correct time.

2. See above. But also, why would he want to mess with the time stream. That carries all sorts of risks. Leads to Chaos. Etc. And he's not about chaos.

3. To what future?

Response recorded on July 11, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Since nabu is a special case as he was originaly human. In a unlikely event another lord of order wanted to enter the mortal plane would they also require a human host like nabu does?
2 Why do the other lords of chaos not take on mortal forms to cause more chaos?

Greg responds...

1. They would need some method of anchoring. We've seen Klarion use a familiar and (briefly) a school bus. We've seen Nabu use a helmet and a host. We've seen Child use a familiar.

2. Who says they're not? It's a big universe.

Response recorded on July 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is the hero that accompanies Ice in episode 413 Isis?
What's her real name?
How old is she?
Is she THE Isis from "Intervention"?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Isis. Beyond that, no spoilers.

3. No spoilers.

4. In a sense.

Response recorded on July 08, 2022

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Crossoverparinglover writes...

So how does Vandal Savage leave all his descendants around? Does he have a killer set of bar lines he uses to seduce the ladies? Does he frequently donate his genetic material to banks? Does he marry? Something more...er.....bad....

Or is it a mix of things? As an example of what I mean did he meet Cassandra's mom at a bar and seduced her but married Olympia's mother?

Greg responds...

Vandal has his charms. But keep in mind, he doesn't need to father a ton of first generation children all at once. Even one child every few decades will - over 50,000 years - give him hundreds and hundreds of descendants.

And, while intentionally NOT commenting on your examples, I'm sure it's a mix. But I'm sure it's all consensual.

Response recorded on July 08, 2022

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Jacob Kusnerik writes...

Hey Greg,

LOVING the new Young Justice season! Can't wait to see how it all ends! Episode 13 (most recent as of this writing) was full of twists I didn't expect. Yikes! A little frightened by that stinger though, especially if that's who I think it was. Plus, with you-know-who? Dang! Right in the feels! This will undoubtedly get worse before it gets better, if at all totally. And that ending BEFORE the stinger! MAN!

A few questions I have about Mary though. I know she was Sargent Marvel on the Team for a while before being forced to give it up due to becoming drunk on power. As we've seen, Sargent Marvel is essentially Mary's evil side (like Jekyll and Hyde) that acts like a jerk and thinks she's better than everyone else, perhaps even Billy and Freddy (who I think was also a member for a while too.) Did Mary often times not change back from her other form, perhaps trying to stay Sargent Marvel 24/7, or at least as often as possible, which may have caused others to question? Also, did Mary/Sargeant's attitude cause problems on the Team for a while and rub others (like Conner, Artemis or Kaldur) the wrong way? Perhaps even getting into a fight with the Team before being stopped and Mary going cold turkey? Finally, I have to ask, WHAT caused a girl who's a sister to Billy Batson-one of THE nicest guys in DC and who never had much of a problem- to become so obsessed with power and seemingly being better than everyone through Sargent Marvel? In the comics, her attitude change was largely because she was corrupted by Black Adam's powers, but what about here? Was it being an orphan for perhaps longer than Billy was and not getting what he got sooner? Perhaps she was always secretly jealous he'd gotten a guardian (Dudley) and power by the Wizard before her while she had to scrounge around for so long.

Answer whenever you're able and keep up the good work.

Greg responds...

I'm not going to answer all your questions, because many are spoilers. But I'm happy to clarify ground that I believe has already been covered.

I wouldn't call Sergeant Marvel evil.

But things did get problematic, and she was beginning to spend less and less time in her Mary Bromfield form. And even as an eleven year old, she was starting to do things more appropriate to Sergeant's 18-year-old body. The feeling among her friends and family was that it had to stop. This didn't happen over night. She promised to cut back - and meant it - but kept backsliding. Eventually, she was convinced to give up being Sergeant cold turkey.

Mary is the one who was adopted right away, as a baby by the Bromfields. It's Billy who was in the orphanage for years before becoming Captain Marvel (now Shazam) and finally being fostered by Uncle Dudley (who is not his actual uncle).

Response recorded on July 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 The heroes have a strict no kill rule so I am a bit confused by how thirteen just killed flaw with no issue.
2 Why did child spend so much effort killing teekl 1 since she knows that klarion can just choose a new familiar. Making her efforts ultimately pointless
3 Did teekl 1 genuinly see klarion as her friend
4 Does every chaos lord take the form of a child
5 Do the other chaos lords have a bad relationship with klarion like the child

Greg responds...

1. There's some question as to whether Flaw was truly alive. And then there's the self-defense rationale.

2. I just answered this. (Everyone, please try to avoid repeating questions.) Getting a new familiar isn't easy.

3. Yes.

4. Every one we've seen so far, I believe.

5. I think every Chaos Lord has a fraught relationship with every other Chaos Lord.

Response recorded on July 08, 2022

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Captain Thunder writes...

Episode 13 wow what a way to kick of the Hiatus, Zatanna is a morally gray character instead of being completely white I like it.
1) So was the inciting incident was Zatanna thinking about Dr.Fate having four hosts instead of one?
2) So Is Granny just waiting for dejected super powered people waiting to temp them to their darker sides acting as a devil on the shoulder, I found this odd.
3) There seems to be a theme of addiction and unhealthy dependence to things, We have seen this theme somewhat hinted with Superboy in season 1.
3.1 And would I be right when talking about Red Arrow at the beginning of Season two was he having a substance abuse problem too?
3.2 Beast Boy coping with depression and sleeping pills.
3.3 Finally Mary who is actively atleast as of episode 13 relapsing, was all this intentional or am I reading too much into this.
4) Now if I recall correctly the Shazam Family was supposed to have an arc in season 2 so my question is was your plan for Mary always to have her be a presence like this in season four or did things change because of season 2. If I were to guess for the last thing and I don't know how right I am was the plan to have her be an active member of team and show her dependence on the power as she was initially part of the team in year 6 but this was later relegated to offscreen development between the 5 year timeskip.
5) Last question which has whatsoever absolutely no relation to the above questions, have you read Multiversity Thunderworld and did you like it, If not I really think you should read it and the rest of Multiversity especially Pax Americana, SOS issues. I think they should be right up your alley. Have a great day.

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. I didn't find it odd.

3.1. I think so.

3.2. Is there a question here?

3.3. I don't think you're reading too much in.

4. Actually, the Shazam Family was supposed to have an arc in our companion comic. Not Season Two. She was never supposed to be on the Team in S2. She was supposed to be at the wedding shower and in the group of heroes who go after the Reach devices at the end of the season. But in any case, the Comic was cancelled, so we never got back to it, and our timeline moved forward. And we couldn't spare the man-hours to design her for two cameos in S2. But the basics of Mary's predicament in S4 and forward were always part of the overall plan.

5. I have not read any of that.

Response recorded on July 07, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Did klarion genuinely care for teekl 1
2 Since klarion is capable of choosing a New familiar when his old one perishes anyway. Why was klarion so scared fighting child if she could do no permenant damage to him
3 Are there lords of chaos/order on other planets
4 Why can’t child just choose another familiar to return to the mortal plane
5 Does klarion’s familiar have to be a specific cat or was he just being picky when choosing teekl 2

Greg responds...

1. Of course.

2. As I'm sure you've seen by now, finding a new familiar isn't easy. And he was only sometimes scared, anyway.

3. Oh, sure.

4. It's not that easy - and it certainly isn't instantaneous. And now that she's lost, the other Chaos Lords might have something to say about it.

5. Both.

Response recorded on July 07, 2022

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Allen writes...

So...time travel.

It appeared that time travel on Earth-16 operated on the ability to change the past and create a new timeline. We've seen that with Bart, where the timeline changed as a result.

However, with Klarion, we see that his shenanigans throughout the timeline have always been a part of it. The bus was always seen throughout the years and didn't change anything (we know this because we saw the bus all the way in season 1).

This seems to create two types of time travel that cannot co-exist: a) you can change the past and create a whole new timeline and b) you can't change the past and any time travel you do is already part of the timeline.

So my question is, which is it? Can you change the past with time travel or not?

Greg responds...

I don't see these as mutually exclusive at all.

As I've stated before, my preferred style of writing time travel is - as with Gargoyles - to go with the type where TRUE history cannot be changed. But the DC Multiverse just wasn't built that way. So we had to allow for the possibility of new timelines being created. But that's just it. It's a possibility. Not a certainty.

Think of it this way. Anytime you step outside you might accidentally step on a butterfly. But then again, sometimes you might not.

Response recorded on July 07, 2022

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Matt Zimmer writes...

I loved the bit with Klarion as the Catbus. I thought it was funny and creative. And yet I confess to being a little disappointed in learning it was planned out seasons ahead of time. Aside from the fact that perhaps the saga's resident Lord of Chaos should not have his backstory or arc so meticulously planned out ahead of time I was kind of hoping it had been a happy accident.

My question is, when you were writing or planning this show (or any previous show) have you ever come up with a neat script idea on the spot and put it in a current season, and been amazed and pleased to see how well it fits in with everything else? Has there ever been a little bit of Puck or Klarion's unpredictability in writing current scripts or has all of the stuff we've seen since the first season already been decided? I think either way of writing is fine, but I would love to see a script where Greg said "This is awesome and I want to share this as soon as possible." I guess my question is if this has ever happened, and if it has, could you name-drop an example or two?

Greg responds...

It has. Often. We plan a lot, but we always leave ourselves open to ideas that hit us along the way.

The example that immediately comes to mind is (SPOILERS) the revelation that Owen is Puck. We knew there was an interesting backstory to Owen, but didn't know what it was. Then when we were working on "The Mirror" - i.e. the episode that introduced Puck - Lydia Marano, Brynne Chandler Reaves and I separately realized that Owen and Puck were one and the same.

Response recorded on July 06, 2022

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Mali writes...

Hi! My names Mali and I’m a HUGE
fan of young justice! The issue is I’m Canadian and can’t get HBO max. I want with all my heart to watch season 4 and I just want to know how I can steam/watch it. I would love to even buy it on dvd

Greg responds...

I don't know the answer to that. But I'm hoping you can find a way.

Response recorded on July 06, 2022

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Paul writes...

When Troia is helping Diana and Cassie in "Og Htrof Dna Rueqnoc!", she's wearing her Ambassador outfit. Then, in the credits scene, Tempest is wearing his Ambassador outfit. I believe you've previously said that Garth and Tula wore their Atlantean clothes as their outfits when they were on the Team, and this is backed up by Garth wearing his regular outfit when he's standing with Dick, Jeff and Clark (who are all in costume here). So my question is: since Troia wore her normal outfit when she responded to the crisis with Diana and Cassie, then does this mean that she also wore clothing that was reflective of her heritage when she was on the Team? Garth and Tula wore Atlantan garb and I guess Troia wore her Themiscyran garb?

Greg responds...

I'm going to defer answering that until we have a flashback with Troia from that era.

Response recorded on July 06, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Greg, are you aware that you can have a Muslim character without making their entire identity about being Muslim? You realize we’re regular people, right? Most of us aren’t religious zealots. We don’t think about being Muslim 24/7. It’s just part of our identity. You don’t really need to mention it, just like you have never mentioned the religion of any of the main white characters. Or is it more that you feel the need to remind the audience that you’re so inclusive for including Muslims? Whatever it is, you need to stop. This is clearly a blind spot of yours. And don’t reply that some org you’re working with says you’re fine - they don’t speak for all of us and you can’t hide behind that to dismiss criticism.

Greg responds...

I'm not hiding behind anyone. But I also feel just fine saying that an organization like MPAC likes what we're doing and encouraged same. As did the Muslim writer who wrote the episode and the Muslim actor who performed the role. My point is - and always has been - simply this: JUST BECAUSE YOU PERSONALLY THINK SOMETHING DOESN'T WORK, DOESN'T MEAN THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY AGREES WITH YOU. PERIOD. You don't get to decide for all Muslims what does or doesn't play. I had plenty of Muslim fans thrilled over our depiction of Khalid. Doesn't mean you have to be, but stop trying to tell me that you personally represent an entire religion, when I have a list of people who are also of that faith disagreeing with you.

And, yes, of course, Muslims are regular people. Just like Khalid, for example, who didn't talk about his Muslim identity at all in five out of the six episodes he appeared in this season. So he did talk about it in one episode. One episode that happened to specifically be about a crisis in faith. That doesn't make him a zealot, as you so kindly labeled him. His faith is part of his identity, just as Zatara's Catholic faith is part of his - putting the lie to the notion that we've never addressed the faith of any "white" characters. (Or do you think Zatara is a zealot, as well? Or does he not count because he's not YOUNG?)

In any case, Khalid's faith matters to him. And we're just fine depicting that. For some characters, their faith (whatever it may be) is a big part of their lives. For others, it isn't. That's the way the world works. Why wouldn't our show reflect the world?

Take the excellent ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary, for example, where the character played by Sheryl Lee Ralph (our Amanda Waller) is constantly expressing her faith and her belief in God, even though none of the other characters do. (At least not that I've seen so far.) This is life.

The funny thing is, I had other Muslim viewers tell me I couldn't hide behind MPAC to justify Khalid being a practicing sorcerer. To which my answer was much the same.

And on the other hand, I had some fan write me asking why I had gone into depth on the faith of a Muslim and a Christian and hadn't done the same for a Jew. If I did a Jew next season, I'd have someone else ask me why I hadn't done X religion or Y.

So, yes, for these reasons, I am dismissing your criticism. Not because I'm "hiding" or "blind" but because it is LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE for me to please everyone. So whom should I listen to? One "Anonymous" fan? Or an organization of human beings who are standing up to see that their people are treated well in Hollywood media. What makes you an expert over them? Why would I do what you want? So that I can "hide" behind you instead?

Basically, Brandon and I go with our gut while following the advise of people who work hard to see representation flourish in this industry, which in and of itself we see as important and necessary and as better storytelling. This isn't new territory for me either. I've been doing this kind of thing since Gargoyles.

There's no blind spot. I'm doing this on purpose. And I like it.

Response recorded on June 21, 2022

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Mohamed writes...

Hey, Greg.

Why did you stop casting child actors for the roles of child characters in Young Justice?

Greg responds...

We haven't stopped. Amistad, for example, was played by a child actor. We're just admittedly inconsistent about it, for a variety of factors. Usually, the reason is budgetary. If a child character only has a couple lines, and we think we have someone from the existing cast - in that specific episode - who can cover those lines, we may elect to save some money, so that we can spend it later on another actor. And then once we've cast someone, we rarely recast, unless (a) we have to because the original actor is unavailable or (b) the character has aged so much that the original actor is no longer appropriate.

Response recorded on June 21, 2022

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gen_knight lady writes...

when mary took the power of Khalid and Traci in “Og Htrof Dna Reuqnoc!” I got Phobos vibe from her because he did the same thing to Taranee and Cornelia in "v is for victory". Was that intentional? a hint that mary might fall to the dark side? or maybe to show us that she is still obsessed with power?

Greg responds...

Seems likely. Especially now.

Response recorded on June 17, 2022

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Impulse1111 writes...

Young Justice seems to have a lot to do with time travel the last few episodes, I’m loving it. One thing I am wondering is Bart Allen, with time travel being such a big part of his season two character why is he not involved at all it seems?

Greg responds...

Not involved at all, huh?

<sigh>

Well, by now, you know he got very involved. Next time, maybe... patience?

Response recorded on June 17, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

In which year did the Zatara's flashbacks take place?
What mechanical monsters did Superman vanquish in those flashbacks?

Greg responds...

1. Zatara's flashbacks in episode 412 of Young Justice: Phantoms (which, I assume, is what you're referring to) ran from 1998-2009.

2. Dangerous ones.

Response recorded on June 17, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

So, if I understand this correctly, Kalrion went back in time to 2010, and then he took control of the school bus and put the bus and the kids through all kinds of hell since then. Also, were any missing reports put in on those people? Surely, someone must have seen the bus and its occupants disappear on that day and missing reports must have been filed to the police, right?

Greg responds...

There was hardly time to file any missing persons reports. They disappeared and then reappeared seconds later.

Response recorded on June 16, 2022

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Aprotny writes...

Hi Greg! I wanted to start by saying how much I’m loving the season so far. I liked Seasons 2 and 3 less than Season 1 and have said multiple times since the season aired that season 4 is on par with Season 1 quality! So thank you.
Here are my questions:
1a&b) When did the idea of the bus first come up and who came up with it?
1c) Was the bus planned as a plot point since it’s first appearances in Season 1, or did that thought come up later?
2) When will you have a release date for Part 2 of Season 4?
3) I don’t have a three because any other questions I can think of will be answered with “no spoilers”
Warm Regards and Eagerly Awaiting Next Week’s Mid-Season Finale
Aprotny

Greg responds...

1a. Back in Season One.

1b. I don't remember. Me or Brandon Vietti or Kevin Hopps or Nicole Dubuc, most likely.

2. Months ago, now.

3. Appreciate the restraint.

Response recorded on June 16, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1. How old is Charlie Dagget?
2. When was Sindella born?
3. How old is Johnny Drew?
4. How old is Penny Randall?

Greg responds...

1. Charlie Daggett was born in 1984.

2. Sindella was born in 1975.

3. Johnny Drew was born in 1997.

4. Penny Randall was born in 1998.

Response recorded on June 16, 2022

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Ben writes...

Hi there Greg
I kind of feel like in this current arc the focus isn't that much on Zatanna herself compared to how in the Artemis arc we got to really understand her emotions and mindset, so I just wanted to ask what was the reason for that? I could be wrong but this is just my point of view

Thank you for reading.

Greg responds...

This arc was set up as more of a mystery. But I think by the time you finish the final episode of the arc - which by now I assume you have - it should all be pretty clear, and Zatanna's mindset and emotions should, in essence, get as much of a reveal as Tigress' did, in the previous arc.

Response recorded on June 15, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg :)

I really loved episode 12 of YJP! It`s my favourite episode thus far :D

I have a few questions regarding this episode.

1. What type of cancer did Sindella have?
2. In which year did Sindella die?
3. In which year did Giovanni marry Sindella?

Thank you for taking your time :)

Greg responds...

1. I don't know. (I realize I should know this. But I don't.)

2. 2008.

3. 1995.

Response recorded on June 15, 2022

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Verdragon writes...

So since Zatara seems to be a practicing Catholic (or as much of a practicing Catholic he can be considering his body's being possessed by an ancient Sumerian dude unlikely to be interested in going to Mass) would you have tried to sprinkle in more indications of his faith in earlier seasons were you not constrained by Cartoon Network censors? Also, as a side note, I don't mind the references to religion in "Teg Ydaer!", and I found both the scene of Khalid confronting the illusions of his parents and especially Zatara reciting the Lord's Prayer incredibly good.

Greg responds...

Thanks!

As for your question, I know we knew he was Catholic back then - and he sent Zatanna to a Catholic school - but I don't think it even occurred to us to go into much detail about it. I mean, it's hard to give much thought to something you absolutely know won't fly. So it's hard to say, hypothetically, what we would or would not have done. But I'm happy with how it all played out across the seasons.

Response recorded on June 15, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Was Jason blood already familiar with phantom stranger before they met in 4x10
2 Same question with etrigan
3 Do the other heroes know about Jason blood and etrigan
4 Did Jason blood already know about the existance of the chaos lords
5 same question as 4 with etrigan

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Was Jason Blood already familiar with Etrigan? Uh, yeah.

3. Some do. Some don't.

4. Sure.

5. I guess.

Response recorded on June 15, 2022

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Paul writes...

I have just used the search function to check whether my first question has been asked and it looks as though a similar question was asked last week, but I want to expand upon that person's question.

1) So, another person has asked you whether Mary Bromfield is Billy Batson's sister in YJ (for, I think, the first time since "Teg Ydaer!" aired). Since there was a comic book reboot which negated their blood ties and made them foster siblings, I don't think that asking whether they're siblings gets to the heart of the matter, so I would like to be more specific, please: are Billy and Mary related by blood in Young Justice, or are they foster siblings? The Billy illusion in "Teg Ygaer!" refers to Mary as "sis" but I think that this has confused some people, as some have taken it as a sign that they are related by blood, whereas others think that it's a nod to them having been foster siblings instead. However, going back to the season 1 episodes "Alpha Male" and "Misplaced", Billy appeared to be living with Uncle Dudley and there didn't seem to be anyone else there, otherwise he would have turned to them when Dudley disappeared in the latter episode. So I think that Billy and Mary are NOT foster siblings, but rather are blood relations who were separated at birth (as in the early comics), and I wonder if you could confirm this, please.

2) Following on from the last question... if Billy and Mary are related by blood and you've confirmed this in your answer to question 1, then: are Billy and Mary twins? I ask because you've previously confirmed that they were born in the same year, and there is the matter of the fact that they were twins in the early comics. In YJ, one might still be older than the other by say 9-11 months (just because they were born in the same year, that doesn't mean they ARE twins for sure), but maybe you could weigh in on this, please.

3) And now, since the "sis" line in "Teg Ydaer!" has generated this discussion, I would like to also ask you about the "sister" comments in "Elder Wisdom", please. In that episode, Wonder Woman and Troia referred to one another as "sister". Halo also referred to Troia as Diana's sister and this wasn't refuted (though to be fair, this was in the midst of a fight, so of course Diana wouldn't immediately respond anyway). Are Diana and Troia blood relations? I know that Troia/Donna Troy has a complex comic book history, and so we could be dealing with a number of different possibilities here in terms of her origin, but I'm not asking about the bigger picture of the origin story itself. I would just like to know whether Troia is Diana's actual sister, or a sister in "spirit" (as I suppose all Amazons would be to Diana). The fact that you previously confirmed that Troia is a princess of Themiscyra would seem to confirm that Troia is Diana's blood relation. But then again, Troia could be adopted, so... I wonder if you could chime in on this, please. (It's confusing!)

4. Another Troia question: was her design in season 3 based on the look that Diana had in the 2017 Wonder Woman film, when she was living on Themiscyra? I thought that Diana's "in training" look in the live-action film looked very similar to Troia's U.N. Ambassador design.

Greg responds...

1. I'm not big on confirming things we haven't yet revealed in the series, as you may know. However, I'm pretty sure I revealed this years ago, during the long hiatus, so, to be clear: Billy Batson and Mary Bromfield are NOT foster siblings on Earth-16. That notion, from more recent Shazam comics, didn't exist back in Season One, so we didn't build for it. (That's not meant as some type of commentary on the idea. We just developed the characters based on the older concept.) They are twins, however, and - as you noted - were separated at birth, only discovering later that their genetic conection.

2. They're twins. Though of course one is older than the other. I haven't done the math, but I tend to guess that one is sixteen minutes older than the other. I just don't, as yet, know which one.

3. Since I haven't revealed this, I'm not going to now. No spoilers.

4. I don't know, honestly. Or at least, I don't remember. It's really a question for Phil Bourassa.

Response recorded on June 15, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Why does Earth-16's Stargirl have a mole on her face?

Greg responds...

Why does anyone?

Response recorded on June 13, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Starting with Season 3 of Young Justice, you decided to have the first letters of each episode spell out a hidden message; which I find very interesting because I am trying to figure out what Season 4's message is. Do you regret not coming with this idea much sooner when you first started this series?

Greg responds...

Maybe a little. But only a little.

Response recorded on June 13, 2022

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Elm writes...

Has the production budget for Young Justice changed since it was on Cartoon Network? (Asking if S1, S3 and S4 have the same costs)

Greg responds...

It's basically the same. We have more money now than we had then. But things also cost more now. So overall, it's largely unchanged. We do have a higher budget for after-effects now in S4, then we did in S3, and WAY bigger than we did for S1 & S2.

Response recorded on June 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What were the names of Billy Batson's parents?
Is Mary his sister?

Greg responds...

1. I don't currently seem to have that info. I'd research it before we named them in canon.

2. Biologically and emotionally, yes. Legally, no.

Response recorded on June 08, 2022

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Mr Fan and Mr Disappointed writes...

Hi Greg ! Hope you're fine !
I have a really important question (and some criticism) to write. To explain quickly before :
I've just watched "Teg Ydaer" and I got to say this is the episode I hated the most of the show, and by far. And I'm afraid this will happen again. I hated it against my will, believe me, but that was too much. Aside the fact that this is Zatanna's arc and that she got like 3% of the screentime so far, with absolutely NO character development, I'm deeply angered that you introduced religion in such a central matter. We had a long part of the episode dedicated to religion and talking about how great it was, giving hope to people and so on ... And to me, during that moment, that wasn't a superhero show anymore ! That was religion propaganda. What's next then ? Telling kids how great it is to join the Jehovah's Witnesses or any other religion, sect or cult because it gives hope ? To someone like me, who considers (and I speak only from my perspective, don't want to offend anybody here) religion like one of the most silliest and dangerous things ever happened in human history, that's really disgusting. Not only that, but to see my favorite show becoming something absolutely irrelevant to its subject, I felt really sick.
Like I've seen in some comments before me, that feels like positive discrimination. It feels like Khalid is here ONLY because he's a muslim.
Now, I'm not a hater, I love this show, I don't want to get in a fight about religion or belief, I'm just a fan deeply concerned, sad and disappointed with the direction that the show is taking today, and who feels betrayed more and more.

SO, to come back to my question, have you planned to develop or talk again about religion ? And do you regret having done that in such a proportion, or done it at all ?

Thanks for reading, hope I wasn't too harsh or rude ;)

Greg responds...

Hm.

No regrets. And I suppose it SHOULDN'T come as any shock to you that I'm quite proud of that episode. Very proud, actually.

I personally have tremendous distaste for organized religion - including my own, i.e. Judaism. But that doesn't change the fact that faith is a huge part of many, many, many peoples' lives. We're telling a story about people. (Not about super-heroes, by the way, which is incidental - its eye-candy - but about people. If all you want is super-hero adventure, then you are shopping at the wrong store and have been since episode one of season one.) Please don't even start to tell me that I can't tell stories about the things that concern people. Irrelevant? Give me a break.

And that's aside from the fact, that although I don't think religion should be an out of bounds topic, I don't actually think that this story was about religion. It was about faith, through the vehicle of religion. But maybe that's splitting hairs.

I do resent the notion that Khalid only exists in the story because he's Muslim. I think that's very short-sighted. Why not say he's only in this story because he's a medical student, which got equal play in this episode and more play in the two episodes that preceded it? I believe Khalid is as fully realized a character as any we've had - relative to his amount of screen time. Do you think Zatara only exists in the story because he's Catholic. (But good on you that you're not a hater.)

(I also love that you think using Jehovah's Witnesses as some kind of ultimate example of cultish religious extremism is a-okay. It's not.)

Now, I will admit that I do wish we could find more room for Atheism in the show. Even for Agnosticism. Although I am neither, I admire both more than I admire any and every organized religion. But the problem with setting your series in a world with ghosts (like Secret) and demons (like Etrigan), is that it doesn't leave much space for doubt. [Artemis knows - KNOWS - that the soul exists because she's SEEN one, and so has our audience.] That's a puzzle I'm still trying to solve. But I have no intention of solving it by pretending that religion doesn't exist and doesn't mean something significant to literally MILLIONS of people.

(And for the record, I'm a secular pagan Jew and an animist.)

As for the BITCHING about Zatanna not getting enough attention, I officially roll my eyes at you. This is without a doubt Zatanna's story from moment one to moment last. I get why it's not clear to you back in 411, but, hey, way to be patient. And if it's not clear by the end of the arc, then all I can do is shrug. Zatanna doesn't need to dominate screen time to make this her story. That notion is just silly to me. I also find it sardonically amusing that at least some fan or another has complained to me about how the headline character of a given arc is not getting enough screen time or attention... in literally ALL six of the arcs. I think Nightwing fans may have some - small - justification for these complaints. But for the others, all I can say is that you've created your own expectations about what YJ:P was supposed to deliver for your personal favorite character. Instead, Brandon and I delivered what we wanted to deliver about each character. The rule, as always, being that if we aren't passionate about the show we're creating then how can we expect anyone else to even have a shot at being passionate about what they're seeing? There is no other way for us to create.

And, no, I don't think you were too harsh or rude (though your message above did read to me as obnoxious, which isn't the same thing). But I may be bordering on all those negative qualities in my response. If so, understand that I am truly inundated with comments from "fans" telling me I've done them wrong. With fans who are "sad" or "disappointed". With fans who are trying to convince me that I don't like my own show - or that I wouldn't like it if I simply listened to them and/or thought about if for a few minutes. (Your second to last paragraph is basically doing that.) But the thing is that Brandon and I listened to a lot of people and gave TONS of thought to everything in every episode. Way, way more thought than most shows get, I know. I know. I'm not saying we're above making mistakes, but we didn't do entire episodes by accident.

Now, before you say, "Hey, if everyone's telling you that your stuff sucks, maybe it does," you should know we get WAY more praise than we get criticism. Way more. And of course, the praise is nice but washes over me, and only the criticism sticks. I honestly should ignore ALL of it, criticism and praise, but I'm not that bulletproof. It makes me sad and disappointed. And frustrated. Very, very frustrated. Even if the nay-sayers are only a small (but vocal) minority. And that must be all they are, because our numbers this season on HBO Max are stunningly good. Today, I saw numbers that indicated we have more views this year than any other animated super-hero series on ANY streaming service. (Because, yes, we still have super-heroes in YJ, despite what you believe are my best efforts!) We even beat out a couple of prestige live-action super-hero series. Thus, not everyone thinks we suck. Most clearly don't.

So all of you out there who are going to read this post and feel the need to post a criticism of me here or on twitter (while tagging me) for responding in this harsh, rude obnoxious way... stop. Please. Put yourselves in my shoes for a minute. No one's saying you have to like the show. Certainly no one is forcing you to watch it. (Seriously, I think our season four hate-watchers alone must outnumber our entire audience for season one.) But that doesn't mean you need to sling your $#!^ my way. Be kind. Kinder than I'm being, I suppose. And I'll try to be kinder, too. Thanks.

"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes."
--Walt Whitman

Response recorded on June 07, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

Mary still has 1/3 of the power of Shazam. Does she drain power from Billy and Freddy even when she is not using it?

Greg responds...

She doesn't drain anything from either of them. And certainly gets nothing from (or owes anything to) Freddy.

That power is hers now. Given freely and impossible to return.

Response recorded on June 07, 2022

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Coby Michael Dupre writes...

Fellow writer (albeit an amateur) here, and I gotta say: Dang dude, nice episode and I love the hyping up of this "new" girl Child but you had to resort to a neck snap? I'm still recovering from losing my favorite version of Superboy ever to that, even if it was a villain this time.

Greg responds...

R.I.P. Teekl.

Response recorded on June 06, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

When was Nabu (Savage's son) born?

Greg responds...

I could've sworn I've answered this, but, fine: Nabu was born in 1836 B.C.E.

Response recorded on June 06, 2022

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Fallenlegend writes...

Hey Greg!

I was one of the fans that keep asking an bugging about Mary Marvel (now Sargent) over the years and was pleasantly surprised to see you finally portray her.

I am actually extremely surprised how you caught on that obscure flaw of hers many fans don’t

Of how even in the old fawcett comics she was very very attached to her powers.

I recall there was an issue in the original fawcett run (Mary Marvel issue #4) were it is stated Shazam loses his powers every thousand years. And so did Mary herself.

So she extremely depressed and went crying to the point she felt useless for losing her powers, but still managed to save the day by her own power (similar to what you did) That in contrast to Billy who actually took losing his powers much better.

There are other examples in the comics, but usually she is the one to take it the worst of the marvel family when they get de-powered.

This also how she was corrupted im the infamous, and for some badly written, countdown comics were she got the black suit and went too drunk with power. And sacrificed her morality for power. Twice.

1.-My first question would be, am I right in the money, of you portraying her being too atached to her Shazam form being part of her “core true” and/or inspired by past stories?

Of course asking if she is ever going to transform is a spoiler so I am going to ask about her perspective instead. So my second question is

2-Does Mary consider giving up being Sargent Marvel as a permanent solution? As in does she gave up ever transforming? or just until she rehabilites and manages not too get drunk in power?

I am a bit sad we won’t see Sargent Marvel in action in the future, or the hole marvel family together, but still happy I got my wish on got to see your take on her.

Keep the great work!

Greg responds...

1. It all weighs in.

2. We'll have to see...

Response recorded on June 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why did nabu bother testing zatanna’s students if he wasn’t planning on intervering anyway

Greg responds...

Well, I think he was trying to make a point to her. But I'll leave it up to your interpretation.

Response recorded on June 03, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

In "Teg ydaer" there is brief shot of the Elders (the gods & heroes that give Shazam his power). Their appearance is much like their appearance in the live-action Shazam! show from the 1970s. Was this a deliberate shout-out to that series?

Greg responds...

Of course. (I mean, you thought it might be an accident or coincidence?)

Response recorded on June 03, 2022

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Paul writes...

1) What is Sergeant Marvel's biological equivalent age? It was a surprise to see that she looked older than season 4 Mary, who would probably be about 20 years old.
2) What is Captain Marvel's biological equivalent age?

Greg responds...

1. Mary Bromfield was born in 2000.

1a. Sergeant Marvel was perpetually a biological 18.

2. Captain Marvel/Shazam is perpetually a biological 24.

Response recorded on June 03, 2022

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Paul writes...

Quick question about "Tea Ydaer!" (which was a fantastic episode!):

I remember that it was reported from Ask Greg Live several years ago (maybe it was in 2015?) that the plan for Lt. and Sgt. Marvel was to have them both wear pants and have stars and sashes on their outfits to indicate their "ranks". Now this is not a criticism AT ALL, as I thought Sergeant looked amazing in the latest episode, but I'm just wondering if there's a reason why the stars and sashes were ultimately not used for Sergeant? (Unless they were there and I just didn't notice them.)

As always, Greg, thanks for your response and for your work on this amazing show!

Greg responds...

I guess by the time we got around to designing her, I had forgotten about stars and sashes.

Response recorded on June 03, 2022

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Ahadu Getachew writes...

Hey greg this is a two part question and i’m pretty this isn’t a spoiler question but when did Jason Todd become robin (Specifically how old was he) and how long was he on the team before he died? and thank so much for being the series back

Greg responds...

Jason Todd was born in 1999. He became Robin in Team Year Three. He died in the same year.

Response recorded on June 03, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

To what was Klarion referring to in 4.10 by "the oppositions new arrangements"? Are we already supposed to know what he is talking about? Or, does this fall into spoiler territory?

Greg responds...

By now, it's not a spoiler. It would've been when you asked the question. He was referring to Zatanna's plan to alternate host bodies for Doctor Fate.

Response recorded on June 02, 2022

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Musicfacter writes...

Hello Greg, I've already asked one question concerning M'gann but I wanted to ask another. Hopefully we aren't limited to the amount of questions we can ask. If so, I'd like this question to take precedence over my previous question as I'm particularly curious about it.

Given as ancient as Vandal Savage is and how far and wide he has traveled, is it the case that he is the Y-Chromosomal Adam of this Universe? If you are not familiar with this term, I'm asking is it the case that he is the most recent patrilineal ancestor (and maybe ancestor in general) that all human beings share? Is every being currently alive with human admixture - such as Superboy or Jonathan Kent - a direct descendant of Vandal Savage/member of his bloodline? I imagine that he is a direct ancestor of almost all humans who have ever lived as well .

Greg responds...

No. Not for all humans. I guess you could say he's that for all meta-humans, though, including the Homo Meta, Homo Magi and Homo Mermanus.

Response recorded on June 02, 2022

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Liam writes...

1: Was matches Malone a real person or did Bruce simply choose that name since it sounded Irish?
1b: was he a Gotham city criminal?
2: how exactlyis a martian bio suit made? Is it a process similar to the bio ship msting or is it made by martians themselves?
3: are perry white and Marvin white related?
4: what exactly caused Terra to change her costume to her new one in season 4? Was it meant to be a tribute to Brion or markovia? Or it her distancing herself from her brother?
5: Is Dinah Lance identity public knowledge? If it's not how does she protected considering she's running around maskless.

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

1b. See above.

2. It's harvested.

3. No spoilers.

4. I honestly don't recall.

5. No.

5a. So's Superman.

Response recorded on June 02, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Did the meteorite create the metagene or was the metagene already within Vandal Savage and the meteorite only activated it?

Greg responds...

It's a good question.

Response recorded on June 02, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

In the end credits scene of "Odnu!," Saturn Girl and Chameleon Boy were seen on Earth watching of "Space Trek 3016." The last time the Legion was seen was during the first story arc of the fourth season of Young Justice, and they had not been seen until the end credits scene. The question is if the Legion is hanging around on Earth now, does that mean their mission on Mars was a success or a failure? If it was the latter, then why are they bothering with watching "Space Trek 3016"?

Greg responds...

By now, you probably know the overall answer to your question. (And honestly, I can't imagine when you asked it that you could have expected me to answer with anything other than NO SPOILERS.) As to why they were watching Space Trek specifically, during their lunch break... I guess they're fans.

Response recorded on June 01, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What was the last straw child mentioned to klarion?

Greg responds...

Zatanna's plan to alternate hosts for Fate.

Response recorded on June 01, 2022

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Algae writes...

Hi Greg,

As of writing this, it's been a couple of days since Nomed Esir aired and I'm am LOVING the current Zatanna arc. Easily my favorite of the Season four arcs so far and we're only two eps in.

I'm just wondering if Vandar's Atlantean alias of "Varl'jat" was supposed to be a reference to something specific or did you guys make it up out of whole cloth.

Anyway, keeping up the good work.

Greg responds...

It's a slight reworking of one of Vandal's old aliases from the comics. Karl Jat from THE ATOM #5, I believe. It's not definitive that ol' Karl was Vandal, but I like to think so.

Response recorded on May 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

When was Nabu (Marduk's son) born?
What year did Marduk fought Starro?

Greg responds...

1. Nabu was born in 1836 B.C.E. More or less.

2. Marduk and Nabu and Ishtar fought Starro in 1,800 B.C.E.

Response recorded on May 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What happened to Wally's parents in the years after they received the news of his death? Are they still married, or did they get divorced?

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

Response recorded on May 26, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Young Justice Season 4 Questions In Regards to The Legion of Super-Heroes And The Time-Traveling Saboteur:

#1. Is Saturn Girl’s full name Imra Ardeen?

#2. Is Phantom Girl’s full name Tinya Wazzo?

#3. Is Chameleon Boy’s full name Reep Daggle?

#4. How old is the as-of yet-unnamed time-traveling saboteur?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. Yes.

4. Um... it depends how you're counting, as he was born in the 31st Century. So he's deep into negative numbers chronologically. If you mean biologically, he's approximately 16 in Team Year Ten.

Response recorded on May 26, 2022

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John writes...

Dear Mr. Weisman,
I just wanted to say that I think you are one of the most amazing writers of any comic-inspired animated show. You have gone into so much depth & I'm loving it. You say it's your job to torture us mercilessly and leave us begging for more, may I request more torture then? because I am so addicted to Young Justice. Especially all the backstories that you have put in with Vandal Savage & Klarion. I could watch this show forever!!! Thank you for everything.

Greg responds...

Thanks, John. I hope to continue torturing you ad infinitum.

Response recorded on May 26, 2022

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Twig writes...

You mention that The Powers That Be prevented a single character from being presented at LGBT+ on the show. I know there's not much you can do from your position, but is there any way that we, the fans, can criticize TPTB for this sort of thing? Like it's almost 2022, this is getting a little ridiculous.

Greg responds...

We've been given tremendous freedom on Season Four. I don't know if that single character issue would still be an issue now. I haven't asked because I haven't had to ask, and I don't want to generate a potential argument for the sake of a hypothetical, when otherwise we're all getting along. If and when it comes up, we'll ask again, and then we'll see.

Response recorded on May 26, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr Weisman i have some Young justice questions for you 1.How old is Jason Blood and how long have he and the Phantom Stranger known each other? 2. I noticed some vary familiar looking artifacts in Mr blood's home that he told Mary not to touch. Have he or Etrigan ever traveled to any other universes outside of Earth 16 and the Dc multiverse including a universe where '' One thousand years ago superstition and the sword ruled'' to claim the artifacts ? 3. How long have Zatanna and Etrigan known each other ? 4. Did you consider hiring Dee Bradley Baker for the role of etrigan before hiring David Shaughnessy for the role instead ? P s thank you for giving my alien theory about the driver and kids on that school bus that Zatanna and her students avoided in the previous episode some footing

Greg responds...

