Since people want to seem to talk about it

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

And I don’t want it to take over the other thread:

Yes. A “Young Justice” animated series has been announced. I look forward to watching it.

Discuss.

PAD

55 comments on “Since people want to seem to talk about it”

  1. So you don’t have any more info too share?

    Ah, that’s too bad. Still, I feel the same way, I’m looking forward to it. Given the mix of characters it’s clearly going to be influenced by the recent Titans lineup as much as the actual Young Justice comic. I’m guessing it will still have some influences of the PAD comic.

    It was a little strange that the Teen Titans cartoon that came out was so lighthearted (most of the time), but DC cancelled Young Justice to make a very serious Teen Titans comic. I hope this Young Justice cartoon doesn’t get too serious in an effort to distinguish itself from the Titans cartoon.

  2. *gasp* YAY!!!

    And they didn’t ask you to write it? Curses!

    I do look forward to an animated Mighty Endowed.

    Ooh. I found a picture!

    Oh. That’s umm…yeah. Not what I was expecting. That doesn’t look wacky or madcap at all!

    1. Well, the ComicMix story says that it will be based on the series Peter wrote. Does that mean that they’ll just use that lineup, or that they’ll actually use storylines he wrote?

    1. My guess on Arrowette is that they changed her just enough to not have to pay royalties. That’s how Black Lightning became Black Vulcan.

  4. I’d guess Arrowette only had that name for two reasons, neither of which apply to the cartoon. 1) Her mother was an established character named Miss Arrowette, and was such a stage mother of course she’d insist on her daughter using the same name 2) There’s already an Artemis or twelve in the DCU. The “ette” in Arrowette sounds old fashioned and a bit sexist, so since they can use the generally stronger sounding name Artemis, I’m not surprised they’re doing so.

    Nor will I be shocked if her mom also now had the Artemis id in the cartoon ‘verse.

    1. Assuming she’s Arrowette and not Wonder Girl, as Artemis is an Amazon name. (or if she is Arrowette, it’s likely she’s Green Arrow’s kid/sidekick, rather than her mothers)

  5. I am glad they seem serious about it. I’ve never been able to get into the kiddie “wacky” stuff like Brave and the Bold and the Teen Titans.

    I’m showing my age here, but my favorite animated version of the DCU still is the Bruce Timm stuff.

  6. Well, if we can’t have PAD, at least we get Greg Weisman. And he will make sure that the show has a sense of humor, I am sure.

  7. I think this is more likely to be a sort of “Junior Justice League” show than anything. I believe DC’s wanted to do a teenage Justice League show since the days of Batman Beyond.

    I’ll give it a shot. Maybe I’ll like it. Maybe I won’t.

  8. I was hoping you’d be involved.
    .
    I suppose i’ll check it out at some point, though i don’t currently have cable or satellite…

    1. Yeah, that’s odd. If they wanted a black character, there are a lot of people who’d love to see Static back in animation.

    2. Yeah, I noticed that too. To “add diversity”. Now really, I don’t have any problem with that per se, except if “they” (the creators of the show) want to represent blacks/minorites in the cartoon, why don’t they create a new character instead, *or*, if they really feel it’s cheaper, easier to just “convert” an exsisting character, why not have the guts to do it to a “major” player (no offence AL fans, but really…) “OK, we need a black person on the team.” –How about Superboy?— “No, try again.” –Robin?– “Nope.” –Kid Flash– “Maybe, What we really need is someone who’d be a token member no matter what race, color, or creed they were.” –Aqualad?– “Bingo!”

      –Now I freely admit, I don’t know what the creators were thinking or anything about any behind the sceens discusions and/or developement, and I have not in fact seen the cartoon yet, but still, based on past examples, this kinda seems the norm. Anyone remember how in the first Tim Burton Batman Havey Dent was played by Billy Dee Williams, and yet when Two Face was brought front and center as a main villian he was played by Tommy Lee Jones?

      1. I was really looking forward to Billy Dee as Two Face.
        .
        That was probably more to do with the switch in directors than anything else. From an interview I read with Micheal Keaton, Joel Schumacher had a very specific image in mind for the movie and absolutely no willingness to accept input about from others about how it should be done.

  10. I’ll give it a try, but two things give me pause: the producers’ associations with the horrid Teen Titans and Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoons. Because of that, this one’s going to have to impress me pretty darn quickly.

    –Daryl

      1. Yep, really.

        When Teen Titans premiered, I’d been wanting a Titans cartoon for over 20 years. After being unable to make it to the first commercial break, I just wanted a Titans cartoon to go away.

        As for Batman: The Brave and the Bold, I gave it a try for several episodes, and found the cold opens to, without fail, be the only remotely interesting segments of any given episode. The telling moment when I left my son, 7 at the time and who loves pretty much any and all super-hero cartoons, to watch an episode after I’d given up on it. I left the room, came back a few minutes later, and he was gone. I went to his room, and asked if he wanted to finish watching it. He said, “No. That’s too much of a kids’ show for me.”

