New York Comic Con

This just confirmed. Brandon Vietti and I will be at New York Comic Con for a signing, presentation of new footage and a Q&A about Young Justice. Stop by. We have some exciting stuff to show you!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9

2:00â€"3:00 p.m. Young Justice Signing at the DC Comics booth #2243

3:45â€"4:45 p.m. Young Justice Video Presentation and Q&A â€" Join the league! Fans were given their first glimpse of Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis this past July at Comic-Con International: San Diego. But this panel will offer far more than just a glimpse, as producers Brandon Vietti (Batman: Under the Red Hood) and Greg Weisman (Gargoyles) answer questions from fans and show footage from this highly anticipated series. A one-hour special event of Young Justice will premiere in November 2010 on Cartoon Network, and the series begins in 2011. Young Justice is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and is based upon characters from DC Comics. Room 1A14

http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/

ALL CAUGHT UP

Hey gang,

I'm finally all caught up on the ASK GREG queue. Gonna take a short break, but we'll open the queue again on September 27th, 2010 in preparation for the release of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse which also contains the DC Showcase Green Arrow short that I wrote.

As always, I urge you guys NOT to flood ASK GREG with questions. Check the archives. Check the FAQs. Ask questions of the loyal fans in the Station 8 comment room.

AND, please, THINK BEFORE YOU POST. I am NOT, for example, going to SPOIL "Young Justice" before it airs. I'm not going to SPOIL "Gargoyles" either since I still have hopes of bringing that back. I'm not even going to "SPOIL" Spectacular Spider-Man, because I don't see any real point in revealing future plans and ideas independent of their execution.

Happy to talk process. Happy to talk about what's ALREADY aired or been published. Happy to talk about Mecha-Nation and many other things. But. NOT. GONNA. SPOIL.

Thanks,

gdw

Young Justice Stats

Statistics interest me. So I thought I'd share some with you guys. (Okay, yeah, I'm procrastinating. But it is my lunch hour, so sue me.)

We have completed (so far) 17 out or our 26 first season Young Justice Scripts. That is NOT the same as completing the episodes. We haven't completed a single episode yet. We don't start post-production until later this month. But we do have 17 scripts in the can.

As of episode 17, we have 147 name characters from the DC Universe. That's an average of introducing 8.6 DC characters per episode. Of course, the reality is that some episodes have introduced many more than that, others fewer. But that's the average.

Our average page count for each script is 33. Our average dialogue count is 235 lines.

We've completed recording on the first 13 episodes. (We've partially recorded episodes 114-116, but are missing a few actors still. We'll record 117 this coming Tuesday after Labor Day.) So the following statistics are only through episode 13:

Total number of actors we've used so far: 47.
Average number of actors we've used per episode: 11.
Of course many actors are in multiple episodes and many are performing more than one character.

Hmm... what else?

All 26 scripts have been assigned to writers. (All 26 premises were written and approved months ago.) As I mentioned above, 1-17 are in the can. Episode 18 is in script. Episodes 19-22 are in outline. Episodes 23-24 are in beat outline. 25-26 are approved premises, waiting in the wings.

We have seven writers, including myself, staff writer Kevin Hopps and our freelancers: Andrew Robinson, Nicole Dubuc, Jon Weisman, Tom Pugsley and Peter David. My fellow producer Brandon Vietti is also heavily involved in the writing process.

Okay, back to work...

Dragon*Con

I'm told that at Dragon*Con in Atlanta this weekend, Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis will be hosting a Gargoyles panel. I'm quite jealous that I won't be there!

According to

http://www.dragoncon.org/

the panel is on Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 11:30am.

If you can attend, you should. Then let me know how it went!

What's in a name...?

So I've been lurking a bit today on various Young Justice message boards (almost always a mistake), and I feel the need to respond on one point (ALWAYS a mistake).

Some people are asking (with various levels of outrage), why we are calling this series "Young Justice"?

They cite the fact that our Robin isn't Tim Drake, that our Kid Flash isn't Impulse/Bart Allen. That we're not using Wonder Girl or Arrowette or Secret and that even our Superboy is dressed more like the later Titans Superboy.

And, honestly, I can see their point. In some ways, I do almost (almost) wish we weren't using the Young Justice title.

But it would be nice if these people turned a more practical and realistic eye toward the question of title.

Some ask, why not call it Teen Titans, when you have Dick, Wally, Aqualad, etc.?

But the answer to that is beyond obvious. There was a RECENT hit series named Teen Titans. The name is TAKEN! Taken, by the way, by a great series that used the cast not of Teen Titans but of Marv Wolfman & George Perez's NEW TEEN TITANS with the tone of neither. In fact, the tone is/was much closer to Peter David & Todd Nauck's YOUNG JUSTICE. (Ironic, huh?)

And if, somehow, we DID call our series TEEN TITANS (again), how would that help? Another group of fans (with some overlap) would cry foul because we were putting Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis and a new Aqualad in with Dick and Wally. Where's Donna? And etc.

The thing is... we're not doing a straight adaptation of either Teen Titans OR Young Justice. We are, in fact, pulling from both properties and later Titans and decades worth of Justice League stuff to create something new with a new continuity on a new Earth-16.

So what SHOULD we entitle it? There just ISN'T one comic book title that's a PERFECT fit for what we're doing. So if you get past the impossible notion of finding a historically accurate title, you're left with coming up with a MEANINGFUL title. In which case, Young Justice fits perfectly - at least on THAT level. (Trust me, you'll see.) It's a flat-out BETTER and more appropriate and more meaningful title for our series than New Titans or Teen Titans or plain old Titans or Justice League Task Force or Justice League Europe or Extreme Justice or Justice League Babies or pretty much anything else you can come up with. I know. I tried. Nothing else captures the essence of our series as well. Baggage or no baggage.