1. Jason Blood was born @500 A.D.

1a. Long time.

2. I doubt it. But you never know.

3. A while.

4. Not that I recall. Love Dee. But I thought David - whom I worked with on Star Wars Rebels - would give us an amazing version of both Blood and Etrigan.

Response recorded on May 26, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

In the "Nomed Esir!," Klarion mentioned Earth-17 during his talk with Child. Now, given what is known in the DC Comics Multiverse, is the Earth-17 that was mentioned in this episode happens to be the one that has been completely laid to waste as a result of nuclear war in the year 1963, and that version of Earth is the home of the Atomic Knights of Justice? This question is assuming that the version of Earth-17 is the post-Flashpoint version that was first introduced/mentioned in "The Multiversity Guidebook #1."

Greg responds...

NO SPOILERS.

Response recorded on May 25, 2022

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Cade Creighton writes...

Good afternoon!

I LOVED YJ episode 4x10, nomeD esiR. But I do have one question regarding the flashbacks. If Vandal's son Arion was immortal like his father, how is it that he died by being crushed when Atlantis fell? Shouldn't he have just regenerated like Vandal always does when he is "killed?"

Greg responds...

First off, Vandal is Arion's grandfather, not his father. And I guess Arion's not quite as immortal as granddad.

Or is he?

No, he's not.

Response recorded on May 25, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

1. In the Young Justice episode, "Nomed Esir!," there appears to be three "Gargoyles" Easter Eggs in the forms of the Grimorum Arcanorum, the Phoenix Gate, and the Eye of Odin. Interestingly, the latter two items are designed differently than what is seen in the "Gargoyles" carton series; with the Phoenix Gate being mirror-flipped and having a gold background instead of blue, and the Eye of Odin being red instead of blue. Why were these changes made for this episode?

2. For some unknown reason, there is no logline description provided for "Teg Ydaer!" like the rest of the episodes for the Zatanna story arc. What was the logline description for this episode supposed to be?

3. I saw on the Young Justice Wiki for Season 4 that Zatanna's story arc will have one extra episode in comparison to the previous two story arcs (which were four episodes each). If I may ask, what was the decision of doing this, as opposed to making episode 13 being part 1 (of 2) of an interlude chapter for the fourth season?

4. With the title for episode 13 of "Young Justice: Phantoms" revealed, I cannot properly guess the potential meaning of the hidden message for this season. The message thus far is: "Invitation to K". I had hope that the message would be indicated to be a hopeful one, but that does not seem to be the case anymore.

Greg responds...

1. No one really wants to get sued.

2. THIRTEEN and her friends face their greatest challenge.

3. Twenty-six episodes divided by six arcs, when the season had to be divided in half, into two sets of thirteen, meant that the arcs would run four, four, five, four, four, five.

4. I guess it depends on one's point of view. The House of Zod might find it hopeful.

Response recorded on May 25, 2022

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Musicfacter writes...

Hey Greg, greatly enjoying Season 4

It was stated because Martian's are telepathic, news travels pretty quickly across their planet. With that in mind, did the news of Connor's death manage to reach any of M'gann's siblings? And if so, did ANY of them bother to check up on her?

Greg responds...

I'm sure the news spread fast. As to whether they checked up on her, with the exception of Em'ree, of course: no spoilers.

Response recorded on May 24, 2022

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Family writes...

Who thought of Artemis and Jason Bard?

Greg responds...

I assume you mean who thought to put them together as a couple. Brandon and I discussed who Artemis might be dating in Season Four, and I suggested Jason.

Response recorded on May 24, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Why did you choose ocean master as a member of the light?
2 Since Artemis said that acquiring the justice league’s Intel has been a goal that the light has been after for a long time why didn’t vandal savage steal the data when he had the entire justice league under his control

Greg responds...

1. Many reasons, including but not limited to (a) his reach across the oceans and (b) his intimate knowledge and access to the Atlantean leadership and (c) his resources.

2. Maybe he did. But that was ten years ago. Maybe he wanted an update.

Response recorded on May 20, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What is Arsenal’s relationship with Lian like

Greg responds...

Avuncular.

Response recorded on May 20, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Isn’t m’comm like the biological equivelant of 18? Since he is so young how is he the leader of the white martian resistance? Aren’t there any older white martian’s with more experience in the resistance?

Greg responds...

1. M'comm M'orzz was born in 1968.

2. He took leadership.

3. There clearly are.

Response recorded on May 20, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What is halo exactly? A motherbox in gabrielle body or a new entity created from both the motherbox and gabrielle?

Greg responds...

Yes.

Response recorded on May 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

I find the way you've responded to criticism for seasons 2 and 3 really off-putting. Whenever people say they didn't like the 5 year time-skip, or that they don't like how only a few characters get focus, or that they miss the season 1 style storytelling, etc. your response is almost always something like "it's my show I'll do whatever I want and I don't care what you guys want" and I've even seen you imply that fans are entitled for getting upset that their favorite characters don't get screentime. A writer doesn't create content just for themselves, you create content that is meant to be consumed by others. And you have one of the most dedicated fanbases in history who performed a miracle resurrecting this show. We're allowed to have opinions. Why is it so hard for you to acknowledge that you took a big risk after season 1 and understand why not everyone is happy with the direction you went in?

Greg responds...

I do understand. I totally understand that we took a big risk and I totally understand that not everyone is happy with it. FULL STOP.

What I'm at a loss to understand is what I'm expected to do about it.

Keep in mind, responses come after the work is concluded. Concluded. I can't change history and undo stuff that's already been done.

And, of course, I don't want to, either. Cuz I like what we did. (I mean maybe not every second of every episode, but the vast tapestry of the thing, certainly.) And, frankly, the majority of our fandom agrees, judging by numbers alone. So even if I could, whom should I make changes for? A minority of fans who want one change or a different minority of fans who want some other change?

Beyond that, I'll simply repeat what I've always said. Brandon and I have to be passionate about what we're doing. That means following our best instincts and hoping that a majority of the fans like the result. So far that's basically worked for us. Not for EVERY fan, but for the great majority. It may not always work, of course, but what's the alternative? That we write stuff we don't like, to maybe please a subset of the fandom? How would that work? I mean, if Brandon and I aren't passionate about the work, how can we expect anyone - ANYONE - to view it and feel passionately about it. It would be hollow.

And your post is resplendent with that very contradiction: you say we have "one of the most dedicated fanbases in history who performed a miracle resurrecting this show," and I would sincerely agree wholeheartedly. But I have to think that the reason the fanbase is dedicated and performed that miracle is because they basically like what BV and I are doing. I mean the miracle happened after the timeskip. If the timeskip killed the show for the majority of the fandom, then I have to assume they wouldn't have helped us come back, right?

I can see how you interpret all of the above into "it's my show I'll do whatever I want and I don't care what you guys want," but I don't think that's fair. It's certainly doesn't capture the gist of what I've said, even if in essence, it reflects the end result. What I'm saying is, "we're the creators of the show and we HAVE to do the show we want because the alternative is something that literally winds up pleasing nobody."

If that's off-puttiing, I'm sorry. But it does have the virtue of being honest.

Response recorded on May 19, 2022

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Liam writes...

1: Is madame Xanadu the Arthurian nimue?
2: If Xanadu is nimue, how is she alive today? Reincarnation or immortality?
3: Considering you did your own takes on arthurian legends in gargoyles, will that those interpretations influence Xanadu and maybe other dc characters tied to arthurian legends?
4: Was Xanadu's accent authentic or was it always just something she played up while fortune telling?
5: When did Xanadu start using real magic in the present day?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers.

3. If I'm understanding your question correctly, than no. My interpretations of the Arthurian myths and legends for Gargoyles won't influence any adaptations of the DC version of Arthurian myths and legends for YJ.

4. Which accent?

5. After meeting Kent and (ironically) being convinced that real magic exists thanks to Abra Kadabra.

Response recorded on May 19, 2022

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Charles writes...

Greg,
I don’t believe this first question constitutes a spoiler, though the second might.
1) You’ve stated that the chairman/chairwoman of the Justice League is elected by a majority of the League. 1a)Does a chairman serve a term? 1b)if so, how long is the term? 1c)Or do they serve until such time as they resign/the League prefers new leadership?

2) Vandal Savage’s view of encouraging the evolution of the human race can be morally ambiguous, with him acting for the betterment of humanity often at the expense of individuals and smaller groups. This seems to have placed him as both a hero and as a villain at various points in history. Do you think his quest to advance the human race would have allied him with the Allies or the Axis powers in WWII?

To clarify, I’m not stating that Nazi Germany’s genocides would have improved the human race, however, from where I sit, I can see Savage either ignoring the plight of a minority race to strengthen the rest, or opposing the extermination of a race because of the potential that may be lost among their dead. With these two conflicting potentials in a morally horrible decision, I was hoping you might offer clarity into Savage’s character, but I understand if that clarity would cause a spoiler reveal.

Greg responds...

1. They normally serve for a year. Sometimes, as with Jeff this time out, they are reelected to a second term. Most choose not to serve more than one or two years in a row.

2. No spoilers.

3. See my answer to 2.

Response recorded on May 19, 2022

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Nick writes...

Did you hold auditions during the pandemic? If so, how did that work?

Greg responds...

We didn't hold in person auditions. We did have performers submit tapes of them performing the part for certain roles, e.g. Amistad Ervin. It's not as good a system - in theory - as you can't see how an actor takes direction. But fortunately, it all worked out for us remarkably well. Of course, we didn't hold a ton of auditions for roles this season. We mostly just cast new roles without auditioning. And some that we did audition for were done pre-pandemic. But again, I can't complain with the end results.

Response recorded on May 18, 2022

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Nick writes...

Forgot to ask: how did you cast Logan Browning?

Greg responds...

I'm pretty sure Jamie suggested her for the role. Brandon and I listened to her voice in other things, and we agreed. I don't think we held auditions for Onyx. But it was pre-pandemic, and my memory is fairly fuzzy of those days.

Response recorded on May 18, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why did you suddenly start indicating Khuiten Peak as the Light's HQ while up until then it was simply "Western Mongolia"?

Also, what's the story behind that HQ's location? How long has it been Vandal's HQ? Who built it?

Greg responds...

1. I never loved "Western Mongolia" for the timestamp. It was too big, too vague. Honestly, I wish I had thought to use the Peak from the beginning.

2. It is and was Vandal's HQ. It's not the Light's HQ. It's where Vandal generally is when he's speaking to the rest of the Light, who normally teleconference, as we've seen since episode 101. As the de facto leader of the Light, often Light business gets done at Vandal's place. Often. Not Always. Again, as we've seen.

3. Western Mongolia is more or less where Vandal is from. Kinda.

4. How long? In one form or anothe, for a long, long time.

5. Vandal had it built. He may have even helped some.

Response recorded on May 18, 2022

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Nick writes...

This season has some great new voice actors!

Can you tell us how you cast Carl Lumbly, Usman Ally, Erika Ishii, D.B. Woodside?

Greg responds...

1. Not that anyone was arguing with me over the choice, but I really wanted to cast Carl as M'gann's father. In part, as a tribute to his work on Justice League as J'onn J'onzz. But also cuz he's truly great, and I've been a fan of his going back all the way to Cagney & Lacey.

2. We held some auditions for someone who could play both Khalid AND Muhammed Nassour. And Khalid won the roles by being great at both.

3. We held auditions for someone who could play both Mary Bromfield and Child. Brandon and I had seen Erika perform an amazing stand-up routine about playing the violin and being frustrated by the ending of Game of Thrones, so she was one of the people we suggested as a possibility. And she killed it as both characters.

4. Brandon wanted to make Phantom Stranger Black, so he and Jamie Thomason and I began brainstorming who might be a good choice to play the role. I believe Jamie may have suggested D.B., and I was immediately enthusiastic based on his work in Lucifer and Buffy and 24 and other stuff that I've loved him in forever.

Response recorded on May 18, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why did orphan bow to ra’s al ghul?

Greg responds...

Training. Habit.

Response recorded on May 17, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Why did the remaining villagers of Atlantis not try to escape while klarion was busy killing savage for 300 days and how did they survive that long?
2 I know klarion as a lord of chaos has excited since the dawn of the universe, but how old would you say his child form pysically is?
3 How pysically old is child’s new human form?
4 Zviad mentioned in “odnu” that he used a psychic nudge passed down from king brion to his people to convince them to activate their meta gene for markovia. Does this mean that people who are effected by zviad’s meta ability can spread the effect to others?
5 Did teekl actually attempt to explain to the light what was happening in “odnu”

Greg responds...

1. There weren't that many remaining villagers. I'm sure some of them did run. All we saw were a couple of frightened orphaned kids.

2. Nine.

3. Um... nine?

4. No. He nudges Brion. Brion speaks patriotically to his people. But there's no second-hand psychics involved.

5. Sure.

Response recorded on May 17, 2022

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Deon Nzembe writes...

Hello Greg! How are you doing? I'm Deon from Kenya and a big fan of your show Young Justice. I've been watching it since i was 8 during the Cartoon Network days and 11 years later I'm still watching it (grateful for season 4). During the lockdown last year (2020) I would rewatch the series,read the comics and browse through here and the wiki to a point where i can call myself an expert on this show (that and also the fact that i think that I'm the only African fan of YJ)
So here's my question(s):
1. Could you please share your notes on the Watchtower's layout, the league members who live there and who does the maintenance?
2. As of Phantoms, how hold is Tim, Wondergirl and Beast Boy?
3. What basis did you guys use when designing wondergirl's original suit as well as her new one in sn4?
4. Apart from the renewal of sn5, is there anything the fandom could do to get new companion-comics that fill in the blank spaces here and there?
5. How does the Justice League work as an independent organisation. Like where do they get finances and stuff like that?
6. Lastly, i would like to know why Tim left the Team and joined the Outsiders?
That's it for me. I would like to say thanks to you, Brandon and the rest of the team responsible for this beautiful show. Its been a really big part of this teenager's life, thanks a lot and have a nice day.

Greg responds...

Hey Deon! Hope you're not the ONLY African fan, but we're glad to have you. Now, you asked WAY more than 5 questions, which is our maximum per post. I mean, you've numbered six yourself. And frankly, each numbered question is really multiple questions. Normally, if someone takes this much advantage of the system, I reject the entire post. But I'll give you a break. THIS TIME. Fair warning, if you do it again.

1. I don't have any notes on the Watchtower layout.

1a. No one lives there. I'm sure there are a couple of suites that a person can crash in, if necessary. But it has no permanent residents.

1b. Uh...

2. Tim Drake was born in 2001.

2a. Cassie Sandsmark was born in 2001.

2b. Garfield Logan was born in 2002.

3. I'm not sure what you mean by "basis". Phil Bourassa designed her original outfit with input from Brandon Vietti and myself. I seem to recall that Phil wanted to give her a sporty look.

3a. We felt Wonder Girl (two words) was due for a costume update by Season Four, and her new suit was designed by Dou Hong and/or Jerome Moore and/or Austin Reinkens, with input from Brandon and I. This version felt a little more grown-up to us.

4. Our new companion comic book six-issue limited series, Young Justice: Targets, will premiere this summer (2022). If fans buy it, i.e. vote with their wallets, it seems likely that DC might want to make more.

5. They are a chartered United Nations organization. They therefore get some funding from the U.N. and some from private donations. I hear the Wayne Foundation is a major donor.

6. I've answered this before. Robin had been a public hero in Dick's days. Tim felt it was time that Robin be an inspirational public hero again.

Thank you for watching, Deon!

Response recorded on May 17, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Questions in regards to the Young Justice version of Stargirl:

#1. Is her real name Courtney Whitmore?

#2. Was Stargirl's Cosmic Staff invented by Ted Knight?

#3. When did Stargirl decide to become a superhero?

#4. How old is Stargirl?

#5. Does Stargirl's family currently consists of Pat Dugan (her step-father), Sam Kurtis (her biological father), Barbara Whitmore, (her mother), Mike Dugan (her step-brother), and Patricia Dugan (her half-sister)?

Greg responds...

1. She states as much in Season Three, so... yes.

2. No spoilers.

3. No spoilers.

4. Courtney Whitmore was born in 2003.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on May 17, 2022

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Family writes...

When did Eric Needham become Black Spider?
When did Leonard Snart become Captain Cold?
When did George Harkness become Captain Boomerang?
When did Albert Michaels become Atomic Skull?
When did Teth-Adam become Black Adam?

Greg responds...

1. 2009.

2. 2001.

3. 1996.

4. 2006.

5. 1276 B.C.E.

Response recorded on May 16, 2022

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Verdragon writes...

Is it just a crazy coincidence that your version of Phantom Stranger is so similar to Uatu The Watcher from What If? on Disney+?

Greg responds...

Is it? I've seen What If, but I'm not particularly struck by the similarities beyond the obvious. In any case, whatever similarities exist, it has nothing to do with the production of either series.

Response recorded on May 13, 2022

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Steve Hockensmith writes...

In "Quiet Conversations," is the fact that Calvin Durham was born in San Diego a reference to the fact that in the comics, he became mayor of Sub Diego?

Greg responds...

I suppose you could look at it that way.

Response recorded on May 13, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

With the Season 3 episode "Evolution," and the Season 4 episode, "Odnu!" showing us Vandal Savage's past, it seems almost as though he practically knows everybody on Earth and he's probably the direct ancestor of most (if not all) of Earth's heroes and villains in your version of the DC Universe; at least, that how it seems in my opinion.

Greg responds...

I think you're exaggerating a bit. But, yeah, he's well-connected.

Response recorded on May 13, 2022

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SuperFam Fan writes...

1. Is Martha Kent's maiden name Martha Clark, like in the comics?
2. Did Lois Lane keep her maiden name after marrying Clark, or is she known as Lois Lane-Kent? Given the credits, the former seems likely, but confirmation would be wonderful.
3. Did Clark Kent attend Metropolis University? If so, did he major or minor in English and/or Journalism?
4. Considering Clark, Lois, and Jonny were in Smallville, and Jonny mentioned how Uncle Conner and Wolf would always meet them there, is it safe to assume there is at least one zeta-tube in or nearby Smallville? Is this how Robin, Arsenal, Blue Beetle, and Impulse got to Smallville (to infiltrate LexCorp Farms) back in Season Two, or did they use the Bio-Ship?
5. Do Clark, Lois, and Jonny reside in Metropolis?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. She kept Lane.

3. No spoilers.

4. You're forgetting about Super-Cycle.

4a. I can't remember off the top of my head.

5. Yes.

Response recorded on May 13, 2022

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Spellcaster writes...

Can you please post the spells from episode 409?

Greg responds...

Here are the spells in the script. I don't have time right now to go through and double-check to see if they totally match up with final picture. But you can do that.

ZATANNA
Sgowogort egreme rednu a Ruomalg!
[Trogowogs emerge under a Glamour!]

KHALID
TAHM-tah-doo OH-chee- dehn-TAHL-ees!
[Stretch Sycamore!]

MARY
Speed of Mercury!

THIRTEEN
Vee-AI UHR-bees, ee-OO-vah!
[Streets of the city, help!]

KHALID
MOON-tah-feekh VEHN-tree!
[Bloated stomach!]

MARY
Strength of Hercules!

ZATANNA
Etativel!
[Levitate!]

ZATANNA
Sexob enibmoc.
[Boxes combine.]

ZATANNA
Sgowogort, nruter ot eht Htrae!
[Trogowogs, return to the Earth!]

ZATANNA
Ruomalg hsinav!
[Glamour vanish!]

ZATANNA
Erotser erutan!
[Restore nature!]

ZATANNA
Ylf, ym seitterp!
[Fly, my pretties!]

ZATANNA
Nruter!
[Return!]

XANADU
Partum a portal!
[Create a portal!]

ZATANNA
Yenom no eht elbat.
[Money on the table.]

ZATANNA
Rehtaf, ediug ym yenruoj hguorht S’etaf Yloh Hkna!
[Father, guide my journey through Fate’s Holy Ankh!]

ZATANNA
DLEIHS!
[SHIELD!]

MARY
Power of Zeus!

MARY
Strength of Hercules!

ZATANNA
Slatrop, tcerider rewop!
[Portals, redirect power!]

KHALID
Yahnahm, felice!
[Sleep, cat!]

THIRTEEN
Kymento, disolvunture!
[Mortar, dissolve!]

ZATANNA
Mrofer--
[Reform--]

Response recorded on May 13, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Since the word "Marvel" can no longer be used in Earth-16, and Captain Marvel is now identified as Shazam, does that mean...

A. The Marvel Family is now addressed as the Shazam Family like in the New 52?

B. Lieutenant Marvel (Freddy Freeman) is now addressed as Shazam, Jr. like in the New 52?

C. Sergeant Marvel (Mary Bromfield) is now addressed as Lady Shazam like in the New 52?

Greg responds...

A. I suppose. Haven't really thought about it. So far, we haven't been asked to retcon anything.

B. No.

C. No.

Response recorded on May 13, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

In "Odnu!" we see the Earth-16 debut of the Phantom Stranger. Now, despite the ethnicity change (from Caucasian to African-American), is his real name identified as Judas Iscariot; like his New 52 counterpart (as indicated in "Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger: Futures End #1")?

Greg responds...

I haven't read that - or any Pre-Rebirth New 52 comics. (That's not a comment on their quality. I just wasn't reading comics during that era and didn't hop back on again until Rebirth.) So if PS is JI, it's news to me. Not saying no. Just haven't thought about it at all to see if it fits with what I do know about the Earth-16 version of PS.

Response recorded on May 11, 2022

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Paul writes...

1) Why was Klarion wearing a suit (his trademark look) during his first encounter with Vandal Savage, when that fashion style had yet to be invented? Do the Lords of Chaos emulate styles from the past, present and future, since they themselves are "ageless" beings? If so, how is this possible? I hope there's a deeper explanation for this than "it's magic, anything goes"... but it isn't a big deal.

2) Klarion and Child wear suits (or at least, smart/formal clothing). Likewise, so does Phantom Stranger. Is this just a coincidence or is it significant in some way that they all select smart attire?

I doubt that clothing will be discussed in any depth in the next few episodes, so I feel that it's safe to submit these questions.

Greg responds...

1. For the time being, let's say that before choosing his physical form, Klarion bounced around space and time until he found something he liked.

2. Lot's of people wear smart attire. Clark Kent wears a suit. I wouldn't read too much into Stranger's turtleneck. Whether Klarion and Child's attire mirrors each other is a more interesting question to me.

Response recorded on May 11, 2022

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Rob writes...

Hi Greg, I’m loving season 4! Thank you, Brandon, and all of your crew for all the hard work. A few questions,
1. Who all is living in the premiere building in season 4? We’ve seen Beast Boy is there but did all the Taos meta kids move in when they joined the outsiders/team?
2. What team year did Batgirl join the team?
3. What team year did Bumblebee join the team?
4. What team year did Lagoon Boy join the team?

Greg responds...

1. Daniel Cassidy, Garfield Logan, Forager, Violet Harper, Andie Murphy, Leslie Willis, Lia Briggs and Wendy Jones all live at the Premiere Building.

I feel like I've definitely already answered the rest of these, but what the heck...

2, 3, 4. Batgirl, Bumblebee and Lagoon Boy all joined the Team in Team Year Four.

Response recorded on May 11, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Forgive me if this sounds too insensitive or anything, but with the way that Beast Boy's storyline is being handled thus far in Season 4 of Young Justice, are you ultimately trying to deliver some kind of message to viewers about the importance of suicide prevention? The reason I am asking about this sensitive topic is because given that Beast Boy's depression has now been shown (as of the time of this posting) in "Odnu!" to have progressed to a point where he is now suffering from lack of sleep and needs medication to help him deal with it, I'm deeply worried that his depression may eventually drive him to the point of attempting to commit suicide because he can't deal with the culmination of the personal losses that have occurred throughout his life; with the apparent loss of Superboy apparently being the final straw for Beast Boy. To be fair though, if this is your intent, then I can understand because I have never seen a cartoon TV series that has ever publicly addressed this specific issue; as such, I suspect this is going to be a first if my suspicion about what might happen to Beast Boy turns out to be true. I do, however, remember watching a Static Shock episode years ago that addressed the issue of guns, and that was a pretty dark episode.

Greg responds...

Hopefully, you've continued to watch as Garfield's story has unfolded and as it continues to unfold throughout the rest of the season. This was really a story about someone suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress. But many issues were dealt with across it.

Response recorded on May 11, 2022

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NoOneSpecial writes...

You know, watching Vandal sire an entire lineage throughout the centuries, I can't help but think about Demona during her 1000 years of life and wonder why she did not try the same approach to 'repopulate' the gargoyle race herself. Ironically, that might work out quite well for Demona in more ways than one since she become the 'mother' of her whole race. I know gargoyles were sparse throughout the years, and I can't remember if Demona even knew about any of the surviving clans. And of course, given her current predicament, I don't see her having kids to be a option, unless she wants to run the risk of giving birth as a human.

Still, it does seem like it would have been at least a potentially useful idea if she ever encounter another gargoyle over the course of her long life to maybe at least 'try' and procreate. Of course I understand, gargoyles are monogamous by nature, but then again, I wouldn't nesscessarily put anything past Demona

Assuming she ever met another gargoyle in the last 1000 years, would she have ever even considered having another egg? Personally, if I had to guess, I would say she would not try, and the reason being there is big difference between her and Vandal; she would have to carry the child to term. And if Demona has one constant, it's her own self-preservation. Still, it's an interesting parallel to ponder.

Greg responds...

It's interesting. But I'm forced to answer NO SPOILERS, for all the usual reasons.

Response recorded on May 10, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

The episode "Odnu!" identified Vandal Savage's real name as Vandar Adg. Just for clarification, is this his birth name or is this name something that he came up for himself at some point in his life?

Greg responds...

The latter I believe. We've never stated his so-called "birth name."

Response recorded on May 10, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr weisman before i ask my questions i want to apologize for the spelling error as i meant to say Vandal Savage and the phantom stranger but hit a v instead of an s by mistake now for the questions 1 . How long as Zatanna been mentoring Mary Bromfield ? 2. How old is the Phantom stranger ? 3.I like the cute lizard that Traci has how long has she had him? 4 .Does Mary Bromfield wear a baseball cap (like Traci does) or a newsgirl cap ( like Gabi Gabriell does) when not in costume?

Greg responds...

1. Haven't locked in a specific start time, but not all that long.

2. Asked and answered.

3. A year or less.

4. You've seen her out of costume. Was she wearing a hat?

Response recorded on May 10, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr Weisman 1. How long have Zatanna and Madame Xanadu known each outer? 2. Has Madame Xanadu seen the movie Xanadu and how does she feel about it ?( especially the title being the same name as her last name) 3. When did Blue devil take up the role of "'Den Dad'' to the outsiders ? 4. how long have Vandal Vavage and the Phantom stranger known each outer ?

Greg responds...

1. I haven't locked in a day or date when they met. But it's been some time.

2. For all we know, she was inspired to choose that name BECAUSE of the movie. I'm not saying it's true but...

2a. For the record, Madame Xanadu is her stage name/nom de guerre. Her real name is Nimue Inwudu.

3. Again, I haven't nailed down a precise date, but sometime after Helga Jace, um... disqualified herself from the gig.

4. A very long time.

Response recorded on May 10, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

1) Is season 4 Shazam as strong and as fast as season 1 Captain Marvel?

2) Is there a limit to the amount of kinetic energy Rocket's force-field can absorb? Is there a point beyond whic the force field will just break?

Greg responds...

1. Nope.

2. There's no limit for kinetic energy. Other energies aren't as compatible.

Response recorded on May 09, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

If Madame Xanadu is a true medium then she can communicate with the dead, right? If that's the case, why didn't Zatanna just bring Artemis to Xanadu so that Artemis could speak to Wally's spirit during "Overwhelmed"?

Greg responds...

It's not that simple. If a spirit is truly at rest, you generally cannot reach them. And in any case, you seem to think it's healthy to attempt to commune with the dead. Zatanna might not agree with you.

Response recorded on May 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hey Greg,
I was wondering about Arsenal’s amputation. Is his arm amputated below the elbow?
How does Jason Bard come to lose his leg?

Greg responds...

1. Uh... just below the elbow. Barely.

2. In combat. He's an ex-Marine.

Response recorded on May 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is Helga Jace aware that zviad is a member of the light?

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

Response recorded on May 09, 2022

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Paul writes...

"Odnu!" was amazing!

1) How old is Mary Bromfield?
2) How old is Khalid Nassour?
3) Mary mentions that she gave up (or "had to" give up) being Sergeant Marvel -- but we know that she would have appeared as Sergeant in "Satisfaction" (per your remark some time ago that she would have said "Shazam!" in this scene). Did Mary therefore give up being Sergeant Marvel after Raquel's bridal shower, rather than before that event?
4) Now that Mary has appeared, would you be able to reveal the in-universe reason for her absence in "Satisfaction", please?
5) Silly long-shot question: how old is the Phantom Stranger?

Greg responds...

1. Mary was born in 2000.

2. Khalid was born in 1998.

3. Stuff we once may have planned but didn't end up doing are NOT canon. Beyond that, NO SPOILERS.

4. Maybe. If I had one.

5. He's biologically 28.

Response recorded on May 09, 2022

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traught4life writes...

hey Greg i just want to ask about something i've been wondering about for a while did dick reveal his identity to Artemis and show her the picture he took if so how did she react and will we ever see her reaction in a flashback or future episodes???

Greg responds...

At this stage, yes, Artemis knows Dick's identity. Beyond that, NO SPOILERS.

Response recorded on May 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

mister Greg why did you have Garfield join the Doom Patrol if you just kill them?

Greg responds...

History is a mystery.

Response recorded on May 06, 2022

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camila perez writes...

is supermartian your favorite couple? it feels like they're the mainstream couple and I'm absolutely in love with that

Greg responds...

I don't have one favorite. But I'm glad you like them.

Response recorded on May 06, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

when creating halo, did no one stop to think that killing gabrielle and having a motherbox use her corpse was a bad idea for your first (and only) female muslim hero? i know your response before was that it was taken from the comics, but now with oracle's origin we can clearly see you guys aren't afraid to change things. so you could've easily changed it to have gabrielle resurrected with the powers of a motherbox instead.

and i feel like you still don't see the issue here, which is that violet is not a muslim woman of color, so you don't get credit for "turning a woman of color from a victim to hero" as you've said. you killed a woman of color and possessed her corpse. i'm sorry but i just can't get over how no one saw a problem with that.

Greg responds...

We talked about this a lot, actually, with a number of people, including with a Muslim woman of color. And, no. No one saw a problem. As with all things, people's mileage varies.

We had not, yet, involved MPAC in our creative process. Maybe they would've had a problem with how we introduced Halo if they had been involved in Season Three. But MPAC's involvement and interaction with us began during the creation of Season Four. At that point, when we told them where we were going with the character, they were good with it. Even, I dare say, enthusiastic. MPAC and other Muslims we've consulted have been happy with who Halo/Violet has become, or in any case, with the journey that we've put them on.

But just so I'm clear, you'd have preferred - since we were doing THIS story - that the character had been white?

I mean I get that you'd have preferred that the character had been a Muslim woman of color with a different story, but I'm not a big fan of fans who tell me which story to tell. This was the story we wanted to tell. This was the version of Halo we wanted to create.

But we could have made Gabrielle a white girl, I guess. She's a white girl in the comics. We could have had yet another blonde in the cast.

But we already had aliens who present as white, including Superman and Hawkwoman, among others. We've also had a dead girl who was white, i.e. Secret.

It seems to me that having Halo be a person of color - even a person of color who (as you dismissively note) was created from a corpse possessed by an alien spirit - was a step in the right direction. Especially since we knew where we were going with the character. You may not like how Violet became Violet, and I respect that. (I don't apologize for it, but I respect it.) But now that you've seen where we've taken the character, I wonder if there's another way to look at it.

Yes, Gabrielle is dead. Her death is horrible and tragic. She was vulnerable. And she was exploited and murdered. Now, she's dead.

But Violet is alive. They are not Gabrielle. But they are definitely a person of color (as much as Clark Kent's a white guy - and I think we can all agree that Clark Kent is a white guy). And now they're a person of color, who's interested in exploring the Muslim heritage that mattered so much to Gabrielle. In essence, Violet is seriously thinking about converting to Islam, in part because of Gabrielle's memory of faith. And I doubt we would've gotten that story if we'd made Gabrielle a white girl.

Because, here's the thing: we're doing genre fiction here. That means we are using aliens, demons, ghosts, mermaids and robots to tell stories about the human condition. I reject the notion that all our diversity MUST somehow come from fully human characters like Dick Grayson and Artemis Crock. Again, no one doubts that stories about a Kryptonian aren't capable of telling us something about the human condition. Or that Atlanteans and Amazons aren't human enough to empathize with. So some of our characters are going to have bizarre and even horrifying origins. That's the genre. So do we play it safe and only do white characters when we go inhuman?

Some of our aliens look like space aliens. Some look like humans. Most of those humans look white historically. We're trying to turn the battleship on that notion. So Martian Manhunter - when he looks human - looks Black. Icon is Black. Highmother and General Zod are Black. Lor-Zod is biracial. B'arzz O'oomm, when he looks human, looks Latinx. And Halo looks Arabic. It's not much. But it's a start.

Now, don't get me wrong. I understand that a big problem that you have with Halo is that Gabrielle was the only Muslim woman of color in the show. (It's not actually true, of course. But no one wants to count villains like Queen Bee or Talia al Ghul, who probably only pay lip service to being Muslim.) So we need more representation. More representation is always better. We're working on it. Maybe not as fast as everyone would like. But we're trying. Truly, honestly, trying. In fact, I've been trying to increase representation my entire career for all sorts of different communities. I know my track record is mixed. I've taken a lot of swings, and some of those swings have been misses. (And maybe Halo was another miss - though I truly don't think so.) But Elisa Maza didn't come from nowhere. I PUT her in Gargoyles. And that was nearly thirty years ago. We need to do better, and we continue to strive to do better. And, meanwhile, we have increased the Muslim representation in YJ. Madia's role has expanded. Khalid Nassour joined the cast. We met his Muslim parents briefly. And we're only getting started, frankly. I can't promise you we'll get more seasons. So maybe our progress on this particular show will be arrested. But I'm not done (I hope). And I will continue to strive to do the best I can. Because this MATTERS to me. I promise you. And we're also learning to bring in more voices. More readers like the folks at MPAC and GLAAD and ASAN. More diverse writers. An increasingly diverse cast. Etc. We're a work in progress. But even that IS progress.

All of which is NOT to say that you need to agree with us, with me, with any of it. Again, I respect your point of view. The decisions we made still work for us. But I don't have any illusion that I can somehow TALK you into making it work for you. Your responses to what's on the screen are your own. And they're valid. Period.

Still, we've done everything in our power in Season Four to make sure that everything we do with the character of Halo is as respectful as possible going forward. We don't always succeed. I just hope you see that we're trying.

Response recorded on May 05, 2022

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Nate writes...

Hi Greg! Here are some rather odd-ball questions that you may or may not have thought about regarding the worldbuilding/characterization in YJ, that I hope you'll have fun answering/pondering about.

#1 - Do Martians (in their natural form) have tear ducts? We've seen Miss Martian cry in her more humanoid-looking Martian appearance, but I don't believe we've ever seen Martians (like J'emm, for example) shed tears.
#2 - Do you interpret the main colors of hero's costumes to symbolize that character's favorite color? For example, do you think Dick's favorite color is blue, given that's the color of his Nightwing insignia? Artemis' green/orange? Barry's red? Batman's black? Etc. etc.?
#3 - I know you're big on tracking dates and times and all that jazz, but are you a stickler for checking such things as the moon cycle, days of the week, differing sunsets/sunrises, etc. etc. when coming up with dates? For example, say you had a scene take place right after midnight on August 16 (of whatever year), would you go and check what stage the moon would be that night? What day of the week that landed on? Etc. etc.
#4 - In the recent episodes of Artemis' arc, it was revealed that Onyx was the granddaughter of Will Everett, a.k.a. the Amazing Man, who Cheshire (and later Artemis) seemed to be unaware of. It was evident that the League of Shadows knew about him (it was why they kept an eye on her in the first place), but given that everyone else hadn't heard of him, is it safe to say that the history of superheroes just isn't a basic subject in school? Do kids not learn about the Justice Society of America or the All-Star Squadron when learning about World War II? (I realize that Amazing Man might not have been a member of either superhero group, but given Onyx's reaction to him not being known it seemed to imply he was at least a public hero and not a covert one).
#5 - Is Bart legally known as Bart Allen or Bart Garrick on his documentation? I know his guardians were the Garricks, but was he posing as their grandson? An orphan taken in by them? A relative of Barry and Iris? This might constitute a spoiler, but I thought I'd ask anyway. The situation kind of reminds me of how Artemis officially handled her "death" back in S2 from a legal standpoint once she came back from undercover, if that makes sense.

Anyways, thank you for your time. I hope you had some fun (or at least some food for thought?) answering these, and I sincerely hope you're having a great day. I'm still binging YJ:Phantoms and crossing my fingers for S5 every day!

Greg responds...

#1 - Haven't given it any thought. I'd have to confer with Brandon for a final answer, but I'm leaning toward... yes or maybe no.

#2 - Not necessarily.

#3 - I try to remember to check things like that, but it's already hard enough, so I'm definitely not a stickler. I do try to get the times of sunsets and sunrises correct in various locations.

#4 - He was a public hero. I doubt it's a school subject. And I'm not sure I agree that Tigress didn't know about him. Keeping one's response close to the vest can be prudent.

#5 - Bart Allen. No one said he was posing as their grandson. Jay and Joan were his legal guardians. That doesn't mean they had to be blood relatives - even fictional blood relatives.

Response recorded on May 05, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

where does Arsenal’s katana go after they leave the library? He’s not shown to carry it afterwards

Greg responds...

Really? That seems odd. Are you sure?

Response recorded on May 05, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

A. Does Will Harper know Moo Gi Gong? What martial arts does he practice?
B. Does Will train regularly with the other Star City vigilantes?

Greg responds...

A. I've never done the research into this.

B. Nowadays? When he has time, I suppose. (And by "other Star City vigilantes," I assume you're talking about the Arrow Family.)

Response recorded on May 05, 2022

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Gustavo writes...

Artemis Arc ends and i feel thats the time to me do some questions

1- In Marzz Arc we see a flashback with Tim Drake with the outsiders, is that right, a Batfamily member being a public hero?
2- Also Tim's uniform changed a lot since Season3, the same season that introduced Barbara as Oracle and Spoiler and Orphan already on the team. The questions are:
2a- Tim is Robin or Red Robin currently?
2b- If the last Stephanie was a Robin before being Spoiler?
2c- She and Cassandra were Batgirl at some moment or they started already as Spoiler and Orphan?
2d- Which year these two joined the team?
3- I really love how different the show decided adapt The Killing Joke event. Barbara's accident and Jason's death are two events the audience already saw so many times that it started being previsible but the show was in a totally original route, thank you. That's bring the question, when (Team Year) The Killing Joke event happened in YJ?
4- Artemis Arc was full or photos portraits and two of them intrigued me. When and where Will and Jade took that photo with Lian and most importantly when Will took that photo with the Team 0? Rocket joined in the end of Season1 and is in the picture and after Season1 Will was desesperate looking years for Roy, also Megan is too young there then sure that is before Season2. When Will found time to take that picture?

Greg responds...

1. Yep. Keep in mind, back in Season One, Robin was a public hero. BATMAN & ROBIN, the DYNAMIC DUO! Most people don't really get that this is a different Robin, anyway.

2a. Robin.

2b. The last Stephanie? Anyway, no. Stephanie's first - and so far only - nom de guerre is Spoiler.

2c. Spoiler and Orphan. There's only been one Batgirl to date: Barbara.

2d. Feels like I answered this already, but Spoiler joined in Team Year Eight. She also resigned from the Team in Team Year Eight. She rejoined in Team Year Nine. Orphan joined the Team in Team Year Nine.

3. If you mean the event at the U.N. when Batgirl was injured, it occurred in Team Year Eight.

4. That photo of the Team was taken in the Hall of Justice Library on the day - but just before - Red Arrow was officially inaugurated into the League. I mean, I shouldn't even tell you that. But all the evidence is there, including the winter clothes and the BG, so I figure it's pretty obvious.

