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Greg's Latest Responses
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Anonymous writes...
1. What are the singing voices of the original Team like? Specially who is a good or bad singer?
2. What are the original Team's favourite genres for music and TV?
Greg responds...
1 & 2. Um... you know, I'll leave all this to your imagination. But given their voice actors, you know Nightwing can sing, right? And I've heard Danica sing, and she has a lovely voice. Not sure about the other four, but I imagine they can all carry a tune.
Secret writes...
1. How much does Conner and Garfield know about M'gann's other siblings?
2. What were Superboy's thoughts on the tension between M'gann and her siblings such as Em'ree?
3. Did Lucas and Bethany have an actual wedding or did they get married at city hall? Also who served as Best Man and Maid of Honor? Was it Conner and M'gann?
4. Where the rest of M'gann siblings since they refused to attend the wedding?
5. What were the reactions of M'gann's brothers and sisters after finding out about Superboy's death and M'comm's actions?
Greg responds...
1. They've gotten a very basic rundown, but (the short answer is) not much.
2. I'm sure it saddened him. But I think you can interpret that for yourself.
3. No spoilers.
4. Elsewhere on Mars. I don't want to pretend I'm tracking them all at all times.
5. M'comm is, you have to imagine, a major source of shame, embarrassment and humiliation. For many of them, M'gann and her dead fiance are too. Others might have conflicting emotions. But only M'ree attempted to act in what we would think of as a sisterly fashion.
Anonymous writes...
I'm curious how did M'gann pull off throwing a surprise birthday party for Conner on board Bio-Ship? Where would they get the supplies? Did the party only include her, J'onn and Garfield or did any of their friends join via hologram or video call?
Greg responds...
I'm really okay leaving the party to your imagination. But given how malleable Bio-Ship is, hiding party supplies is not a challenge.
Anonymous writes...
I actually rounded up some examples of you using MPAC and GLAAD to dismiss criticism, since I know you'll try to pretend you've never done that even though the evidence is right here on your own blog:
https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=24804
Right here you say -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.-
Do you SERIOUSLY NOT SEE how you're using these organizations' support to dismiss what the asker was bringing up??? You think that because those organizations liked it, all of your fans that were unhappy with the choices you made were wrong and would come around once they understood your vision. Do you not see how you're basically saying the opinions of MPAC and GLAAD are more valid than your fans? And this was not one person, this was MULTIPLE people. If a significant portion of your fans are reaching out to you about something and your response is -well MPAC/GLAAD said its fine- then you are invalidating what they are saying.
You also say -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.-
First of all, of course you didnt hurt ALL your LGBT fans because not everyone has the same opinion, that doesnt change the fact that you did upset some; but you used the fact that some people werent upset as if it cancels out the people who were upset. Secondly, did you ever consider the fact that the people in your real life may pull their punches because they know you? Or did you ever consider that you may have a limited scope of the LGBT community through the people you know and maybe you should try to get a variety of perspectives before dismissing something?
https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=24738
Your response was better here, but you still felt the need to bring up that MPAC likes your long term plans and suggest the asker simply didnt understand your vision and would eventually like it. Just because MPAC likes your longterm plans doesnt mean this asker, or every Muslim fan, will too.
And because you took such offense to me suggesting that Hollywood orgs like MPAC/GLAAD can sometimes be out of touch with everyday people (btw, I am both Muslim and gay and I am speaking for myself. I feel they can be disconnected from what the youth are talking about. That is how I feel. No org is perfect or above criticism. Youre not a part of either community, so how would you even know what Im referring to? I mean, you couldve asked instead of flying off the handle, but we're past that). I would like to call attention to this issue with Halo:
https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=24450
Did no one at MPAC bring this issue to your attention and warn you that this could bring a negative response? This is literally one of the biggest issues female and POC characters face in comics and media in general. I think any young POC fan wouldve told you this. If they truly did not advise you against graphically killing Halo multiple times, then I think this goes to show that these institutions dont catch everything, this is why its important to listen to your fans along with them to get a full perspective. You seemed to suggest that I was insulting the org by me saying they don't represent everyone...all I was saying is that its only one perspective and you shouldnt only listen to them or use the fact that they like something to dismiss something a fan is saying.