    2. I didn’t really like the Teen Titans cartoon, though it was good enough to watch and it had its moments. I’ve really enjoyed Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
      .
      Animated Plastic Man for the first time since I learned to read! Blue Beetle! (Even though he sounds like Ron Stoppable and every character pronounces his real name verrry slowwwwly.) I’m don’t like every interpretation of the characters that they do (like Aquaman) but there’s a lot of stuff I like.

      1. Here, here! And the casting has been amazing. Mark Hamill voicing The Spectre, Adam West & Julie Newmar, Neil Patrick Harris singing… Honestly, I don’t get how fans *don’t* like this show! 🙂 Speaking of, as a fan or Firestorm, I loved their version that combines (pun; ha!) the classic and the modern. Here’s hoping the Starro invasion pays off – – but I’m betting it will.

      2. I just don’t enjoy kiddie versions of superheroes myself. Or kiddie stuff in general. But I think it’s nice that there are shows like that out there. Attracting young readers and all that.

        (I suppose it’s because I started reading superhero comics when I was 13. So I don’t have that assumption that superheroes should be for young children, nor the nostalgia associated with it)

  11. I never got into the TEEN TITANS cartoon. Visually, it felt like every cliche of anime.

    (BTW, why did five teenagers need their own skyscraper? Didn’t that give each of them 7 or 8 floors of their own?)

    1. Considering the amount of industrial manufacturing they did on site for things such as submersibles and spaceships, plus the amount of museum storage they’d probably have behind the displayed portions of their collection, you’re already looking at some pretty impressive space requirements. They could also have built the place with future requirements in mind, such as a massive increase in membership (which came to passs), larger scale training facilities (there’s no point in training a Flash on anything smaller than a football field, but it’s hard to track his progress on anything larger), temporary containment cells for some of the more problematic villains, extra security measures, guest quarters (Mr. Trigun is gonna need a bigger bed, methinks), convention space and rave facilities, maybe a few cathedrals…
      .
      Scale was never that important to the show, nor should it ever have been. For everything you could dislike about Superfriends, the Hall of Justice made for a wonderful and impressive image. Whether it was an impractical waste of space shouldn’t matter to the viewer, even if you’d have cause to decry such extravagances in the real world.
      .
      As I saw it, the artistic choices tended to highlight how silly some of the drama between characters really was. (Really? That’s why you’re at each others throats? Dude.) It also made it easier to separate trivial squabbling from more “serious” fights. Maybe none of it was necessary, but I have no problem with the artistic choice. Wacky hijinks style is fine with me, even when the world is at stake.

      1. Bob, I just have to say I absolutely love your first-paragraph explanation of the building’s size. Sure then you go into a serious discussion of artistic choices and that’s all well and good too, but the first paragraph cracked me up (and made sense).

  12. Every time I come to this site and fail to see a PAD review of the new Doctor Who episode I cry like the Baby Jesus.

  14. Pingback: Young Justice cartoon: its official! | the Captain's JLA blog

  15. I loved the Young Justice book so I’m excited about the cartoon but I gotta ask, and maybe someone here can answer it for me. Why does the only black male character, at least in the promo, have to have white features: blonde hair, blue eyes?

    1. The eye colour may have been chosen because violet eyes were supposed to have been an issue for at least one version of Aqualad.
      .
      As for the hair, maybe one of his first cases had to do with someone stealing hydrogen atoms from the ocean?

    3. He is a surfer who uses oxiginated water for the hair and contact lenses?

      Or maybe the producers are being progresive: the future is a mixture of all races in such a way that if a person tries to classified all resulting characteristics he or she would end with hundreds of different ones. So the simplest solution is just have one race: human.

  16. I’m looking forward to this, even if my shelf is running out of space for yet another series. No matter how “serious” they make this, I doubt they’ll be able to resist at least two “silly” episodes a season. No matter how silly they make it, I doubt they’ll be able to avoid serious arcs. All they need is time to develop a feeling for what they’re trying to do –and just enough lack of interference from people who want to tell them what characters/events they can’t/must use.
    .
    I’m pretty amused by the Artemis design for two reasons. The first is the “I’m up here” arrow on the archer’s top. The second is the colour choice, making her Green Arrowette. Now will her name be closer to Cissie or Mia?
    .
    Strange that only the girls display any green in that image, and that it’s a major colour for both of them. Speaking of colours, you can tell how important red is to super-heroes when only one costume in the bunch doesn’t feature it.
    .
    Jack L. Chalker’s “River of the Dancing Gods” included a world that was bound by the conventions of heroic fantasy, one of which was, “An adventuring party must contain four to seven members, at least one of whom can’t be trusted.” I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but if I had to guess on which one was most likely to betray the team, based on that image alone, I’d go with the archer.
    .
    For some reason, the only casting I’m curious about is whose voice they’ll give to the Martian. I can’t shake the impression that a character I only know for her love of puppies should be voiced by Cree Summer, though preferably not in the same style as her Elmyra.

  17. I’m glad that “LEAGUE” has been dropped out of the title; although, “YJL” indicated to me that Cartoon Network wanted to distance the series a bit from the series that Peter and Todd had produced. This Artemis does seem to be more a renamed Arrowette than a composite of Cissie and Cassie, but time will tell.