Response recorded on May 04, 2022

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Hermin writes...

1)How is Lady Shiva able to survive a full sword strike through her body, and even more, able to stand up with just a bandage around her chest ?
2)How is Orphan able to defeat Shiva ("the most dangerous woman alive") while she can't even beat Black Spider during the last episode ? That feels unrealistic (even for a show with superheros ^^).
3) I know that's a bit old, but you said that Zatanna and Zatara cannot compete with chaos lords, so how is Zatara able to take them all down in season one (children/adults episode) ?
4) Dick feels to be the YJ emblem (B-01), but strangely he also feels to be a side character many times, don't you think he's sadly underused in your show ? I want to see more of him please :)

Greg responds...

1. She's a badass.

2. Shiva trained Orphan to be a killer, an even better killer than Shiva herself. But generally speaking, Orphan holds back, because she doesn't want to be a killer. Against Black Spider, Orphan is holding back, and her killer training doesn't always translate to her winning without killing. When fighting Shiva - the second time - Orphan was no longer holding back, thus proving Shiva right. Orphan's training makes her the perfect killer. But she doesn't want to use that training - except when she does. So (even for a show with superheroes) I have ZERO problem with this one.

3. He doesn't. Rewatch it.

4. The fact that Dick's designation is B-01 doesn't mean he's the emblem for the show, whatever that means. Every character's screen time varies from episode to episode and from season to season. There are plenty of characters who have had way less screen time than Dick, who by my detailed account ranks number three for all characters behind only Conner & M'gann. Beyond that, every fan has a different list of characters that they'd like to see get more screen time. I sympathize. BUT I HAVE TO IGNORE ALL OF YOU!!!! I mean, there is literally no way to make everyone happy. So instead, Brandon and I make ourselves happy and hope that enough of you still jam on the show to stick around.

Response recorded on May 03, 2022

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Clare Ionis Goat writes...

Regarding Cassandra's infiltration, I have some questions:

1. Why was she seen already using the Glamour Charm in the flashback fighting Onyx and later discussing with Lady Shiva about Onyx if the charm was part of the plan they concocted AFTER exchanging their concerns about Onyx? Why was Cassandra using it way before?
2. If they had to get the infiltrators back to Santa Prisca ASAP, why didn't Shade just teleport her along with the Lady Shiva and the others? If they didn't want a mole on the Team and had both things they were after - Orphan and the JL intel - why tell Tigress to bring Cassandra to Santa Prisca when they could have both things right there and then?

Greg responds...

1. I'm not sure you have the timeline right. Onyx overheard them talking long after they had any discussion about their concerns over her. But in any case, the plan for infiltration didn't have much to do with Onyx. That was an add on bit that worked to their advantage later. So the glamour charm - and the story about Killer Croc was put out there earlier.

2. You're giving Shade a lot of credit, and not giving much credit to Tigress and Cheshire, who would have defended Cassandra. Maybe Shade could've gotten her out. Maybe not. You're also assuming that Shiva knew that Cassandra already had the intel. That's not a safe assumption either.

Response recorded on May 03, 2022

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Marriages? writes...

Hello! I hope you're having a good day, I just wanted to stop by and ask some questions about the relationships (specifically, the married couples) in Young Justice.

1. You've been asked this before, but at the time you said that you never got around to calculating the date. I figure there's a chance you've done the math since then, so: what year did Orin and Mere get married?
2. What year did Clark and Lois get married?
3. What year did Jonathan and Martha Kent get married?
4a. What year did Jefferson Pierce and Lynn Stewart get married?
4b. What year did the two of them get divorced?
5. Given that Raquel had a bridal shower, it can be assumed she indeed got married not long after. Not asking for spoilers or a specific date or anything, but did you guys have the actual wedding date in-mind or just a vague timeframe?

I figure these are generally safe questions to ask, given that you've previously answered a similar question about when Iris and Barry got married. If not, though, I do apologize for wasting your time. I hope all is well, and given the nature of these questions, I hope your wife is having a nice day too! Enjoy!

Greg responds...

1. Nope. Sorry.

2. This one's easier to narrow down, but I haven't put it in the timeline, as of this moment.

3. 1956.

4a. Team Year Zero.

4b. Not yet on the timeline.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on May 03, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

In Phantoms, you have thus far been more conservative with depictions of sex, language, and violence & gore. This is not a criticism - just an observation. Is this a deliberate decision on your part, or has the shift from DC Universe to HBO Max imposed more limitations upon your subject matter? Or, is it a combination of the two?

Greg responds...

I don't think we have. But in any case, we've had no additional limitations "imposed" on us by HBO Max.

Response recorded on May 02, 2022

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Jason R Carter writes...

1. We have a pretty good idea of what Joker thinks of Riddler, but what does Riddler think of Joker?

2. Is it weird that I'm curious how Lex Luthor might be taking the news of Conner's apparent demise, assuming he knows?

3. Does Vandal Savage have an actual middle name?

Greg responds...

1. For the time being, I'll leave that to your imagination.

2. I don't think it's weird.

3. He has many.

Response recorded on May 02, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

How old is K'arr M'angg?

Greg responds...

K'arr M'angg was born in 1858.

Response recorded on April 29, 2022

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King_Joey writes...

Some Questions about Aliens

1. If Goode World Studios has been around since the 40s does that mean that Gretchen Goode has been running it since then; or did she just take over a studio that was already there? I would imagine it would get difficult to explain why she does not seem to age over a 70 year period of time.

2. The Collector of Worlds mentioned that the Super Cycle was New God Life-Tech, or New Genesian Life-Tech, or something like that. Does Life-Tech imitate living things so well that it actually GROWS? Or is the Super Cycle just getting bigger some other way, like through mechanical upgrades?

3. If Martians can live for centuries, murder is incredibly rare on Mars, and they breed large families, then should overpopulation not become a problem quickly? Especially on a planet so small.

4. While they were on Mars was the high pressure under the ground simulating Earth gravity?

5. If not how was Super Boy able to walk normally under Mars' much lighter gravity?

Greg responds...

1. Goode World Studios has not been around since the 40s. I understand where that confusion came about, but Jonathan Lord's early movies were NOT produced by Goode World. They were produced by a now defunct studio. Goode World sponsored the restoration of these films.

2. It's constantly evolving - in stages.

3. Yes. It's a problem. Which may explain there "need" for caste systems that scapegoat.

4. Something like that.

5. See above.

Response recorded on April 28, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

So regarding the Meta-Gene from my understanding it is essentially a genetic marker that can unlock natural abilities due to experiencing extreme stress and duress. The meta gene also happens to be opportunistic in nature and now here is my big question What about the Flash Family they gained their powers through a specific experiment and have no blood relations to each other so why manifest powers so similar to each other.
2. Would Flash Family be considered meta humans or should we consider all humans with powers meta-human.
3. Should Superman be classified as a meta since he didn't seem to suffer by side effects of Granny's Anti Life Equation machine Device in Terminus or should we just attribute this to kryptonian endurance and yellow sun radiation.

Greg responds...

1. Something about Jay's accident, which Barry recreated under laboratory conditions and Wally recreated under garage lab conditions, leads to speed. (Bart inherited his speed from his grandfather.)

2. If tested, you'd discover that all four have the meta-gene.

3. The latter.

Response recorded on April 20, 2022

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Pandy writes...

Why did you guys decide to completely abandon the friendships of the OG crew in S4? What made me love YJ was their interpersonal dynamics. When it was announced that the season would focus on them, I didn't expect them to be completely separated from each other. I miss them together. I feel that you don't understand that part of the success of YJ is the relationships you've developed between the orginal team.

Greg responds...

I would tend to disagree with you and, as has become common here at ASK GREG with reference to Young Justice, to ask you to have patience.

Response recorded on April 20, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Interestingly, the real name for the YJ version of Orphan that you chose was Cassandra Wu-San; as opposed to Cassandra Cain like in the comics. This then prompts the question of whether or not David Cain is still Cassandra Cain's father in the YJ animated universe and, if he is, would this then suggest that the change to Cassandra Cain's last name seemingly indicate that her father was likely never involved (or was never allowed to be) in her life?

Greg responds...

Sorry, but this just gets one big NO SPOILERS at this time.

Response recorded on April 20, 2022

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Clark Cradic writes...

Does Black Canary have a civilian life/job or is she more or less a hero full time?

Greg responds...

She has a civilian life and a civilian job (or two).

Response recorded on April 20, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

In "I Know Why the Caged Cat Sings', Clark seemed to be dancing around an issue with Jon. He spoke about Connor's journey ending which implies the existence of a soul and an afterlife.

Why not just come out and say that Superman believes in God and Connor's soul is in Heaven? Are you concerned about offending someone or making it seem like the show supports a particular religion? As an agnostic, I have no problem with characters having religious beliefs. I don't even have a problem with you mentioning Jesus, Muhammad, Yahweh, or Krishna. It would completely in keeping with Superman's character to believe in a higher power or a higher good. The only time I have a problem with people's beliefs is when they try to impose them on others.

Or, am I proceeding on a false premise?

Greg responds...

I don't think Clark was dancing. He just wasn't talking about it. He was trying to explain death, not the afterlife. In talking with experts, we learned it's best not to mix topics when explaining them to small children. But Martha clearly didn't get that memo and stated her beliefs to Jonny very clearly in the very same scene.

I think by now, it's fairly clear that we're an ecumenical show, one that is open to many religions and has OBJECTIVELY demonstrated that the soul exists.

The latter bothers me, by the way. I'd love to be more inclusive of atheists. I aspire to be an atheist myself, but frankly I'm too superstitious. And I don't know how - in the fantasy world of Earth-16, which includes things like ghosts, phantoms, souls, demons, gods, etc. - to make space for true atheism, which is a philosophy I find most admirable in real life. But it's tough to run with in a genre show.

Response recorded on April 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

How old is Martha Kent?

Greg responds...

Martha Clark was born in 1938.

Response recorded on April 19, 2022

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Mei writes...

I have a question that hopefully won't be considered a spoiler by the time you get it.

I'm baffled by Jade's decision to stay on Infinity Island AFTER Sensei admitted to manipulation. Did that admission not matter to her? I understand her concerns about not wanting to drag Lian into "the life"... but does she still consider Sensei and Ra's trustworthy enough to believe Sensei's statement about rehab and not being in the business anymore? I'm a bit surprised Artemis agreed to it so easily, too. If the answer doesn't constitute a spoiler, could you explain her headspace a bit?

Greg responds...

I guess I could. But I won't. I think honesty - even honesty about past sins - is always disarming. But in the end, I think it's best to leave it to the audience's interpretation.

Response recorded on April 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1. If any more Gargoyles projects ever get launched, have you considered what platform you want it have? Streaming on exclusive platform or TV? It would be amazing to have a more mature rating, so Gargoyles can tell mature stores without worrying about censoring anything.
2. I don’t know if you answered this already, but just in case - what are Gargoyles views of sexuality? Lexington is gay, I’m curious about how they views of LBGTQ.
3. I think Gargoyles would an awesome video game one day! Have you ever thought about it? I play with Brooklyn (my favorite) the most, what about you?
4. I know you love make allusions your works in your other shows. Will there for allusions to Gargoyles in upcoming episodes of Young Justice? Zatanna’s arc is next, I’ll keep my eyes peel!
5. Aside of Gabriel and Angela, I wish we could know more about the Avalon clan! I know during a break in the World Tour arc, Goliath spend time with the them. Was any moments you would have like to have show with Goliath bonding with his children and introducing more named members of the clan?

Greg responds...

1. Honestly, I'll take what I can get. But I assume the most likely venue is Disney+. At least at the moment. Not that they've asked.

2. They have no issues with it. Basically, they have a "You Do You" mentality.

3. There was a Gargoyles video game back in the day. But I think you had to be Goliath. I'm not sure though. Never played it. I'm not a gamer.

4. By now, you should have seen a few...

5. I have lots of stories. Just need a venue...

Response recorded on April 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

So I had a question with regards to Face Your Fears-
1. Wally is the first one to break out of the effects of Medusa Mask which he cites is probably due to his fast metabolism. Was this assessment of Wally wrong or right.
2. Does this mean Wally has more resistance or will the effects of emotion manipulation will have a shorter impact, basically does his fast metabolism give him any advantages.
3. Also Why has the Light not been able to create a speedster as fast as Barry, Wally or Jay, as you have revealed earlier Jaculi and Trajectory are both slower is it because of Barry's notes which the Light doesn't have, so does that mean Barry's note are under lock and key meanwhile Light has weaker speedsters than even Barry.

Greg responds...

1. I think it's wise to leave that to your interpretation.

2. It doesn't hoit!

3. Barry is considerably faster than Jay or Wally ever were. Bart is more or less at Barry's level, though not quite. Still, he's younger, so he may some day wind up even faster than Barry. Trajectory is not as fast as Jay. Jaculi was not as fast as Trajectory is. After Wally stole Barry's notes, Barry made sure no one else could ever steal those notes again.

Response recorded on April 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why did shade join the league of shadows?

Greg responds...

He and Ra's go way back. WAY back.

Response recorded on April 18, 2022

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NoOneSpecial writes...

So this post is going to be about Barbara and the sequence of how she becomes Oracle in your series.

For starters, one change I greatly enjoyed is the fact you made Barbra lose her legs in the LINE OF DUTY. I mean this in a good way, but rarely do we see the heroes get hurt in significant way that impedes them. For Barbara, getting hurt on a mission like reminds us that this is dangerous work yet she does it regardless of the risk. I never liked the way it is handled in Killing Joke, as just reduces Barbra to feeling like a mere victim. And I know that serves the main theme of that story, i.e random tragedy, but it always felt like a bit of disservice to her character.

Now to the negative stuff. Or maybe the nitpicking stuff? Ok, so one thing I do enjoy in a story is the consistency of knowledge in how characters react to the story. The audience/viewer often have an omnipresent view of events. We know things that happening that the characters do not. One example is how we know the Light are the ones behind everything in Season 1, yet the heroes still believe it to be the work of the Injustice League because that's all the information they have. And this is reflected in how they operate going forward until they get more information on the Light. Characters knowing things that should be out of their scope is something I dislike because of how inconsistent it appears especially when it's done for convenience of the writers to have characters know or react to things in some manner despite them not knowing something.

This brings me to the exchange between Barbara and Orphan.

'I did it to save you'

This is great sentiment, but it feels very much unearned, since Barbara, by all accounts does not know this person she is saving, nor does she know what kind of impact these words will have on her.

We know who Orphan is based on what Cheshire said. She was raised her entire life to be a living weapon, trained to kill and could never be anything beyond that. Barbara stopping her from killing, at the expense of her legs makes an impact on Orphan because it rattles the world view she was raised with and such an act of empathy is not something she would be used.

But Barbara (as far as I can tell) does NOT know anything about Orphan's circumstances. Artemis did not even know anything until Cheshire told her. And I have to assume Batman only learned about Orphan's background after taking her in. From Barbara's point of view, this is just a random Shadow sent by the Light to kill the Joker. Kinda like all those Shadow goons the heroes often beat up. The heroes don't know that this one is special, while the audience does know this. What if this had been Black Spider, Rictus, Sportsmaster or Deathstroke? I know Barbara would save the Joker regardless, but it's not like she would take Slade's hand and say she was trying to save his soul. Another point is that Barbara does not know if Orphan has killed prior to this incident. Hell, I don't think even the audience knows if Orphan has killed before this. So, it comes off as little naive for her to say that this was done to protect Orphan from the act of taking a life.

Basically, if my inane rambling makes any sense, what I'm trying to say is that exchange between Barbara and Orphan is unearned and lacks an emotional investment. Or at least did for me, not necessarily others. It’s just….Barbara saying she wants to help this random assassin requires more depth between her and Orphan than what was presented. And it seems to rely on the fact the audience is well aware of Orphan's situation, but the characters in the show are not. WE know this saves Orphan, but Barbara does not know this. If this had been another Shadow, I'd imagine they would just leave Barbara to bleed out and go on their merry way.

But now I'm going to play Devil's advocate for a second. I suppose that since Orphan actually stopped in the middle of her mission, kneeling in front of the wounded Barbara and even taking off her mask may have been enough of an indication to Barbara that she was not some cold blooded assassin but a genuine first timer. I guess Barbara was going out on limb based on Orphan's very…..human reaction?

I don't want anything that I said to come off as….bad. But I want to be honest too. I love Young Justice greatly as much as I love Gargoyles (and WITCH btw), so I want to be constructive when I criticize it. Maybe things will play out as the show goes further, I will wait and see. Maybe there was more to your thought process on this all worked that I am simply not seeing. But those were my thought on how you handled Barbara becoming Oracle.

Looking forward to rest of Season 4

Greg responds...

You're skipping one very important thing. (And that's aside from the fact that you don't really know what Barbara did and didn't know.) And that's the obvious fact that Orphan is a CHILD. Clearly, visually, a child. Batgirl could SEE that. I could go on, but I wonder if that would change your opinion. (I realize it might not, but it makes a big difference to me.)

Response recorded on April 14, 2022

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Walker writes...

Has Beast Boy met Superman's Jonathan before conner died on mars?

Greg responds...

I assume you mean Superman's son Jonny Kent, correct? If so, yes. He's likely also met Superman's father, Jonathan Kent, in case that's whom you meant.

Response recorded on April 13, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1)Is Artemis Terra's mentor?

2)How would you characterize their relationship? I ask because I get the impression after Outsiders that they're really tight.

3) A lot of these mentor-protege relationships seem to blur the lines between teacher, friend, and family member, don't they?

Greg responds...

1. One of them, yes. Emotionally, perhaps the most important one.

2. They are. I'd say Artemis is like a big sister to Terra.

3. For better or for worse, yep.

Response recorded on April 13, 2022

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YoungJusticeFAN writes...

How long is bio-ship life spawn?

Greg responds...

Um... about thirty meters from nose to tail, at least initially. That's just an estimate based on the visual. I'm not too good at estimating this sort of thing, however. Maybe it's more of a question for Brandon.

Response recorded on April 12, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr Weisman 1. Did Night wing forgive Orphan for what she Unintentionally did to Bat girl when they first met or does he have some resentment of her but is still mature about it? 2.How did Dubbilex, Jim, and everyone else in geranium city react when they herd about what happened to Superboy on mars? 3 . Does Brooklyn maine seem like an odd town to you as well? because apart From the Mayor Sheriff Maguire and the newsgirls the town seemed empty. most places in Brooklyn where closed Miss Rodriguez seemed to be the only patren in the library in the season 3 episode Brooklyn Maine was featured and (yes i know it can count as both a Newsboy legion and i. q. reforince as well) Gaby Gabrielli sead she had a study date with ''Big words'' before she corrected herself somthing about all of it seems odd to me

Greg responds...

1. He forgave her. Whether he doesn't have dark moments EVER, is another story. But he has forgiven her.

2. To the extent that we've shown you their mourning in tidbits, there you are. Beyond that, I'm fine leaving it to your imagination.

3. It was a cold winter night during the off-season, when businesses close early. The battle took place in a specific area, that was not residential. It wasn't meant to be odd, in any case.

Response recorded on April 12, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why does Halo wear a hijab but then wear a skintight bodysuit?

Greg responds...

Halo/Violet is a work in progress. They were easily influenced as they moved forward from their unique creation.

So the memory of the hijab being important to Gabrielle lingered and made Halo more comfortable in one. But all their new super-hero buddies wear skintight bodysuits - and that's literally what Dick tossed over to them, so Halo took that as a given, as well. What they choose going forward as Violet begins to assert their own individuality is going to be more telling, ultimately, than what they wore at the beginning of the journey, when they were still finding their way.

It's the same with pronouns, in essence. They were fine being addressed as she, at first. But when they stopped to think and decide for themselves, they landed on preferring they/them pronouns.

Again, a work in progress.

Aren't we all?

Once upon a time, I thought I looked cool wearing a bowler hat. No joke. (I mean I looked like a joke, but I really liked it!)

Response recorded on April 12, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg - YJ is a great show that obviously resonates with a lot of people. But sometimes I feel like the writers don't realize why people love the show so much.

I think most people got hooked on the character development and world-building of Season 1. Seeing our favorite comic characters reimagined in this unique universe you've created. The rest of the seasons have been more focused on driving the plot forward, at the expense of character. The time skip disappointed a lot of people because years of character development and interactions happened off screen. And as the cast got bigger, it became clear that only some characters were going to get screentime while others were basically scenery. This was also disappointing for the fans of characters that were introduced in later seasons; especially for characters that have never been properly portrayed in DC media like Cassie, Tim, Cissie, Cassandra, Stephanie, etc. I wanted to see all of them get the same type of treatment the Season 1 cast got, but there are so many characters that we barely know anything about. And with the time skips, we may never get to know them because the writers have decided they're not important for the plot.

I remember lots of fans gave you this type of feedback during Season 2, and you tbh you were kind of dismissive about it and then doubled down on the approach in Season 3. I know this is ultimately your show, but I wish you would take the feedback from the fans who fell in love with it.

Greg responds...

Hi, Anonymous. I don't mean to be dismissive. But at the end of the day, I don't see HOW we could possibly satisfy your criteria.

I mean think about it. If this were a quote-unquote "normal show," we'd have stuck with our original six characters with no time skips. You'd never have even SEEN Cassie, Tim, Cissie, Cassandra and Stephanie, let alone gotten any character development for them. By season four, we'd still be in the middle of the first time skip. You'd have Raquel. Zatanna. Maybe Troia and Garth. Maybe Jason. But we wouldn't have even touched on the names on your list.

And I don't agree that we sacrificed character development in Seasons Two and Three for plot. Those seasons were indeed plot driven, in the sense that who we focused on was driven by plot. Hence, S2 gave Jaime a lot of focus that he hasn't had since. And S3 gave Garfield a lot of focus. Etc. But each season was, I think, objectively rich in character development. But just not for the characters that you personally were most interested in seeing developed. And I am 100% sure that there are many, many fans who would chose the exact same characters as you for their development preferences. But there are also many, many fans who would only pick some of the characters you listed and substitute other choices for the ones they don't care so much about. And many, many fans who would have an entirely different list from yours. There's literally no way to satisfy everyone. And so when you say we should listen to fan feedback, whose should we listen to? Yours? Some other fan who has a different set of priorities?

In the end, we can't listen to anyone except ourselves. We have to be passionate about the show, or else we can't expect anyone else to be passionate about it. We just have to cross our fingers and hope that our preferences resonate with as many fans as possible. So far, that's worked out pretty well for us. Though there have been plenty of fans who haven't been thrilled, and many who are downright disgruntled with us. Such is life. Again, that's not me being dismissive. It's me being realistic.

And, in any case, with the obvious exception of Wally, if your primary interest was in the original group (i.e. Dick, Kaldur, Conner, M'gann and Artemis), then I think the time skips have aided us in developing these five characters to a greater degree than we could have done without them. Again, without them, you'd have never seen Kaldur go from Aqualad to Aquaman. You'd have never seen him go undercover with Black Manta. You'd have never seen him with Wynnde, etc. We'd still be stuck in a perennial Season One mode. There'd be some character development of course, but nothing near the level we've been able to bring to you across our four seasons.

And in any case, season four is extremely character focused and on the seven characters shown in the season's main title: Dick, Kaldur, Conner, M'gann, Artemis, Raquel and Zatanna. Those seven might not be your first choice for development, and I can understand that. But five of those seven have been our leads since the beginning, so per your own argument, that's who we SHOULD be focused on.

Response recorded on April 11, 2022

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Trent writes...

Does Tigress's uniform have stealth-tech? If so, why did she not use it when sneaking around Santa Prisca in 4x07?

Greg responds...

1. I would think so.

2. Maybe she felt her colored version would blend in better in the jungles of Santa Prisca.

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Darren writes...

How do Miss Martian's parents feel out Miss Martian and Beast Boy viewing each other as sister and brother ? Does Miss MARTIAN's parents view Beast boy as being part of thier family ?

Greg responds...

1. At this point, just fine.

2. They have come to, yes.

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Terutor writes...

Hi Mr Weisman,
In Ep7 of YJ: Phantoms, Nightwing requests a medevac to someone known as A33. This sounds like a guest designation, but I can't find who it is assigned to. Could you tell us who that was, or is it someone brought up later in the season? Thanks.

Greg responds...

I could indeed tell you, but our policy is not to spoil such things until they are (a) revealed in actual canon content or (b) clearly no longer have a shot at being revealed in canon content for some reason (e.g. the character has switched categories and would never again use their old designation). Neither applies to A-33.

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

Jade always acts "pissy" when she talks to Artemis. My reading of Jade's attitude is that it's a cover for her feelings of guilt over having not been a better sister or mother. Is this a good reading?

Greg responds...

I don't think "pissy" is a good reading. I don't think that describes even half of their interactions over four seasons and a video game.

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Zozin writes...

Regarding the Team's spytech lenses. They all have a dedicated logo. I noticed that the heroes who have chest logos, usually have matching interface logos. But those who don't (like Spoiler and Arsenal) usually have a customized logo.

I love them.

Who came up with them and what are the criteria for them?

Greg responds...

Brandon came up with nearly everything about the AR lenses. As for the logos, as you noted, most match up with chest logos. Where those don't exist, we have short discussions about what might be used and then somebody - sometimes Brandon, but sometimes one of our designers or one of our VFX artists - comes up with something, as needed.

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Lara writes...

Why Beast Boy not happy Miss Martian's sister Em'ree Jonzz using his mom's form but Garfield Logan is ok with Miss Martian using his mom's form in young justice season 4 episode 1 Inhospitable ?

Greg responds...

He's always known her in that form. It helped them form a bond ten years ago. Context is everything.

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr weisman while i am sure that Oracle forgave her for a tragic event that occurred when they first met Does Orphan still blame herself for what happened to Bat girl that day ?

Greg responds...

To some degree, she'd almost have to, wouldn't you think?

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

When exactly did the infiltrators steal the JL Computer intel? Was it when Cassandra was lying next to the Zeta-Tube?

If she already had the intel, then why didn't Shade simply teleport her out? This way they would get the intel and keep Cassandra's cover to use again in the future.

Greg responds...

1 & 1a. Yep.

2. Don't know whether Shade knew if she had it yet. He's not psychic.

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Regis writes...

Hello Greg !
Love what you and Brandon did with young justice, a timeline going on its own, and the scenario is brilliant ! My question would be : will you continue the show after you've come to the end of your story ? Because I'm scared that it ends up like shows like Arrow and Flash who only make a next season as long as the studios command one more, and they have nothing more to say but they still go on... Please don't ^^
But anyway thank you very much for this show, it's a writing gem and a true pleasure to any fans of Dc !

Greg responds...

The story has no end. Characters age, but new younger characters are always joining. We'll keep going as long as they allow us to, in whatever medium they allow us to. Given that we've introduced the Legion, we could, in theory, keep going for a thousand years...

Response recorded on April 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

It's great that you're working with the Muslim Public Affairs Council on Halo, but in the future would you consider hiring more writers of color when creating these types of characters? I think a lot of the issues with Halo could've been avoided if there was an Arab/Muslim woman in the room. Increasing diversity in entertainment needs to extend to all areas.

Greg responds...

The short answer is yes, but I do want to clarify a trio of points, just for the sake of accuracy.

1. We didn't create Halo.

2. We did consult with a Muslim woman when developing the character for our series. But she wasn't a writer on the series.

3. In season four, we did have a Muslim woman writer in the room. And more writers of color in general in both Seasons Three and Four.

Those efforts aren't enough, of course, but they're a start.

Response recorded on April 06, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What happens to a light member’s power base after they get captured or killed? Do they just get dissolved or does the light keep control of them?

Greg responds...

One has to take everything case by case, but it's safe to assume that the Light tries to maintain its collective power base as much as possible.

Response recorded on April 06, 2022

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Douglas writes...

Why did Superman trust Garfield with Garfield knowing superman's man is Clark Kent by the time of young justice season 4 ? Why did Miss Martian send Garfield back to Earth with Superman when Miss Martian stay on mars looking for her white martian brother ? Why did Garfield not want to see Perdita's speech after watching king Brion's speech in episode Artemis Looking Through The Looking Glass ?

Greg responds...

1. By season four, most all the heroes know each others' identities.

2. The premise of your question doesn't track. Miss Martian didn't send Garfield anywhere. Garfield is an adult.

3. I'll leave that to your interpretation.

Response recorded on April 06, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Was the joker more pissed off by the fact that he was used like a pawn by the light or that he was the only one not in on it?
2 since the joker was aware savage was a part if the light. Was he also aware that lex luthor was a member? Is that a part of the reason Why he decided to bomb the UN
3 Does the joker also now desire revenge against the other injustice league members for not letting him in on their true goal?

Greg responds...

1. In the immortal words of Abe Simpson, "A little from Column A; a little from Column B."

2. I'm neither confirming or denying anything, but I think that's a safe bet.

3. I think it's cute that you expect the Joker to be consistent.

Response recorded on April 06, 2022

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French Flamingo writes...

Greg, I love your work on Star Wars Rebels, Spectacular Spider Man, and Young Justice. What I would like to ask is why in the new season of young justice you adapted a certain character's origin.
P.S: love you Greg keep being awesome

Greg responds...

Thanks, French. But honestly, your question is too cagey for me to follow? Do you mean Orphan? Oracle? Onyx? (Why do they all begin with "O"?)

Response recorded on April 05, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Mr. Weisman, really love watching Phantoms and the fruits of your labor! I had a bit of a different question for you.

You said in the past that you were impressed with Avatar: The Last Airbender and you were planning on watching The Legend of Korra after.

1) What did you think about the sequel series? Particularly in relation to its predecessor?

2) I know you try to keep your own work original and you try to avoid taking outside ideas, but were there certain elements (story or character) from either Avatar:TLA or TLOK that you felt were interesting to use in your stories?

3) If you had an opportunity to work within that universe, would you craft a story with gambits that you're so famously known for or would you take a different direction than usual?

Thank you again. Young Justice and Avatar/Korra were large elements of my childhood and what stands out to me are the very strong themes, characters, and over-arching narrative. I feel pretty blessed to be part of a generation that could have not only enjoyed it but grew up with them as well.

Greg responds...

1. I haven't watched it yet. I watched Avatar with my son. Now, he's all grow'd up and living 3,000 miles away, and we don't have the same kind of time to sit together and watch an entire series. Still would like to someday.

2. I actively try not to think that way.

3. That's such a massive hypothetical, I don't even know how to answer it.

Response recorded on April 05, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why do you hate Tim Drake so much, Greg? Are you getting back at the people who harassed you for using Dick instead of Tim in S1?
LOL mostly joking - I know there are lots of supporting characters that people would like to see more of. But it does kind of seem like you don't like the character too much. His appearance in that S3 episode where Nightwing is sick and he doesn't say a word still kills me.

Greg responds...

It kind of kills me too. And I feel really bad for Cameron Bowen, whom I adore as a persona and as a performer, and whom without a doubt has gotten short shrift. But we have budgets. We can't bring in every actor we'd like to. So we deal with what we have and make the best of it - or try to.

And, no, I don't hate Tim at all. But our larger story lines simply haven't involved him much in Outsiders nor in the first half - at least - of Phantoms. Give us more of Earth-16, and we'll get to him eventually, i swear.

Response recorded on April 04, 2022

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Midori Tanaka writes...

Greg, first I wanted to thank you for continuing to explore Jade's character, love her bigger presence in Phantoms. Question: hpw fun is writing Artemis and Jade relationship?

Greg responds...

Very. Very, very.

They both have such distinct and complex personalities, scenes between them all but write themselves.

Plus, watching Kelly and Stephanie perform against each other - and we recorded their arc pre-pandemic when we were still recording the cast in groups - is always a treat. They really make great sisters!

Response recorded on April 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why did Artemis never strip-search Cassandra for anything suspicious. Considering they had no idea if Cassandra or Onyx was a mole and they brought all those outside sources to confirm if they were speaking the truth. A strip-search sounds like a basic precaution. Which would have allowed them to discover cassandra’s glamour charm and see through her deception

Greg responds...

I don't agree that a strip search would've necessarily revealed the glamour charm. When you can't see something, it's easy enough for a little sleight of hand to hide it.

And, in any case, I'm sure they searched Cassandra and Onyx thoroughly.

Response recorded on April 04, 2022

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NoOneSpecial writes...

I hope this doesn't come off as a lewd sounding set of questions, but

1. Was Gabriele Daou a virgin prior to her death?
2. As of the end of Season 3, is Halo a virgin?

I understand that if the to question one is yes, then question two may seem a little redundant, but technically Halo would never have experienced sex before, even though she may a 'body' that has experienced sex before.

Greg responds...

1. I'd think so.

2. I know what I think the answer is, but I think it's best if I leave it open to interpretation.

Response recorded on April 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

While I appreciate you taking feedback on Halo from us Muslim fans and trying to improve her representation, I honestly think she's too flawed to be fixed for a number of reasons:
1. Gabrielle Daou. I think this is an odd name for a Muslim Arab character. Gabrielle derives from Gabriel, which is a Biblical name. The Quranic version is Jibril (the archangel) and as far as I know there's no feminine version...plus a lot of Muslims don't like to use the names of the angels for humans in the first place. It would've been better to give her an Islamic name; there are SO many with beautiful meanings that you could've played with. And the surname Daou is not one I've seen before, so I could be wrong about this - I've tried researching and it's been hard to find information about its origins. It doesn't appear to be a very common surname, I'm curious how you guys even found it because it's not in any of the lists of most common Arab or Muslim surnames I encountered. But from what I can gather, it's mostly seen in Lebanon. I don't know exactly where Qurac is in the YJ universe, but I know in DC it's typically around Saudi Arabia and Iraq. If that's the case, there are lots of surnames more common to that area you could've used to make it more accurate or you could've used a more common Muslim surname. This may come off as nit-picky, but I think these sorts of things matter if you're going to make her ethnicity and religion a central part of her character. We're past the days of making vaguely Arab characters with traits from several different cultures like Disney's Aladdin.
2. Going off that, you've got an American South Asian woman voicing her doing a generic "brown voice"...I'm an American South Asian woman myself and that does not feel right to me. South Asian and Arab cultures are often blended together in Western media (Aladdin again) and they're very different. Why not make Halo Pakistani since the voice actor knows Urdu or use a voice actor who speaks Arabic to create a more accurate accent?
3. What is the reason Violet continues to wear the hijab? She just says it "feels right." One of my biggest pet peeves with how Muslims are portrayed in Western media is thinking that every Muslim woman wears a head scarf because the Quran says so. It's actually a huge source of debate within the religion, people have different interpretations of what modesty means, and many of us do not believe in wearing it. Then on top of that, there's the politics surrounding it. Of course I respect the women who do choose to wear it and the ones who do have a variety of reasons why. If Halo is supposed to be hijabi representation, it'd be great to know why she chooses to continue to wear it and maybe help dispel some of the stereotypes around it. As of now, it kind of seems like she only wears it because Gabrielle was a Muslim and that's what she thinks Muslims do.
4. The whole concept of the motherbox occupying the body of a dead Muslim girl. It almost feels like whitewashing in a way - you've got a character who's coded as Muslim but really isn't one. I don't know if that's the best way to describe it, but it just feels icky to me.

I'm sorry for the length and I know none of this was intentional. But it just feels like there was not enough research done when creating this character and it would've been better to have an Arab Muslim writer help create her. I do not like her as Muslim representation and I'd really like to see less emphasis on that aspect of her character. In my opinion, "Gabrielle Daou" died and her identity as a Muslim died with her. Violet Harper is a different person who simply occupies her body, so Islam does not need to continue to be a central part of Halo's character.

Greg responds...

1. You have a good point here. But the name didn't come from us, it came from the original comics (with a slight adjustment). Sometimes, we compromise/split the difference to honor our source material. It is, perhaps, a flawed approach, and in the future we'll think twice about it. But I don't agree that Gabrielle's name, which may not be perfect, is SO wrong that it invalidates her as a character. And in any case, Gabrielle is gone. So her name is moot.

2. I won't pretend I'm an expert, but we asked the voice actor to do an Arabic accent. This is what she gave us. Again, given that Qurac is a fictional country with intentionally vague geography, I don't think we're so off the mark here that it invalidates the character.

3. By now, I'm hoping you've seen why Violet continues to wear the hijab. They are on a journey of discovery. Sometimes, you just need to have a little patience with us. We can't always address everything instantaneously. We have a lot of balls in the air and many, many characters.

4. I think the point you're missing is that Violet WASN'T Muslim. Gabrielle was. Violet stated that they weren't a Muslim. Out loud. Clearly. Now, they're wondering if Islam has meaning for them. Nothing's been decided yet. But they're interested in learning. And I don't know why we'd want to discourage that. I mean if ANY non-Muslim character - whether from Qurac, Happy Harbor or New Genesis - decided they were interested in exploring Islam, you wouldn't discourage them, would you?

(Sidenote: Jews do discourage conversion. It's possible, but we don't encourage it. But Islam and Christianity are two religions that seek out converts.)

5. We probably should've involved a Muslim writer early on. And we probably should've consulted with MPAC much sooner than we did. I won't deny that. Although we DID consult with individual Muslims and got feedback. You may not like the answers they gave us, but to paraphrase Madia from this past week, no major religion is a monolith. You can no more claim to speak for all Muslims than the Muslims that we talked to.

Here's where I disagree with you. (I respect your opinion, but I do disagree with your conclusion.) We now have other Muslim characters, such as Khalid Nassour and Madia Daou, so Violet is not in the show to BE our Muslim representation. They are there to be Violet Harper/Halo. Their interest in Islam is, we believe, an important part of their character, and I have no interest in taking that away from them. But Violet doesn't have to carry a flag for Islam either. And to be clear, neither Khalid nor Madia nor Samad nor Muhammed nor Jane - all Muslims - are in the show to be REPRESENTATION. They are characters. But the more Muslims we have in the show, the less any one character has to carry the weight of being THE Muslim in the show.

In any case, I truly hope you've been watching this week. I'm hoping that the scenes between Madia and Violet have given you a new perspective. If not, well... so be it. We can't please everyone. But in general, I've gotten a tremendous amount of positive feedback from the Muslim community on those scenes, and so we're staying the course. And this time out, at least, the course was set with the help of MPAC, a Muslim writer and a Muslim voice actor. That's really the best we can do.

Response recorded on April 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Does the UN know about the light? If so how much do they know

Greg responds...

The U.N. has offered a membership to the Light, complete with all the perks, including unlimited access to free smoothies at the smoothie bar on the fifth floor.

APRIL FOOLS'!

There's no smoothie bar on the fifth floor. It's on the third floor, and everyone has to pay their own way.

STILL APRIL FOOLS!

The U.N. has been briefed on its existence, but the League has only presented what it could prove.

STILL STILL APRIL FOOLS!

No, wait. That last one's right.

Response recorded on April 01, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What species is bio-ship and her kin?

Greg responds...

Biologicum Navis. Because all Martians use Latin for species nomenclature. It's not a language Native to M'arzz, but it just makes everything sound so intelligent!

APRIL FOOLS!

They're just the Bio-Ship species, I guess.

Response recorded on April 01, 2022

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Bree writes...

What's the name of those lenses the Team use? Who invented them? When?

Greg responds...

1. They're called Intensa-Lenses.

2. They were invented by Professeur Oeil, the French cousin of Professor Ojo.

3. Before breakfast.

APRIL FOOL!

Actually, I don't think we ever bothered figuring that out. Sorry.

Response recorded on April 01, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Since when have Bruce and Giovanni known each other?

Greg responds...

Quite awhile. At least - obviously - since Zatara joined the Justice League. At least.

Response recorded on March 31, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Who is A33 whom Nightwing called for medical support?

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

Response recorded on March 31, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Did m’comm genuinely think that his failed bomb attack was still a victory? Or was he just making excuses so that his followers wouldn’t lose faith
2 Why did poison ivy reveal the truth about the injustice league to the joker? What did she have to gain from turning the joker against the light?
3 Why did Lady Shiva show the Joker's video to orphan? Couldn’t she have just ordered her to kill him? It wouldn't really have mattered to her why she had to kill him anyway.
4 Why did orphan care that she crippled batgirl wasn’t killing people a thing she was raised to do since birth?
5 If lady Shiva wanted orphan back why did she wait so long to retrieve her?

Greg responds...

