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ASSURED MUSINGS 2022-05 (May)
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Anonymous writes...
Not really a question, but I rewatched the entire show recently and season 1 is really just something special. It's so rare to see something in DC media that's character focused and optimistic. It still has its dark moments, but the characters are there to pick each other up. And I think it's the only show that accurately shows the relationships between the mentors and the proteges; most either focus on the older heroes or the younger ones with minimal interaction. I still love the show, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the earlier vibe.
Greg responds...
That's fair. But kids grow up. It's inevitable, and we wanted to explore that.
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.
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.
Michael Broder writes...
Is Henchy an original character, based on someone from the comics, or both?
Have you ever thought of doing a motion comic where the actors read the whole comic?
Greg responds...
1. He's more-or-less original. He's based on a model created for the Green Arrow Showcase short and a specific voice that I love, which actor Steve Blum has used for me in multiple series: Raythor (W.I.T.C.H.), Blackie Gaxton (The Spectacular Spider-Man), Zeb (Star Wars Rebels).
2. Yes. I'd love to do that. But there's no budget for it, generally. The YJ Wiki did a few using volunteer labor and volunteer voice actors. Here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42QKFkSy4DU
Oh, and what the heck, here's another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N3Z2b-UlTE
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?
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.)
Giorgio writes...
How did Steve Dayton find out were Beast Boy and Miss Martian living at so he takes Beast Boy from Miss Martian?
Greg responds...
I've never given it much thought. I guess the logistics of that don't interest me all that much. Beast Boy's legal guardianship was transferred to Megan Morse after the death of Rita Farr. There must have been an address of record. And Steve probably had some intel about Megan from his Doom Patrol days. It's not like Gar and M'gann never saw each other back then.
Anonymous writes...
Why Superboy has the side effect of physically not age being a clone but Will and Jim both ages? I don't think that's because he is half kryptonian since Clark can age
Greg responds...
It was a weird side-effect of trying to combine human and Kryptonian DNA.
Nimh writes...
What happen to Garfield's pet monkey after Marie logan was kill by Queen bee?
Greg responds...
That's a damn good question. But it assumes that Monkey was still around that long.
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.
Steve Hockensmith writes...
How old the Flying Graysons when they were murdered?
Greg responds...
I'm not going to do all that math for you, but...
Karla Grayson was born in 1968.
John Grayson was born in 1969.
Mary Lloyd Grayson was born in 1969.
Johnny Grayson was born 1990.
They died in 2006.
Talos writes...
Would you say Vandal Savage has some respect for his old foes The Justice Society of America particularly Alan Scott The Green Lantern?
Greg responds...
A man like Vandal Savage would be wise to respect all his enemies, I suppose.
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.
NoOneSpecial writes...
Decided to re-watch W.I.T.C.H this week. Really loved the work you guys did on the show for Season 2. Not to disparage the people who worked hard on Season 1 as well, but the show really becomes something special in the second season
1. When Nerissa became corrupted, the Oracle took the Heart of Kandrakar from her and gave it to Cassidy. But the general rule is that a Heart must be given willingly. So how could the Oracle take the heart from Nerissa if she wasn't willing, which I very much must assume she wasn't.
2. Did Nerissa plan to have a child with Julian? Did she intentionally seduce him in order to conceive Caleb? Or was his birth accidental and something she didn't plan on? When speaking to Caleb, she makes it sound as though she wanted to have a child, so that Caleb could 'lead' the rebellion to victory against Phobos, though reading between the lines, that just sounds more like Nerissa trying to take credit for an obviously coincidental success after the fact in order to validate her actions, which certainly fits with her character. So, why did she initially have Caleb?
3. When did C.H.Y.K.N retire from their Guardian duty? Was it after Kadma left the group to live on Zambala? Also, who had the Heart of Kandrakar following Cassidy’s death?
4. You said before that Irma was gay but that she tries to "fight to be straight" by going after guys that are inherently unattainable, which sounds as though she was not yet fully accepting of her sexuality. Does mean the rest of W.I.T.C.H were unaware of her sexuality by the end of Season 2?
5. I really love the episode titles going as letters of the alphabet. It's really clever especially when you have exactly 26 episodes to work from. Whose idea was this originally? Would you have been inclined to do it again for Season 3?
Greg responds...
It's been a VERY long time since I've seen these episodes - let alone since we produced them - so my memories are extremely vague. Therefore, take the following answers with a massive grain of salt.
1. Maybe she was willing at first but then had second thoughts (and resentments).
2. I'm thinking a part of Nerissa loved Julian. When she discovered she was pregnant, she wanted the child. The rest is self-justification, after-the-fact.
3. I just don't remember. And I don't have the same documentation on W.I.T.C.H that I have on Gargoyles and YJ.
4. Yes, that's what it means.
5. It was my idea, inspired by the title of the series and by the fact that we had a 26-episode order. It seemed right.
5a. Hard to say.
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.
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.
Kyle writes...
I know you've discussed this a lot, so no offense will be taken if you skip this question, but in terms of the character that is gay but tptb won't allow to be, how did you come to that conclusion?
Did you know before you even started writing the character? Or was it something that clicked after the character was on the page? Was there a specific scene or moment? Or was it just a desire for representation?
Also, getting LGBT representation right is hard. And there's a lot of traps people can fall into, even among those in the community. Just wanted to say I think you've gotten a lot right and appreciate that you've always tried to do right by the community, despite the limitations that have been placed on you in the past and the one that still is.
Fingers crossed that last one is lifted soon though! Know you're trying your best and that's all we can ask for!
Greg responds...
I don't know that we started out thinking that particular character was gay OR straight. It wasn't an issue. But, yes, after putting the character on paper, it felt right for that character. We're always looking for an opportunity to increase our representation in all sorts of categories, and we were very much caught off guard when told this one character could not be objectively labeled as gay. Especially since we'd been writing him that way and setting up his relationship for some time, so it couldn't have come as a great shock.
And thanks for your kind words, Kyle. I don't think we always get things quite right, but we are trying and strive to do better all the time.
Clary writes...
Do you ever regret making your universe so full of specifics and details? You certainly inspired fans who want to know literally everything about Earth-16 and its characters. I'm one of those people, mind you, but are you ever just like: Why on earth is this person asking me this question?
Be as chalant as you like.
Greg responds...
I often wonder that, frankly. But I guess it's a testament to how much detail we do give that it inspires the desire for even more. So I run with it as much as possible.
Regrets? I have a few. But then again, too few to mention.
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.
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.
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