That still leaves the perfectly legit argument: Why do this? Why NOT just adapt the David/Nauck Young Justice? Fair question, absolutely.

And the answer here is... we didn't want to. The creative people (myself, Brandon Vietti, Sam Register, etc.) behind the series premiering this November on Cartoon Network didn't want to. That's not meant as any disrespect for a great comic book. But again, we felt that the tone of the David/Nauck Young Justice book had been done recently and well on television as Teen Titans. Different group of teens, but the same feeling. We wanted to do something NEW. Maybe you'll like it. Maybe you won't. But writers as diverse as Peter David (yep, that Peter David) and Geoff Johns and, uh, Greg Weisman all like what we're doing, so maybe it's worth at least giving us a chance. Or not. That's the call of every individual.

But if you are going to give us a try, you might also try leaving a bit of baggage behind. We have six leads and many, many, many supporting characters (135 existing characters from the DC Universe just through episode 16 alone). As when I worked on Spectacular Spider-Man, we have tried VERY hard to be as true to the core truths of each individual character as possible. Some of the interpretations may be new. Some of the details. The timeline is start from scratch. (Parallel universe, remember?) But the core should hold true, or I haven't done my job.

And gang, stop pretending you know what's coming or what ISN'T coming. What characters will eventually be included and which won't. We haven't even premiered yet. It's fine to guess. But making a guess and then praising or condemning us based on that guess is a bit rough.

Now, I know that this message will invariably read like I've got a big chip on my shoulder. And/or that I'm whining about fans pre-judging the work. That's not the TONE I want for this message. But it's hard in text to get tone across. The tone I'm looking for is more like... weariness. (Not wariness, but weariness.) Honestly, all I'm trying to get across here is that perhaps the conversation would be more productive if folks weren't stuck on preconceptions.

Oh, and one more thing for the record: I know a number of people -- even a few individuals legitimately attached to the series -- have been quoted saying the original title of the series was "Young Justice League". It wasn't. Ever. For better or worse, we were "Young Justice" from Day One of our development. And why not "Young Justice League?" Well, frankly, cuz it sounds awful, don't you think?

Non-sequitor, but since I'm in correcting-internet-incorrectness-mode: Miss Martian is the NIECE of Martian Manhunter. NOT his daughter. Someone misquoted us there.

Mecha-Nation Trailer

Here's a link. Check it out:

http://www.victorcook.com/mechanation_trailer.mov

LIVE PODCAST

Meant to post this days ago at ASK GREG, but I forgot. I'm being interviewed for a live podcast at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/123-film TODAY at 4pm PDT, i.e. in less than half an hour. Sorry for the lack of warning...

SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2010 and ASK GREG

Hey gang,

Well, I've finally caught up with the backlog here at ASK GREG. I'm going to take a short Ask Greg vacation, and then we'll be reopening the site soon... i.e. on the Monday (July 26th) AFTER San Diego Comic-Con 2010.

As always, I ask that before you post a question you do your best to make sure it's not a question that's been answered in the archives already AND that it's not a question that someone posted just before you. You can also try asking your question first in the Station 8 Comment Room, as the fans know a LOT of answers already.

We're just trying to avoid flooding the site with so many questions, that I'm immediately backlogged again.

Meanwhile, I will be at Comic-Con next week. Subject to change, here's my current schedule:

THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2010
10 - 11:30am - Mecha-Nation signing at the Kizoic Booth. (We'll be premiering the first issue.)

FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2010
10:30-11:30 am - Brave and the Bold/Young Justice Panel. (We'll be premiering our first Young Justice footage in a mini-panel jam-packed with revelations!)

2 - 4 pm -Mecha-Nation signing at the Kizoic Booth.

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010
11:30am - 1pm - Gargoyles signing at the SLG Booth.

3 - 4 pm - DC Showcase panel. (We'll be previewing some footage from the Green Arrow DVD short that I wrote.)

5:30 - 6:30pm - DC Showcase signing. (Location TBD).

SUNDAY, JULY 25, 2010
10-11am - Mecha-Nation signing at the Kizoic Booth.

11am - 12:30pm - Gargoyles signing at the SLG Booth.

Please stop by and say hello!

Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2010

Hey gang,

I just got back from taking my kids to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. Saw five uniformly great productions:

Hamlet

Henry IV, Part One

Twelfth Night

Merchant of Venice

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Can't recommend any or all of them strongly enough...

Young Justice

Wow. This has been a big couple of weeks ANNOUNCEMENT-wise.

As some of you doubtless already know, YOUNG JUSTICE was announced today by Cartoon Network.

Here's the official press release info (with slightly better proofreading from me):

"Young Justice: In Young Justice, being a teenager means proving yourself over and overâ€"to peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you’re not just a normal teenager? What if you’re a teenage super hero? Are you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy of the Justice League? That’s exactly what the members of Young Justiceâ€"Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemisâ€"will find out: whether they have what it takes to be a proven hero? This all-new series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and based upon characters from DC Comics. Sam Register (Teen Titans, Ben 10, Batman: The Brave and the Bold) is the executive producer. Brandon Vietti (Batman: Under the Red Hood, Superman Doomsday, The Batman) and Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, The Spectacular Spider-Man, W.I.T.C.H.) are the producers."

We're hard at work on the 26-episode first season. Got a great writing staff in place, and the designs look phenomenal. I really think the series will kick some major ass!

And that's about all I'm allowed to say right now...