1. I feel safe leaving that to your interpretation.

2. I feel fine leaving that to your imagination.

3. An assassin always benefits from having more background intel.

4. Turns out she did care. Who knew that was gonna happen?

5. You make it sound easy. You also make it sound like she never tried before, which is not a given.

Response recorded on March 31, 2022

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Ram writes...

Hi Greg,
1. How broke is Green Arrow?
-Hes dressed rather smart for someone whos broke.
-He could afford a hospital room for Speedy.
-Hes able to afford to run several vaults fully equipped with weaponry and the electrical bill that comes with it. He also repaired the damage from the bomb Speedy planted in it.
-He can afford arrows for himself and his protege.
-He can support himself and Roy (and probably also the medical bills that come with sending him to therapy, etc.)

2. How successful is Bowhunter Security?
3. How was Roy a shareholder in Bowhunter despite being a minor? Was Ollie a caretaker for his share as his guardian?
4. Did Ollie help Will start his Private Security business? How did he find investors for it?

Greg responds...

1. He's not destitute. He's just not a millionaire any longer. You're assuming he paid for Speedy's healthcare, but that's not a safe assumption. The League has funds for that sort of thing. Also, Oliver set up a substantial trust for Roy before Oliver lost his fortune. That trust went to Will, but he's since given the bulk of that over to Roy.

2. Fairly.

3. Roy's no longer a minor. Technically, i.e. legally and chronologically, he's about 28 during Season Four.

4. No. (I mean he didn't hinder it, but he didn't help financially in any way either.)

4a. By "he" do you mean Will or Ollie?

Response recorded on March 31, 2022

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Sam writes...

When Orphan is held prisoner by the Shadows why did they take her shoes?

Greg responds...

Same reason they took her utility belt.

Response recorded on March 31, 2022

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Jason R Carter writes...

1) How were Jade and Artemis not put into foster care since Crusher was clearly an unfit parent?

2) Is it wishful thinking to assume that he might be a better grandfather than he was a father?

2) Which might he prefer to be called: Grandpa, Granddad, or Pop-Pop?

Greg responds...

1. Who do you imagine reported him as such?

2. It is wishful thinking. Which doesn't mean it might not be true. Though wishing doesn't make it so, either.

Your second question 2) I'm thinking, he'd go with "Crusher."

Response recorded on March 30, 2022

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Jason R Carter writes...

Why would a master strategist like Vandal Savage risk pissing off a chaotic element like the Joker by not letting him in on the joke?

Greg responds...

Savage is not risk averse. He weighs options and makes a decision. You seem to think this was a bad decision. I think Vandal would argue that, even given hindsight, it was a good one.

Response recorded on March 30, 2022

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Karrin Blue writes...

Was Mad Hatter active as a Gotham supervillain when Jade and Artemis came up with their code, or did he start later?

Greg responds...

They already had that code before Tetch made his "debut" as Hatter.

Response recorded on March 30, 2022

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King_Joey writes...

Quick questions about the Bio-Ship species. I understand that they are like horses on Mars, and there bodies are made of materials that allow them travel through space and through planetary atmospheres without injury. Making them Way More resistant to heat than the sentient Martians.

1. I would like to know how the Bio-ship converts the Martian atmosphere inside the ship into Earth atmosphere and Vis Versa. Does the ship inhale the Higher CO2 of Mars and exhale an O2 rich environment like a plant?

2. Does the Bio-ship need to breath? Not every living thing does.

I can even buy that there bodies have the necessary materials in them for shapeshifting into the complex machinery and circuitry necessary for wireless network interface with Earth computers, drones, HUDs, and radios.
But in the first season M gann states that Bio-ship does not have any weapon system, then later she is firing laser blasts at an ice fortress.

3. I made the assumption at the time that the laser thing had been installed off screen similar to the way the disintegration tech was installed during the training exercise in the episode Failsafe. But now that I see Baby-Ship with lasers too; Is it safe to say that the laser-like cannons on these Bio-Ships are a naturally occurring biological mechanism and not mechanically installed or configured?

4. Is it a learned skill and not all Bio-Ships can do it like the density shifting thing for sapient Martians?

5. I still do not understand why the sapient Martians are more afraid of the Ma alefa ak than a species that can FIRE FREAKING LASER BEAMS!.... Sorry:) The laser beam thing from an Earth animal would freak me out. Still it seems like they can easily defend themselves from Ma alefa aks with brain blasts. But can they block LASER BLASTS with telekinesis. Just saying the Bio-Ships are also way more durable; that is the animal I would think they would learn to fear.

Greg responds...

1. Sounds good.

2. I'm thinking it does, but I'm not married to that answer.

2a. Bio-Ship developed a weapon system over time and from necessity.

3. Naturally contrived. And Baby, having Bio-Ship's memories, has them from the beginning. No learning curve.

4. I think Bio-Ship and Baby are two of the very, very few Bio-Ships that have weapons capabilities, which were developed by Bio-Ship on Earth (see above).

5. Most Bio-Ships don't have weapons' systems, and are, in any case, largely domesticated. Horses can be dangerous animals, but we tend not to fear them unless a specific horse gives us a reason too. A great white shark inspires fear, even though few of us have ever encountered one.

Response recorded on March 29, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Batgirl said she wanted to save Orphan not the Joker does that mean the Team or rather the Bat-Family know about Cass and her treatment at the hands of Lady Shiva cause I think that's the only way that exchange makes sense, This is really confusing can you explain this part.

Greg responds...

I'm not confirming what Batgirl knew or didn't know, beyond the obvious, which is that she saw a child about to kill someone and wanted to save that child from that fate. What doesn't make sense about that?

Response recorded on March 29, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1. So can we get a confirmation on whether Vandal Q Savage is his full name also does the Q stand for Killjoy?
2. I really liked the whole thing with Joker you did here also it's kinda hilarious that he didn't know for 8 years, now for the timeline to make sense does this mean 8 years from when they were recruited or from the incident.
3. Jason name drop was nice to hear I wonder why you would name him this episode and that red hooded ninja we saw on infinity island definitely suspicious I wonder what could that be.
4. I am really hoping for Jason vs Freddie this season granted the actual movie was just okay, but I would love to have this certain character have camaraderie and not die alone hopefully this wasn't complete gibberish ah well I suppose I can't help it, anyways can't wait to see what you have in store for us.
4. I really like your rendition of the Killing Joke and boy it really was a Killing Joke. Is there any particular reason you guys changed the design for Joker and If so what were your influences, I really liked that you guys brought back Brent Spiner his Joker is one that I would love to hate.

Greg responds...

1. It is not, and it does not.

2. I'm not clear on the difference. I guess the answer is both...?

3. We name him where it makes sense for the characters to name him.

4. You've lost me. Jason Todd and Freddy Freeman, maybe? (I mean I get it's a Voorhees/Krueger reference, but beyond that, I'm not following you.)

Second 4. Did the design change for the Joker between S1 and S4? If it did, it didn't change a hell of a lot.

Response recorded on March 29, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why did M'gann wait about a month to go for M'comm? Did she wait for investigation results to be sure that M'comm was indeed the one who planted the bomb? Were M'gann and J'onn there to arrest M'comm?

Greg responds...

1. It took time to find him.

2. Yes.

Response recorded on March 28, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

Does Cassandra Savage have any meta-human powers such as her father's healing factor, or is she a baseline human?

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

Response recorded on March 28, 2022

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Paul writes...

In the flashback in "The Lady, or the Tigress?" were Garth and Troia considering stepping up to fight the Joker during his attack on the U.N.?

Greg responds...

They were in full view of him - and his kill-switch, so they were considering how to do it without getting everyone killed in the process. Before they could act, the Bat-Family stepped in, so to speak.

Response recorded on March 28, 2022

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NoOneSpecial writes...

These questions are all related to the Zeta Tube. I'm guessing it's easier for you if the questions follow a theme.
1.You said in a previous post that the Zeta tubes don't rely (at least solely) on genetics since they can recognize Red Tornado and Sphere who are mechanical, or how Roy, Jim and Will are all clones yet it can still distinguish them. So, if not a genetic scan, how does the Zeta Tube recognize each user? My best guess is that it relies on some kind of database archive that the League maintains with enough information on each person and their characteristics to know who is who. Is that close?
2. Do all Zeta Tubes have a designation system? E.g do the ones on Rann have them as well?
3. What about when it comes to wearing masks and disguises? Will was still designated as Speedy even after changing his outfit and becoming Red Arrow. So, what if say, Dick put on the Batman costume and tried the Zeta Tube? Would it know the difference? Or what about when Artemis when she was wearing the glamour charm? Or better yet Cassandra? This only occurred to me just now, but she was wearing a glamour charm when she was scanned by the Zeta Tube, and it failed to recognize her. So, is that why it couldn't recognize her?
4. This a fun one, but since Sphere is technically alive despite being technology, then could a Mother Box and or Father Box have a Zeta Tube designation since they are "living beings" as well? Or what about Bio-Ship, assuming it was big enough to accommodate her?
5.Would a Zeta Tube work inside the Tower of Fate?

Greg responds...

It is easier that way. Thank you.

1. Basically.

2. Rann has Zeta-Platforms, invented by Sardath, who had nothing to do with the original invention of the Zeta-Tube on Earth. And the answer is no. There's no rule that Zeta-Radiation won't work without some voice announcing a designation. It all depends on how the system is built.

3. Yes, it can tell the difference between Dick and Bruce, independent of their costumes. As for Cassandra Savage, it didn't recognize her because she flat-out wasn't in the system. Keep in mind, the Zeta-Tube computer recognition program is not a general name-that-person program. It's specifically designed to recognize people who have already been authorized to use the League's Zeta-Network and scanned in. Anyone who isn't pre-registered, so to speak, get locked out. Whether it would work on someone (pre-authorized) who was wearing a glamour-charm depends on how sophisticated the charm.

4. Bio-Ship has a designation. Motherboxes and Fatherboxes do not. The system doesn't recognize them as entities because it hasn't been programmed to recognize them. It could be, in theory. It just hasn't.

5. Not if Nabu didn't want it to.

Response recorded on March 25, 2022

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Sally writes...

Who told Dick and Will and Kaldur'hm that Superboy was kill on mars and when were they told that Conner was dead?

Greg responds...

Dick and Kaldur told Will, arriving only a few minutes before Artemis came home.

Beyond that, I'm not going to say. I think for the time being, you can do your own math, imagine your own scenarios.

Response recorded on March 25, 2022

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Noah writes...

What Beast Boy and Superman talk out on trip back to Earth after Suoperboy was kill on planet Mars ?

Greg responds...

I'll leave that to your imagination. But personally, I imagine there wasn't a ton of chatter.

Response recorded on March 24, 2022

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M. writes...

In episode 7 of season 4 we see a bunch of white martians lying on the ground after being attacked by M'gann. The audio description says they're "corpses". So, are those martians actually dead? If so, why didn't J'onn apprehend M'gann afterwards? why didn't he intervene when she was confronting M'comm? it's not like they were having a nice conversation.

Greg responds...

They're not dead. I'm sorry the audio description got that (or anything wrong). I only started reviewing the close captions at the end of Season Three, when it was brought to my attention that they were often ... problematic. So I reviewed them for every episode of Season Four.

Believe it or not, no one mentioned the Audio Descriptions being problematic UNTIL Season Four - and not until after every episode was in the can. I don't know if that means that they were great the first three seasons, and only became an issue with Phantoms, or if it means that no one thought to mention it until now.

Obviously, if we get a fifth season, I'll review the Audio Descriptions, as well. But it's too late for Season Four. So take them with a grain of salt, I'm afraid.

Response recorded on March 24, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

I have some young justice questions for you Mr Weisman 1. How old is Onyx Adams as of season 4 ? 2. With all of her responsibilities to both the light and league of assassins does Lady Shiva ever get any time off to Relax and unwind? 3.How did the joker get poison ivy to tell him that the light was using the Injustice League as puppets ?

Greg responds...

1. Onyx Adams was born in 2004.

2. Um. Sure. Some, I guess.

3. Who said he "got her to tell him"? He didn't even know to ask.

Response recorded on March 24, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

I was shocked that Barbara's paralysis was due to Cassandra Wu-San's actions in the YJ universe. Was this change made because you felt it creates a much more emotional impact than just having Joker shooting Barbara like in "The Killing Joke"?

Greg responds...

We felt that THE KILLING JOKE had been done in animation recently, so if people wanted to see that, they can buy the BluRay (or stream it or whatever). That's not me being dismissive. I'm simply stating that a more faithful rendering of the original story exists.

We wanted to do a version that still put the blame squarely on the Joker, but which gave Barbara more agency - and gave Cassandra Wu-San more agency, as well. They both have decisions to make, choices about who they want to be. I don't know if this version has more emotional impact or not. Your mileage may vary, as they say. But I feel good about our choices for the characters of Earth-16.

Response recorded on March 24, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Artemis is a professor of comparative literature and is half-Vietnamese. This begs the question: does Artemis know French? How fluent is she?

Greg responds...

She's fluent in French. (I feel like I've answered this before.)

Response recorded on March 23, 2022

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Nick writes...

What day did Joker's bomb threat on the UN took place?

Greg responds...

I don't have an exact date, but it was in January of Team Year Eight.

Response recorded on March 23, 2022

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Kayla O writes...

Hey Greg! I am doing my part to #SaveEarth16 by rewatching all of YJ for the umpteenth time while I *anxiously* await next week's episode (s4, episode 8). I'm sure you and your team are loving torturing us with the anticipation of weekly releases. Fantastic job well done to all involved in bringing back my and many's favorite shows!

Now, onto the questions.
1) For this Artemis arc, what inspired the references to classic literature? Stephanie has such a soulful voice during these voiceovers, especially for the end credits!

2) Did you intend for there to be parallels to Artemis's intro to the Team (and first showdown with Cheshire) by bringing back the Infiltrators Virus, double agents, and an excellent sisterly team up?

3) Were Dick and Barbara already together during that fateful mission to stop Joker at the UN?

4) Was there any discussion on a mass release of the season, or were you and Brandon set on a weekly release due to the need to digest all that will be taking place in the show?

Greg responds...

1. The inspiration was Artemis' chosen civilian occupation. And I agree with you. Stephanie's performance is truly wonderful.

2. Yep. We very much did.

3. No spoilers.

4. Brandon and I advocated strongly for a weekly release. It wasn't a hard sell, as HBOMax generally does weekly releases after an initial first week burst of multiple episodes. They originally wanted to release three or four episodes on the first day. We protested as loudly as we could manage, and all agreed to two episodes, instead.

Response recorded on March 23, 2022

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Karrin Blue writes...

Did Babs know that the Light was sending a newbie assassin to go after Joker, or did she guess Cass was on her first mission on the spot? If she guessed, was there something in particular that clued her in that Cass wasn't already a killer, or was it pure intuition? It seems like an awfully big risk to take when she didn't know if it was someone who'd killed before who wouldn't bat an eye at collateral damage.

Greg responds...

I'm happy to leave Barbara's choices to your interpretation. But I will reveal two things:

1. I think it was fairly clear to her that Cassandra was a child.

2. Her name is not "Babs" in this universe. It is occasionally shortened to "Barb". But never Babs.

Response recorded on March 23, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 So was there actually a mission where cassandra savage attempted to recruit killer croc? Or was that all fake
2 Was Joker the only one of the Injustice League unaware that he was a proxy because he stated in season 4 episode 7 that he was the only one out of the loop.
3 Since ma'alefa'ak was aware that Miss Martian knew his hideout. He should have known a counterattack was imminent after his virus bomb failed. Why did ma'alefa'ak remain in his underground hideout and not change location? He was almost captured as a result
4 Does lady shiva have any genuine affection for orphan?
5 Why did the light not consider killing joker after the injustice league incident so that he could not become a nuisance later like he became?

Greg responds...

1. Hard to know at this stage.

2. Just cuz he stated it, doesn't make it so. But it doesn't mean he's wrong either.

3. He did change location. That was a totally different cave, one without the big central throne.

4. She would think so. We might not define it as such.

5. He had been useful up to that point. He might prove useful again. You know how much Savage hates waste.

Response recorded on March 23, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why did Cheshire free shade? Did he offer her something in return or was she just being nice?

Greg responds...

He didn't offer her anything in return. As to the why... I'll leave that to your interpretation.

Response recorded on March 22, 2022

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Colt writes...

Who made the Glamour Charm for Cassandra Savage?

Greg responds...

Does it matter?

Response recorded on March 22, 2022

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Dan writes...

When did you and Brandon decide Orphan would be the one to (unintentionally) paralyze Barbara? I love these twists on classic comic stories.

Greg responds...

If you're asking for an exact date, I simply don't remember. But when putting together Oracle and Orphan's story, it became clear to us what had happened.

Response recorded on March 22, 2022

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Chad writes...

Why did Miss Martian seed Garfield back to earth with Superman after Superboy died on mars ?

Greg responds...

You're assuming she sent him. That's not a safe assumption.

Response recorded on March 22, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr weisman when orphan first met the bat family did Batman and any of the others forgive her for an unintended tragedy like Bat girl did?

Greg responds...

They all did, eventually.

Response recorded on March 22, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Q1) If someone was involuntarily turned into an animal for a period of time and it wasn't immediately reversible and they needed to use a Zeta Tube - would they be given a C designation while transformed into an animal? Or would the animal form use the untransformed designation?

Q3) Are Tim Drake and Dinah Drake (Lance) related? I'm assuming no, but you've adjusted other character relations, so worth asking.

Q4) With Helga back in Markovia, is anyone acting as Den Mother in the Outsider's penthouse? No need to name names, a yes or no will do.

Q5) Since you have Batwoman as starting in Team Year 6, is one of the reasons she became Batwoman because Batman was unavailable to fight crime in Gotham due to being on trial in space?

Greg responds...

1. There's so much hypothetical thinking in this question, it's impossible to answer. But if this helps, Beast Boy's designation does not change to a C-Designation if he's in animal form. It's not like the computer can only transport animals if they have a C-Designation or vice versa.

2. There was no Q2 for some reason.

3. No spoilers.

4. By now, I assume you've seen that Blue Devil is den mother.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on March 21, 2022

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Diogo writes...

Hi greg first thanks a lot for showing how useful Barbara is as oracle, I love her relationship with Dick in YJ I'd really love to see more of their relationship but Im not going to ask for spoilers just about a few things in their past which we didn't get to see
1- when or how did Barbara find out Dick was a dog ? Lol and was she mad at first ?
2- in the tie-in comics we see they have a "friends-with-benefits" kind of relationship, so how long were they in this ?
3- did Barbara date many guys before Dick ?
4- did Barbara and Jason bard meet in the physical therapy ? Was Dick jealous when he first meet bard ?
5- how long it took to Barbara accept to date Dick ? Since she says he wasn't ready for her yet I believe Dick really had to prove he was ready for a serious relationship right ?
Sorry for any mistake english is not my first language, thanks

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

1b. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers.

3. At least one that we know of, Jason Bard.

4. No spoilers.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on March 21, 2022

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PERLITHA writes...

Hi Greg, I'm very happy for the new season of Young Justice

I have some questions

1) What does Lex Luthor think about Conner and Megan's wedding?

2) Did Conner or Megan consider inviting Lex to the wedding?
2a) If Lex wasn't invited, would he send him a wedding gift?

3) Why can you reveal Ed's sexual orientation but not Bart's? What is the difference between them?

4) Had Iris and Barry ever planned to tell Don that Bart is his future son? Iris looks very angry when Bart called him "dad"

I really loved when Artemis read the end of "Tale of Two cities" I almost cried, that was beautiful, congratulations to the person who had that idea.

Greg responds...

1. I doubt he was consulted.

2. No.

2a. You never know.

3. I don't know.

4. I'd say more annoyed than angry. Otherwise, no spoilers.

5. The idea to do that kind of thing was Brandon's. The idea to do "Tale of Two Cities" specifically in that episode was mine, I think. The execution of it was writer Brian Hohlfeld, and of course the amazing performance of it was Stephanie Lemelin's, under the direction of Jamie Thomason. So lots of credit to spread around.

Response recorded on March 21, 2022

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Kyle writes...

Will you keep pushing tptb to change their minds about the one character that's not allowed to be gay onscreen?

Greg responds...

Assuming we get another season, yes. (Or ANY other venue to tell Earth-16 stories.)

Response recorded on March 21, 2022

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Daniel Jacob writes...

A lot of Beast Boy trauma all began with Queen Bee- killed his mother, and took over his childhood home. From joining the Doom Patrol-The Team- becoming Meta-Human Advocate/Celebrity Actor- and now leader of the Outsiders. Aside from his inspiration to bring justice to the world, is there any personal motivation for bringing justice to Queen Bee for her crimes that motivated Gar to become a hero.

Greg responds...

I'll leave that to your interpretation, for now.

Response recorded on March 18, 2022

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Cat writes...

After Superboy die on mars who did Wolf live with ?

Greg responds...

Well, we saw Wolf on the Kent farm.

Response recorded on March 18, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Cassandra Savage mentioned that Shiva sent manta troopers to confirm that Tigress was the new team leader. Do the manta troopers now work for the league of shadows with black manta in prison?
2 Is rictus male or female?
3 Did black spider have a lot of respect for Cheshire when she was still a shadow? Because he sounds very bitter of her betrayal in season 4 Ep 6
4 Was deathstroke a member of the league of shadows before he became the head of the shadows?
5 Why did the league of shadows choose to operate in Santa prisca?

Greg responds...

1. I don't want to imply a direct chain of command. But with Manta in prison, they are more mercenary.

2. Female. (I feel like I've answered this already.)

3. Well, he sounds very snarky to me. But your mileage may vary. In any case, yes, I believe he respected her as a leader, previously.

4. No spoilers on Deathstroke's backstory.

5. An arrangement was made with Bane. It was a good option because it had similar sovereignty rights as Infinity Island has.

Response recorded on March 18, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is Cassandra Savage Brazilian?

Greg responds...

She's not not Brazilian.

Okay, I lean toward the answer being yes. But that's not something I've discussed with Brandon, so I'm hedging my bets for now.

Response recorded on March 17, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

1) I'm really amazed that Artemis has a genuine interest in literature! She always struck me as the kind of person who would rather kick ass than engage in solitary intellectual pursuits. In season one, she shows little interest in reading. She was enrolled in comparative literature in season 2, but that is a major young people often choose when they have no idea what they want to do with their lives.

1) Was Artemis being a reader something that you had imagined pre-season one or is it something that developed over time?

2) Who are Artemis' five favourite living writers? Of any genre?

3) Who are Artemis' five favourite dead/historical writers? Of any genre?

4) Does Artemis dislike Milton? (I ask because I see him as being too elitist for Artemis' personality.)

5) Does Artemis have a specific field or era of interest? The field of comparative literature is rather large.

Greg responds...

1. I find it more telling about you that you are "really amazed Artemis has a genuine interest in literature!" You saw nothing in S1 that justifies the statement "she shows little interest," which implies somehow that we showed other characters showing much interests, which of course, we didn't. There just wasn't the screen time for it. So really what you should be saying is that we showed nothing at all about Artemis' academic interests, which is a fair statement. And again, I find your statement that Comparative Literature is a major chosen by people who have no idea what to do with their lives very judgmental. I majored in English, myself. I'm sure some English majors weren't sure what they were going to do with their lives, but others like myself, did. (I wanted to be a writer, in case that wasn't obvious. I also briefly flirted with the idea of being a professor but decided against it.)

2. I think we always thought she was a reader. But we always thought ALL of our characters were readers. In terms of her specific long-term secret identity career interests, pre-S1 we didn't have that planned out for anyone except Kaldur. But Brandon and I both believed that the Comp Lit track felt right and matched up what we knew about Artemis' character.

3. I'm not playing this game.

4. I like Milton. Not sure why she wouldn't. But I haven't put too much thought into her thoughts on this one specific writer.

5. Her dissertation, which she's still working on as of S4, is on Vietnamese literature and its resonance (or lack thereof) with archetypes in Western Culture. But her interests are wider.

Response recorded on March 16, 2022

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Anon writes...

Will Beast Boys bio suit eventually want to leave like the bio ship? Will his clothes just decide to leave in the middle of a fight?

Greg responds...

No. The bio-suits are more like plants than animals. They have less of what we would call sentience or sapience. Fair question, though.

Response recorded on March 16, 2022

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Rob writes...

why has kaldur always been a pretty emotionless character in YJ was this always apart of his arc?

Greg responds...

I don't think of him as emotionless at all. I do think of him as stoic. He doesn't reveal as much as some others do. At least not on the surface. He does keep a tighter rein then his fellow heroes.

I don't know that I'd say it's part of his "arc," but it is part of his character. Stay tuned for more in the second half of Season Four, which premieres on March 31st, 2022.

Response recorded on March 15, 2022

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Cass writes...

1. How does Ollie afford to maintain so many equipment stashes in Star City (and possibly abroad as well) if he’s broke? He mentioned that if the vault was compromised it would be “no huge loss”

2. Are Dinah and Roy close?

3. How close are Tigress and Arsenal?

4. Does Jim live in Geranium City or Star City?

Greg responds...

1. I don't know why you think he has "so many equipment stashes." We've seen one. If the Vault is compromised (which it was), it's no huge loss, as there's nothing to connect it to Oliver Queen. And the equipment could be replaced. As to how he pays for it, he may have set some stuff up before he went broke. Or he may get a stipend from the League.

2. Pretty close.

3. Artemis is obviously closer to Will than Roy. But they're friendly. (Arrow-Family sticks together.) And she's the one who brought him back to the Team.

4. He has places in both cities.

Response recorded on March 15, 2022

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Kirk writes...

Why did Garfield choose not listen to what Queen Perdita had to say after Garfield watch Brion's speech in young justice episode Artemis through the looking glass ? Did Garfield return to earth from mars on bioship baby or on Javelin after Superdoy died on mars?

Greg responds...

1. I'll leave that to your interpretation.

2. The Javelin. (He said he was Javelin-lagged.)

Response recorded on March 14, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Just so that I can understand this correctly, the Justice League and the Team will never know that Ocean-Master had been killed by Lady Shiva and they probably think he still out there somewhere after getting out of prison in Atlantis (in which I assume that he had escaped in secret without anyone noticing)?

Greg responds...

They know he escaped prison. (The cell is empty. I'm sure they've noticed.) But they don't know Shiva killed him.

Response recorded on March 14, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

In the Young Justice Wiki, Gretchen Goode's designation in The Light was confirmed to be L-11. But you've recently said in a response posting that this is now Ultra-Humanite's designation in The Light. Is this actually true, or is Ultra-Humanite's designation is supposed to be L-12 and Zviad Baazovi's designation is supposed to be L-13? The next question I want to ask is why The Brain is no longer a member of The Light? Finally, my last question is why was Black Manta expelled from the Light?

Greg responds...

1. The first thing to keep in mind is that the L-Designations for the Light aren't really in-Universe. We needed something to identify members of the Light in the credits during Season One before we revealed their identities. The fans latched onto them, understandably, but I haven't quite tracked them in the same way that I've tracked the heroes' designations. Then there was that goody bag created for SDCC, which seemed to enshrine the L-Designations and/or etch them in stone. But I'm not even certain they were correct on that bag. (I have it in storage somewhere, but I can't get to it this minute.) So let's try to work 'em all out now:

L-1 Vandal Savage
L-2 Ra's al Ghul
L-3 Lex Luthor
L-4 Queen Bee
L-5 Ocean-Master
L-6 The Brain
L-7 Klarion
L-8 Black Manta (replacing Ocean-Master)
L-9-11 Deathstroke (replacing Ra's al Ghul)
L-9-11 Ultra-Humanite (replacing The Brain
L-9-11 Gretchen Goode (replacing Black Manta))
L-12 Zviad Baazovi (replacing Gretchen Goode)

The obvious problem is that Deathstroke, Ultra-Humanite and Gretchen all joined at approximately the same time. And since there's no in-universe L-Designation, any of the three could be L-9, L-10 or L-11 - though Zviad is clearly L-12. I gather from the YJ Wiki that the San Diego bag assigned Deathstroke as L-9 and Gretchen as L-11, but that Ultra-Humanite's L-11 came from a somewhat half-hearted answer here at ASK GREG. So let's, for the hell of it, correct that answer, and make Ultra-Humanite L-10. Cool? So, now...

L-1 Vandal Savage
L-2 Ra's al Ghul
L-3 Lex Luthor
L-4 Queen Bee
L-5 Ocean-Master
L-6 The Brain
L-7 Klarion
L-8 Black Manta (replacing Ocean-Master)
L-9 Deathstroke (replacing Ra's al Ghul)
L-10 Ultra-Humanite (replacing The Brain
L-11 Gretchen Goode (replacing Black Manta))
L-12 Zviad Baazovi (replacing Gretchen Goode)

2. As with Ocean-Master's "unfortunate incarceration," the Brain being in prison (especially a prison like Belle Reve) makes it difficult to serve effectively.

3. Ditto.

Response recorded on March 14, 2022

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Matt Itelson writes...

When did Leslie Wills become Livewire?
When did Andie become Mist?
When did Lia Briggs become Looker?
When did Tula become Aquagirl?
When did Cassandra Sandsmark become Wonder Girl?

Greg responds...

1. Team Year Seven or Eight.

2. Team Year Seven or Eight.

3. Team Year Nine, when she joined the Outsiders.

4. Team Year One, when she joined the Team.

5. Team Year Five.

Response recorded on March 14, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

When were Ra's and Sensei deposed by Deathstroke and Lady Shiva?

Greg responds...

They weren't deposed. Ra's decided to take a different approach. He resigned from the Light and decided to place the League of Shadows under the Light's purview. The Light chose Deathstroke and Shiva to run things.

Response recorded on March 10, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

On occasions when you say "NO SPOILERS" in response postings, is that your way of saying, "Some questions have a way of answering themselves if you wait and observe"?

Greg responds...

Yep.

Response recorded on March 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

In regards to the end credits scene in which Superman was talking to Lois on the phone, I wonder how long it took for him to eventually realize that he would go back to Earth WITHOUT his shoes and if he'd be embarrassed by the late realization?

Greg responds...

Even if he knew instantly, he probably wouldn't have cared. But, yes, once he opened a boomtube in the middle of his and Lois' Metropolis apartment and showed up shoeless when nothing was really wrong, he was probably a bit embarrassed.

Response recorded on March 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

With Superman and Lois Lane's marriage, that means Superboy is Lois' brother-in-law and Jonathan's uncle, correct? And that also means Jonathan and Martha Kent are Lois' father-in-law and mother-in-law too, correct?

Greg responds...

Yeah. Was any of that in question? Jonny even refers to Superboy as Uncle Conner.

Response recorded on March 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

How were auditioned done for season four? Was any done during the lock down?

Who suggested Logan Browning for Onyx? She's so good!

Greg responds...

1. I'm trying to remember if we did auditions for any character for season four... I'm not sure we did. Oh, wait. Yes. But that character hasn't appeared in the first thirteen yet.

2. Yes. The one character I'm thinking of we auditioned by sending copy out to agents, etc., and getting readings back.

3. I'm fairly certain that was Jamie Thomason. And I agree, Logan was amazing in the role!

Response recorded on March 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1. If Roy asks Ollie to get rid of his goatee, will Ollie do it?
2. Do the members of Arrow family like the chili Ollie make?
3. Are Dinah and Babara good friends?
4. What was Green Arrow doing in Season 3, he let Arrowette work with the Bat Team but what was he doing in the season?
5. In the very first episode, why would Green Arrow tell Red Arrow (still speedy at that time) the Hall of Justice isn't the real base instead the watchtower is?

Greg responds...

1. The question feels moot to me because why would Roy do that?

2. Um... sure.

3. I would think so.

4. He was also working with Batman's group. And doing his own thing. And successfully reconciling with Dinah.

5. Information is power. The rest I'll leave to your interpretation.

Response recorded on March 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

The second arc is titled after works of literature... because Artemis is a lit professor.
The third arc is titled after backwards spells... because Zatanna.

But what are the first arc episodes titled after? I can't see the connection between the titles and the main players.

Greg responds...

Fair question.

At the time, I had the idea of doing one-word adjectives as titles that expressed an emotion that one or more characters was feeling, which seemed to fit with the telepathic nature of M'arzz. I think in the arcs that followed, Brandon helped us hone in a bit more on something more specific for each arc's title schema.

Response recorded on March 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

I'm wondering why Robin is on the Outsiders when the rest of the batfam/his former squad is on the Team? I'm guessing Robin is the only bat protege known to the public, but I'd think Tim's skills would be more useful on the covert team.

Greg responds...

Tim's skills would be useful on any squad. But Robin has been a public hero since Dick's days, and Tim felt he could do more good by being with the Outsiders.

But this question allows me to point something out that I think Brandon and I thought was obvious but given some fan response might not have been. Some fans seem to believe there's some kind of hard divide between the Team and the Outsiders. That if you're with one group then you can't even hardly communicate with the other group. That's simply not the case. Some members of both squads live at the Premiere Building. They're all friends to varying degrees. And it would just be silly not to exchange intel and/or help each other out. For example, you saw Looker and Terra - who are both Outsiders - attempt to help Tigress and the Team with the Cassandra Savage/Onyx Adams situation at Green Arrow's Vault.

So if the Team required Tim's skills, of course he'd help. Even go on a mission with them, if necessary.

Response recorded on March 07, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

Do characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and Shazam/Captain Marvel have genuine super-speed (e.g. the ability to perform actions at super-speed, superhuman reflexes ... etc.) like the Flashes? Or, do they just fly and run at great speeds?

Greg responds...

Hmm. Good distinction. I'd say they all have super-human reflexes, Superman especially, but not true super-speed like the Flashes have, where they can literally watch the world slow down as they ramp up.

Response recorded on March 07, 2022

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Ress writes...

A. Who trained Arsenal to use the katana?
A1. Can Arsenal still use his bow and arrow?

B. How good is Arrowette compared to Arsenal?

C. Why does Tigress call Arrowette and Arsenal to the library instead of Green Arrow or Black Canary?

D. Does the Arrowfam have family dinners?

E. Is Jim Harper friendly with Ollie?

F. Since Red Arrow didn’t take the news of Artemis becoming GAs new sidekick very well, was it the same case when it came to Arsenal when Arrowette became new sidekick to GA?

Greg responds...

A. No spoilers.

A1. Yes, but he's lost some precision.

B. At what?

C. Green Arrow and Black Canary aren't on her Team. Arrowette and Arsenal are.

D. I'm gonna say YES!

E. Yeah.

F. No. He was fine with it.

Response recorded on March 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Within Earth 16 is it possible for one to be both a metahuman and a proficient magic user? Almost everyone so far seem to be one or the other.

Greg responds...

That's not true at all. The homo magi are a subset of the meta-human population.

Response recorded on March 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1. Within the universe of Earth 16 can magic users simply cast spells to replicate some of the powers that metahumans and aliens have, even if in a limited capacity? I.e. someone using magic to levitate someone or create fire to achieve the same effects that a telekinetic or a metahuman with fire based powers have.

2. Can human magic users and Martian magic users learn and use each other's magics? Like S’yraa S’mitt using Zatanna's backwards incantations?

Greg responds...

1. In theory.

2. That seems harder, but not necessarily impossible. Every individual's magic has its own signature. So each one's power is largely unique. But with study and effort and aptitude, who knows?

Response recorded on March 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1. How do Garfield's powers register new species for him to shapeshift into? What's stopping him from taking say a Martian's, a Kryptonian's, or a Bioship's form?

2. Is there any particular reason why Martians only have one nation and not hundreds like humans have on Earth?

3. Was Paula Nguyen and/or her family (asking about her family from before she married Crusher) displaced by the US's imperialist actions in Vietnam?

Greg responds...

1. Ask the Monkey God, assuming you believe in the Monkey God.

2. Basically, that's a Martian history question. So aside from the obvious answer, NO SPOILERS, any response would be a complicated socio-political essay, that I'm not prepared to write at this time.

3. Not that I don't believe that the U.S. committed imperialistic actions in Vietnam, cuz I do, I find the way you phrased the question - whether intentionally or not - reductive. The short answer is that her family was displaced by what Americans call the Vietnam War.

Response recorded on March 03, 2022

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walkie writes...

1. Is Cluemaster's name Arthur Brown?
2. Is Stephanie Brown's mothers name Crystal Brown?
3. This will 99% get no spoilers, but I'll try, is orphan's father David Cain?

Greg responds...

1. Sure.

2. Um... No spoilers.

3. Does it matter?

Response recorded on March 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is Rictus male or female?

Greg responds...

Female.

Response recorded on March 02, 2022

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Verdragon writes...

How hard is it to clean up Black Spider's webs?

Greg responds...

What's the rule? After an hour, they just dissolve?

Response recorded on March 02, 2022

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SkyGoyle B0X writes...

Hey Greg I'm a big fan of how the Martian race is depicted in YJ that they have a less human looking natural form, that they have less shared powers with Kryptonians and the world building for them.

1) If it's not a spoiler request when between seasons did Conner and Gar first meet M'gann's folks?

2) Did J'onn meet M'aatt before he got sent to Earth or after he first came back to Mars?

3) I couldn't help but notice how excited M'aatt looked when he spoke about building an alter with Conner. Am I right in guessing this was either the first time he got to do so or he didn't get to do this for a lot of his G'arrunn kids?

4)I'm admittedly not the most well read individual but I know enough pop culture to tell you guys drew on a lot of different inspirations for the Martian race and culture. What were the main influences?

5) Did M'gann have any other default forms between seasons before settling on the one in Phantoms?

Greg responds...

1. Pretty soon after the end of Season Two.

2. Before.

3. I'm forced to answer No Spoilers to this.

4. There may have been fewer than you think, at least consciously. We made decisions back in Season One about what the Martian powers would be, what the Martian castes were and where Martians lived on Mars. As you noted, some of those decisions were made to differentiate Martians and Kryptonians. Brandon and I felt that when the Manhunter from Mars was first introduced, his species was quite distinctive. But over time - adding things like Martian vision, turning fire into his kryptonite, making him the last surviving Martian, etc. - he became a Superman knock-off. We also weren't fans of the idea that there was an entire Martian race that was just BORN EVIL!! So we made decisions that felt better for us. This season, we then extrapolated off those decisions to bring our version of M'arzz to life. I'm sure there were influences, including from DC Comics and Edgar Rice Burroughs and others, but they were less conscious for us. It was more about pushing forward on decisions we had already made.

5. No spoilers. But the answer is basically no.

Response recorded on March 02, 2022

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Paul writes...

Is Looker Scottish or Irish? It sounds as though she has a Celtic accent, but I can't place which one it is (sorry)!

Greg responds...

Scottish.

Response recorded on March 01, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is the Vault the same place that Roy raided in "Satisfaction"?

Greg responds...

Yep.

Response recorded on March 01, 2022

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Paul writes...

1. In the latest episode, "Artemis Through the Looking Glass", it appears as though El Dorado has the designation D-07. Since he was never a member of the Team, did he ever have a B-designation?

2. Since Cyborg was never a member of the Team, did he ever have a B-designation?

3. Regarding the D-designations (for the Outsiders), were these created/implemented immediately after that squad was formed (December of Team Year Eight)? Or was it a while before they came up with the idea to have their own group of designations with their own assigned letter?

Greg responds...

1. He did briefly. He also had an A designation for a while before that.

2. He did briefly.

3. Not instantly. D-designations went into service on February 25th of Team Year Nine.

Response recorded on March 01, 2022

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Jason R Carter writes...

How old is Will Everett aka Amazing Man?

Greg responds...

Will Everett was born in 1918. He died in Team Year Eight. He was either 99 or 100.

Response recorded on February 28, 2022

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Nick writes...

How old is Holly the dog?
How old is Rictus?

Greg responds...

Holly was born in Team Year Eight.

The individual who became Rictus was born in 2000.

Response recorded on February 28, 2022

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Jason R Carter writes...

Is it safe to say that there's a lot of terrible parenting associated with the Light and/or the League of Shadows?

Greg responds...

I don't want to sound all judgy, but...

