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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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Anonymous writes...
Who is A33 whom Nightwing called for medical support?
Greg responds...
No spoilers.
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.
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?
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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