Clearly, I touched a nerve and this caused you to misconstrue what I said and go off an a tangent about something i wasn't even talking about. Maybe because you were still upset about that tweet, which funnily enough, is the one criticism I personally don't agree with, I just noticed that you used MPAC as a shield yet again when I think it would've been better to ignore it and let that person have their own opinion. I noticed it's becoming a pattern with you and that's why I brought it up (notice I said increasingly, meaning I wasn't referring to one incident).
Truth is, you have created a bubble for yourself. The fandom on Twitter has become a place where you can't be critical of the show without getting flamed, so people don't discuss as much. Tumblr, where most of the fandom used to congregate, is pretty much dead; if it was still in its heyday, I think you would've seen a lot more backlash to Halo in particular. This forum is moderated before a question reaches you. I have seen some good discussion on Reddit, but I dont know how often you go there.
I never said you needed to leave Twitter, I suggested you maybe not respond defensively to everything. You dont need to do a poll for every decision as you sarcastically suggested, youre lucky enough to have a fanbase that gives you constructive feedback. It's impossible to please everyone, but you could use your fans as an additional resource to get a fuller perspective. But if you don't think our opinions are important enough to listen to, that's your choice.
Greg responds...
Okay, I typed up a fairly long response to this comment. It was calm and reasonable, acknowledging some missteps, though overall continuing to maintain my original points. And most especially denying that I am hiding behind anyone.
Somehow, the was lost, and I do not have the energy to recreate it. It bums me out. But such is life.
Anonymous writes...
Hello. I am the person who sent the question about you using MPAC and GLAAD to shield yourself from criticism and I see you responded in a ramble. Um..wow lol what a response.
You mistakenly thought I was only referring to that one tweet and threw a huge tantrum that I mischaracterized what you said and disrespected the Muslims who worked on the show, when you in fact mischaracterized what I was trying to say.
First of all, I was not referring to the one tweet only. I was mostly referring to how you responded to criticism of Halo. You used the fact that MPAC likes her to dismiss a lot of valid criticism about the character. And I have seen several of your answers on here when someone is critical of an LGBT character where you say GLAAD signed off on it so the criticism the person is bringing up “isnt a monolithâ€. You can search on here and find those yourself. That’s why I mentioned GLAAD, why would I randomly throw them under the bus as you suggested? Maybe you shouldve taken a moment to think about that and consider I wasn’t talking only about that tweet instead of flipping out while you were emotional.
THAT type of response is what I take issue with, not the characters you have created. In fact, I disagree with the tweet about not making a Muslim practice magic, I think that is more than fine. But not everyone agrees with me, there are some who believe it is haram and will take offense. Because as you say, we are not a monolith and it will be impossible to please everyone.
I just dont think you should make a habit of responding to these types of things using these institutions as a shield. And when I say that they can be out of touch…its just a simple truth that an institution cannot represent an entire demographic as a whole…I don’t know why you interpreted that as me disrespecting them. These institutions are based in America, which limits their scope, theyre adults, they’re naturally going to be out of touch with the youth, and they work in Hollywood, theyre not going to see the perspective of the working class. Not that their opinions aren’t valuable, but if you’ve got more than one fan reaching out to you on social media about something, you should value their perspective equally as much.
And as for your lovely sarcastic response asking if you should take a poll, actually lots of creators will pose general questions about representation on Twitter to gauge the response. It’s not unheard of. Or you can just read what people are saying and take it in without responding. Clearly you were being hyperbolic to make it seem like I was demanding something ridiculous. Real mature.