Response recorded on February 28, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Just Some Thoughts and Questions on Artemis Through The Looking Glass.
1. The ending excerpt about Trust and Belief from Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There was just perfection, I am really loving these Literature themed episodes.
2. What made you guys decide on the Amazing-Man and Onyx connection, If my Knowledge is correct I think this purely an Earth-16 thing.
3. Jade was referencing Wally right with the whole talk about how things have been difficult and Second Chances?
4. I love how Artemis is still trying to convince Jade to comeback and segues to it so easily every time.
5. I like how you guys continue to show Beast Boy going through trauma and not simply finishing that problem within 20 minutes.
6. One thing that seems odd to me Jade is worried about the Contract that the League of Shadows put on her for betraying them to save Red Arrow, But Red Arrow was also a member of the Shadows so why isn't he concerned about having a contract on him.
7. The photo That Will put up on the Wall taken just before the events of Usual Suspects right?

Greg responds...

1. Thanks. Credit the idea for doing that at all to Brandon Vietti.

2. We wanted to give Onyx some history to fall back on within the Earth-16 DCU. We felt that by the end of the arc, it would add poignancy and depth.

3. If I'm reading your question correctly, then, yes.

4. I don't know how easy those segues are, but she manages it.

5. We received invaluable advice on this from Dr. Janina Scarlet. Check out her website and podcasts: http://www.superhero-therapy.com

6. No spoilers. Ask me again in 2023 if it's still not clear.

7. Yep.

Response recorded on February 28, 2022

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Crossoverparinglover writes...

Do any of the 'fictional cities', such as Gotham, Metropolis, and Dakota, have major sports teams? Such cities in fiction are often shown with their own hockey, baseball, basketball, or American Football teams and I'm curious if you ever thought of that.

If they do exist, are the respective sports league larger or do they replace an existing team?

Greg responds...

1. In fact, we have given some thought to that. I should answer with no spoilers, but I'll just simply say the answer to your question is yes. But I'll provide no further details for now.

2. I'm going to say the Leagues are larger, i.e. have more teams, because I wouldn't want to take away a real world team to replace it with a fictional world team. So we'd just add on. (In even numbers.)

Response recorded on February 28, 2022

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Paul writes...

Since Onyx and Cassandra Savage were both present in the Vault at the end of "Tale of Two Sisters", were they given A-designations?

Greg responds...

No. The vault isn't a League facility. The Zeta-Tube in the Vault requires designations. But entering and exiting through the door does not, as long as there's someone willing to run an override.

Response recorded on February 24, 2022

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Fisher writes...

Is Eduardo Dorado Jr. out to his father? If so, what team year did he come out?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. I haven't thought about that, honestly.

Response recorded on February 24, 2022

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Curious Canadian writes...

When episodes from seasons 3 and 4 air on television in Canada (or other non-streaming locations around the world), do you get to decide when commercial breaks are inserted or is that decision made by the broadcaster?

(PSA: I hope all my fellow Canadian Young Justice fans are remembering to support Season 4 on Teletoon every Sunday!)

Greg responds...

I hope so, too.

We have suggested Act Breaks in our scripts, but I doubt anyone is looking at those. I'm not even sure how they could.

We made a decision to present the best possible version of the show for first-run streaming in the U.S., knowing that down the road, things like commercial breaks and/or the series being edited for content and/or for time to fit in a specific time slot (with commercials) could happen.

Response recorded on February 24, 2022

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Steve Hockensmith writes...

I've got some questions about membership.

Are Lia Briggs and Livewire on the Outsiders?
When did Robin and Windfall join the Outsiders?
Is Mist on the Team?

Greg responds...

1. Looker and Livewire are indeed members of the Outsiders.

2. Robin and Windfall joined the Outsiders in Team Year Nine. Though months apart.

3. Yes.

Response recorded on February 23, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

When was K'rii St'ferr born?

Greg responds...

1699.

Response recorded on February 23, 2022

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Karrin Blue writes...

Some questions about living arrangements!

1. Does Tara still live at the Premiere Building, and does Gregor live there too, or did they move out after she was put in his custody?
2. Did Paula move out to Star City?
3. If so, has she moved into Artemis and Will's home, or does she live nearby? It seems like she was there rather later
4. Did Artemis move in with Will before or after Jade left?
5. Does the Premiere Building have secret entrances and exits? If it's public record Garfield lives there, or owns the building, then I'd expect paparazzi to always be hanging around the building - and if any of the more distinctive members of the Outsiders were seen leaving the place, it seems like everyone would put together that they live there quickly (and would get suspicious of Team members too)

Greg responds...

1. No. Tara moved in with Gregor. Neither of them currently live at the Premiere Building. Gregor never lived there.

2. I know I've answered this before, but yes.

3. She lives close by, but it's a three bedroom house, with a room each for Artemis, Will and Lian. Paula doesn't live there. When Tara and Violet lived there, they stayed in the living room.

4. After.

5. Does a Zeta-Tube count as a secret entrance? Basically, there are three ways into the two-story penthouse: via Zeta-Tube, via the roof's helipad, or via the elevator from the lobby. On the ground floor, there's the front entrance and a loading dock/rear entrance.

Response recorded on February 23, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Did the light pick ultra humanite because he worked with the Brain before and had similar abilities
2 Does the light currently have candidates in place if one of their members gets captured or leaves?
3 Are the heroes aware that the light knows (at least some) of the heroes secret identities
4 Do ultra humanite and deathstroke genuinely agree with the light goals or did they only join for the power and influence they would get from it
5 During young justice season 3 episode 15 when Artemis scanned task force x one of the things that was shown was that black manta was the strategist for the light. Was this an actual role he had when he was still with the light?

Greg responds...

1. I'm sure that was all part of the equation.

2. I'm sure everyone has ideas.

3. Yes. For example, Batman is aware that Ra's knows his identity, and has to assume that the Light now knows, as well.

4. Those aren't mutually exclusive considerations.

5. Is that what it said? I don't recall that.

Response recorded on February 18, 2022

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L writes...

1: Why did you avoid using the classic green oracle face in outsiders?
2: what exactly did Cadmus use to create the 6 type of genomorphs that weren't clones?
3: Who taught kent nelson how to use magic without the helmet? was it nabu?
4: When did shade gain his power?
5: Was shade a foe of the justice society?

Greg responds...

1. I don't recall.

2. Genetic material.

3. He picked a lot of it up by osmosis.

4. No spoilers.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on February 18, 2022

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Ali writes...

1:You made clear in the past how you feel about the Speed Force, what is your personal opinion on other cosmic sources of power like the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum, or Elemental Forces such as the Green or the Red? Obviously I am not asking about their status on Earth 16.
2:Can Beast Boy transform into animals not native to the planet he is on? As in could he turn into something like a monkey on Mars or into a Ma'alefa'ak on Earth?

Greg responds...

1. I think it behooves me to keep my thoughts to myself. Despite your caveat, my words would inevitably be taken out of context and dispersed.

2. A monkey wouldn't survive long on M'arzz. So the answer is, yes, theoretically, but no, pragmatically. You've already seen him transform into a Ma'alefa'ak on Earth.

Response recorded on February 18, 2022

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Jay writes...

Is there a reason people wear the same civilian clothes every day? (I know this is for budgetary reasons for most animation but considering how much thought goes into this world, I figured I'd if there's an in-universe reason)

Are people actually wearing the same clothes every day? Or are we, the audience, just seeing a false version of their clothing? If they are wearing the same clothes every day, do they have multiple identical articles of clothing?

Regardless of all of the above, how many Superman t-shirts does Conner have? If it's just the one, how many times a week does he wash it?

Greg responds...

If you'd read our companion comics, you'd know Conner bought many of the exact same black S-Shield t-shirt at Forever Sixteen ten years ago.

Otherwise, no. In theory, people are not wearing the exact same thing every day, sequentially. Ultimately, we just don't have the person-hours to constantly design new civilian clothes for everybody.

Response recorded on February 18, 2022

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Jay writes...

Will Damian Wayne be drawn with Arabic features? He's always drawn and colored as if he's white in other mediums, but has such an important heritage. Wayne Family Adventures is the only one I can think of that shows this accurately.

Greg responds...

Damian al Ghul is biracial. And we've designed him with that in mind.

Response recorded on February 18, 2022

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Playdate Questions! writes...

Hello, Greg! I have some questions regarding the super-playdate we saw in the Home Fires episode of YJ: Outsiders.

1. How did Mera, Artur, Lois, Jonny, and co. arrive at the West-Allen home? I believe you answered in a previous question that they used zeta tubes, but how did they get from said-zeta tube to the house? Does Mera know how to drive? Did they Uber? Establishing shots didn't show any parked cars around the house, so I'm curious how everyone arrived.
2. How did Ocean-Master know the playdate would be happening on that day? It's clear from his set-up in the adjacent house that he's been keeping an eye on the West-Allen house for a while, but can the same be said for all the attendees? How did he know the playdate would be at that house instead of, say, Will's?
3. I loved seeing how much resemblance the kids have to their parents (Artur to Orin, Don to Barry, Dawn to Iris and Barry, Jonny to Clark), and it reminded me of a question asked long ago (I believe to Jerome K. Moore, but it might've been Phil Bourassa) about the decision to have Lian have red hair instead of the black despite being a fourth-Vietnamese. Did the character artists decide how much resemblance each youngster would have to their parent, or did you and Brandon have that worked out beforehand? For example, did you plan on Don being an adorable mini-Barry or was that the artist's decision? Moving forward to Phantoms, was the same line of thinking applied to Damian as shown in Episode 5's Tale of Two Sisters?
4. In the episode, Will shows relief when John arrives with Traya as he's another father in a sea of mothers. Is this to imply that Barry, Jeff, Orin, and Clark are often too busy with League business to attend the playdates? Or was that mainly in reference to THAT specific playdate?
5. Was there a reason Mal didn't join Karen at the playdate? This one could very well be a spoiler request, but it did strike me as odd considering Karen's eagerness to join the playdate club.

Anyways, thank you in advance! This was one of my favorite episodes of the season and I'm thoroughly loving Phantoms! I hope you're enjoying your day!

Greg responds...

1. I'm thinking cabs or Uber or Lyft. I'm thinking that now, cuz I never bothered thinking about it before now.

2. If you're eavesdropping, you get intel.

3. It's usually a discussion between Brandon, myself and the character designers.

4a. It might imply that, yes.

4b. At minimum, yes.

5. Let's assume he was otherwise occupied.

Response recorded on February 17, 2022

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Verdragon writes...

Do Bio-Ships have actual names and they're just not able to really be expressed to non-Bio-Ships in any way that makes sense, or are they all nameless like Gargoyles as a result of being a sort of hivemind?

Greg responds...

I don't think they have a hive mind in the traditional science fiction sense. Memories are passed down, but that's not quite the same thing, is it? My guess is that there "names" are a series of vocalizations that a human would have a hard time pronouncing at all, let alone distinguishing. But I haven't thought about it, honestly. I'd have to discuss it with Brandon before reaching a final conclusion.

Response recorded on February 16, 2022

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Was the first arc of "Phantoms" on Mars at all inspired by Alfred Bester's novel, "THE DEMOLISHED MAN". The entire premise of that book is a society where everyone is a telepath and how one gets away with murder. It was also the first Hugo Award winner way back in 1953.

Greg responds...

I haven't read it and wasn't familiar with the premise, even. And Brandon never mentioned it. So, I'm thinking the answer is no.

Response recorded on February 16, 2022

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Nick writes...

Hi, Greg! Hope the final stretch of PHANTOMS production is going as well as can be. I'm absolutely loving the episodes so far!

I had a quick question after watching "Tale of Two Sisters" for the fifth time though, as I realized that this is the second episode in S3/S4 where we've seen Paula Crock visiting Will and Artemis's house in Star City. Last we saw, she lived in Gotham.

If it's not too spoilery, I was wondering if:

A. Paula lives in Star City now?
B. Paula has an A-designation? (Not asking for what it is, just if she has one.)
C. Paula simply takes the occasional cross-country flight to visit her daughter?

Greg responds...

A. Yep.

B. That feels like a spoiler question.

C. No, she moved to Star City.

Response recorded on February 16, 2022

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Lucy writes...

In young justice season 4 episode Volatile superboy and beast boy hug and superboy calls beast boy brother. Why and when did Superboy start viewing Beast Boy as a brother ?

Greg responds...

I don't know that there was a specific date I could pin down. But basically, once it became clear that Conner was marrying M'gann, thus making Garfield his soon-to-be-brother-in-law, and once Conner got familiar and comfortable with everyone in Geranium City loosely calling each other brother and sister, it evolved naturally over time.

Response recorded on February 15, 2022

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Grey writes...

Does Artemis work in Royal University, Star City?

Greg responds...

She works AT or FOR Royal University IN Star City, yes.

Response recorded on February 14, 2022

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Todd writes...

1. How rich is Oliver Queen after losing his fortune on Earth 16? He’s got to have a lot of money to maintain a number of equipment stashes in Star City (and abroad), as well as to pay for his and presumably Arsenals and Arrowettes arrows and other weapons.

2. Does Ollie still drive that hybrid car from the Green Arrow short?
2a. Is it the same car that we saw Artemis driving in Tale of Two Sisters?

3. What is Ollie and Dinahs relationship like right now?

Greg responds...

1. He's not at all rich. I'd put him in the lower middle class, if such a thing exists anymore. He makes a decent living, and has some legacy property from when he was rich. He doesn't have to pay for Arsenal's weaponry. Arsenal's trust fund does that. I'm not even sure he pays for Arrowette's arrows. But maybe. Haven't thought about it.

2. Not confirming or denying that the hybrid car is in YJ continuity.

2a. No.

3. Strong, overall. They have bumps. But they generally get past them.

Response recorded on February 14, 2022

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Mark writes...

Hi,

In the Gargoyles meets Spectacular Spider-Man meets Young Justice Radio Play, Artemis refers to leaving Roy to watch Lian and JW. You once remarked about accidentally including a spoiler in the play, and I assumed the existence of JW was that spoiler, but now we're past season three and into season four with no sign of a JW.

1) Was JW the spoiler you had mentioned?
2) Did your plans regarding JW change by the time the show was back in production?
3) If your plans did change, could you tell us about JW and the original plan?

Thank you.

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. Just the timing a bit.

3. Nothing's changed.

Response recorded on February 14, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is Traci Zatanna`s first protégé?

Greg responds...

Yes.

Response recorded on February 11, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

On 2016, a fan commented on Twitter “I also wanted to see more of Nightwing and Zatanna " and you replied “who doesn’t ? !” .
1. Were you foreshadowing that we’ll see more of dick and Zee in the show ?
2. What is your opinion today about dick and Zee together as a couple ?

Greg responds...

1. No, I wasn't. But of course, Zatanna got her own arc, and it isn't too big of a stretch to assume you'll see more of Nightwing, too. So NOW I am.

2. As first loves go, I thought they were really great together.

Response recorded on February 11, 2022

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Ash writes...

Hi Greg, I'm not anticipating a lot of Wonder focus this season given the arc structure, so thought this would be the best batch to try for now in a way that shouldn't spoil anything upcoming by the time things get answered.

1) You’ve said that Amazons don’t age while they’re on Themyscira before, https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=17241 would this apply to non-Amazon women who live there as well?

2) You have given a chronological and biological age for Troia, but only an unspecified (but presumably chronological) age for Diana as of S1 and for Devastation. I was curious if you would give biological ages for Diana and Devastation for the two.

3) You have stated that a part of the reason for the Amazons enhanced abilities (in general, not for the Special Ones), is partly due to the Purple Healing Ray. I was curious if it was technological or mystical in nature?

4) Themyscira is represented as an entity by the UN - but we also see that Atlantis which we know to be composed of several kingdoms/city states and described as a continent is represented as an (apparently) single seat. I was wondering if Themyscira; as represented by the UN, composed of additional islands or settles, and if so if the protection from aging extends to these islands.

Two of those sort of push the limit of being one question, so I'll refrain from asking a fifth. I find the differences that exist within Earth-16s portrayal of its entities (even those not in focus) to be fascinating and was just hoping for a few additional details that I don't think would constitute a spoiler so much as logistics. Thankyou very much for a beautiful world beyond the show.

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. At the start of Team Year Ten, Diana is biologically 39 (more or less).

2a. At the start of Team Year, Devastation is biologically 28 (more or less).

3. Have I? Well, in any case, No spoilers.

4. No spoilers.

So, just because we're not likely to get to something this season, doesn't mean the questions aren't still spoiler requests.

Response recorded on February 11, 2022

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Gwen writes...

Is Cyborg part of the Justice League now? Or is he still affiliated with the Outsiders?

Greg responds...

Cyborg is in the Justice League now.

Response recorded on February 09, 2022

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Lidley writes...

Is YJ's version of Mist based on Nash Nimbus? If not, could you tell us her civilian identity? And going off "Tale of Two Sisters", is she a member of the Team now?

Greg responds...

Mist's real name is Andrea "Andie" Murphy, and, yes, she's now a member of the Team.

Response recorded on February 09, 2022

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Hazel writes...

1. Did Wendy Harris and Marvin White ever clue into the fact that the public hero Superboy was their old classmate?

2. As someone who absolutely adored Kelly Stables' work in W.I.T.C.H., I'm very happy that you roped her in to voice Cissie. Thanks.

3. I noticed that you gave Orphan a Z-designation, but not a B-designation. Was she even a formal member of the team when Season 3 started?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. I was very happy, too! Kelly is always great!

3. Nope.

Response recorded on February 09, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Will was wearing his Red Arrow costume in episode 5 of Phantoms. Was that a one time thing again like in "Private Security" or is he fully back as RA?

Greg responds...

Occasionally, he's back as Red Arrow. But not often.

Response recorded on February 08, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why did the light make klarion one of their inner members. Could he not just have remained a partner/associate of the light and give his seat to somebody more stable and more in line with their goals?

Greg responds...

I think Savage made the choice that was best for the Light, given Klarion's personality and level of power.

Response recorded on February 08, 2022

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Steve writes...

1: Is Zviad Baazovi from markovia? He was a soviet originally in the comics.
2: How many lords of chaos and order are there usually at a time?
3: Why did Wonder Woman return to man's world after returning home following world war 2?
4: Was John smith/red tornado Connor's legal guardian? I remember seeing that here but i couldn't find it in the archives
4b: Did anyone else took over for torando like ma and pa kent?
5: If Tornado was Connor's legal guardian, does Connor view as a father and by extension Traya as a sister?

Greg responds...

1. He's Markovian in YJ.

2. I've never counted.

3. No spoilers.

4. I seem to recall that as well.

4b. Eventually, yes.

5. They're not quite that close. But they are fairly close.

FYI, Conner is spelled with an o and an e.

Response recorded on February 08, 2022

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Liam writes...

1: How was Ocean master/Orm related to Orin/Aquaman? Were they full brothers or half brothers?
2: Who were orm's parents?
3:What's Ra's al ghul ethnicity? It's always been vague in the comics and with most of his designs.
4: What is Sensei"s full name?

Greg responds...

1. Half-brothers.

2. Same mother. Different fathers. Not revealing their names, cuz... Spoilers.

3. Arabic.

4. No spoilers.

Response recorded on February 07, 2022

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Peter writes...

By the time of young justice season 3 or season 4 does roy harper (arsenal) view his two clones as his brothers ?

Greg responds...

Yep.

Response recorded on February 07, 2022

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Rick writes...

In young justice phantoms episode 5 At night when the league shadows attack Tigress and the others in the street why the people in the surrounding buildings not call the police and if the people inside the buildings did call the police why did the police not arrive in time of the fight in the street ?

Greg responds...

No units were nearby, apparently.

Response recorded on February 07, 2022

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Kyle writes...

Are we ever going to see a gradual LGBT teenage romance in the vein of Conner and M'gann or Wally and Artemis? I love Kaldur and Wynnde, as well as the representation of Halo, but I really want to see that slow burn romance that's kind of an arc in and of itself. Especially with LGBT male characters, we tend to be represented in the adult characters and already in relationships. It'd be so cool to see a S1 Wally/Artemis dynamic between two guys, especially if they're still figuring out their sexuality.

Greg responds...

Sorry, NO SPOILERS.

But I hear you.

Response recorded on February 04, 2022

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Alex writes...

1. Is Roy Harper a descendant of Vandal Savage in YJ?
2. Does the Light still have the remains of his right arm?
3. Does Roy have a favourite clone?
4. Has he forgiven Ollie for leaving him on ice for 8 years?
5. Does Roy still use his bow and arrow?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers.

3. Do you mean does he prefer Jim to Will or vice versa? Well, if he does, I'm sure he's not going to tell anyone that. He's not that insensitive.

4. Most days, yes.

5. He thinks of himself as a living arsenal, so he'll use whatever weapon is convenient for the moment. But a bow and quiver are bulky items, so they aren't a part of his regular weaponry.

Response recorded on February 04, 2022

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Artemis's Boyfriend & University writes...

Greetings, Greg! I have some questions about Artemis's boyfriend and the university she teaches at, as seen in Episode 5 of YJ: Phantoms.

1. How old is Artemis's Boyfriend?
2. How long has he and Artemis known each other?
3. What is the name of the university/college Artemis works at?
4. Is this her first semester as a professor?
5. Does she teach multiple types of literature or just Classic Literature?

Thank you and I hope you're having a fantastic day! :)

Greg responds...

1. Artemis' boyfriend was born in 1989.

2. Not VERY long.

3. Royal University.

4. It depends how you define professor.

5. She teaches comparative literature.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

Is Jade/Cheshire a wanted criminal at this point? Is there a warrant out for her arrest?

Greg responds...

"A warrant"? No. Not "a warrant."

Multiple warrants, on the other hand, would be a separate question.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What is the name of Mist's power?

Greg responds...

The name? She turns into mist. Maybe she's mistifying.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

In the opening for "Young Justice: Outsiders," each of the main characters have their designation numbers; which are shown changing from what they were when they first started to what they are in the present. However, in the case of Zatanna (who had three designation numbers throughout the series), for some reason, it is somewhat hard to see the altering designation numbers inside her "Z" character symbol; while the rest of the characters' designation numbers can be seen easily in comparison. Is there any specific reason for this?

Greg responds...

I assume your talking about Phantoms, rather than Outsiders. I have seen the main title many times, and I haven't had any particular problem reading Zatanna's three designation numbers. Certainly, it doesn't seem any more difficult than catching anyone else's numbers. At least not to me. In any case, all three of her numbers have been used on the show and aren't a secret. She was A-03, then B-08, then 25.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1. When did Barbara joined the Team ?
2. When she joined, were Dick and Zatanna still together ?
3. Did Barbara and Zatanna already happened to team up ( like just the two of them ) ?
4. How did Zatanna and Barbara meet ?
5. Would you say that they (Zatanna and Barbara) are good friends, very good friends or just friends ?

Greg responds...

1. I feel like I've answered this before, but okay: Team Year Four.

2. No spoilers.

3. No spoilers.

4. No spoilers.

5. I'll leave that to your interpretation.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

1 Does Lex Luthor genuinely see superboy as his son?
2 If the answer to question 1 is yes. How does lex view match simply as a failed experiment or also as his son?
3 Did the infinity inc members work for lex before he came up with the idea of creating his own outsiders or did he recruit them immediately after coming up with the idea.
4 Does Lex Luthor hate the outsiders or does he merely consider them very annoying to his interests
5 Was lex luthor aware of superboy and miss martian’s engagement? And if he was aware. Did have any thoughts about it or did he not care at all?

Greg responds...

1. Though I have my own opinions, I think I'll leave that to your interpretation.

2. Lex shares no DNA with Match. But I don't think he views any experiment as a failure. Some are simply learning experiences.

3. No spoilers.

4. I think once he calmed down, the answer is closer to option b.

5. I'm sure he and all the Light keep track of the young heroes at this point, and at some point he must have seen a surveillance photo of Megan wearing her ring.

5a. Again, I'm inclined to leave this to your interpretation.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Are Mist and Livewire a couple in Young Justice Outsiders? Or are they friends?

Greg responds...

Well, they're definitely good friends. Beyond that, I'll leave the extent of their relationship to your interpretation for now. Or I could just say, NO SPOILERS.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

1) Is Artemis an adjunct professor? Or, is it a tenure track position?

2) Having lived the life of a graduate student I can tell you a professorship is not a part-time job! Between teaching, research, administrative tasks, training, fighting, her responsibilities as an aunt and mentor, how does Artemis find time to do it all?

Greg responds...

1. I'd have to do research to figure that out for sure, but I lean toward tenure-track.

2. I'm going to point out that being a reporter is likewise a full-time job, as is being a C.E.O., and yet somehow Superman and Batman manage it. We're gonna need a LITTLE suspension of disbelief here, or the whole series is doomed.

Response recorded on February 03, 2022

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Where to Turn...

This comment, posted on ASK GREG, was brought to my attention today, and I thought I should respond sooner rather than later...

Question received on Wed, February 02, 2022 12:26:33 AM
Anonymous writes...
I'm not really a fan of how you've increasingly used GLAAD and MPAC to shield yourself from criticism from fans. I've seen you use their support to say the criticism isn't a monolith more than once. Yeah of course it's not a monolith, but that doesn't mean the criticism isn't valid. It comes off a little -i can't be racist i have a black friend- Not to mention that these Hollywood institutions are often out of touch with everyday people, so you should listen to your fans as much as you listen to them. And as a cis white straight man, you dont ever have the right to tell someone who is LGBT or a POC that they're wrong. Just log off Twitter and stop responding. People are allowed to have their own opinions.

This is clearly a response to the following Twitter exchange:

Xaar
@Xaar95340771
@Greg_Weisman
Stop misrepresenting Islam and Muslims in your cartoons. The bare minimum is to educate yourself about the topic. Being a Muslim magician is oxymoronic the 2 are not compatible. Performing magic takes one out of Islam. One cannot be both like Khalid claims.
5:56 PM · Jan 28, 2022·Twitter Web App

Greg Weisman
@Greg_Weisman
We ran everything on that episode, which was written by @nidachowdhry and performed by @UsmanAlly, by @SueObeidi and the folks at @mpac_national. And they were happy with it. So perhaps - just perhaps - you should consider that not every Muslim agrees with you.

First off, I agree that people are allowed to have their opinions. I never said otherwise. I NEVER said that Xaar was "wrong". I clearly wrote that perhaps not every Muslim viewer agrees with him, her or them, and I clearly have evidence to back that statement up. Yet, you seem to have no problem mischaracterizing what I wrote. Likewise, you seem to have no problem disrespecting me, and by implication disrespecting the Muslim writer of the episode, disrespecting the Muslim actor who performed the role of Khalid, and disrespecting the Muslim organization that works daily to improve how Muslims are depicted in the media. (And for no particular reason, disrespecting GLAAD while you were at it.)

Meanwhile, as a pragmatic matter, I'm not exactly sure what alternative you're preaching.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you are right about MPAC and GLAAD being "Hollywood institutions" that "are often out of touch with everyday people." [And to be clear, I disagree with that statement strongly. I even take some umbrage at the notion that MPAC's Sue Obedi is not "everyday people," or the implication that I'm not.] But again, for the sake of argument, who else should I be consulting when I and the rest of the YJ crew make a concerted effort to accurately and respectfully depict Muslims? The fans? How would that work in advance of us making something for the fans to see. Should I poll a random selection of fans? And would that make everyone happy? As it currently stands, I've received complaints on this point from only two "fans". The relatively anonymous "Xaar" and the completely anonymous you (and that's assuming that you yourself are not Xaar, i.e. that you are not the same person slamming me twice on two separate forums). The dozen or so other comments I've received from self-stated Muslim fans have all been highly positive. So do I need 100% agreement in order to do ANYTHING? Or can I go with the prevailing sentiment expressed by most fans (a.k.a. everyday people), MPAC, the writer and the actor?

See, the thing is I'm not hiding behind MPAC or GLAAD. But I am respecting their opinions - and relating those opinions to you and the rest of the fandom, because I think its pertinent information.

Mostly, as a self-admitted "cis white straight [animist Jewish] man," I'm admitting I'm NOT an expert on being a cis biracial straight Muslim man. So instead, I WENT to experts. That's how this works. And I don't see how else it could work. Or are you suggesting that I should only write about cis white straight [animist Jewish] male characters, and never attempt to add diversity to the projects I work on? Cuz, frankly, that's not going to happen, and I don't really think anyone wants that - unless what they really want is a DIFFERENT "crime" with which to hammer me.

As for logging off Twitter, there are days (like today) when I want nothing more. But (a) I feel the need to promote the projects I've worked on, both for the sake of my own career and for the other people who've worked so hard on those projects, and (b) if, as you say, people are entitled to their opinions, then I figure I'm also entitled to mine. So I'm not going to allow you or anyone like you to chase me off. Certainly not over the sin of YOU misquoting ME.


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Anonymous writes...

How old is Damien.
Is his last name Wayne or al Ghul?
How old if Onyx?

Greg responds...

Damian al Ghul was born in Team Year Eight.

Onyx Adams was born in 2004.

Response recorded on February 01, 2022

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emmy the vampire slayer writes...

hi, greg ðŸ'‹

is megan in season 4 a transgender allegory? the scene where she says that form isn't who she's inside is a VERY trangender thing. was that on purpose or not? in season 1, when you were asked about this, you said you didn't have a trans metaphor in mind for megan, but things changed, i guess. (or not)

i think she works a lot better being a allegory for a trans person than for a person of color to be honest. but she can be both, i guess.

oh, and do dogs live longer in YJ? you said they live longer in gargoyles because they should live longer in real life, so in your universe, they do.

ps: i'm not saying you shouldn't like your show. you should, it's good :)

Greg responds...

1. I think it's become both. Fans told us that they related to Megan as a trans allegory, so we went with that, while maintaining her growing out of the desire to be part of a "passing" allegory.

2 I believe I said Gargoyle Beasts live longer than dogs. But maybe you could show me a link to whatever wild thing I said. In any case, no. In YJ, a normal dog has a normal dog lifespan.

Response recorded on February 01, 2022

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Rob writes...

Hey man been a big fan of Young Justice since high school and spent a nice chunk of those teenager years helping build the wiki and I just want to say thanks for helping me find a passion in storytelling and I’m curious to see where you take the story and I’m happy it’s back.

My question is: Do Roy and Jim consider Lian as a niece (considering they’ve meet her at all) since the Harper trio essentially have a brotherly relationship with each other?

Greg responds...

They absolutely do. And she sees them as her uncles.

Response recorded on January 31, 2022

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L writes...

1: Was Barbara Gordan named after her mother or did her mom have a different name?
2: Was Mist's father a villain named mist too?
3: Is Luis Garcia a character from the comics?
4: Did the other Babylon/Mesopotamian gods exist as Vandal's children?
5: Does Vandal all ways kill his elderly children?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers.

3. Yes. Although he may be something of a composite.

4. No spoilers.

5. Not necessarily.

Response recorded on January 31, 2022

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L writes...

1: What were the names of Orin's parents?
2: Who was Cassandra Savage's mother?
3: Is everyman Hannibal bates?
4: What is Fury's real name?
5: Was artemis a fan of Green arrow? It would seem so based on her orginal costume?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers.

3. No spoilers.

4. No spoilers.

5. She admired him.

Response recorded on January 31, 2022

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L writes...

1: What year was Orm sent to prison in Atlantis?
2: Does the atlantean family have a surename or house name?
3: Do atlanteans not usually have last names?
4:What city is Tula from?
5: What year did FIre debut as a hero? Was she a teenager like Ice?

Greg responds...

1. Well, we know he wasn't in prison in September of Team Year Zero. We know he served six years. We know he was out of prison by September of Team Year Eight. So that puts the start of his prison stay between September of Team Year Zero and September of Team Year Two.

2. If you mean Orin and Orm, no. Orin sometimes uses Curry.

3. Some do, some don't.

4. Poseidonis.

5. Beatriz da Costa debuted as a hero in Team Year Six. She may have just barely been a teen when she debuted, as I haven't set a specific date of birth for her. But she was twenty years old by the end of that year.

Response recorded on January 31, 2022

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L writes...

this isn't a question i just think that even considering how excellent the show has always been, i personally think that 4.05 is the best episode of yj you guys have ever made. unreal on all fronts. woke up at 5:30 to watch it before work and it's better than coffee lol

Greg responds...

Thanks. I'm really glad you liked it!

Response recorded on January 28, 2022

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shalkaofwar writes...

Few questions after The Tale of Two Sisters-
1. So this not really me asking for a spoiler just trying to understand what Cassandra claimed to be her timeline to the team, So she said that after Olympia's death she tried to defect but as punishment was forced to serve as a member of the shadows but then she also said that she had to return to Santa Prisca. Does that mean according to her story she was initially on Santa Prisca with the Shadows training but wasn't exactly a shadow herself and then tried to defect but was caught by Vandal and thus lost one arm. I am a bit confused by this wording especially the use of the word 'return'.
2. Who is the girl with Artemis and Halo in the beginning of the episode when we see Artemis's daily life before she finds about Conner's death.
3. The whole Tale of Two cities end credit scene is an interesting choice especially when those words are about death and resurrection (I am pretty sure it also signifies resurrection) whose idea was it to add this as an end credit thing.
4. Is it valid to say this season is spelling out some sentence too especially since so far we have the words INVIT and the future episode titles contain A,T,I as the opening letter of the episodes.
I really liked this episode and the whole literature theme in this story is pretty cool all in all. Can't wait to see what comes next.

Greg responds...

1. I think you're trying to compress events too much, and that's what's causing your confusion. Cassandra trained with the Shadows, which is where she met Tara Markov. Then she went to intern with her dad and older sister on Warworld. Then after Olympia's funeral, she returned to the Shadows, where I would think you saw her confer with both Lady Shiva and Deathstroke (Batman certainly saw her.) She also worked briefly with Lex Luthor on his little Bwandan thing.

Then, according to her story, the death of Olympia at her father's hands and the revelation about her mother and her mother's family made her think more and more about getting out. So she attempted to escape. Was caught. Was punished. Was returned to Santa Prisca to continue her training with the Shadows. Then, she escaped again and managed to find her way to Tigress and the Team.
2. Mist. (I mean, look at her. She's all misty!)

3. I don't think it is about resurrection, personally. I think it's about living on in the memories of those that survive you. But I'm not here to debate interpretations of Charles Dickens, and your interpretation may be just as valid as mine.

3a. It was Brandon's idea to use literature quotations for the second arc's end credits. I chose that specific quotation for this episode.

4. It is valid to say that.

Response recorded on January 28, 2022

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Amaldo writes...

Dear Greg, Did you ever consider focusing more on the S2 team more in Outsiders. Not trying to sound disrespectful or say this is what you should do, but it feels like these characters have kind of been put on the back burner and had very little development. Seeing as these characters had some interesting things being set up in S2 like Tim and Casie getting together, Bart becoming kid flash, and static joining the team and his relationship with black lightning. If this breaks any of the guidelines I do apologize because I’m not trying to tell you how to run your show, just wanted to know your thoughts on these characters.

Greg responds...

I love all those characters, but the story took us where the story took us, and I love the characters we did focus on, too. I think Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Static got a little focus. And even Robin got a bit. But, to be clear, none of them are our leads. Our leads are the season one Team, many of whom are no longer on the Team - which means that the Team itself is no longer the focus of the series - plus whatever characters the storyline drives us to focus on.

With enough episodes or issues or whatever, we'd eventually shine the spotlight on everyone. But we only have so many episodes, so some characters are bound to get short-shrift. Nature of the Beast.

Response recorded on January 28, 2022

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JSA Fan writes...

So, if Stargirl and Courtney Whitmore exist in Earth-24b I have to ask:
1. Is Courtney Whitmore secretly Stargirl?
2. Is her stepfather Pat Dugan?
3. Was Pat Dugan once Stripesy, fighting crime with Sylvester Pemberton?
4. Was there a superhero that went by Starman before Stargirl joined the Outsiders, and does she have any history with any of these heroes from the comics?
5. If Starman or Sylvester Pemberton were heroes, were either ever on any teams of heroes?

P.S. loving Phantoms!

Greg responds...

I don't know what Earth-24b is or what it has to do with Earth-16.

1. In Outsiders, Courtney hosted an entertainment series called Star Girl. In Phantoms, she is Stargirl. The transition happened between seasons.

2. No spoilers.

3. No spoilers.

4. No spoilers.

5. No spoilers.

Thanks!

Response recorded on January 28, 2022

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Suzie writes...

How many leaders have the Team had over the past 10 years and can you tell us how long they were in charge. For example when did Miss Martian become leader of the Team and how long was she in charge before stepping down.

Greg responds...

Not a lot, surprisingly. Aqualad gave over to Nightwing, who then turned it back over to Aqualad, until he joined the League as Aquaman, at which point Miss Martian took over until she resigned, at which point Tigress took over.

Response recorded on January 27, 2022

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Hayden Philyaw writes...

Hello again, I have a few new questions!
1) will you guys bring back the tie in comics?
2) Has Beast Boy turned into other alien animals besides the ones we've seen so far? Do zoos exist on Mars?

Greg responds...

1. I'd love to. It's not up to me.

2. No spoilers.

Response recorded on January 26, 2022

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Suzie writes...

They never really elaborated on this, but I'm curious. What exactly is the relationship like between Superboy and Martian Manhunter since he is dating/engaged to his niece, Miss Martian?

Greg responds...

It was avuncular.

Response recorded on January 26, 2022

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Emily writes...

1: Is alan scott"s ring simply a damage green lantern corp ring or is it also magical in nature too?
2: Is alan scott a gay or bi man on earth 16? Recently comics out the classic alan scoot who was in ww21 and father of obsidian and jade
3: Is Cassandra savage a original character? Or was she inspired by a preexisting character?
3b: If she is original, why name her Cassandra when there is already Cassandra cain and sandsmark present ?
4: When did the first Black Canary start operating?
5: When did Steel/John start operating as a superhero?

Greg responds...

1. The former.

2. No spoilers.

3. She's inspired by Scandal Savage.

3b. We weren't the first to go this route. We were following the Arrowverse. And besides, it just seemed to make sense. It felt like the closest thing to Scandal that was an actual name.

4. 1964.

5. Team Year Six.

Response recorded on January 25, 2022

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Emily writes...

1: Does Kate know that bruce is her cousin and batman?
2: Did spoiler start off as in independent hero? Did she get any training from batman or another bat family member?
3: Was damian Waynethe product of a consensual sex with talia and Bruce? I've always hated the retcon it into being Talia raping Bruce.
4: Is there a reason that so many aliens look so much like humans on earth 16? I've always hated comics making aliens looks so human looking
5: When did Red tornado officially started using his John Smith body?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers. But, yes.

2 No spoilers.

2a. No spoilers, but of course.

3. No spoilers.

4. Other than Kryptonians, who looks human? Icon? He was organically reengineered to look human. John Jones and Megan Morse? They're shapeshifters. Hawkman and Hawkwoman? Those wings aren't accessories. They are winged humanoids.

5. Sometime after Season One.

Response recorded on January 25, 2022

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Emily writes...

1: Does Lex care for conner at all in a fatherly sense?
2: Does Conner view lex as a father? does he care for Lex in some sense?
3: Is Kate Kane a cousin or relative of Bruce in the universe?
4: Is Kate the first batwoman on earth 16 or did Kathy Kane exist too?
5: Is Kate a core member of the batfamily or is she more of a independent agent?

Greg responds...

1. I'm fine leaving that for your interpretation.

2. Ditto.

3. They are first cousins.

4. She's the first.

5. Hopefully, you've seen by now that she is part of the Bat family, which doesn't mean she can't also act independently. Those things aren't mutually exclusive.

Response recorded on January 25, 2022

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Paul writes...

Did M'gann M'orzz/Megan Morse have a bridal shower on Earth, like Raquel Ervin did?

Greg responds...

Prior to leaving for M'arzz? No. The original plan was to have one on Earth, after she returned from Mars, before her Earth wedding.

Plans change.

Response recorded on January 24, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

Did you ever consider having Ma'alefa'ak succeed in committing genocide? If so, why did you ultimately decide against it?

Greg responds...

If you're talking about in episode 404, than no.

Response recorded on January 24, 2022

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Liam writes...

1: Is a child of a B'lahdenn still treated as a Noble if they come out white or green?

2: Are all martians born with the psychic powers and the ability to shape-shifting? Are the ones born without discriminated or treated negatively?

3: Are some A'ashenn grey or all of them white? This is inspired by your latest answer and your wish that you made the (A'ashenn all grey.

4: Did any martians travel to earth before
J'onn J'onzz? Did they inspire earth's myths of the Greys and little green men or other alien tales.

