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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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