Finally, I LITERALLY NEVER SAID you can’t create diverse characters. Do you see me say that anywhere? Where did you get that? All I said was I don’t like how you were seemingly using these institutions to dismiss criticism and invalidate other people’s opinions. All I said was I think you should stop responding in that way and just accept not everyone will like what youre doing.
But hey, thanks for willfully misinterpreting everything I said, responding in pure anger, and getting defensive. white male fragility at its finest.
Greg responds...
Okay. You have some good points.
I don't agree with most of them. But I acknowledge them.
Love that last comment, though. About as mature as what you're accusing me of. And you wonder why my reaction can be kneejerk at times.
Anonymous writes...
Hey Greg - you have repeatedly said you do not think giving Dick tech skills was taking away from tim because you think a modern version of the character would have those skills. i would like to offer a counter argument: dick does exist already as a character in modern comics as nightwing, and while he does have tech skills, he is consistently shown not to enjoy it or be the best in the batfam at it. he often turns to barbara or tim when something requires a lot of tech work. also tim is supposed to be the Robin most skilled in this area, that and detective and strategy skills is what sets him apart from the others who are more naturally skilled in the physical things. but in the show you have seemingly made dicks tech skills better or equal to tim. therefore i do think giving dick tech skills was taking from tim and did a real disservice to the character once he came around - tim has nothing unique to bring to the table in the show
Greg responds...
Um... sorry?
We were doing the best for the show as a whole in Season One. I stand by our decision. It may have made Tim less unique in the short term. But we had long term plans for Tim that would have showcased his tech skills. NOT his hacking skills. We were making that distinction. And Dick has acknowledged that Barbara/Oracle is better at hacking than he is. In subsequent seasons, he relied less and less on that, and in Season Four, admitted that he was extremely rusty.
Marvelman writes...
I thought I understood something but I just read an article that is making me doubt myself.
The writer describes Zatanna as more ruthless than Batman because she took on apprentices with sole aim of using them to free her dad from Nabu without ever caring about them at all. I thought this reading was extremely harsh and wrong.
My understanding is that Zatanna's plan to save Zatara did not occur to her until "Undo!" So, it's not as though all those years ago Zatanna made Thirteen her apprentice with the intention that she could someday be used as a pawn to free Zatara from being Dr. Fate.
Do I have that right?
Greg responds...
You do. You can actually see the moment in "Odnu!" where the idea first occurs to her, and it's that idea that brings Child to Earth. If she had had it earlier, Child would have arrived earlier. And that's reinforced at the end of "Kaerb Ym Traeh!", where we all but spell it out. There are a lot of things in all my series that are left up to the individual viewer (or reader's) interpretation, but this isn't one of them.
Having said that, I don't think of either Zatanna or Batman as being ruthless. They all have their moments, but generally... no. That IS up to individual interpretation, I suppose. But it sure ain't my interpretation.
Anonymous writes...
when u made the choice to drive one plotline forward instead of exploring the world slowly did u ever consider the wasted potential? so many characters and storylines left behind by the time skips. kinda makes me sad tbh.
Greg responds...
This falls into the category of... "I bet I can make you hate your own show... or at the very least admit that you made a huge mistake when you made it."
It won't work. ("Wasted potential?" Yeesh.)
Look, I am WAY more aware than you could possibly be of exactly what events we skipped with each time skip. In fact, I'd still like the opportunity to tell those stories, one way or another. But when painting an entire universe, whether we employed time skips or not, there were ALWAYS going to be things we skipped over. Only so much screen time. So we were creating a world where life goes on when you're not looking. The time skips made that clear. The reason you're "sad tbh" is because you KNOW stuff was skipped. If we had just proceeded chronologically, you might easily believe we were showing you everything that was important. And we weren't.
So, I guess I take your sadness tbh as something of a victory.