5: Did J'onn J'onzz always present as a black man? What was his decision for doing so?
5b: Does J'onn have multiple identities that he uses?

Greg responds...

1. In depends how conservative one's family is. If it's very conservative, the act of marrying a G'arrunn or an A'ashenn would disqualify you from still being considered a true B'lahdenn. An extremely liberal family wouldn't, in theory, care about caste at all. But, if we're speaking generally, then I suppose the answer is no. If you're visibly A'ashenn or G'arrunn, you're not B'lahdenn.

2. Yes.

2a. I don't know if there are any without, but you can imagine if there were what kind of reception they'd get.

3. Uh... I guess they're all white. (Or maybe it depends on the lighting or the filter on your camera.)

4. No spoilers.

5. No spoilers.

5b. I'm not saying he's NEVER used another identity, but he's fundamentally stuck with John Jones.

Response recorded on January 24, 2022

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Liam L writes...

Can I just say that I love your decision to keep Mars a populated plant! I'm so glad we finally got to see it this season. I think the world building was incredibly interesting, so I have a few or well more than a few questions.

1: Are the other castes able to sense what a Y'ellonn former caste was? Are Y'ellonn of a higher caste respected more than a lower one?

2: Is becoming a sorcerer priest the only way to learn magic on Mars? Are the other ways legal?

3: if there's a different way to learn magic, is there a difference between the priesthood magic and the alternatives or is it mostly the same?

4: Is a red martian joining the priest hood common?

5: Do Y'ellonn permanently lose their shape-shifting ability? Or do they still still have shape-shifting but every transformation they remain yellow?

Greg responds...

1. Technically, yes. But it's considered very bad form to even try. Y'ellonsn are all equally Y'ellonn. Former-Caste no longer matters.

2. No. But that's the traditional route.

2a. Legal? As long as one's not doing anything illegal WITH the magic, I suppose it's all legal.

3. All magicks have their signature, but all magic is still fundamentally the same thing.

4. Percentage-wise, as common as the other castes, but there are fewer reds, so their are fewer taking the Y'ellonn.

5. The latter, though I imagine they have less reason or need to shapeshift.

Response recorded on January 24, 2022

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Chip writes...

Since Garfield needed a Martian animal form to survive the atmosphere, how did he deal with the specifics of acquiring a Martian animal form during his first trip?

Was he stuck inside Bio-Ship until M’gann brought him a Ma’arzuu Beast or something else to observe, or some other solution? I’m just legitimately curious about the logistics of that first trip and shift,

Greg responds...

The short answer is #NoSpoilers, cuz it's part of an untold story. But I think your basically on the right track.

Response recorded on January 21, 2022

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Masterdramon writes...

Aloha Greg! Finally caught up with the queue again, and figured I'd "celebrate" my asking my own question for the first time in a while.

First off, absolutely loving just about everything about PHANTOMS so far. The maturity of the storytelling, worldbuilding, and character exploration on display in just the first arc has been stupendous.

I particularly appreciated your acknowledgment in a recent answer of racial blindspots you and the creative team could see in hindsight with the way Mars-16's society was set up, and the genuine effort put into course-correcting here, resulting in a far more nuanced and topical take on racial prejudice and hierarchy than most contemporary shows would even dare TOUCH.

Meanwhile the animation, sound design, and voice talent remain top-notch as ever (particular props to Greg Cipes...people who have only heard him do Beast Boy in the VERY broad take from "Teen Titans Go!" have to have been thrown for a loop by his performance here). The dialogue, both dramatic and humorous, carries a sharpness that few other shows of its type can match. And that heart of mystery and black-ops intrigue, which always gave YJ its own strong, unique identity to set itself apart from other versions of the DCU, remains as strong as ever (though I totally called the king's murderer right off the bat, LOL).

All this combines to create what is shaping up to possibly be the best season of this show yet, and the reason why Thursdays are the day of the week I'll be most looking forward to for the foreseeable future. ;)

Now, to the actual question...

One element introduced in OUTSIDERS that really interested me were the Control Chips used by the Light and their associates. While they seem like garden-variety fictional mind control devices in terms of their utility and effects, their actual origin and functionality are never brought up on-screen, as they are clearly a well-known feature of the criminal underworld by Team Year Eight.

So these are a few of the questions that I've been mulling over since my last rewatch of OUTSIDERS. If any of these are considered to be spoiler requests or touch on unseen elements of PHANTOMS, feel free to skip over, but I figured I'd give it a shot!

1) Who first invented the Control Chips?

2) In "Auld Acquaintance" Vandal mentions that one of the Light's goals was cornering the market, as it were, on "every conceivable method of mind control." As he says this, we get a quick montage of examples from Season 1, including Starro-Tech, G-Gnome telepathy, the Joker's plant-controlling gloves, Queen Bee's pheromone abilities, and Psimon's psychic powers. Were any of these precursors or bases for the Control Chip tech?

3) Anything you're willing to share about how the Control Chip's level of...well, control, compares to the above-mentioned methods? For example, Starro-Tech explicitly only allows an external user remote control of the mind, without actually altering the victim's thoughts. If not neutralized by a Cure Chip, do Control Chips have this same limitation, or do they work along an entirely different vector?

4) Is there a "standard" Control Chip model used by the various meta-traffickers around the world, or is this the sort of case where once the technology exists, unsavory characters of all sorts reverse-engineered their own "flavors"?

5) How does the Control Chip imprint who the victim is supposed to be obeying? Clearly in Jace's case, for example, she had primed the chips she used on Brion and Tara so they would obey her, but is that done by a voiceprint sample, DNA, or some other method?

I'm probably overthinking this one little part of the worldbuilding, but hey, that's what this sight is for! That, and asking for the age of every character who has ever been mentioned for a single femtosecond, LOL...

Regardless, wishing you, the rest of the cast and crew, and all of your loved ones the absolute best! Cannot wait for the next chapter of PHANTOMS to enter my eyeballs.

Mahalo nui loa! :D

Greg responds...

1. They're a spin-off of Starro Tech, created, I assume, by Ultra-Humanite and his compatriots.

2. See above.

3. When activated - and they can be installed without being activated - one has to follow verbals commands, even against one's will.

4. Eh. Mostly the former, but certainly the latter may be happening, as well.

5. There are multiple options, but it does need to be prepped in advance of installation.

Thanks, Masterdramon - for your kind words here and for moderating Ask Greg. I and all the fans owe you a debt!

Response recorded on January 21, 2022

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Isaac writes...

Hello! I was wondering if you ever watched Robert Kirkman's Invincible (2021) animated series? It's about superheroes and gave me the same vibes as Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice (just WAY gorier). I really enjoyed it, and one aspect of it that I absolutely loved was the longer episodes, running about forty-to-fifty minutes each. I know it's way above your pay-grade, but I was just curious, if you had the choice, would you want to extend your episodes to fifty-some minutes like Invincible? Or would you want to keep them a little over twenty minutes? Assuming of course you'd be able to still produce twenty to twenty-six episodes for each season, which Invincible didn't do at just eight episodes per the first season.

Anyways, Happy Halloween! I'm eagerly awaiting the next episode of YJ Phantoms! Artemis' arc is looking to be fantastic!

Greg responds...

I haven't seen Invincible.

In some ways, I'd love to stop worrying about episode lengths entirely. But I'd still want the same quantity of episodes (or more). And budget is definitely a factor. It's been great on the last couple of seasons of YJ that if we have (within our budget) been freed from the constraints of a maximum length. But I don't feel like we've been hugely restricted by running between 22 and 27 minutes. Don't know that we need "fifty-some".

Response recorded on January 20, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why didn’t Gar meet Em'ree on his last trip to Mars like he did M’comm?

Greg responds...

Em'ree and M'gann weren't close. Gar didn't meet most of M'gann's siblings.

Response recorded on January 20, 2022

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Chip writes...

I was wondering, given their caste differences, how did S’yraa S’mitt and Prince J’emm meet?

Greg responds...

Wow. Martian names and ASK GREG don't go well together, do they?

In any case, as always, #NoSpoilers.

Response recorded on January 20, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

What was Em'ree referring to when she said "I didn't know that" on the Sacred Rivers? What did she not know? And why did she seem shocked at that?

Greg responds...

I think it's extremely clear what she's responding to in that moment, i.e. what was said immediately before she made that statement. So I'll just suggest you watch again.

Response recorded on January 19, 2022

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Keira writes...

I do geuninely appreciate what you did with Halo in Outsiders. I thought you crafted the arc of an otherworldly being trying to outline its own identity very well. I thought the point of her arc was clearly communicated- last season she was trying to grasp the bare fundamentals of being human, and in this one, it seems like she's reached a place where she explore them in more depth.

Her arc was one of favourite parts of the last season, and I thank you for that.Looking forward to more.

Greg responds...

Thank you. I appreciate that. There is more to come.

Response recorded on January 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Were king Ma'arrun‎ and queen Sykara‎ married or rulers in their own time?

Greg responds...

Ask Greg has trouble with certain characters. So it's a bit hard to read what you've written here. But in any case, the answer is going to be #NoSpoilers.

Response recorded on January 19, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Young Justice Questions in regards to Batwoman:

1. Is her full name Katherine "Kate" Rebecca Kane?

2. Are she and Bruce Wayne maternal cousins?

3. When did she join the Justice League and what was her designation number during her time as a member?

4. Within the animated series, does her immediate family consists of Jacob Kane (father), Gabrielle "Gabi" Kane (mother), Elizabeth "Beth" Kane (twin sister), and Catherine Hamilton-Kane (stepmother)?

5. Within the animated series, when and why did Kate Kane become Batwoman?

Greg responds...

1. Yep.

2. Yep.

3. She joined the Justice League in Team Year Seven.

3a. I generally don't reveal designation numbers here, unless there seems to be no way in the future to ever learn said numbers.

4. No spoilers. But I will say she's related to Bette Kane, whom we met in Season One and in our companion comics.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on January 18, 2022

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Edarad writes...

What was the deal with R'ess E'dda in episode 1 and his massive mind link? Isn't he a Queen's subordinate? That looked like an attack. Or at worst, an insurrection. Is that a Martian costume or something?

Greg responds...

It was a lawful psychic assembly/protest, believe it or not. It was certainly oppressive, and it was designed to catch the queen off guard. So it was also obnoxious. But, yes, R'ess is a subordinate to Queen J'arlia. Still, technically, he did nothing wrong - or at least nothing illegal.

Response recorded on January 18, 2022

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Suzie writes...

I have a question about Superboy and the Kents.

1. Is John Smith aka Red Tornado still listed as Superboy's legal guardian.
2. Have Jonathan and Martha Kent adopted Superboy?
3. What kind of relationship does Superboy have with his adopted family?

Greg responds...

1. No.

2. I haven't given any thought to whether or not they officially went through that process. Probably. But in any case, if one assumes he was "written down" as 16 in Team Year One, by Team Year Ten he was over the age of consent and had or needed no legal adult guardian.

3. A good one.

Response recorded on January 18, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Young Justice Questions in regards to Superman:

#1. Are the names of Kal-El's birth parents Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van?

#2. Since Kal-El was born in 1977 and his ship landed in Kansas in 1978, how exactly is it possible for his ship to travel to Earth so quickly in the span of only one year?

#3. In the years prior to starting his crime-fighting career in 1998, who else besides Clark's parents was aware that Clark had powers?

#4. When exactly did Clark Kent learn the truth about his own origins?

#5. When exactly did Superman become aware of his weakness to kryptonite?

Greg responds...

1. Jor-El and Lara El, at the time of their deaths.

2. Through subspace.

3. No spoilers.

4. No spoilers.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on January 18, 2022

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Elizabeth writes...

A) Does Roy Harper suffer from chronic phantom limb pain?

B) Is he going to college?

C) Does have a father-son relationship with Ollie?

Greg responds...

A. I don't know. I believe I'd have to do some research to answer that.

B. No spoilers.

C. Basically. Whereas, say, Clark and Conner really settled on a fraternal bond. And Bruce has a clear paternal bond with Dick. Ollie and Roy are somewhere in the middle.

Response recorded on January 14, 2022

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Miraphosa writes...

Does J'onn still talk to the family that disowned J'ann? Considering he's related to them n all. Does Em'ree, or do any of M'ganns other siblings?

Also, do all martians have names starting with the same letter as their siblings? (stretching that even further, does that have anything to do with the letter of their dad's name? Considering M'att -> M'gann, M'comm, M'ree)

Greg responds...

1. J'onn's family is truly enormous. I wouldn't want to say he speaks to none of them. But he chose sides.

2. Em'ree, M'gann and the rest of the siblings have no real relationship with their mother's side of the family.

3. It's common but not an absolute rule.

Response recorded on January 14, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg, hope your doing well.
1.Has Zatanna ever dated someone else after breaking up with Dick ?
2. Has Dick dated someone else after breaking up with Zatanna and before dating Barbara ?
3. Had Dick and Zatanna ever wondered to set back together after breaking up ?
4. Had they ever regret they break up ?
Thanks for your time !

Greg responds...

1. Technically, that's a spoiler request, but the obvious answer is yes. So... yes.

2. Dick's dated a lot of people. Some of whom he's had more than one go 'round with. So that just becomes a complicated question to answer while still avoiding spoilers.

3. There's clearly at least one typo in here, and maybe two. So I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. But if you're asking whether or not the THOUGHT has eve crossed their minds, I think the answer must be yes.

4. Depends what you mean by regret. Regret with a capital R? No. With a lower-case r? Sure. We all have moments of regret.

Response recorded on January 13, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

Is Saturn Girl as powerful and skilled a telepath as M'gann?

Greg responds...

She's up there. One of the few who can hold her own.

Response recorded on January 13, 2022

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Gigliovaljr writes...

Hello there Greg,
So Young Justice Phantoms did a surprise premiere, without any warning, and while that was great isn't it a little concerning?

There was absolutely no marketing for this and yet it dropped anyway. I'm concerned that the little to no advertisement this season got is going to hurt its chances of getting renewed for a fifth season because there was no hype and people don't know it premeired or where it premeired. Are you at all concerned that this lack of marketing is going to hurt the show's future? Is there any way for you or us to know if it has affected viewership significantly or if this season has shown some strong numbers?

Greg responds...

I'm not sure what you expect me to say. These were decisions made way above my paygrade. But the folks at WB, DC & HBO aren't in the business of throwing away money. Folks can agree or disagree with their strategies, but rest assured that they believed that this was what was best for the series.

However, what you do need to remember is that this isn't a broadcast show. It's streaming. Who shows up to watch on the first day isn't as important as it used to be. As long as we #SpreadTheWord and make sure everyone knows to #KeepBingingYJ on @hboMax, it's still possible to #SaveEarth16.

Response recorded on January 13, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

If teekl was destroyed would klarion be permanently banished or only temporarily?

Greg responds...

Depends on how things played out. By now, I'm hoping you've seen how things played out. If not... um... what are you waiting for?

Response recorded on January 12, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Did you make an arc about mars in phantoms specifically so you could save money on talking animation or was that something you already wanted to explore regardless of that? Or both?

Greg responds...

Okay, (a), it doesn't save us any money. It saves the animators time, but we pay Studio Mir the same amount either way. It's not a budget issue, though I won't deny it doesn't hurt to have one less thing to worry about getting right.

And (b), the Mars arc was always planned. And we felt the time was right to explore M'gann's homeworld.

Response recorded on January 12, 2022

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Woodrow Butdonthaveapaddle writes...

Hello Greg!

I'm in awe of how good Young Justice: Phantoms is so far, you and Brandon have certainly knocked it out of the ballpark again! I have two small questions that correlate to both Outsiders and Phantoms.

1.) What was the in-universe reason for Tim Drake to change his Robin outfit to the variation with the hooded cape? I personally thought it was a really cool-looking addition to the character's costume. In Phantoms, why did he choose to ditch the hood for an outfit more along the lines of his Invasion appearance?

2.) What was the in-universe reason for Cassie Sandsmark to trade in her original Wonder Girl outfit for a newer variation with knee-high boots and a dark red jumpsuit?

Thanks for your time! If writing was a superpower, then you'd be more powerful than Superman!

Greg responds...

1. He was moving into an even more covert mode with "Batman, Inc." in S3. By S4, he had become a public hero again with the Outsiders. The general public knows about Robin and has since Dick's time. If they did the math, they must realize this can't be the same guy, but most people don't think that through.

2. She wanted a more grown-up superhero look, especially once she was taking over as leader of the Outsiders during Beast Boy's (now prolonged) absence. It was time.

Response recorded on January 12, 2022

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Jason R Carter writes...

1. Whose idea was it for Steve Dayton to sound like Alan Rickman?

2. Do Bio-ships reproduce by parthenogenesis or coitus?

3. Not so much a question as a request: please get Virgil a girlfriend. Daisy, Frieda, Madison, whoever. Please!

Greg responds...

1. I'm not sure I remember. Maybe Scott Menville's. Maybe Jamie Thomason's.

2. Isn't it visually obvious in episode 401? (I hope the answer is yes, that way I don't have to look up parthenogenesis.)

3. #WeDon'tTakeRequests #WeCan'tTakeSuggestions But who says he doesn't already have one?

Response recorded on January 12, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

Was the Legion part of your plans for Young Justice from when you and Brandon first developed the show and season one? Or, were they a later addition?

Greg responds...

Without getting into specifics of exactly when and where we planned for them to show up, they were always part of our initial plan.

Response recorded on January 11, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Who created those speakers that Gar uses when he is in beast form? How do they work? What is their name?

Greg responds...

1. Well, if you're asking who created the core technology that they utilize, the answer is the Brain.

2. They translate mental speech impulses into a synthesized voice.

3. We call them "the little speakers on Beast Boy's collar."

Response recorded on January 11, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Mr Weisman i have some Young justice related questions for you 1. Does Mrs M'orzz watch hallmark movies on a frequent basis as she was more familiar with the purpose a wedding ring then Mr M'orzz was? 2 Are any of Miss Martian sibling's (Em'ree and M'comm aside) members of the yellow Martian order? 3. what does Black canary do for a living?

Greg responds...

1. Only ones starring Danica McKellar or Lacey Chabert.

2. No spoilers.

3. She's a therapist, and she also owns a flower shop.

Response recorded on January 11, 2022

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Ali writes...

I have 2 questions about Doctor Fate.

1: Do people have to consent to let Nabu possess their body? For Example would it have been possible for the Team or Kent Nelson to just have him possess some evil magic user such as Wotan or Orm by placing the helm on their head against heir will?

2: Does Doctor Fate have access to any non-mystical powers of their human host? He didn't seem to have super speed when possessing Wally, but I am not sure if he just didnt try to(which would be understandable as mid-battle isn't the best place to try out new powers).

Greg responds...

1. I mean obviously the Team or the League wouldn't do that. But whether it's possible is a fair question. It's clearly possible for Nabu to RETAIN control over someone against their will. But does the initial possession require consent? I'm going to tentatively say no. But that even Nabu wouldn't take possession without consent.

2. He would have any powers and abilities that the host body possesses.

Response recorded on January 11, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

I love Prince J’emm! Such a pure and beautiful person he is! Have some questions about him! Please and thank you!

1. How did J’emm met Sy’raa and how long have the know each other?
2. As the future king, how is J’emm’s reputation among his people?
3. Does he have any siblings?
4. Will J’emm appear in more future episodes in Season 4?
5. Does J’emm ever wish to travel to Earth or the just visit other worlds in general?

Greg responds...

1. There's obviously a story in that. I try not to tell stories here at ASK GREG.

1a. Until this story is told, I prefer not to pin that down.

2. Very strong among the more progressive set. He makes the more reactionary set nervous.

3. No spoilers.

4. No spoilers.

5. For now, I'll leave that to your interpretation.

Response recorded on January 11, 2022

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Hello, Gargoyles writes...

Does the Gargoyles show exist on Earth-16? Was it made by Greg Vietti or Brandon Weisman? Did any of our favorite superheroes watch it? Who was their favorite character? ;)

Greg responds...

I've written like four flippant, smart-ass responses to this question, and erased them all, as none truly seemed funny enough to justify all the noise that would come out of people (sometimes willfully) misunderstanding my humor as something serious.

So basically, here's the truth. We have the occasional Easter Egg, because that's fun to do and "get away with". But these properties are owned by two different companies. They do not overlap.

Response recorded on January 10, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

"Please try to dispel the dark cloud shadowing your face and mind"?

Seriously? Seriously? You just can't help yourself,can you?

Greg responds...

If you mean, I can't help tossing in a Shakespeare reference, then the answer is... I don't want to help myself. I'm happy the way I am.

Response recorded on January 10, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Greg,

1. While J'ann's family mostly disowned her, how are relations on M'aatt's side of the family? Are they involve in their nieces and nephews' lives? Do they get along?

2. How strong is J'emm's abilities compared to most Martians? What about in compared to J'onn J'onzz or M'gann?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. Few are as strong as M'gann, as we've established over and over. And J'onn is exceptionally well-trained and experienced. J'emm is young, but has the potential to be powerful.

Response recorded on January 10, 2022

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Shill writes...

When did the Outsiders mission seen in 403 took place?

Greg responds...

February 24th, Team Year Ten

Response recorded on January 07, 2022

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May writes...

Despite a multitude of differences, I've always seen M'gann as sort of a parallel to Starfire from the Teen Titans TV series, in terms of being an alien and overall personality.

Hynden Walch voiced both Starfire and her sister Blackfire in that show. Was choosing Hynden to voice Em'ree a purposeful choice because of that? Her voice seemed to match more how she did Blackfire than Starfire. Or was it all merely a coincidence?

Greg responds...

I believe it went down like this:

We needed to cast Elasti-Girl for "Nightmare Monkeys". As that episode included "Doom Patrol Go!" as a tribute to "Teen Titans Go!" we decided to use the TTG voice cast for the DPG characters, paralleling each as much as possible.

So...

Greg Cipes = Beast Boy = Beast Boy
Tara Strong = Raven = Negative Woman
Khary Payton = Cyborg = Robotman
Scott Menville = Robin = Chief
Hynden Walch = Starfire = Elasti-Girl

Since Hynden was now the official voice of Elasti-Girl, that meant she was now also the official voice of Rita Farr, who became Elasti-Girl, as well as the official voice of Rita Lee, the character that Rita Farr played on "Hello, Megan!"

And since Em'ree was ultimately going to take on the image of Rita Lee, Hynden was the only choice to play Em'ree.

Of course, the fact that Hynden is amazing didn't hurt.

Make sense?

Response recorded on January 07, 2022

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Verdragon writes...

Two Mars-Earth communications satellite questions.
1. When was it first brought on-line?
2. I noticed that the satellite at least looks like it has Bioship-esque textures, was it in any way related to the Bioships or is that just a Martian design sensibility?

Greg responds...

1. During Team Year Nine.

2. That's a good question. I'm not sure.

Response recorded on January 07, 2022

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NoOneSpecial writes...

Maybe this is a strange question, but from a production point of view, are you only allowed to use existing characters from the DC comics or you be able to create an original character for the YJ? I get that their could be a lot of factors in this and alternatives, e.g, like using a relative minor or unheard of character over a more mainstream one. But would you say you have enough creative freedom to create a purely original character for your show that has no DC counterpart that you are adapting? And not just being original, but also having an unmistakable presence in the series, equivalent to one of the mainstream heroes like Nightwing or Artemis. Is a lot of emphasis, from an executive pov, to keep focus on the heroes that are most recognisable to the audience, throughout any of the 4 seasons of YJ? I can think of couple of examples of this occurring in other shows such as Harley Quinn who was created for the Batman TAS, or X-23 who was created for X-Men Evolution. Of course those are two examples of characters that were such a huge hit that they became part of the comics. Now I'm not asking about anything that could be potentially upcoming, I'm just curious if creating original characters is something you could do if you so choose.

Greg responds...

We have created original characters for YJ. Tommy & Tuppence Terror, for example. Frankly, we view Kaldur'ahm as a pretty damn original character, as well. He has antecedents and inspirations from the comics, but no one like him existed before Brandon, Phil and I created him. And he certainly has prominence in our series. And a version of him then became part of DC Comics' continuity. Not as popular as Harley, of course. But we think of him as a significant addition to the canon.

Our preference, however, is to use existing characters on the show whenever possible. We just think it's more fun for the viewer that way. Sometimes the more obscure, the better, like Penny Randolph. Other times, we're bringing in heavy hitters like Cyborg.

In any case, no one has set any restrictions on us, one way or another.

Response recorded on January 07, 2022

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NoOneSpecial writes...

1.J’ann’s family disowned her for marrying a white Martian with the exception of J’onn. What is J’onn relationship like with the rest of his family then? Do they disown him as well for keeping in contact with his sister? Or are they proud to be related to the Martian Manhunter?
2.Is J’onn really highly regarded on Mars? Most of his heroic exploits are on Earth. I’m guessing maybe he could have done some heroism on Mars too, but one might argue he has more loyalty to the Earth than Mars itself given that he lives there and risk his life for the Earth. For other heroes Wonder Woman and Aquaman I can understand because their respective homes are still a part of the Earth. But what makes J’onn such a hero to the Martian people?
3.Was J’onn an official manhunter before he arrived on Earth or is a kind of honorary title he has?
4.Megan said that Bio-Ship was originally meant for J’onn. How did J’onn travel to and from Mars prior to Season 1? Did he have another Bio-ship that he used for travel?
5.Were Megan and her siblings all born roughly at the same time? If not, how many times can Martian couples reproduce. What would be the average number of children a Martian couple can produce?

Greg responds...

1. A family isn't a monolith. He has different relationships with different members of the family.

2. Television.

3. He was a M'hontrr.

4. Initially, J'onn was accidentally zeta'd to Earth, and he was trapped there for years. How he first got back to M'arzz is a spoiler, as are any details associated with his travels prior to him departing M'arzz with Bio-Ship (and the stowaway M'gann).

5. They were not all born at the same time. Our thinking is that the M'orzz family is of a typical size.

Response recorded on January 06, 2022

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NoOneSpecial writes...

1. A Yellow Martian permanently alters their skin color when they become a Priest/Priestess. How is this done? Is this some kind of special ceremony or process when becoming a Priest or is this someone Martians can do naturally if they wanted?
2. Do Yellow Martians still face prejudice if they were once White Martians? Do Yellow Martians in general have a similar status to Green or Red Martians?
3. Did B’arzz have any prejudice toward White Martians prior to becoming Green Beetle?
4. Do Martians have a form of currency?
5. Murder is supposedly hard to get away with on Mars since everyone is telepathic. But M’comm was able to shield his thoughts from Megan when she interrogated him. Not to mention he was plotting to kill as well. And as we find out in the end, it as S’yraa who killed the king. If M’comm and S’yraa don’t share their thoughts openly or if they simply lie, then it seems murder would be easy to get away with on Mars.

Greg responds...

1. There's a ceremony. Which is not to say a Martian couldn't turn yellow if she, he or they wanted. But turning yellow doesn't make one Y'ellonn, anymore than Miss Martian turning green made her G'arrunn.

2. All Y'ellonn are treated equally, independent of their caste of origin. They are a separate caste, held (generally) in high esteem. Probably below B'lahdenn, but above G'arrunn. But they are supposed to remain apolitical.

3. He was relatively enlightened. But it's hard to be raised in a racist society and come out with NO prejudices. One has to WORK to overcome that indoctrination, I've found.

4. Uh... probably. Haven't thought about it, honestly.

5. It's easy to sense a lie. To push through and get to the truth - when it's being hidden - is more difficult (for all involved). But it's not impossible. If one has a suspect, a psychic interrogation tends to reveal the truth. (M'hontrrs aren't as reticent as M'gann was.) S'yraa got away with hiding her crime for so long because she was never a suspect - until she was.

Response recorded on January 06, 2022

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June writes...

I love how all the Martian characters have different designs. At least all main and secondary Martians. B'arzz looks entirely different from R’ess E’dda. A lot of aliens in other shows all look the same. Was this a purposeful decision? Who's was it, if so?

Greg responds...

Most of the Martians are based off the same single design, with differences of skin color and costuming and size, etc. This was done intentionally to show how - as an outsider - one can easily be blind to subtle differences in the "other" tribe, when in fact every individual is unique.

Response recorded on January 06, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why did Alan Tudyk only voiced on episode of season 3? Did he become unavailable because he’s becoming more high profile?

Were Troy Baker and Nolan North together in the studio for season 4? They broke off their partnership on YouTube. Are they still friendly?

Greg responds...

1. Green Arrow only appeared with a speaking role in one episode in Season Three.

2. They were definitely in the studio together pre-pandemic. They seemed friendly to me.

Response recorded on January 06, 2022

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Izzy writes...

Hello! I've seen the last three episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms and I'm eagerly awaiting the fourth. The relationship dynamic between M'gann and her family (especially M'comm) is rivaling Artemis's in terms of pure curiosity and intrigue. I love it and I want to know everything! And given what was shown in the trailer, it looks like even more of Artemis's family dynamics are going to be explored, which is fantastic. I think this is going to be something they'll bond over this season. But who knows! Anyways, on to the questions:

01. You mentioned in a recent Tweet that ‘Catwoman: Hunted’ is, like your Green Arrow short, a story that also occurs similarly on Earth-16. Given that information, is it safe to assume Catwoman exists on Earth-16?
02. Are Lucas Carr and Bethany Lee alumni of Happy Harbor High School, or did they graduate elsewhere? Given that Snapper was at least living in Happy Harbor as a teenager, I assume he attended the public high school. The same can be said for Bethany, if her backstory from the comics as the daughter of Happy Harbor’s police chief before becoming one herself is largely unchanged.
03. Given you are a Stanford alumni and have thought about what dorms Wally and Artemis spent their Freshman years in, did you give any thought into who their respective roommates were? Not asking for spoilers about who they were, just merely if you guys ever bothered to come up with them.
04. Is Batwoman Jewish on Earth-16 like she is in the comics? If so, wouldn’t that make Batman (by proxy, if not in practice) Jewish as well, at least on his mother’s side?
05. This is a long one! I know birthdays aren't something you come up with unless the story needs it, but do you have the same line of thinking with babies born during the story? Artur, for example, was born on February 1st, 2011 (according to the YJ wiki, which got the date from Legacy). For Lian, however, we only know she was born in September 2015. Do you have a birthdate in mind for her, or just the month? For Don and Dawn Allen, you answered in an ask that their due date was sometime in the September following Invasion. I’m not asking if that due date was accurate or when, if you know it, their actual birthday(s) are, but merely the concept as a whole. Was Artur the only one assigned a birthdate in-story because the diary entry needed a timestamp? Since then, a whole bunch of other super-kids (Anissa and Jennifer, Jonny, Traya, Amistad, and most recently Rhea) have been introduced, with Rhea being (according to Unknown Factors) born on January 21, 2019. While Rhea’s birthday is obviously a byproduct of the story and thus laying credence to your stance on only assigning birthdays when needed, she was also the only one explicitly shown. I guess this whole question can be summed up to: do children (emphasis on children somehow connected to the main cast) born DURING the story get assigned birthdays even if the story doesn’t necessarily showcase/reference their birth outright? If not birthdays, then just birth-months? Or is that only come up with when needed as well?

Greg responds...

1. Yes, in some form.

2. Yep.

3. I actually did give a little thought to Wally's roommate. I have a notion, but I'm not locking it in unless or until a story requires it.

4. Yes.

4a. I think it must be true that Martha Kane Wayne was Jewish. That means by Jewish tradition, Bruce Wayne is also Jewish. But I think it's also clear that he was raised as a Protestant Christian. Beyond that, again, I'm not going to go into details until or unless a story requires it.

5. Just birth years, unless the story indicates an obvious (thus necessary) birth month. And just birth months unless the story requires or dictates a birthdate.

Response recorded on January 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Congrats on a 4th season can't wait to see it, now I have browsed the archive many times and since these questions weren't there, so I am assuming they haven't been asked
1. How big is the Timeline currently.
2. You said Earth-16 has some significanct relation with the number 16, I am assuming that means there's more to that then you all dropping 16 in every episode. If so how long do we have to wait is the answer only going to come when we reach season 16.
3. How concrete is the timeline like are their things in it which you thing can be subject to change or is it already vague aside from the necessary stuff i.e have you gone back and changed something thinking this has to better why didn't I think of this before.

Greg responds...

1. It's currently 719 pages long.

2. That's funny. No spoilers.

3. I've changed things occasionally. I've certainly corrected math errors that I've made. But I tend not to fix things in the timeline until Brandon and I have decided on things and/or NEED to decide things. That's way more than you've seen, obviously. But otherwise, we try to leave things open when we can.

Response recorded on January 03, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

As a Canadian, the only way I can support season 4 right now is to binge seasons one and two on Netflix over and over again. Does this actually do any good in regards to getting a season 5?

Greg responds...

I honestly don't know, but it might help, and it certainly doesn't hurt.

Response recorded on December 29, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

The current host of Dr Fate will die eventually and then he will require a new host, but it is unlikely that anyone will ever want to wear a helmet that robs them of their life unless they are in an extremely desperate situation. My question is has nabu considered this. Has he thought about this future situation for him at all?

Greg responds...

He's been through this for century upon century. I'm sure he's thought about this, but in the end, I'm sure he'd say something along the lines of, "Fate will find a way."

Response recorded on December 29, 2021

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Amelie writes...

Hello Mr. Weisman! I hope you and the team working on YJ are doing well!
1. In episode 6 of season 2 "Bloodlines" where Bart first appears we see that in almost nothing in the future has changed after his departure (except for Neutron). Does this imply that the future is going to look that moded?

2. At the end of a Young Justice comic collection you wrote that you made a list of about 100 young heroes as potential main characters for the series. Are you ever going to publish this list?
3. If you were allowed to publish Young Justice comics again, when would the play? Before, during oder after season 3? (Assuming you already know what you want to publish).
4. Will you and your team keep on making these entertaining (and well-written) credits for following seasons when YJ gets a go from HBO Max? (I will riot if HBO Max cancels this show #keepbingingyj)
5. What do you keep from your interactions with your fans?
You heard that probably a lot, but I just want to let you know that your show got me through 2020 and I am really thankful for you, your team and the fanbase not giving up on this amazing show!

Greg responds...

1. You should look again. The ash has stopped falling. Mount Justice is still destroyed, but that's about as far as you can see. So you don't know from the visual what has and hasn't changed.

2. Probably not.

3. No Spoilers.

4. Our goal is to continue to stuff as much entertainment value and content in as possible.

5. Mostly good stuff.

Thanks. I'm not sure how much help we were in 2020, but I'm hoping we've helped with the back quarter of 2021!

Response recorded on December 29, 2021

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Miraphosa writes...

Did M'gann choose to be an ethnic majoriy on earth purposefully?

Like, was she aware being a white woman on earth would grant her a racial privilege she didn't have on mars? If that wasn't something she thought about before coming to earth, did she realize it after? What would that thought process be like for her?

Basically, how did M'gann identity as a white martian factor into her choice to present as a white woman on earth (if at all)

Greg responds...

I don't think that was in the forefront of her mind. I think she specifically chose to identify with Megan Wheeler. By the time she had the brain space to think about how she should or should not be presenting herself racially on Earth, she had already established her Megan Morse identity. So many people that WE get to see on the show know she's a shape-shifter, that it's easy to forget that the vast majority of humans that Megan interacts with do not. So in order to maintain her secret identity, she maintains her current racial status.

In order to honor her racial background, she stopped presenting herself as G'arrunn some time ago when in super-hero mode.

And just to be clear, M'gann doesn't equate being A'ashenn with being Caucasian.

Response recorded on December 29, 2021

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Young Justice Statistics

Well, as I tweeted today, YOUNG JUSTICE: PHANTOMS is complete, with all 26 episodes in the can. I've also updated all my various reference documents to include everything from Season Four (not to mention Seasons 1-3, our various comic books, the AudioPlay and the video game). And since statistics kinda fascinate me - and since maybe they might fascinate you as well - here are a few.

The Young Justice Timeline is currently 718 pages long. In the past, I've reported that the length of the timeline mysteriously differed between my laptop and my desktop computers, but during the pandemic, my (relatively) ancient desktop finally bit the dust. So now the laptop page count triumphs.

There are 759 characters confirmed - one way or another - to be in the Earth-16 Universe. Some have only been mentioned or referenced briefly. Others, obviously, have had entire arcs dedicated to them. Calling some of them "characters" might also be a bit of a stretch, but I have reasons for including every single one. And - anal individual that I am - I have actually ranked them all in order of their importance to the series. This is something I once did as a hobby for the Buffyverse (which you can find in the ASK GREG archives under the heading of "Buffyverse Geek-Out"), and I've been perfecting my ranking system ever since. The idea is to attempt to make an incredibly subjective thing as objective as possible, based on things like screen time and amount of dialogue and the amount of times other characters reference them, etc. It's still not perfect because I do wind up with point scores, and especially with the lower ranking characters, I wind up with a number of ties. Thus, in order to break any tie, I'm forced to apply more subjective criteria.I was thinking about listing them a few per week, starting with 759 and working my way backwards toward number one. But some of the names haven't been intro'd yet. So it occurs to me that I need to wait until the Phantoms' season finishes airing.

Across four seasons (98 episodes) an AudioPlay and a video game, we've used 128 actors, a phenomenally talented group if ever there was one. Some have only voiced one character. Others have voiced over a dozen. I'm honored to be included among them - even if hiring myself is a rather dubious way to earn this distinction.

There's probably more, but this will do for now.

Just a little peek into my weird brain. Hope you enjoyed it. And I hope you enjoy the show.


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M. writes...

I dare say that Jade and Will's relationship is one of the best in the entire show. You, Brandon and the writers have managed to develop something that feels so true and pure without showing much on screen. But If ever you had the chance, would you write a story about their relationship?

Greg responds...

I feel like we have. But if you're asking if we'd be interested in exploring it further, the answer is clearly yes.

Response recorded on November 19, 2021

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Condottieri writes...

Hello there, Mr. Greg and the Team, The season 4 have a wonderful start, can't wait for the next episode

I have questions,
1. where do Zatanna train Traci and her other proteges? Is it on the Tower of Fate? Would Dr. Fate join Zatanna on training them?
2. If there are specialized problems that can only be dealt with magic, are the proteges will follow and join the fight?

Thank You

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers.

But, seriously, just wait a couple weeks, okay?

Response recorded on November 19, 2021

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Verdragon writes...

Does Black Canary have formal training in psychology?

Greg responds...

Yes. (Or, at least, the Earth-16 version does.)

Response recorded on November 19, 2021

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M. writes...

Hi Greg! A few years ago I asked "Did Will actually believe what Jade said about being a soccer mom and all that?". What I meant was "Doesn't he suspect that Jade left them for another reason?" I mean, WE know something else is going on but, does he?

Greg responds...

Do we know that?

Response recorded on November 19, 2021

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Lenine writes...

Maybe that's a question to the deisgners, but how is seasons 3 and 4 Tigress's hair tied? Is it some sort of Arya Stark hair style?

Greg responds...

Yeah, I'd ask the designers.

Response recorded on November 19, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg :)

I hope you`re doing great.

A few months ago you`ve stated in an answer that you were not allowed to openly depict a certain character in YJ Outsiders as LGBT+.

Did you had the same problem for this...or any other character in YJ Phantoms?

Greg responds...

Only that same one character.

Response recorded on November 18, 2021

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CHAD writes...

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO END GARFIED LOGAN AND QUEEN PERDITIA RELATIONSHIP ?

Greg responds...

Who said we ended it? Certainly nothing that aired.

Response recorded on November 17, 2021

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Priscilla writes...

I'd previously asked this:

"So, it's established in Season 1 that M'gann has twelve sisters. The tie-in comics (issue 6, if I remember correctly) state that she had seventeen brothers. So, including M'gann herself, that would make thirty kids, right?

M'comm essentially says in season 3 that their parents had 29 children. Was the figure stated in the comics incorrect?"

There's an error- M'comm stated that in Season 4, actually (in "Needful"). Sorry for the hassle, Greg.

Greg responds...

J'ann and M'aatt have 29 children. Twelve sisters, including Em'ree and M'gann. Seventeen brothers, including M'comm. I thought we'd been consistent about this. I know I tried very hard to be consistent about this. But apparently, I blew it. OR... Miss Martian messed up when she said she had twelve sisters. She MEANT to say she has eleven sisters, but there were twelve sisters total, including herself.

