JoeMerl writes...

Hello, Mr. Weisman! Let me begin with the obligatory praise: "Gargoyles" had a big impact on my childhood, while "Spectacular Spider-Man" and "Young Justice" are new favorites. Thanks for making them!

I have a few questions, which I hope don't come off as too nitpicky or critical. I tend to over-think cartoons sometimes.

1.) M'Gann's subplot in season one feels kind of odd to me. You've said that White Martians and Green Martians look basically the same, but if that's the case, why bother keeping her true race a secret from the Team? She probably realizes that Martians look freaky by human standards, but color makes little difference to that, and they are only going to recognize a social connotation to her White-ness if she explains it. Am I missing something, or is it just that this is such a touchy subject for her that she is not really acting rationally?

2.) You've said before that you always try to capture the "core" of a character, no matter what details you change. Now, I only have second-hand knowledge about Artemis from the original comics, but from what I understand her moral alignment was opposite of what it is in YJ. I'm not necessarily arguing with the result---Artemis is one of my favorite characters---but I'm curious: why did you choose her for the Team (you mentioned several other female archer candidates), and what exactly do you feel is the "core" similarity between the original and Earth-16 versions?

3.) Another not-complaining-but-curious question: I understand the reasons Superman found Superboy's existence disturbing, and I like how they're nuanced if not perfectly noble. But other versions of his character did not go through those sort of issues. Is there a particular reason you decided to include them? Did it just make more sense to you than instant acceptance, or did you want to try something different with the character, etc.?

4.) A more minor query: about how fast can Billy's "Speed of Mercury" go? My math (which admittedly might be wrong) says it took him about a day to get home from India in "Alpha Male." I would have guessed it would just take a few hours, but maybe I'm just over-estimating it? (He's still flying about as fast as a plane, after all.)

I hope none of these questions were annoying, and thanks a lot for this forum! Good luck getting a third season!