A fragment
I found the following in my files. I had completely forgotten that I had written it, and I have no memory of what it was for or where I was going to go with it. The date on the file is March 1, 2001. Seemed kinda like a potentially fun start to, well... something, so I thought I'd post it here:
It had stopped being fun a good half-hour ago. There was still no sign of Jolie, and his uncle had clearly been wrong about the two tunnels meeting up again “just around the bloody bend.†So now Evan was stuck by himself. The teen swung his flashlight around, but the monotonous scenery hadn’t changed. His tunnel continued to head in a straight line downhill at a forty-five-degree angle. The cylindrical walls were carved roughly out of the bedrock and covered here and there with green moss or grey fungus. Other than the mere odd fact of the tunnel’s existence, there was really nothing interesting about it.
How far down should he go? What if Dakota had already found Jolie in the other fork of the tunnel? At this rate, it’d take forever for the three of them to hook up again. Evan stopped walking. He turned around.
But what if Dakota hadn’t found her? Monotonous or not, this puppy was headed somewhere. There’d be something important at the bottom. And at any rate, he’d feel like a complete dope if he walked all the way back uphill only to immediately follow Dakota back down again. Evan rolled his eyes and turned around for a second time. He started off, doubling his pace.
Five more minutes passed. Ten minutes. Fifteen. He realized his flashlight was starting to dim. Okay, that changed things. If it got much worse, he’d have to head back. And just as that thought crossed his mind, the tunnel up ahead curved to the left. Excited, he raced for the bend.
He came around the corner and slowed to shine his waning light ahead of him. Another hundred yards of tunnel. But with a steeper descent. And beyond that, a flickering of light.
Again, he rushed forward. And immediately he realized that his eyes had fooled him. Not a hundred yards of the same old tunnel, but twenty yards of a tunnel that was rapidly shrinking in circumference (or whatever). By the time he reached the end of it, he was practically doubled over â€" and his spiky hair was still scraping the ceiling.
He poked his head through the mid-sized porthole that the tunnel’s mouth had become. On the other side was an immense cavern, lit by a lone torch burning from a sconce set into the far wall. He looked up. The stalactite-covered ceiling arced thirty feet above him. It was a ten-foot drop to the floor, and no Jolie. But he had come this far…
He turned off his flashlight and hooked it onto his belt. Then he squirmed out of the porthole, legs first. For a second, he thought he was going to be wedged in tight, but he managed to squeeze one shoulder through and then the other. Holding on with both hands, he lowered himself down the wall as far as he could. Still about a five-foot drop. He inhaled deeply and let go.
He landed hard on the rocky ground. He bent his knees and tried to roll on impact -- like Dakota had taught him -- but that didn’t save his crummy right ankle. It gave out again, like always, and he bit his lip to keep himself from yelling.
Now truly annoyed, he stood up and limped across the craggy bottom to explore the cavern. Maybe find another exit, as it only now occurred to him that he might have a little trouble climbing back out the way he’d come. He glanced up at a wall. It was covered with carved hieroglyphics â€" literally. Not that he was any kind of expert, but he’d seen enough Mummy movies to recognize the style. But what were Egyptian glyphs doing in a cave half a mile beneath the Australian outback?
Evan began to move along the wall. The glyphs gave way to Celtic Runes, then to what looked like Chinese calligraphy. Then Arabic. Hebrew. And finally, Latin. He couldn’t read any of it, yet he couldn’t help being disturbed by it. Suddenly, he knew why. The carvings reminded him of those multi-lingual warning signs he had seen at the airport in Sydney: “Employees only! Keep Out!†in seventeen languages.
Something moved behind him. He felt it more than saw it and turned quickly. But the only thing there was his own flickering shadow. He scanned the room again. There was something directly beneath the torch. Something black that the torchlight didn’t or couldn’t touch. He limped toward it.
Again, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Again, he whipped around. Again, nothing but his shadow â€" frozen, of course, into the same pose that Evan himself was holding.