So it's not so much that I'm bad at addition. It's that M'gann mispoke once. I think we can forgive her.

Response recorded on November 17, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Since hindsight is 20/20, if you could change ANYTHING about Young Justice, what would that be?

Greg responds...

Lots of little stuff, I suppose. The only big thing that I can think of (off the top of my head) is that I wish we had made the A'ashenn GRAY MARTIANS instead of WHITE MARTIANS. The use of the word "WHITE" with its connotations of so-called "Caucasians" is problematic and, frankly, messes with our metaphor. But we followed the comic books, when I wished we had followed alien mythology.

Response recorded on November 16, 2021

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Jake writes...

I have a question about Martian eyes. In earlier seasons, Martians seemed to have blank red eyes, with no iris or pupils. M'gann's martian form had these in S1. In S4, however, they seem to have pupils and iris, and appear to be different colors based on race. M'gann's, for example, are now amber. Is this their natural form? If so, what prompted the change?

Greg responds...

The different light qualities from one planet to another.

Response recorded on November 16, 2021

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Bob writes...

Has Conner considered changing his name to something other than Superboy? I understand he perpetually looks like a 16 year old, but now that he's about to be married and has established himself as his own hero, has he thought about taking on a new name?

Greg responds...

Generally, I think he was fine being Superboy in the Outsiders, with Superman in the Justice League.

Response recorded on November 16, 2021

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Taylor writes...

You've said there is a character you in YJ you see as gay, but are not allowed to show as such by the powers that be. I think you know there are many people who are pretty sure of who this character is.

Why is it still so hard to get stuff like this approved? What is the reasoning behind not showing this in the year 2021? I don't get it.

Greg responds...

I don't either. Particularly since this is the only character that we're not allowed to be objective about. Obviously, we have no issue showing Kaldur and Wyynde in a relationship. And others, as well, met with no objection. But this one character became an issue. It's a mystery to me. But I don't own the character; it's not my call.

Response recorded on November 16, 2021

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Karrin Blue writes...

Did J'ann and M'aatt get married before or after J'onn got stranded on Earth?

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

Response recorded on November 16, 2021

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Karren Toplik writes...

What criteria made you settle on Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Chameleon Boy as the three Legionnaires to follow Superboy and Miss Martian? Was it a coincidence that individually they had three of the Martians' stable powers (telepathy, intangibility, shape shifting)? Because I love that!

Greg responds...

We're a spy show, so we're always looking to reinforce that focus, and these seemed like three great spy-oriented Legionnaires. Plus, Phantom Girl got a free pass because of the subtitle of the show this season.

Response recorded on November 11, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Can you explain the naming system of the Martians? What is considers a proper “Green Martian's Name” and so forth? Please and Thank you!

Greg responds...

We literally just extrapolated from J'onn J'onzz and M'gann M'orzz's names, with the former being a G'arrunn name, and the latter being an A'ashenn name. So you can see there isn't much to distinguish them in our canon that we, as humans, would notice.

Beyond that, we're adapting other DC Martian (and Saturnian) characters to that naming system, i.e. with only a few exceptions. So that's first letter + apostrophe + the rest of the name, with the last letter repeated. For animals, I tried to double vowels with an apostrophe between them, such as Ma'alefa'ak.

Further intricacies, such as why Em'ree J'onzz is considered a G'arrunn name while M'ree M'orzz is considered an A'ashenn name, we're kinda taking on faith. Miss Martian tells us that's the case, and no one - including Em'ree denies it - so we're just going to buy it. M'arzz is a big planet. It's a very intricate system. There would be hundreds of subtleties in naming that we just didn't have the bandwidth to break down any further.

I do wish I had a better answer, but I don't.

Response recorded on November 11, 2021

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Anderson writes...

Hi, Greg. I'm really loving Phantoms so far.

I had a question about the Team's B-designations.

Obviously, the Zeta-Tubes and designations are a very integral part of the show. Prior to Season 1, Dick, Will, Kaldur, and Wally all knew and have fought beside each other.

I find it difficult to imagine they didn't use Zeta-Tubes during that time period, since even Roy knew how to use one (which would seem odd otherwise, considering his brief time as Speedy).

But the B-series was clearly created following the founding of the Team, considering Will's designation is B06, despite him/Roy becoming a hero before Kaldur and Wally.

Since none of them have A-designations, how did the four proteges utilize the tubes during that time, if at all?

Greg responds...

They didn't.

Response recorded on November 11, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Young Justice Questions for Greg Weisman:

1. Are Superman and Lois Lane currently married, and if so, for how long?

2. When Orm's identity as Ocean-Master, how did Arthur Curry and Mera react to this revelation?

3. After Lady Shiva killed Ocean-Master, where was his body taken to after she quickly cleaned out the house?

4. As of Young Justice Season 4, who is the current leader of the Justice League?

5. Within The Light, what are the designation numbers for Ultra-Humanite and Zviad Baazovi?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

1a. No spoilers.

2. How do you think?

3. No spoilers.

4. It's still Black Lightning. He offered to continue on to follow through on some initiatives he had started. And the membership of the League voted him a second term.

5. The Light doesn't really have in-universe designation numbers. But I guess their out of universe designations are L-11 and L-12, respectively.

Response recorded on November 10, 2021

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Verdragon writes...

Is there a particular reason that Atlantean and Martian magic look more similar to one another than to most of the magic we've seen being used by humans?

Greg responds...

Do they? I hadn't noticed that.

Response recorded on November 10, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Hello Mr. Weisman,

I was shocked by the third episode of "Young Justice: Phantoms" because the Bio-Ship is retiring so that it can live out its final years on Mars, and that was truly heart-breaking. Just exactly how old is the Bio-Ship anyway and what will happen to it once it dies?

Greg responds...

Bio-Ship was "born" in Team Year Zero, so she's about ten years old. I think you can imagine what happens when she dies, and if you can't... no spoilers. But to be clear, no one said she was dying. Just retiring.

Response recorded on November 10, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

In the third season of Young Justice, the first letters of each episode title ended up spelling out the message, "Prepare the Anti-Life Equation." For the current fourth season, is it safe to assume that you've come up with something similar and you expect us to figure out what the message is?

Greg responds...

It's not UN-safe to assume that.

Response recorded on November 10, 2021

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Jesse writes...

I know YJ is available in the US via hbo max. I would like to know how on earth are we going to watch it in the gloomy UK? I’ll really appreciate an answer because you guys have fans worldwide who are missing out.

Greg responds...

Again, I simply don't know. I truly, sincerely wish I had that information. But TPTB do not keep us folks in the trenches informed on international viewing options. I'm really sorry. It's just way above my pay grade.

Response recorded on November 10, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

1. How old is S'yraa S'mitt?
2. How old is Bio-Ship?
3. How old is Fury?
4. How old is Everyman?
5. How old is Chameleon Boy?

Greg responds...

1. S'yraa was born in 1972.

2. Bio-Ship was, um, "born" in 2010.

3. Fury was born in 2003.

4. Everyman was born in 2000.

5. Chameleon Boy is fifteen by the end of Team Year Nine.

Response recorded on November 10, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

1. Green Martian are the majority and Whites are the minority. How many Red Martian exist among the population?

2. What makes the Red Martian the ruling class exactly? Or is it one of those “that’s how it always been” type of situation?

Greg responds...

1. There are fewer B'lahdenns than A'ashenns.

2. Historically, the B'lahdenn conquered to rule. (Centuries ago.)

Response recorded on November 10, 2021

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B writes...

Em'ree's last name being spelled J'onnz instead of J'onzz in the credits is a typo, right? In the captions, it's spelled correctly as J'onzz, like her uncle.

Greg responds...

Yes. I'm embarrassed that got by me. It's J'onzz. Definitely J'onzz.

Response recorded on November 08, 2021

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Hana writes...

Hello, Mr. Greg! So happy that Young Justice Season finally is airing! So exciting to see what’s in store! I love the YJ’s take on Martian society! I have some questions as well.

1. Is there any real distinction that set Red Martian apart from the Green and Whites? Like being stronger or having certain powers?

2. Will we see M’gann’s other siblings in upcoming episodes?

3. Although he only appeared in a few scenes so far, I deeply intrigued by Red Martian Prince J’emm! I think he’s beautiful and his blue eyes piercing! He’s seems like good soul too and displays having a good wit! I have few questions concerning him!

3A. How many siblings does J’emm has?
3B. How old is J’emm, in Martian years and the human equivalent of it? R’ess called him a “boy” and belittles him his youth, so he must be young.
3C. Martian Manhunter is well-trusted by Mars, including J’emm? Does J’emm look up to him?
3E. R’ess mentioned in “Needful” that J’emm was almost married at one point. Will we learn more about that?

Thank you for your time!

Greg responds...

1. Nope. Just pigmentation.

2. No spoilers.

3A. No spoilers.

3B. See my recent answer, and then divide by three to get his human equivalent age.

3C. It seems so.

3D. There was no question 3D.

3E. By now, I would think you have.

Response recorded on November 08, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

1. How old is M'aatt M'orzz?
2. How old is M'comm M'orzz?
3. How old is R'ess E'dda?
4. How old is R'ohh K'arr?
5. How old is S'turnn J'axx?

Greg responds...

1. M'aatt M'orzz was born in 1885.

2. M'comm M'orzz was born in 1968.

3. R'ess E'dda was born in 1935.

4. R'ohh K'arr was born in 1896.

5. S'turnn J'axx was born in 1858.

Response recorded on November 08, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

1. How old is Em'ree J'onnz?
2. How old is J'ann M'orzz?
3. How old is J'arlia J'axx?
4. How old is J'emm J'axx?
5. How old is K'omm B'lanxx?

Greg responds...

1. M'ree M'orzz was born in 1956.

2. J'ann J'onzz was born in 1885.

3. J'arlia was born in 1885.

4. J'emm J'axx was born in 1972.

5. K'omm B'lanxx was born in 1963.

Response recorded on November 08, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

This is a question about the writer's room and your relationship with the writers.

Do you and Brandon develop all of the premises for the episodes yourselves? What if a writer comes to you and says: "I have my own really cool idea for an episode. Can I pitch it to you?" or "I don't know if you guys are planning to bring back Wally or not, but, if you are, I have a really cool scene in mind for Wally's return."

Would this be inappropriate? Is he or she crossing some kind of line? Is he in danger of being fired? Is a writer's job strictly to develop the premises you give her? Or, is there some flexibility to parameters of his job description?

Greg responds...

For the last two seasons, Brandon and I skipped the premise stage entirely, and we broke every episode together on index cards, and I took those cards to outline. Then Brandon, myself and the freelance writers are handed a completed outline. (We have no staff writers on the show, and haven't after season one, for budgetary reasons.) So, no, a writer can't come in and say "I have my own really cool idea for an episode." Freelancers are not in danger of being fired; they simply don't have that opportunity on this series. It's too intricately plotted. They do come on at the outline stage, and we talk through everything and try to stay very open to their ideas for the episode they've been assigned and to the other episodes in the writers room that day. But the story is the story. If they decide to bring Wally back in an episode where we didn't previously plan to bring Wally back, it's simply not going to happen.

But no one ever suggests going that far off book, anyway. That's just not this gig, and that's made clear up front.

Response recorded on November 08, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

Young Justice: Phantoms didn't seem prominent to me at Fandome. In fact, I haven't seen much marketing for the show. I get the impression that the show isn't that important for the folks at DC or HBO. Am I wrong? Am I jumping to conclusions?

Greg responds...

They'd say otherwise.

Response recorded on November 08, 2021

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Will writes...

1. Is Dreamer the New God a more powerful psychic that can get information that normal telepaths can't at least without harming them like she did in her first appearance?
2. What were the Light’s traditions that Ultra Humanite was referring too?
3. Why didn’t the Light dispose of Speedy when they were okay with it for the other sidekicks when they were captured in Cadmus?
4. What was the official reason/cover story that Lex Luthor had held Speedy captive for so long?
5. Could martians have children with humans or atlanteans or
even other aliens?

Greg responds...

1. "More powerful" than whom? I'm not too big on power comparisons. Her powers are different but overlap with other psychics we have in the series.

2. I think he states it fairly clearly in the episode.

3. They thought he might be useful, and by that time there was no fear that his existence would out their clone.

4. I don't understand this question. Cover story for whom?

5. It's a good question... that I'm not going to answer, as any answer could constitute a potential spoiler.

Response recorded on November 08, 2021

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Impetuous_77 writes...

1. How old is Saturn girl?
2. How old is Phantom Girl?

Greg responds...

Assuming they survive to the end of Team Year Ten, they will be...

1. 18

2. 15

Response recorded on November 08, 2021

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Verdragon writes...

What is your favorite episode of each (complete) season of Young Justice so far? Which ones do you think are objectively the best of each season?

Greg responds...

I don't have conclusive or definitive feelings about them in the way you seem to be implying.

I am very fond of Independence Day, Misplaced, Summit, Endgame, Evolution and Overwhelmed. But I honestly love every episode (like a proud papa).

Response recorded on November 05, 2021

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Nick writes...

Hi Greg, I'm glad that Phantoms has premiered now. Almost flipped when hearing we can watch them on HBO Max after the DC Fandome was done. I like how the heroes are not given a big issue to deal with like in the last two seasons. Feels like going back to the first season roots.

Anyway I enjoyed the first two episodes and I have a few questions from them and I can promise that none of them involve spoilers.

1. What's with the iris-change in the Martian eyes? How come J'onn didn't have them when he was on Earth? They look better.

2. Are Harper Row and her brother adopted by Snapper and Beth?

3. One scene I didn't get in "Schooled" was when M'gann formed multiple arms to fight the Monqis and then freaks out after Wally freaks out seeing her with the arms. I don't get it?

4. Is Phil Bourassa not working on the show anymore? I noticed someone else is in charge of character design. Did Dou Hong work under him?

Thank you and till next time.

Greg responds...

1. The iris change allowed them to take in more light on Mars, I believe.

2. Fostered.

3. His reaction startled her.

4. Dou worked as a character designer on Season Three under Phil. Phil moved on after Season Three, and Dou was promoted to Model Supervisor. We also brought back Jerome Moore, who did characters for us during Seasons One and Two, and brought in Austin Reinkins to design with Dou and Rome.

Response recorded on November 05, 2021

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Big Fan writes...

Hi Greg, I love Young Justice so much and I’m so glad that you guys are back for Season 4 and hopefully more. Thank you and your team for all the hard work you have done.
A few questions,
1. I’m a little confused on how the Outsiders work with the Team. I know in season 3 it was said that they are the public squad of the team and report to Miss Martian but it seems like Beast Boy does most of the leading. So are Outsiders members of the Team or are the Outsiders a separate entity?
2. Can members of the Outsiders return to the team and do covert missions or are the not allowed to since they have become public heroes?
3. In Season 4 does the public know the Outsiders are affiliated with the League or is that still a secret?
Thanks so much for taking the time read and answer my question

Greg responds...

1. Well, both, I guess. The Outsiders are autonomous, reporting in Season Three - and until the first few minutes of Season Four - to Beast Boy. But Beast Boy initially reported to Team Leader Miss Martian (and later Tigress), who in turn reported to League Chairperson Aquaman (and later Black Lightning).

2. The two groups tend to stay separate, but overlap can happen situationally, as when Geo-Force joined the Team for their mission to the Orphanage.

3. Secret. Though they know the two groups are friendly.

Response recorded on November 05, 2021

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LoboGuara5bruxaria writes...

Hey Greg, on more than one occassion someone have asked you how strong an average Martian is when compared to a average Atlantean, but you had responded that it is hard to give an straight answer since martians can augment their strength with their shape/denseshifting abilities and telekinesis. So allow me to ask you this:

1) How strong to you think an average Martian is in their... "Biologically Natural*" form without any telekinesis involved when compared to the average Atlantean? I am NOT asking exact numbers of "Y Character is X times stronger/weaker than Z character", but more on a "I think X is a bit stronger/weaker than Z" kind of way.

2) How strong to you think an Average Gargoyle from Gargoyles is when compared to Young Justice's Average Atlantean and "Biologically natural" Martian?

*I say "Biologically Natural" form of Martians (That one of large bipedals with narrow waists and exposed gums) than True Form, since for a species of shapeshifters "true form" would likely be the one they are personally most confortable to stay in. Am I right or wrong on that regard?

Greg responds...

1. These kinds of questions are not really of much interest to me. You're trying to remove all situational criteria, but life is entirely situational. I guess by the terms you're using that Atlanteans are stronger than Martians. But the terms only exist in a vacuum of circumstance, which can never occur - not even in a vacuum.

2. Now, you're crossing shows? No. I'm not going there. Watch the two series. See what you see. Make your own evaluations.

3. Every Martian is different.

Response recorded on November 05, 2021

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emmy the vampire slayer writes...

seeing "his, her or their" on the first episode of Phantoms made me happy. i even hugged my dog and told him: THEY SUPPORT ME! THEY SUPPORT ME! (simon's such a good friend :D)

this may sound a little cringe, but that's what i felt about the scene.

i'm a fan of YJ for 10 years now (i'm 15 - almost 16) and i found out that i'm a trans girl a couple of years ago. it wasn't easy, of course. i spent years rejecting myself, so seeing you guys saying trans rights(!!!!) is super special to me.

ps: i know halo is non-binary, but she's a mother box, she's not really a person. as much as i love halo (LOVE!!!), she isn't a good representation. but, hey, you're trying :)

and sorry for any mistake. i'm from brazil.

Greg responds...

Hi emmy,

I'm glad you liked the scene. But I take issue with you saying that Halo is not a real person. She's as real as Miss Martian or Tigress or any of the others. What difference does her origin make? Now, she's a living, breathing person - with super-powers, sure - but in every other way, she's currently a human being.

Response recorded on November 05, 2021

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Aziraphale writes...

After watching the season premiere of YJ, I have an additional question:

In your reinterpretation of the White Martians, I was confused by their new portrayal as an oppressed underclass compared to the Green Martians, in contrast to their depiction in the comics and other media as hatemongering conquerors. And that led to a confusing racial allegory that I already didn't think worked well, but then I noticed Ma’alefa’ak's birth name is "M'Comm", something original to this show and not the comics, and he was imprisoned in a jail with a giant X on the building. M'Comm X? If this was an intentional reference to real life civil rights leaders, what was the thought process in turning a character who had murdered innocent teenagers the previous season into a Malcolm X analogy?

Greg responds...

I see where you're coming from, but that's not where we were coming from.

The X on the building comes from the X on Martian Manhunter's chest. In our mind, that was the symbol of the M'huntrrs, i.e the Martian police, that J'onn J'onzz was a member of before coming to Earth. I totally see how you got there, but I promise you it literally never occurred to us to associate that X with M'comm to create any kind of Malcolm X reference or analogy.

The name M'comm was, for us, just following in the tradition of most Martian naming, i.e. you take a relatively average human name and Martian it up a bit. Hence John becomes J'onn, Megan becomes M'gann, etc. M'ree, M'aatt, J'ann and M'comm follow along those lines. So, yes, M'comm is a Martianing up of Malcolm, but I never specifically thought of associating him with Malcolm X, any more than I think of J'onn being associated with some specific Jon or John.

Way back when we were developing Season One, Brandon and I rejected the idea of there being an evil race on M'arzz. I find that notion from the comics very troubling. But we did think that the MYTH of an evil race would be useful for the ruling castes to justify their caste system. Scapegoating, in essence, creates a self-justifying belief: "Oh, so the A'ashenn are angry about the way we treat them? They don't like how we keep them in their place? Well, that's because they're hate-mongering would-be conquerors! Thank C'eridyall we DO keep them in their place!"

I've said before that I regret having used White Martians at all. We were following in the footsteps of the comics, but I do wish we had thought to use Grays instead of Whites. For one thing, the idea of Martians being either "little green men" or "Grays" feels right to me, in terms of alien-mythology. But mostly, it's because here in the real world, the word "white" is obviously associated with people of European descent (such as myself) - i.e. so-called Caucasian - and not with the actual color white, i.e. the snow white or chalk white of our A'ashenn. In essence, we were distracted by the visual look of the White Martians and didn't have the sensitivity to focus on the actual and very real connotation of the WORD "white".

That's one of the main reasons why, this season, we made a conscious choice to largely stop referring to the Martians as White, Green, Red and Yellow, in favor of A'ashenn, G'arrunn, B'lahdenn and Y'ellonn. We actively wanted to create some mental distance between the A'ashenn and Caucasians by avoiding the common word "white". We don't want the oppressed A'ashenn associated with the decidedly NOT oppressed Caucasians in any way, shape or form. It's not a perfect solution, but after consulting with our multiple sensitivity readers, it felt like the best we could do, given our failure of imagination and sensitivity way back in Season One.

Response recorded on October 29, 2021

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Caleb writes...

I've been sitting on this question for a while, so it's not strictly related to the season 4 premiere (which I really enjoyed), but here we go:

Agendas is one of my favorite episodes of Young Justice. I love seeing superheroes interact in decidedly not-super ways. Anyway, I was looking at the membership timeline of the Justice League on the YJ Wiki and noticed that (as a rule) there seem to be no new members for years, and then a huge jump in membership around the same time. What was really odd was the (at least) 10 season 3 additions (from Aquaman II to Steel) all joining around 6 months before the season began. This is contrasted with the Team, where members come and go much more frequently. So…

1. Is the meeting/discussion/vote format depicted in Agendas the primary way that new members are added to the Justice League?
2. Are there any outliers besides Doctor Fate (who was then legitimized by the vote in Agendas)?
3. When multiple members are added in a single day (like Atom, Plastic Man, Icon, and Red Arrow in Usual Suspects or the aforementioned season 3 batch), how are their Zeta-designations assigned? When they debuted as heroes? How many votes they got? Whatever order Batman dictates?
4. Whose arm do I have to twist at DC to get a comic miniseries of Earth-16 Justice League Election Specials?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. On occasion, a hero may be drafted into the League on a probationary basis, during an emergency or for other reasons. But then he, she or they would have to be confirmed in a League vote, as with - as you noted - Doctor Fate.

3. Batman has nothing to do with it. He doesn't run the League. He was chairman during Season One. But since then, we've had multiple chairpersons, including Captain Atom, Black Canary, Wonder Woman & Aquaman (II), and Black Lightning. Generally speaking, if members join at the same time - without having first joined on a probationary basis (as Doctor Fate did) - they are in essence inducted in the order they debuted publicly as heroes.

4. I wish I knew...

Response recorded on October 29, 2021

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Gigliovaljr writes...

Hey Greg,
It has been a delightful surprise for the sudden premiere of YJ Phantoms and I hope there's more episodes soon.

Looking back at when YJ returned, you had a lot less restrictions, allowing you to tell the story more to your choosing, but I can't help but wonder how different season 3 would have been if Young Justice had never been cancelled to begin with and still had those restrictions.

Could you tell us more of how different season 3 would have been if the show had continued back in 2013? What would have changed in regards to characters and story? What plans for season 3 did you come up after the original cancellation and what plans were scrapped?

Greg responds...

I can't answer that. It's hypothetical to a wild degree. Our general plans for the first four seasons haven't changed from back when we first developed the series. But we didn't break Season Three in any detail until DC Universe picked us up for a third season. And we didn't begin breaking Season Four until DC Universe picked a fourth season up - months before DC Universe became DC Universe Infinite, and we moved over to HBO Max.

Response recorded on October 29, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

In "Needful", why did Gar's telepathic plugs (or whatever they are) fall off during the cave-in? They had always seemed to adapt to whatever form Beast Boy took regardless of size.

Greg responds...

No, they didn't. His speakers never changed size. They stayed on his collar but maintained a consistent size, whether he was a green elephant or a green mouse. So, in essence, if he and his collar becomes too small to hold the speakers, they fall off. This happened last season when he became a green hornet, and this season when he became a green cockroach.

Response recorded on October 29, 2021

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Liam writes...

Before I ask any questions, I just wanted to say I love Young Justice Phantoms so much so far and I can't wait to see the rest! I'm a big fan of you and Brandon's work on Young Justice and I just wanted to say thank you to both of you for it. It's such a fantastic show that has become such a big part of my life and I am forever thankful. 1) You've said before that important real life events have happened in the YJ universe. Are the people who acted in these events the same people or a fictional character who is not them? (So basically, if Person A carried out an event in our world, could it be assumed the character who did the same was an alternate version of Person A, or a different character who's only similarity to person A is carrying out the action?) 2) Was Hello Megan a popular earth show on Mars, or was it just popular amongst M'gann's family? If it was only popular amongst all martians, what about it made them so interested while earthlings didn't seem to like it all that much considering it was cancelled due to low ratings? 3) What were the cultures you pulled from in order to create martian culture? With mention of a caste system, I assume hinduism is one of them but I assume there are others 4) In season 3, Artemis had mentioned that they know the soul exists because of Secret, does this mean Artemis developed an interest/exploration of the concept of spirituality after meeting Spirit, or was it a belief she had prior? 5) This is an add on to the last question, but I assume it would count as a second question anyways. Does Artemis have any spiritual practices that she has developed or is it more of just a recognition? This last part isn't a question, but thank you, Brandon, and the entire YJ team again. I know some fans dislike it or even wish it wasn't part of the show, but personally I love the way the character's personal lives are incorporated into the show because it adds in a sense of realism that really helps build character

Greg responds...

1. If I understand your question correctly - and I'm not sure I do - then there is an Earth-16 version of real life people doing real life things.

2. It wasn't necessarily a huge M'arzz hit. But there's no Nielson ratings to confirm.

3. As you noted, the Indian caste system was an influence. Racism, in general, is an influence. But I don't want to imply any one to one relationship between Mars and any specific culture or nationality.

4. I don't think Artemis' knowing about the soul implies anything more than that, so your either/or question doesn't follow.

5. This, in essence, is a spoiler request.

Thanks for all your kinds words.

Response recorded on October 29, 2021

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Claire writes...

Was M'gann close to any of her green martian siblings growing up? Obviously not close currently since none were going to her wedding.

Greg responds...

Not particularly - or consistently.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Emory writes...

a) What is Ollie’s relationship with Roy and Will like right now?

b) Did Roy join school after he left the team?

c) Is Roy Native American in YJ as well?

Greg responds...

a. Pretty solid.

b. You're the second person today to ask me that. I haven't thought about it, strangely.

c. He might have some Native American ancestry, but generally, he's a white guy.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Dean Paterson writes...

How Old is Harper Row In Young Justice: Phantoms

Greg responds...

By the END of Team Year Ten, Harper Row is 18.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Is it a coincidence that Megan and Harper both have the exact same number of freckles? Is it a conspiracy?

Greg responds...

A freak of nature. Or, you know, an art conceit.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Paco Cruz writes...

First at all, I gotta say thank you for creating this show, it’s amazing. I discovered this show pretty recently. It help a lot, I was diagnostic with cancer and since I had extra time in my hands, I decide to watch it. And let me tell you it help a lot. Now I cancer free. So mostly it’s a thank you note. Although I just have a question (I’m pretty sure that I hasn’t been asked before, I read like 300 question in the search for Zatanna. But then again, it might slipped) Is there any chance for Dick and Zee get back together? I really love their chemistry. Currently I have watched the first 2 episode of season 4. Sorry for my bad English. And thanks again. Hope you doing great.

Greg responds...

I'm very glad you're cancer-free. But I can't answer your question. It easily qualifies as a spoiler request, and I don't give out spoilers.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Verdragon writes...

Two questions, both on the overly specific subject of Martians stealing Earth TV.
1: Is J'onn basically pirating Earth television to send back to Mars? Like, are the execs running Space Trek seeing a large spike in their ratings from no discernable source?
2: J'onn says he's been bringing Earth TV to Mars for 60 years, has he been active on Earth as a superhero for that long?

Greg responds...

1. Technically, I suppose Martians are pirating the signal.

2. Since 1960, yes.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

I was recently about real-life bio-weapons that are being developed to target specific ethnicities. It was news to me! Were you aware of this when you conceptualized Desaad's bio-weapon at the end of "Needful"?

Greg responds...

I've heard it's theoretically possible. But, no, I have no inside knowledge.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Verdragon writes...

1. When exactly was Beast Boy's last trip to Mars, because he mentions having been there before at some point prior to M'comm taking on his Ma'alefa'ak persona, but it wasn't brought up previously.
2. Was the plot of "The Prize" based around who was available at the time to do the recording, or was it always planned to feature those characters specifically?
3. In-universe, why did Waller only send Tuppence on the mission to abduct Clayface rather than both her and Tommy?
4. Why are Martians shapeshifting into noted alien-hater G. Gordon Godfrey like they are the Outsiders? Do they just find his endless stream of hatred funny or is it to mock him?

Greg responds...

1. On screen, Aqualad assigned Beast Boy, Miss Martian and Superboy on a mission to Mars immediately after the end of Season Two.

2. Brandon and I came up with the basic story in advance. We asked a quantity of specific actors, and most - but not quite all - were available. So I cut those few unavailable actors' characters, which we had been planning to use, out of the script, as I was writing it. It was a very fast turnaround.

3. Reasons.

4. I'll leave that to your interpretation. But maybe different Martians have different reasons?

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Becca writes...

I'm curious why the time skip was only a year between S3 and S4? It's the shortest one yet and I honestly wasn't expecting it to start off so close to last season.

Greg responds...

It's what worked for us to tell the next important chunk of our story. Also, Superboy and Miss Martian wouldn't just stay engaged forever without actually starting to plan their wedding(s).

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Brent writes...

First, let me say I think its just really cool that you continue to do this. I'm sure it can seem like a hassle but it really shows the love you have for people who love your show. I really appreciate it and I know others do too, even if some of the questions seem obvious or minuscule in importance.

I will ask an actual question, though. Just finished ep 4x02. Jemm is typically from Saturn, but here he is a Martian Prince. 1. Do Saturanians exist in this universe? 2. What prompted you to use Jemm, instead of an original character, like Em'ree J'onzz?

Greg responds...

1. J'emm is still a son of S'turnn. It's just that S'turnn is a king, not a planet. The original development of the Jemm, Son of Saturn comic book series had Jemm as a green Martian. It was later changed to make him a red Saturnian. We chose to merge the two concepts.

2. I always thought Jemm was a cool young hero. Plus, we try, whenever possible, to use existing characters, creating new ones only when it's necessary.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

Hi, Greg. I just finished watching the first two episodes of season 4. You seem to be off to a great start, and I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it. You seem to be focusing more on the original cast. I think that's a good move given how many new characters you introduced in season 3. BTW, I'm not opposed to you and Brandon introducing new characters to the main cast, but I would like to point that you too great time and care in establishing your cast in season one. (I don't think this rises to the level of a suggestion.) There weren't any superhero battles in the episodes, but that didn't matter to me. These were characters I loved, even Beast Boy, and the story kept me involved throughout.

I was surprised that the Legion appeared so early. I had imagined you would tease out that story throughout the season. So, I only have a few questions...

1) Why did you choose to feature these three particular Legionnaires when there are so many others you could have chosen?

2)Will other Legionnaires appear this season? (Yeah, I know what you're going to say, but it's on my mind.)

3)Was that the bio-ship... mating?

Wishing you well

Greg responds...

1. It felt right to feature these three.

2. <sigh> No spoilers.

3. In a sense.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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Karrin Blue writes...

Hello! I just saw the premiere - well, the first two thirds of it? - and it's gotten me so excited for the next episodes I can't begin to describe it. Everything looks gorgeous, and I'm very excited to check in with everyone - all the tidbits of what's changed (and what hasn't) are really intriguing. Even the post credits scenes - I'm so glad to see the quiet restful moments from s3 evolve into these little talks.

Ok so, actual questions!

1. Are Harper and Cullen being fostered by the Carrs?
2. So in the explanation of the Martian castes, they said that the priestly caste permanently take on y'alen form - does this mean that they don't shape change ever, or lose that ability?
3. How small is the red royal caste? If every ruler and every ruler's spouse has been red, then do they have to arrange marriages to keep the family lines from getting too tangled?
4. Is the Vlatavan language we hear Perdita speaking based on an existing language, or is it a constructed language?
5. What are the words she says at the beginning and end of her voicemail?

Greg responds...

1. Yep.

2. The Y'ellonn don't change their skin color ever.

3. The B'lahdenn - as Beast Boy said - are the Royalty AND Nobility. It's not as big as either the G'arrunn or A'ashenn castes, but it's a lot of folks.

4. It's a sister tongue to Markovian and Latvian.

5. Labdien = Hello. Es milu teki = I love you.

Response recorded on October 28, 2021

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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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Miraphosa writes...

Heya! I literally just watched the s4 trailer, I'm so excited. YJ has done so much for me over the last few years, and I'm glad I get to grow up with it. Artemis was the first character I recognized as a kid that was like me racially (white/asian mixed) and I'm forever grateful for that. It's... honestly impossible to describe how much this show's meant to me. My favorite media of any kind, by far.

Anyways, as someone queer, I'm just kinda curious - Tim got announced as bi after the show was already in production, and I'm curious as to whether or not you think Tim is bi in earth-16 or not? If that wasn't you and Brandon's original vision, is it a welcome addition? Same question goes for Jon Kent as well. Also, are there any other characters you could confirm as queer that wouldn't be showcased as such in the show? So.. something not a spoiler, because it wouldn't get shown anyways? Ahaha? :'D

Thank you for all your hard work! I hope S5 gets confirmed soon (and that we see it before 2024, LOL!)

Greg responds...

I'm going to say that all that qualifies as spoilers, generally. But we're not going to take an LGBTQ+ character and suddenly make he, she or they heteronormative. (We have plenty heteronormatives already.) So, for example, Batwoman is lesbian on Earth-16. So... maybe... that inadvertently answers your question...? Kinda/sorta?

Obviously, we can't change courses instantaneously. As you noted, something that occurs in the comics when we're already in production just isn't going to make it into the show. At least not during that production's season. But down the road... no spoilers.

Response recorded on October 25, 2021

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Max Scream writes...

Can you describe the recording process of Young Justice: Phantoms? Was it ENTIRELY done separately? Was it done via video-conferencing? Did each actor get the entire script or just their lines?

Greg responds...

The first half - or nearly half - of the season was done the way we always have, with group recordings predominantly, while picking up the occasional actor at a different time, based on availability.

About halfway through the season, we temporarily stopped recording because of the pandemic.

So in order to keep our board artists supplied with vocal tracks and working (from home), we began recording scratch tracks, using myself, Brandon, voice director Jamie Thomason, Talent coordinator Laura Lopez, editor Cris Mertens, and my wife and kids.

Then we began recording actors individually from home. Some of these actors have fantastic home studio set-ups. Others, well... not so much. We weren't video-conferencing with them, but we were audio-conferencing.

Then we switched from BangZoom Studios for our records to Atlas Oceanic Picture & Sound, which had a booth with a door that opened right into their parking lot. That way an actor could drive up and stay in their car until called for. Then they could walk right into the studio without any contact with any other human being. The engineer was in the control room, and the rest of us - including Jamie - were all listening in from our homes. Then when that actor was done, the booth would be sanitized before the next actor entered. Some of our performers still worked from home, but about half came to Atlas. It was always the choice of the actor.

And every actor always gets the entire script.

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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How I Spent My Weekend...

So... I had a LOT going on this past weekend.

On Saturday, DC FanDome premiered trailers for both CATWOMAN: HUNTED and YOUNG JUSTICE: PHANTOMS, and revealed that the first two episodes of the latter were dropping THAT DAY!

I spent considerable time online - and I don't usually do the online thing over the weekend; in fact, I don't even check my email most weekends - trying to #SpreadTheWord.

But to sum up, here's the news...

CATWOMAN: HUNTED, an anime movie based on my original script, is being released in early 2022. You can see the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYPqTLS_g9c. It stars Elizabeth Gilles as Catwoman and Stephanie Beatriz as Batwoman. Voice directed by our old friend Jamie Thomason, it also features Jonathan Banks, Lauren Cohan, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Ron Yuan and my peeps, Steve Blum, Keith David, Zehra Fazal, Jonathan Frakes, Kelly Hu, Andrew Kishino, Eric Lopez and Jacqueline Obradors. Folks have asked me if it's in continuity with Young Justice. My answer: it's YJ-adjacent, much like that old Green Arrow/DC Showcase short I wrote years ago. A version of these events happened on Earth-16. If you're a completist, you're going to want to watch. (Also, I really think it turned out great!)

Meanwhile, the fourth season of YOUNG JUSTICE, i.e. YOUNG JUSTICE PHANTOMS, dropped its first two episodes this past Saturday on HBOMax. Episode 403 will drop this coming Thursday, 10/21. With another episode (through 413) dropping every Thursday through December 30th. The back half of the season (i.e. 414-426) will drop weekly in Spring, 2022. I'm truly excited for the fans to see the season - and evil creator that I am - also glad that the show isn't all dropping at once. I firmly believe television - especially a show like YJ - is a better experience if you have time to savor and sort and absorb and predict for a week in between episodes.

As for the fourth season's production, we have 21 episodes in the can and ready to air. The last five have all been animated and are currently in post-production. And since there was no IATSE strike today, we're still hard at work. (And to be clear, I'm a member of IATSE as part of the Animation Guild, and I was 100% supportive of the union.) We should be done with all 26 episodes by the end of November.

IMPORTANT ADDENDUM: YOUNG JUSTICE has NOT yet been picked up for a fifth season. So if fans want more of Earth-16, the answer is simple: #KeepBingingYJ (all four seasons) over and over. And over and over. And help us #SpreadTheWord. We want to #SaveEarth16.

So use the following hashtags ad nauseam - just as I'm doing in this post:

#CatwomanHunted
#YoungJustice
#YoungJusticePhantoms
#KeepBingingYJ
#SaveEarth16
#SpreadTheWord

And watch the show on HBO Max!!! Please...

For international fans, I wish I could give you info on when any or all of the above will be available in your countries. But unfortunately, TPTB do not keep us folks in the trenches well-informed. Asking me over and over won't magically reveal that information to me so that I can reveal it to you.

Finally, by the time all my work was done on Saturday, I was completely exhausted and took a nap. In the nap, I dreamed I wrote a hit song. Seriously. Now, normally, my dreams slip away entirely upon waking. And even when I do remember the gist of a dream, the details are lost within seconds. But I actually woke up with a clear memory of the song - both the lyrics AND the tune. Here are the lyrics:

I'm taking my pants off,
Cuz it's that kind of party!
I'm walking a straight line,
And it's luminous!

That's the whole song. You can see why it was such a big hit in Dreamland. I'm expecting the Dream-Royalties to roll in any minute.

STAY WHELMED, everyone!


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EMPTY QUEUE

Well, it took me YEARS, but I finally have cleared the ASK GREG queue. I'm going to take a bit of a break now, but we'll open the question asking function for DC FANDOME on October 16th. I honestly don't know what YJ will be doing for Fandome, but I assume we'll have some presence of some kind, and by then I should have had enough of a rest to jump back in.

Thanks for your patience.


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Ashanti Mills writes...

Hi Greg! Young Justice: Invasion is one of my favorite seasons of television. Really looking forward to season 4. I have questions about which characters you have access to and are personally interested in using for the show

1. What's the legal status of created specifically for the Static Shock tv show (e.g. Shebang, Ebon, Madelyn Spaulding, Ebon, etc.)? More to the point, are you allowed to use them in Young Justice? I'm assuming they exist under different circumstances than characters created for Milestone characters who were adapted later.

2. If you were able to use them, are you at all interested in those characters? Or would you prefer to keep the show focused on characters who are a bigger part in DC's history?

Thanks for your time, and for the great TV!

Greg responds...

1. At this point, no character we've wanted to use is off limits. That could change. But so far as S4 goes, we had no issues.

2. It's not really about who's a bigger part of DC history. It's about telling the story we want to tell.

Response recorded on September 01, 2021

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Andrew writes...

Hey Greg, got two questions for you

1. How did you meet Brandon Vietti?

2. I ask because I'm a big of the DCAU, how did Rich Fogel get involved with the series?

Greg responds...

1. Brandon and I met a couple times when I was at Sony and when I was freelancing for WB. But, honestly, we really didn't meet for real until Sam Register teamed us up to develop a new series for WB Animation. (That series was a Green Lantern series that was never made, followed by a Space Ghost series that was never made, before we finally were assigned to Young Justice.)