    Seriously, though. If Peter and Todd don’t see any residuals coming out of this show to them, they should be ready to contact their respective attorneys (in my opinion).

      1. Okay. Thanks for clearing that up. The pair of you did create some of the characters who were featured in the title, though.

  18. Not privy to all details, and far from an expert in the field, but I’d assume they did YJ as work for hire, so they really wouldn’t be open to any residuals. Unfortunately 🙂

  19. Hey PAD, I was a big fan of Young Justice back in the day, so like everyone else, I’m praying that they bring you in to write some episodes. You are one of my favorite writers in any genre, so I would love to see your work on TV.

    Aside from that, I’m glad Greg Weisman is doing it. I was upset to find Spectacular Spider-Man canceled in favor of Ultimate Spider-Man, but Marvel Animation’s loss is Warner Animation’s gain. I think Weisman will capture the spirit of the series well.

  20. Yep, we want to seem to talk about it – we maynot actually have anything to say, but we sure seem to!
    .
    (Sorry – couldn’t resist after i just noticed the interesting inversion from what i’m sure PAD meant to say in the title… I’d obviously make a lousy proofreader, since i’ve looked at that headline at least five times before this…)

    1. No, I actually meant it exactly the way I wrote it. The fact is that people can’t REALLY talk about “Young Justice” because aside from a short press release and a single illustration, there’s nothing TO talk about. Which hasn’t stopped some people on various boards from going postal. Over a show no one has seen. They just “seem” to be talking about it, but really, it’s all academic wheel-spinning until there’s an actual series on the air.
      .
      PAD

  21. After reading the posts above, I can see everyone’s concerns about how this series might play out versus past efforts.
    But I just want to point out that the DC Universe is vast enough to accomodate both takes on a concept. And, as seen by individual episodes of past series, it is possible to mix the two styles from time to time with entertaining results.
    With that said, I’m just glad that the Cartoon Network is (slowly) starting to return to its animation roots and I hope this trend continues.

    1. “I’m just glad that the Cartoon Network is (slowly) starting to return to its animation roots”
      .
      What do you mean by that?

      1. Could have something to do with the fact that the Cartoon Network is getting into the reality show business. As in live-action, non-animated, trash TV.

      2. They’ve got some live action shows, but they’ve never stopped doing cartoons. So announcing one cartoon doesn’t change anything.
        .
        Most of the live action stuff is in the Adult Swim Block, anyway. This show isn’t in Adult Swim.

  22. Cool news. PAD would you consider writing for it if they ask you? You wrote a BEN 10 episode so it can be said that you have a working relationship with them right?

    Maybe your contract with marvel do not let you write for WB animation. I am just babling now.

    Hey, in the spirit of babling. If they ask you to write a Star Wars book would you consider it?

    1. 1) If they asked me to write an episode of YJ, absolutely, I’d do it.
      .
      2) My contract with Marvel refers to comic books, not screenwriting projects.
      .
      3) I was asked to write an SW book years ago. But I wasn’t thrilled about the terms and passed.
      .
      PAD

  23. Animated series?

    Well, if it prompts DC to release the whole YOUNG JUSTICE series in TPB form, I’m all for it.

  24. “3) I was asked to write an SW book years ago. But I wasn’t thrilled about the terms and passed.
    .
    PAD”
    .
    I had always wondered about that. I was always curious as to what your take on those characters would be. It always struck me as odd that you haven’t written those characters even though you have written for other huge properties and are obviously a fan of “Star Wars”. So did you ever get offered/have interest in pursuing writing a story or arc for one of the multiple “Star Wars” comics over the years?

    1. Actually I was asked to write a comic book series that was originally supposed to be called something like “Splinters.” The concept was that you took one point in the Star Wars saga and have it go off in a totally different direction. Basically it was a “What If.” And I was asked to kick it off with “Star Wars: A New Hope.” I was told that I could do absolutely anything as long as it started with one key moment.
      .
      I came up with a story that was monumentally twisted and it all keyed off of the notion that the little robot that Uncle Owen originally selected didn’t blow its motivator drive and R2 stayed with the Jawas. (Yes, I know, it was a call out to Skippy the Jedi Droid.) So Ben never got the message, Luke never became a Jedi, the Empire recovered the plans, the rebellion was wiped out, and the Death Star was unassailable.
      .
      And that was just the beginning. I was just getting warmed up. By the end of the miniseries, Leia was a Sith Lord and she was running the Empire at the side of her consort, Luke Skywalker, who naturally was unaware of his relationship to her and vice versa.
      .
      And Dark Horse loved it, and they sent it to Lucasfilms, and Lucasfilms came back and, totally going back on what they’d originally told Dark Horse, said, “No. No matter what happens in the course of the story, good has to triumph over evil, Luke has to be a Jedi, and the end of the story has to be more or less the same as the end of the original; you’re only allowed to get to the same end via a different path.”
      .
      And I said, “Screw that” and left the project.
      .
      Last time I had any extended involvement with Star Wars.
      .
      PAD

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