He moved faster. As he drew nearer to the torch, his shadow grew behind him until it stretched up to the top of the cavern. A giant of liquid black. This time, when Evan turned around, his shadow didn’t bother to hold still. It swung at its former master with a huge black fist.
Evan barely had time to register what was happening. The black fist slammed into him like a tidal wave, knocking him right off his feet. He rolled to a stop against a stalagmite, took a second to shake off the pain and shock, then dodged quickly as the giant shadow took another swipe that just missed the top of Evan’s head and shattered the stalagmite into a couple thousand limestone fragments.
Evan scrambled to his feet. His ankle throbbed. The shadow hovered against the far wall, poised to strike. Evan struggled to clear his head. He had known his shadow a long time and had never noticed all this building resentment. What was causing this?
The shadow attacked. Evan pushed off his sore ankle and dived over the smashing black fists. The entire cavern shook. Evan rolled back onto his feet and found himself facing the torch. It burned with a strange blue-black fire that held his gaze.
For too long. The shadow slammed him back against a rune-covered wall and kept him pinned there. The pressure against his chest was terrific, but Evan forced his eyes open. The torch flared brighter. Blue-white with a coal-black core. That torch is a bad influence, he thought. He reached for his belt.
It took some effort, but he managed to free his flashlight and flick it on. For half a second, he worried that the batteries would already be too far gone. But the light cut across his shadow like, well, like a light-sabre right out of Star Wars. His shadow actually screamed (which was not a pleasant sound at all). The black hand pressing against him was severed from the giant and instantly melted away. Evan struggled to catch his breath while simultaneously advancing slowly along the wall. The torch flared angrily, but Evan kept the shadow at bay by swiping at it with his light.
“Let me knock that chip off your shoulder,†he said under his breath. He sliced the whole shoulder off for good measure. Then for fun, he cut it off at the knees too.
Finally, he reached the torch. It blazed with a cold black fire outlined by white tongues of flame that scorched his hand as he lifted it out of its sconce. The shadow screamed again and made one last desperate move toward the threat to its power, but Evan used his flashlight to cut off the shade’s head before smothering the torch against the rocky floor of the cavern.
It was suddenly much darker. Evan scanned the walls with his flashlight. No sign of the shadow. He turned the light on himself and looked back over his shoulder. There it was. Small, calm and very well behaved. Evan smiled wryly. Then waved at it. Right in synch, the shadow waved back. That’s more like it, he thought.
One last time, Evan tried to get his bearings. The flashlight beam passed over the empty wall sconce. Below it was a small iron door, painted black. Evan knelt down and put his ear against the cold metal. From the other side, he could here a girl crying.
Jolie!
Anonymous writes...
I havent been able to get into young justice since it returned which was disappointing since I was a huge fan of the first two seasons, I keep trying but I was so confused why the show wasnt about the team anymore, then I recently saw you say that the show was never about the team itself, its about the original team as individuals and thats why the team isnt a focus anymore. Im honestly baffled by that…I thought the show was called Young Justice because it focused on the young heroes, aka the team. I think it also kept the show more organized when that was the focus. The only arc I have enjoyed in the latest season was Artemis, and that just so happened to be the only one that featured the team, it was the only time since it came back that it reminded me of why I wanted this show back. I think this decision was a creative misstep and I know I am not the only one who feels that way. Its your show but sadly its not the show I fell in love with anymore.
Greg responds...
Well, that's your right. But we wanted to mature the show along with the characters - and along with the audience, for that matter. I'm very proud of what we did over all four seasons, and since our numbers went up with every season, I feel fairly vindicated.
But it's completely legit to state that it didn't work for you. And I do know that there are others that agreed with you. I just also know that the majority of viewers agreed with Brandon and I.
And, as you indicated, in the end, the series had to be something that Brandon and I felt passionate about making. Or who could possibly be passionate about watching?
So, no, I don't think it was a creative misstep at all. It just wasn't a creative step that suited your tastes.
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