2. Rich and I go way back to my Disney days. He and Mark Seidenberg were partnered up, editing Gummi Bears. We've kept in touch, on and off, over the years. And more recently, we were both staff writers on Shimmer & Shine. I truly loved the Shimmer & Shine writing staff (Stephanie Simpson, Dustin Ferrer, Kevin Hopps, Cisco Paredes, Andrew Blanchette and Rich), so when YJ started up again I tried to get everyone to write an episode for Season Three and/or Four. Stephanie and Dustin haven't had the time, but the rest have all pitched in for an episode or two. (Of course, Kevin was already a YJ writer.)

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Andrew writes...

Hello Greg, In YJ, what is the thought process behind each season's time jump, how do you and the creative team decide the length of each jump and how do you believe they add to the characters and the overall narrative?

Greg responds...

Again, this has been covered in the ASK GREG ARCHIVES multiple times. But generally, we think it allows us to show the growth and maturation of our young characters.

The length of the time jump is generally determined by both what we want to hide (and later reveal) about our characters and when in the timeline does the story fall that we want/need to tell.

Response recorded on August 17, 2021

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Sebastian writes...

English is not my mother tongue, so I wanted to ask you 2 questions
1. in Earth 16 Superboy is the best friend of the third robin Tim Drake and Kid Flash / Bart Allen as is the case of the new Earth and Young Justice Rebirth?
2. the fourth season in which month of 2020 will it leave?

Greg responds...

1. I think for Earth-16, what you see on screen is what you get. Conner is friendly enough with Tim and Bart, but they were in a younger class, and he's closer to/with the folks he came up with.

2. I think you asked this already, so I'm not sure why you're asking it again. I know English is not your first language, but I'm not sure what you mean by "leave". I can't tell if you're asking me an in-universe question about when the show is set, the answer to which would be NO SPOILERS - or a question about when the series will drop in 2020, the answer to which is obviously that it didn't and was never, ever going to be ready in time for 2020. Granted, you wrote this in 2019, so if you would want me to update the question for 2021, the answer is that the show will drop when HBO MAX decides it wants it to drop. And they haven't announced that yet.

Response recorded on August 13, 2021

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FusionSamurai writes...

So, firstly. Thanks for responding to all our comments, it probably gets a little bit annoying sometimes, but its really cool that you interact with your fans, and I hope you keep doing it! ^_^

So for my questions-
1. You've said you dislike how time travel works in DC. It does seem really confusing. I've flipped through all mentions in previous comments and have come up with a question regarding Bart.

So, you've said "Earth-16 had a history that Impulse thwarted. You can view his original history as Earth-16a, I suppose. Or you could just mark it up as GONE."

So, if such is the case, would Impulse be at risk of fading away? Does only the future itself fade, and Bart avoids it by not being there? Time travel is really complicated to write, so I just wanted clarity on that.

2. The team started with the original 6, being Superboy, Ms.Martian, Kid Flash, Robin, Artemis, Aqualad. Now there are somewhere around 19 members that are on the team or are associated with the team. Do you ever feel like it is hard to balance so many characters?

3.Does giving an individual character like Bart or Cassie development get harder as more characters are added?

Thanks for your time/responses, it means a ton to me. \(^_^)/

Greg responds...

0. I'm still doing it. It just took me a while to get back to it.

1. I kinda have addressed this in the past, but for now I'm going to say NO SPOILERS.

2. I do. Many fans seem to think it's even more difficult for us than we think it is.

3. Of course. But I'm basically okay with that. When the story dictates that one character or another is the lead, that's great - we'll move them into the spotlight. But until then, our leads remain Dick, Kaldur, Conner, M'gann and Artemis, with whichever two to four additional characters that the season dictates gets the spotlight.

Response recorded on August 13, 2021

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Jonathan writes...

When is the soonest we can expect new information about Young Justice Season 4 (such as release date!)?

Greg responds...

I posted some new information on our progress today and here on ASK GREG. As for when info on the release date will be revealed, I don't know. Not up to me.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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Sam writes...

1. For YJ S3, was the voice recording typically done with the voice actors in the same room, or individually?
2. Has the voice recording process (whether in groups or individually) changed from season to season?

Greg responds...

1. Mostly in group sessions.

2. Not until the pandemic briefly interrupted our recording process on Season Four, at which point we shifted massively to recording everyone individually, sometimes from their various homes, with all of us listening in over Zoom.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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Hulkie10 writes...

Good morning / afternoon / evening Greg Weisman, this is the first time I have done this and first I would like to tell you that I have been following this series for a long time and that I greatly admire your work with Brandon Vietti, the production team and the scriptwriters, seriously Thank you very much for this series. Well here are my questions:
1) I think this was already announced but I am not sure: Will the 4th season of Young Justice leave more or less at the end of 2020?
2) What is your favorite couple of the 3 seasons of Young Justice?

Greg responds...

1. "leave"? I'm not sure what you mean.

2. I don't have one favorite.

But thanks for your kind words!

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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Aprotny writes...

I saw a message on the archives in regards to cloning and sexuality. As an identical twin, I know me and my sister do not have the same sexuality despite having the same DNA. I know there's also nature vs. nurture. Would you consider cloning to be similar to the shared DNA of twins in the YJ universe? If so, would it be possible for one of the Roys (like Jim or original Roy) to have an attraction to a guy or, say, a genomorph without a gender, in contrast to Will's clear attraction to women. I am not asking if that is the case, but rather if it is possible.

On another note, I am an avid Young Justice fan who loves your show and is looking forward to Season Four. I hope Starfire or Raven or Supergirl or other characters that are popular but have yet to show will show up!

One last question, do you ever look at the YJ fanfiction archives? Either out of curiosity or for inspiration? Just curious if you or Brandon ever peek at those!

Thanks and love your show!

Greg responds...

1. I honestly don't know enough about the science to be sure. But I suppose I could do more research. So the short answer is: "It's possible?"

2. We don't take requests. We can't take suggestions.

3. Never. It's legally dangerous for me to read fanfiction covering anything I work on professionally. The same is true for Brandon.

Response recorded on August 12, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Young Justice Outsiders was incredible, but I'm a little unsure on something. Are Tim and Cassie broken up? I was very excited to see where this relationship would go, but it seems like their relationship has ended. Is season 3 the end of Robin and Wonder Girl?

Greg responds...

It sure looks that way... but until you know, feel free to dream. Because my only answer is NO SPOILERS.

Response recorded on August 06, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

I made a mistake in a previous posting; here is the correct one below:

Thank you very much for a wonderful Season 3 of Young Justice; you've even managed to tease us with a Legion of Superheroes ring from whom I presume to be Saturn Girl. Depending on the length of the next time-skip for Season 4, I had initially wanted to tell you which DC Comics characters that I wish to see, but then I decided to hold off on that because I suspect you might probably say that there would be no absolute certainty in regards to who might appear and because you had mentioned that Season 4 will focus on a smaller group of characters. However, with the possible introduction of Earth-16's version of the Legion of Superheroes, I personally hope this move will somehow lead to their own spin-off series; because I'd personally like to see your own unique twist(s) on that superhero team of the future.

Greg responds...

That's very kind. Thank you. I'm not saying that wouldn't be fun. But we don't have a pick-up for Season Five as of yet, nor has there been any talk of spin-offs. Right now, we're just focused on finishing off Season Four.

Response recorded on August 06, 2021

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Nick writes...

Just wow. Wow, wow, wow. Today was THE day. I am so blown away by what you and Brandon were able to do with the season finale, and the season as a whole. Coming back to such a beloved show comes with a lot of pressure, and I just want you guys to know that I am incredibly grateful for what you have achieved with Young Justice: Outsiders. Getting a chance to return to the world of Young Justice after so many years was a dream come true for the audience.

An eternal thank you to you, Brandon, as well as the entire cast and crew for breathing new life into the show. And you are gonna do it again! I am sure with as long as the queue is, there is a chance Season 4 will already be here by the time you read this. If that is the case, rest assured, I am praying for Season 5!

You guys have created the best ever adaptation of DC Comics, as far as I am concerned. I am so glad that I have gotten to see more of Earth-16, which is something I never thought would happen. Good luck with Season 4 or 5 or whatever project you are working on when you read this. You are a true visionary, Greg, and I am so happy that you’ve gotten to tell more stories set in this world.

P.S. Sorry about all the age questions.

Greg responds...

Well, I did manage to get to this before Season Four came out, at least.

Thank you so much for the support and kind words. Believe me, Brandon and I and the entire YJ Cast and Crew (across two seasons now) were thrilled we've had the chance to come back to this property.

And nothing to apologize for. Age questions happen. ;)

Response recorded on August 06, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Dear Greg

Hello! I'm keeping my name anonymous because I don't like exposing it on a public forum like this. I hope you understand.

Anyway, onto the question!

Greg, I know you personally don't have any ill intent, but why won't you listen to your LGBT+ or Muslim fans when they tell you how you handled Halo? You seem like such a decent guy outside of that, but for some reason this particular area is a blind spot of yours.

I may not be Muslim, but surely the massive outcry from Muslim fans when you had Halo publicly denounce her Muslimhood while still having her wear a religiously significant garb specific to Muslims must have meant SOMETHING to you?

I'm an out and proud member of the LGBT+ community (at least online), so seeing you dismiss all the people you hurt and refuse to actually, GENUINELY apologize for it (no, I don't count "sorry you're so offended" as an apology, that's just condescending), and to see you continue on the path that you now KNOW hurts us as if the characters you control are somehow out of your hands...that hurts, Greg. That hurts more than you can POSSIBLY imagine. I was so excited for Young Justice season 3. I was so excited hearing that you'd have an explicitly nonbinary character in the show. And then you did what you did. You really hurt your fans in the LGBT+ community, Greg.

Greg responds...

I'm categorically not claiming that the destinies of these characters are completely out of my hands. But...

1. We can't make changes to already made episodes in response to recently aired episodes. It's just not possible for me to, for example, change episodes 319-326 as a result of what fans say about 318. So even if I agreed with the response, it's too late to make that kind of change, which many people seemed - at the time - to be demanding. And I readily admit that in hindsight I got defensive about that. We HAVE listened, however, and it did affect how we handled things in Season Four.

2. Whether you like it or not, I simply do NOT have complete control over these characters. I do not own these characters. It is ABSOLUTELY TRUE that even in 2021, TPTB have not given Brandon and myself a completely free hand with every single LGBTQ+ character on these issues. Things are a lot better than they were in 2010. A lot better. But we still do not have 100% autonomy. We just flat-out don't. Certain things we had planned for Season Three were rejected by TPTB at a relatively late date, and I do believe those choices hurt the overall balance of the series on these issues.

3. I don't know where you heard that we'd explicitly have a nonbinary character on the show in advance of Halo's reveal. Not from me. I can't - or won't - be held responsible for rumors. Now, of course, Halo stated she's nonbinary in one of our episodes, but we viewed that statement as the first step in her journey, and we'd appreciate some patience. You are, of course, not obligated to be patient with us. Maybe we've already lost your trust. And that's understandable. And I am sorry for that. But trust would sure be appreciated if you can manage to suspend your opinion for a while longer.

4. We've been working with MPAC (the Muslim Public Affairs Council), GLAAD and OUT on these plotlines. They are aware of our long term plans for Halo and have been extremely supportive. This suggests to me that the response you speak of isn't monolithic. So I'll admit it has been hard for me to apologize for things, which I believe, in the long term, will be appreciated by the Muslim and LGBTQ+ communities. Now, I may be wrong about that, but I'm trying to be honest here. I believe in what we're doing, and our advisors do, as well. In the end, we may indeed get it wrong, but we are trying really hard to get it right. And contrary to what seems to be everyone's assumption, we are not and have never been operating in a vacuum, assuming that we knew best and that we didn't need to listen to the LGBTQ+ community. We are listening, we have been listening, and we will continue to listen. What we've found is that opinions clearly vary within that community. It's admittedly hard to please everyone, but believe it or not, we are actually trying.

5. It sincerely makes me feel awful that I've "hurt my fans in the LGBT+ community". I AM truly sorry about that. But I know for a fact that I didn't hurt ALL my fans in that community. Because I've talked to a bunch of them. Not on Twitter or on ASK GREG but in real life. Some of them weren't thrilled with what we've aired up to this point. Some of them were just fine with what we did. And most (in both categories) have - once told where we were going - been actually pretty happy with it all. Now, you don't have the advantage of that inside information and most of our fans don't either. But please don't think I don't care, that we don't care. The YJ crew and I care very, very much. And I definitely apologize for being condescending and defensive in the past. That's not me at my best. I can only ask for forgiveness.

6. I've always tried to be an ally. I have very good reasons to try to be an ally, (a) because it's the right thing to do, and (b) because many, many, many people I love and hold close to my heart are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

So I AM sorry for past mistakes. But if you give us a little more rope, I don't think we'll hang ourselves. I believe our good intentions will not only amount to good intentions. I think they'll prove out. And if I'm wrong about that, I will truly endeavor to apologize again.

Response recorded on August 05, 2021

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Nick writes...

Hi, Greg! Outstanding episode today. Can't wait till next week! Hope Season 4 is going well.

1. How old is Evelyn Fox?

Greg responds...

By the END of TEAM YEAR FOUR...

1. Evelyn Fox is 31.

2. Young Justice: Phantoms is going very well, thanks for asking. We have 15 episodes in the can. Seven more in post. The last four are all being animated by Studio Mir. Pre-production is completely done.

Response recorded on August 05, 2021

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Algae writes...

Hey Greg,

Not really a question, just wanted to congratulate you and Brandon on getting SEASON 4 of YOUNG JUSTICE green-lighted. The show keeps going from strength to strength!

Gratitude

Greg responds...

Thanks, Algae. Gratitude backatcha.

Response recorded on July 28, 2021

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Risu writes...

Loving Outsiders so far. The Harper bros were a delight I didn't even know I needed.

* Is there any way to show the DC executives the support for this show while living outside (heh) of the US?

* Would watching Titans on Netflix help you, maybe?

* Any idea if DC plans to open their site worldwide, or release YJ s3 on Netflix too? I'd like to help, I want more.

Greg responds...

1. I honestly don't know.

2. Not particularly. But if you like Titans, go for it.

3. Well, DC Universe is moot now. Can you get HBO Max internationally?

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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Kyle writes...

Hello Greg,

While I adored both the first and second seasons of Young Justice, and I have gone on to enjoy many parts of the third, I have to say that as of right now, I am very disappointed with what I've seen so far of Outsiders. Please know that I mean absolutely no disrespect to you, Brandon, the writers, the crew, or the actual show, but I feel this needs to be said.

I have watched all thirteen available episodes (by the time you get to this ask, I'm more than sure the second half of the season will have already aired in its entirety and you'll be well on your way into making the fourth season *fingers crossed!*) and the show has yet to come through in the ways I -- and many, many others -- had hoped it would prior to the season's airing. By the time you read this, I hope my complaints will have already been resolved and you can tell me I should have been patient and waited for the whole thing to air, in which I would agree. Fair enough.

But as of right now my complaints are still very valid and I would very much appreciate you addressing them, if possible. (Honestly, chances are you have already addressed these issues by the time you read this, if not in the actual show then on your Twitter page or in an interview. If so, I am sorry for wasting your time with a subject you've already gone on to spend a great deal of time on, but if not, here we go.

The pure lack of LGBT+ representation is, frankly, appalling.

I mean no disrespect, but it is 2019 for crying out loud. Men can marry men and women can marry women; boys can dance with boys and girls can dance with girls at their high school proms; those of us that are non-binary can express such freely and openly, when with the right crowd.

You have gone on record saying that LGBT+ people exist on Earth-16; you've gone on record saying that there have even been LGBT+ members of the Team and yet, still, after thirteen full episodes AND a twenty-page comic story where you COULD HAVE represented LGBT+ people, you've failed to showcase even ONE character and/or relationship of the sort. All of the while finding the time in these very crowded episodes and comic for not one, not two, but THREE new straight couples.

There's Garfield Logan and Queen Perdita. Then there's Helga Jace and Jefferson Pierce. And then finally Prince Brion Markov and Violet Harper.

And that's not even counting the suggestion of a relationship between Will and Artemis. Or the hinting that Bear and Dreamer have become exclusive, which would pretty much go against everything the New Gods (Bear himself, specifically, if memory serves) had preached to Conner about them finding satisfaction when they all come together as one back in the first season, which I thought was a pretty interesting way to sneak in the idea of them all being in one big polyamorous relationship. Which would have been SO COOL and SO PROGRESSIVE for a show back then to do.

The one -- ONE -- actual confirmed LGBT+ character you've ever had on the show in its entirety, not just Season Three, was then killed BECAUSE of said-sexuality. The sexuality-in-question, might I add, that we don't even get to know for certain, as when you were asked if she was a lesbian or just bisexual, you simply commented "Yes," as if there wasn't a distinguishable difference between the two in the long run, which just simply isn't the case.

And that's not even really a confirmation since it's plainly just Word-of-God in the grand scheme of things, rather than canon content that was stated out-loud or depicted, either on-screen or on-panel, in the comic. (I know that you weren't allowed to acknowledge it out-loud or in writing back then, so I'm not arguing on that. But you deciding to make her the ONLY LGBT+ character we ever got to see and then having her said-only character killed later in the same comic issue? Not only is it near-downright insulting, but it also fails to come across as anything other than a cheap and thoughtless try at representation.

(And with you and Brandon both going on about how you wanted to include an accurate representation of the world with a diverse cast, the pure lack of LGBT+ representation justs adds insult to injury.)

You've had significant time with Kaldur, who you hinted may not be entirely straight. And, yes, during most of that time with him you couldn't have genuinely acknowledged it either way in-show or out, but with Season Three, there is simply no such excuse. You've got the Brain and Monsieur Mallah, who, I'll admit, wouldn't exactly be my first choices for representation under any circumstances, but they still qualify. You've got Wonder Woman, who, albeit, wasn't confirmed bisexual until after YJ had finished its first two seasons.

But since the start of S3, the show has introduced us to Batwoman, a very prominent lesbian character on-par with Batman and the rest of the Bat-family; the show has given us a cameo of Renee Montoya; and, most recently, the show has given us the gay, married couple of Casey Klebba and Dale Gunn. Both of whom were in the same scene together with speaking lines and still -- STILL -- not even an ounce of content.

You've even introduced Harper Row, who I can't help but guess was only added to the character roster simply for the Harper-confusion joke. I'm hoping she will lead to actual, on-screen LGBT+ content in the next half of the season since that was one of her and her brother's most defining stories from the comics, but I'm no longer getting my hopes up.

And while I know you made no promises of actually having LGBT+ content in the third season, which I won't fault you for nor should anyone else, you KNEW you had a very large, very apparent LGBT+ fanbase. If you knew people were hopeful, don't string them along. If you honestly didn't have any LGBT+ content in store for us, just say so -- lest you be accused of queerbaiting down the line, and while it wouldn't be the case in technical terms in your case, it can still turn many, many fans against you.

Young Justice has and, up until I'm proven wrong, will always be a heteronormative show. The first season's finale got that message across loud and clear, with the second season's finale hammered it in, after you plopped in the surprise, secret romances of not one, but TWO more straight couples in the already-vast sea of straight couples. First, there was Virgil's surprise that Tye and Asami had gotten together, even though we got absolutely zero screentime showing anything of the sort, and was only included because, to you and Brandon, it "Felt right."

Then there's Tim and Cassie, who spent all five seconds of screentime together prior, with them only exchanging a conversation once. (Who then promptly leave each other's sides and enter a fight we're apparently meant to care about less than ten on-screen minutes later, in S3.)

And, now, Young Justice: Outsiders is pulling the same tricks but in a far worse fashion. The twelfth episode alone -- an episode all about Garfield going through nothing but hell, living through every trauma he's ever faced and then some, including the death of his LGBT+ mother, mind you -- ends with him kissing his girlfriend SECONDS AFTER recovering from nearly ending up catatonic. Because of hormones, or something.

Never mind the fact that he'd just rewatched many of his friends' deaths all over again, relived BOTH of his mothers' deaths, AND just realized that his boss -- someone who helped found a META-HUMAN YOUTH CENTER -- was using the Goode Goggles to abduct potential meta-teens and was continuously doing so, all over the country.

But, hey, let me make out with my girlfriend real quick first, right next to my sister and her fiance of the opposite sex, who then promptly make out as well, and just NOT rush to tell the proper authorities, the Justice League, the Team, or the Outsiders about ANY of this until after we're done showing just how straight we are to the audience.

I know this may come off as rude, critical, and/or entitled, but it is truly not what I wish for you to take away from this. Again, I mean no disrespect and do love -- LOVE -- many aspects of the third season, but some of the more recently established relationships and the actions that result from those relationships are the weakest links of an otherwise fantastic show.

I know I may be way off the mark/way too impatient and you actually ARE setting up stories with LGBT+ characters and relationships for the second half of S3, big or small.

If that's the case, I am truly sorry for wasting your time.

But I feel this needed to be said, and while I believe you already know this, I'll say it anyway for the other readers on this site: hinting that a character is LGBT+ off-screen (i.e. in a Tweet or an interview or something) does not adequately represent LGBT+ people at all. Either say it out loud and on-screen/on-panel or just, you know, show it on-screen/on-panel -- otherwise, what do you actually accomplish besides later being able to cry wolf and say that you had LGBT+ characters on-screen and therefore cannot be accused of NOT having them?

Once again, I'm sorry if this came across as critical and/or insulting to you, Brandon, your team of amazing writers/animators/voices, etc., but I promise you all that was not my intent in the slightest, and I hope when you get the time to respond to this (assuming it makes it to you, which I hope it does) it will be to say that I just jumped the shark, so to speak, a little too soon and that LGBT+ characters are all over the second half of S3, confirmed on-screen. It would be amazing, if so.

If not, though, then I would greatly, greatly appreciate an honest answer of why you and Brandon still haven't shown LGBT+ characters/relationships on-screen or on-panel, despite having no restrictions preventing you.

Sincerely,

Kyle

Greg responds...

Hey Kyle,

You were very polite. I have no problem with what you wrote. As you noted, I'm hoping that by now you've seen that we have - where we were allowed - objectively shown LGBTQ+ characters since the time you posted this. Hopefully, you were pleased with what we depicted. And, in any case, there's more to come in Season Four.

Still, I would like to respond to some of your points, as some of the people reading this may not know all we've dealt with on this subject.

1. I just want to point out that in the first two seasons, the video game and the companion comics that we've done up to this point, we were not allowed to objectively depict any LGBTQ+ characters or relationships. So we did the next best thing, which was to write and depict them with consistency for the day when we could.

2. Even in Season Three, TPTB wouldn't let us objectively reveal that one specific character, whom we had (in our minds) set up as gay, was gay - though they did let us depict others LGBTQ+ characters objectively. So we took the S1&2 approach to this one character.

3. As you hopefully have seen by now, we did have plans for LGBTQ+ characters in Season Three, and it's a justifiable complaint, I think, to ask why none of that was depicted in the first thirteen. But we wanted to introduce this stuff organically, and it just worked out for it to be back thirteen stuff. Not trying to defend that, per se. But that's how our stories broke down.

4. Killing off Garfield's mother is consistent with him being an orphan in the comics. I guess we could have kept her heterosexual as she was in the comics, since we knew she was going to die. But we didn't want to do that. It seemed to fit her character, and we didn't want to have one less LGBTQ+ character only because she was going to die.

5. I won't apologize for depicting heterosexual/heteronormative relationships simply because we've had restrictions on LGBTQ+ depictions. Chris Jones and I did equalize the scenes between Queen Bee & Marie Logan and Queen Bee & Ali in an issue of the comic. When TPTB wouldn't allow us to show Bee & Marie kiss, Chris and I wouldn't let Bee & Ali kiss either, as they were exact parallel scenes. But generally, we want to be able to be as honest as possible with relationships. So we're not going to create artificial restrictions when we don't have to.

6. Specifically, Garfield had a cathartic experience in "Nightmare Monkeys," and was grateful that his worried girlfriend had stuck by his side. The idea of them kissing at that moment wasn't us shoving heteronormative behavior in the face of LGBTQ+ viewers, it was us depicting what we believed was the honest and real response to all that had happened to both characters.

7. Bear and Dreamer being a couple is right out of the comics. In fact, in the comics they got married and had a kid. Now, of course, we could have changed that, but it seemed to fit what we were doing, so we didn't.

I'm not going to pretend that we've done justice (no pun intended) to these concerns, even including what we did in Season Three. But we believe the back thirteen episodes took a positive step forward, and we believe Season Four will take us multiple steps forward after that.

Response recorded on July 26, 2021

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Lea1997 writes...

Can you please give a full description of Superman and Superboy's relationship with the Kent family in Young Justice.

Greg responds...

I could. But I won't. I'd rather show than tell.

Response recorded on July 23, 2021

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Chris B writes...

Hey Greg, loved the first three episodes of season 3. My only question is was a different animation studio used this season? It looks a little different than some episodes in seasons 1 and 2.

Greg responds...

Our two studios for Season One and Two were MOI Animation and Lotto Animation.

We used three studios in Season Three: DR Movie, Digital eMation and Studio Mir.

Our only studio for Season Four is Studio Mir.

Response recorded on July 23, 2021

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Alexandra writes...

Dear Greg,
I don't have any questions,but I needed to tell you this.Young Justice was the show of my childhood and it helped grow into the person I am today.Wally's death destroyed me and all I wanted to say is that it would be the perfect gift for a huge fan.Also,I need supermartian back.Tha k you!

Greg responds...

Wally's death is the perfect gift for a huge fan? If you say so.

Glad you love the show!

In any case, by now you know that supermartian is back. At least in Season Three. No spoilers for Season Four.

Response recorded on July 23, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

Hey Greg, Do you know if the new young justice season is going to be dubbed in any other language than english?

Greg responds...

I do not know. Sorry.

Response recorded on July 14, 2021

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QueerGuy writes...

Big fan of your work. Not really a question, but I felt the need to clarify after seeing your response to another question regarding queer-baiting.

In your response, you (respectfully) provide some push-back against the concept, while expressing a willingness to learn more. I had a few quick responses to your comments I wanted to share.

You talk about some of the examples given in the Wikipedia entry for queer-baiting to be unfair, citing Sherlock Holmes and John Watson as an example. To be clear, in both the Wikipedia article and in popular usage of this example, people refer to Holmes and Watson as they are depicted in the BBC series, "Sherlock", and not (necessarily) in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories or other adaptations.

Queer-baiting refers to creators of media actively misleading a fan-base with hints or indications of "queerness" without any intent of follow-through. NOT -- as you indicated in your prior comment -- a fan-base misinterpreting close same-sex friendships and sexual. "Sherlock" (the BBC series) is a famous example of queer-baiting, as the series very often hints at homoerotic attraction between the two leads in the series' writing, the performances of the lead actors, and in the ways that other characters in series refer to their relationship. I won't go into specific details and examples from the series, but if you are interested in examples there are scores of them documented and easily locateable on the internet.

The key aspect of queer-baiting is the attempt to take advantage of queer fans by providing the bare minimum of queer(ish) interactions, without ever following through for fear of alienating a non-queer audience. This is very different from both presenting close same-sex friendships without any romantic or sexual relationship developing between the two characters, and the presentation of queer characters without the ability to actively show examples of their queerness due to external factors, such as network interference (such as Lexington in "Gargoyles" or Korra in "The Legend of Korra"). These are non-malicious and do not seek to mislead a queer audience.

To be clear, I don't think you have been guilty of queer-baiting in any of your work. I simply wanted to clarify the concept a bit more so that you can hopefully understand where the concern of the initial comment came from. Looking forward to "Young Justice" season three!

Greg responds...

I get the concern. I do.

And my response probably shows my (relative) queer blindness. I've seen every episode of "Sherlock," and never noticed any significant difference between how John and Sherlock are depicted here than in other versions.

I don't want to be defensive; I want to be open. But as you indicated, I've never intentionally queer-baited. Lex was gay to the extent allowed at the time (which was not at all). Some fans read a homo-erotic charge into the Dick/Wally relationship and the Bart/Jaime relationship, but that was never our intention - and I sincerely don't think we were trying to fool anyone. (Though one of those four characters is gay, in our minds, at least. But not in the minds of TPTB, even though TPTB did allow us to be objective about other characters on the show, starting with Season Three.)

Response recorded on July 12, 2021

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Coolest Aunt Ever? writes...

Hello Greg,

I wanted to thank you for defending the very real LGBT+ fans of pop culture & comics. My niece is one of those; I’ve always known she was on the spectrum and recently she came out. She loves action cartoons with prominent female characters (a rarity still do this day) and she loves watching those with me. Now she is too young for twitter but you better believe that I’m there searching high and low for children’s media where she can finally see herself represented. I really hope your show can provide that for her and viewers dying to see themselves in their heroes in more than just lip-service. My searches in twitter only ever brought promised LGBT+ representation leading to the usual bare-boned minimum. I wouldn’t mind so much, after all those shows are not about romantic development and characters don’t need relationships to be interesting or have enriched stories. Then I see the disproportion; it’s not fair when almost all the non-LGBT+ characters in said shows get to have tender moments, explicit development and definitive romantic intimacy. It’s harsh to tell a whole group of people that their feelings are problematic to explore yet it’s perfectly “natural” for another group. I’m not sure about DC’s protocol but I doubt you would settle for them telling you that the only way you can have a POC character is if you make sure their costume covers any indication of skin-tone and/or facial features and that their superhero name in no way draws attention to their ethnic background… also never remove the costume or use their real name. So please tell me that you will give your LGBT+ audience the same importance in the fight for diverse visibility in your non-adult media; please allow my niece to see herself reflected with the same fleshed-out, emotional connections that straight kids have the privilege of experiencing everywhere.

P.S. I’m not asking for spoilers, just no false promises to young viewers. Thanks again for defending your fans and their humanity!

Greg responds...

I'm not making false promises. We're just doing what we can, as we can. And we have a long-term goal to steadily increase LGBTQA+ representation on YJ, and we're working toward that. TPTB have been much more cooperative for Seasons Three and Four (though still not 100% cooperative) than they were for the first two seasons.

Believe me, I have very personal stakes in this fight. This MATTERS to me.

Response recorded on July 12, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

Hi Greg. I'm going to ask for a spoiler only because it is a spoiler you have already given us.

Years ago, you said that a villain from the YJ:Legacy would play a role in season 3 - if it ever happened. Is that still the case? (I'm guessing you were referring to Tiamat as she is the only villain specific to Legacy.)

Also, is the general plan you had for season 3 the same as it was when you completed season 2? I guess you'll be able to talk more freely about this after Outsiders has aired.

Greg responds...

1. There were a number of villains that Legacy and Outsiders had in common. I no longer remember who specifically I might have been referring to.

2. The general plan for the entire series (including S3) hasn't changed.

Response recorded on July 09, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

I always imagined Wally and Jade liking each other for some reason, and then it hit me: Jade is like a darker, nastier, sultrier version of Artemis. So, my questions are:

1) Do Wally and Jade like each other?

2) Was it your intention to have the two sisters mirror each others personalities to some extent? Or, am I imposing my own interpretation after the fact?

Greg responds...

1. They don't have much of a relationship, honestly, i.e. haven't spent a ton of time together. But I think they had good days and bad.

2. Both.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Dylan writes...

Hi there Greg in regards to Young Justice, since the cancellation in 2013 and the revival now, have major ideas changed since then? Anything that would be considered a spoiler that you've decided against/change it?

Greg responds...

Our basic gameplan never changed.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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roni writes...

hey greg! gotta ask:

1. How have you been? :)
2. So, what's your opinion on Voltron: Legendary Defender, the one currently airing on Netflix made by Dreamworks? Have you watched it, or worked with anyone who has also worked on it?
3. I wish you knew how excited I am for YJS3, because can't explain in words. :')))
hope you have a good day!

Greg responds...

1. Really good, actually. Got through the pandemic largely unscathed personally. My family stayed healthy, and we all stayed employed. I can't complain. (I mean, I DO complain all the time, but really I shouldn't.) Young Justice: Phantoms is going great guns through Post-Production. So all is well.

2. Haven't seen it, so I have no opinion, but I know a bunch of people who worked on it, and they're all great, so I imagine the show must be great, too.

3. Hope you liked it and are now equally excited for YJS4

You have a good day, too!

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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A Fan writes...

Just wanted to preface this with how much I enjoy your work and admiration to the comic world! I sincerely love everything you do. That being said..
Are you underwhelmed, whelmed, or overwhelmed for the new season of Young Justice? :)

Greg responds...

At this stage, none of the above. I assume - back in 2018 - you were talking about Outsiders. I'm thrilled with how it turned out and generally thrilled with fan response to it.

As for the coming Phantoms, we're in the home stretch finishing it up. Put episode 414 in the can last night. So I'm not overwhelmed with work. But I'm very excited about it dropping and seeing what the fans think of it.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

There have been many superhero stories about killing vs. not killing. (My personal favorite is Geoff John's Black Reign in JSA.) On the one side are heroes like Batman who say that taking a life is never justified even if the result would be good. On the other side are heroes like Wonder Woman who say sometimes the consequences of not killing would be so catastrophically bad that taking a life is sometimes necessary. Taking this further, you have anti-heroes like classic Wolverine who feels that anybody who uses lethal force against him should expect the same in return.

You touched upon the question as to whether the ends justifies the means in M'Gann's character arc in Invasion. But CN and other traditional media are usually very very leery about even saying the words "die" or "kill" in a cartoon directed at a young audience. Certainly, you could not have done a story like Black Reign while YJ was on CN. I mean... you COULD have but it probably would have been dumb because you could not have addressed the issue of murder in an open and honest manner.

So, the question is...

Are the standards of the DC streaming service permissive enough for you to address this issue in season 3 or future seasons? Or, would this kind of subject matter still be prohibited?

I hope you don't think I'm fishing for spoilers because I'm not. I just want to find out what kind of themes and subject matter would be acceptable for your new venue.

Greg responds...

We don't seem to have the same kind of limitations on Seasons Three and Four that we had on Seasons One and Two.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Chronos Typhoon writes...

Hey Greg,
Which animation studio(s) will be providing the animation services for Young Justice S3? Will MOI and Lotto provide the services this time around again?

Greg responds...

I'm not sure MOI and Lotto exist in the same way that they did back during Seasons One and Two.

Animation for Season Three was largely split between eMation and DR Movie, with Studio Mir doing a couple episodes.

Season Four is being entirely animated by Studio Mir.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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KarrinBlue writes...

So, one of the complaints I've seen come up in discussions about Young Justice is that the villains are too well-prepared for any contingency, beyond what anyone could plan for, and it's hard to root for heroes when they can't make any progress against the villains' plans. And then I realized - well, why are we trusting a bunch of career liars and manipulators to actual say when something's caused them trouble? They'd do everything in their power to make it look like they're in control, always one step ahead, but looking at the actual evidence, we get a different story entirely.

Take Bereft - Superboy escapes capture, the League gets a heads-up that someone in Bialya is messing around with zeta-beams, Sphere is lost, and the Light's top telepath is soundly beaten, and yet none of that matters, because the delivery system was successfully tested... But who ever said the delivery system needed to be tested? It's a boom tube, which the New Gods have been using for centuries, tech that's as tried-and-true to them as anything, and there doesn't seem to be any reason to expect boom tubes to not work if they're being sent to Earth. Saying that it doesn't matter if they lost Sphere because the delivery system works is like saying it doesn't matter if someone breaks into your house and steals your new laptop, because you now know that the postal service that delivered it works fine. But no one in the Light would ever say something like that - they've all been spreading around a reputation of being masterminds, with goals and strategies as inevitable as the tides, so saying anything that would hint at doubt would never happen!

Or, let's look at Downtime and Misplaced. To hear the Light talk about it, getting the entire Starro organism is about the same as getting the sample from the lab, in terms of their plans, so Aqualad didn't really hurt their plans all that much. But looking at it long-term - one member of the Team, on his day off, forced the Light to adjust their plans from 'acquire a nearly endless supply of Starro-samples in one night while no Justice Leaguers are able to interfere, then begin combining it with the Fog, then spend the time until Red Arrow's induction fine-tuning the Starro-tech' to 'wait and plan for months, carry out a massive ritual that draws the attention of every superhero in the world, and in the process bring back the only mystic being that can match Klarion and lose 4 of the Light's top mystic muscle to him, all to acquire a tiny fraction of the original biomass.' Even if in the end they still got the Starro-sample, they still had to go to a lot more trouble and pay a higher price for it.

The Light is a threat, yes, but they're not omnipotent or omniscient, much as they'd like to convince their minions, their enemies, and we the audience otherwise. And I really can't wait to see S3, where they finally have to deal with a Team that can plan and scheme as well as they can.

Greg responds...

Well, I never thought they were omnipotent or omniscient. They're all flawed individuals. But they play a good game, don't you think?

Hope you liked Season Three, and hope that you tune in for Season Four, as well.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Jeff Bell writes...

Does the young justice invasion hero Wonder Girl have a longer lifespan a normal human because her father is a god ?

Greg responds...

No way to know yet. She's aging normally, so far.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Atti290 writes...

Regarding martians, i see in this unniverse martians are alive and well... i'm curious what are their numbers, thousands? millions? billions?

Greg responds...

Uh... I'm not really sure. I'd guess... Millions?

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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Jaden writes...

I know Paula kicked Sportsmaster out of the house, but are they divorced? If not, how come?

Greg responds...

I'd say by now they are.

Response recorded on July 02, 2021

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won writes...

this isnt really a question but. im still blown away that after so long, y'all were finally able to make a season 3 of yj!!! the fact that you and brandon made a world full of characters we all got so sucked into, are still invested in and excited for almost a decade later is amazing. i cant wait to see where outsiders takes us. best wishes to you, brandon and the rest of the cast and crew moving forward!

Greg responds...

Thanks!! By now, hopefully, you've seen Young Justice: Outsiders, and are looking forward to Young Justice: Phantoms (i.e. YJS4), which is coming soon.

Response recorded on July 01, 2021

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Ameera writes...

Will the Young Justice theme song for season 3 have any words? Also, how many episodes have already been recorded for Young Justice season 3??

Greg responds...

1. No.

2. 26.

3. 26 have also been fully recorded for Season Four. We have thirteen episodes in the can, seven more in post-production. The last six are being animated by Studio Mir now. Pre-production is virtually complete, except for a little bit of color on the last episode.

Response recorded on July 01, 2021

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Hayden writes...

Will the complete young justice timeline be revel if all future seasons of the young justice you Mister Greg plan for the show to have are produce ?

Greg responds...

Never. Cuz we'll never run out of ideas for future seasons, and the timeline is constantly growing. Right now it's 694 pages on my desktop computer and 609 pages on my laptop. (I have no explanation for the discrepancy. It's the exact same document. My desktop is much older than my laptop.)

Response recorded on June 29, 2021

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Marvelman writes...

What are Brandon's responsibilities on YJ, specifically? What does his job consist of?

Greg responds...

EVERYTHING.

In theory, I'm in charge of Writing and Voice. He's top dog on Design and Direction. We both cover post.

But Brandon and I are full partners in every sense. We both break the stories together. And we both write individual episodes. I story edit every script, whether it's written by Brandon, one of our freelancers, or myself. But Brandon gives notes on every script.

We both supervise voice recordings. We both supervise boards, animatics and all designs. We both do post-production together. Because I'm color deficient, Brandon handles Quantel without me. But the rest we do together. Brandon can also draw, so he does some frame corrections and other improvements I could never do.

Plus, he's smarter than I am. He's irreplaceable. I'm largely irreplaceable. Largely.

Response recorded on June 28, 2021

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Anonymous writes...

1. Did Green Arrow ever go on a cross-country road trip with Hal Jordan?
2. How long have Vandal Savage and Klarion known each other?
3. How old is Starro?
4. Where did Psimon get his powers?
5. Where did Brick get his powers?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. No spoilers.

3. Which one?

4. No spoilers.

5. No spoilers.

Response recorded on June 28, 2021

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Kevin writes...

In the rise of tv shows being streamed on individual networks how can we support Young Justice and other shows like it? If this is a really simple solution, I am sorry as supporting shows and comics like this has been really complicated in the past with pre orders and toy lines and I would like a professional in the industry to clarify if it is not too presumptuous.

Greg responds...

Basically, subscribe to the service that carries YJ. Back in S3, that was DC Universe. For S4, that'll be HBO Max. That's the best way.

Buying Blu-Rays and merch helps too.

Response recorded on October 28, 2020