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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Aquaman Shrine Interview with James Tucker - 2010

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Yes, Brave and the Bold Producer James Tucker is back for an unprecedented third interview with The Aquaman Shrine!

I didn't plan to go back to James after this episode, even though it featured Aqualad's debut on the show. But when I saw how much Aquaman appeared in the show, I filled James' in-box with questions. As usual, he was kind enough to respond...


The Aquaman Shrine
: Did you purposely not include Aqualad in "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure" so his B:BATB debut could be in this episode?

James Tucker: It's wasn't really a conscious decision to exclude Aqualad from "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure", but I wanted to show Aquaman as a husband and a dad in that episode. It just worked better resurrecting Arthur Jr. than to confuse the issue by having Garth along for the ride. Plus at this point, Garth's about 17 or 18 and doing his own thing. He's not going on family trips with the Currys.

I do hope to explore the unique dynamics that Aquaman's family would have. Is Aqualad treated like an adopted brother? Is Arthur Jr. intimidated by the fact that his father has a sidekick who enjoys super hero-ing while Arthur Jr. would just as soon stay in his room playing video games? Interesting topics to explore...

TAS: When you assign a show's teleplay to a writer, does a backwards-and-forwards knowledge of the DCU matter a lot, or does the staff add those little details down the line if necessary? (In this episode, I'm thinking particularly of the inclusion of obscure characters like Killer Moth and Ubu)

JT: Well in the writers meetings, sometimes the writers we bring in have a knowledge of DC comics, sometimes not. But I'm usually the one who decides which DC characters are thrown in at script stage for the most part. Michael Jelenic, my co-producer and the story editor for the show accommodates my fanboy flights of fancy and manages to work them into the stories artfully with the writers. Oh, and you can blame me for the "Sit, Ubu, sit" line.
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TAS: When you decided to do a "Teen Titans" episode, was the line-up sort of a given, since the show had established Aquaman and Green Arrow more than, say, Wonder Woman and Flash?

JT: Well, "Sidekicks" isn't technically a Teen Titans story. It's about the sidekicks of the characters we're already familiar with on the show, so using Robin, Speedy and Aqualad made sense for the story. We do have plans for Kid Flash in the very near future and hopefully, we'll see a version of the Teen Titans down the line.
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TAS: When will Ra's Al Ghul learn he just can't trust his daughter?!?

JT: Actually, I think Ra's can trust Talia since in the end she always sides with him. Hopefully, they never get family counseling because they have one of the most entertainingly twisted father/daughter relationships in comics.

TAS: I couldn't help but notice Aquaman was clean shaven in the flashback. Any chance we'll ever see an Aquaman episode titled "The Adventure When Aquaman Grew A Beard"?

JT: If we do another flashback, which in this show can happen at any time, the clean shaven A-man may reappear. But there's another clean shaven hero on the show who needs to get some facial hair first...
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AMS: That sounds like an hour-length show to me. I bet I can safely say for many of my fellow B:BATB fans that the opening shot of the whole JLA was tantalizing! Any chance of a JLA episode?

JT: Not officially, since this is the Brave and the Bold, but stay tuned...
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AMS: I love the last scene, where Batman coins Robin's new name, Nightwing. But that wasn't the name Robin had in mind! What was he going to say?

JT: Good question...This calls for a poll!

AMS: Ha! That's a good idea. You mentioned in our last interview that you'd love to do an Aquaman DTV movie. Anything us legion of Aqua-Fans can do to help that happen? Mail postcards, send dead fish wrapped in Aquaman comics...?

JT: Keep watching the show and spreading the word. Ultimately, money talks, so buy the dvds, even the four episode only discs, because those sales count toward letting the powers that be know that you dig the show. Of course, letters and emails don't hurt. Be persistent but polite, and we'll see what happens.


For this Aqua-Fan, Brave and the Bold is the gift that keeps on giving. After broadcasting Aquaman's finest TV appearance just two weeks ago, now we have an episode featuring Aqualad, plus Aquaman with his Classic JLA pals!

Thanks to James Tucker for all the great work and for talking to the Shrine yet again. Related to James' answer about what Robin was going to call himself before Batman chimed in, leave your guess in the comments.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Target to buy some DVDs...


14 comments:

Randy said...

Another top-notch interview! Tucker seems really a friendly sort.

Andy Luckett said...

He was going to call himself "Disco Flamebird"! (Obscure reference, I know).

But seriously, another great interview there, Rob. It's nice how Mr. Tucker really seems to enjoy chatting fan-to-fan.

And I love the bit about another character needing some facial hair - I was wondering when that was gonna happen!

IADW said...

Nice interview Rob! Tucker really seams to care about the characters of the DCU - and it's coming through on the show.

I think Nightwing was going to call himself Daredevil (he's not a big reader of Marvel!)

Josh Hill said...

great interview! James has become one of my favorite creators outside of comics. His sensibilities and attitude towards super-heroes is very refreshing and relatable. And of course, the hard work he puts into the shows he works on really pays off for us, the fans. This show, in particular, has a been a dream come true for myself. Not only is is it a great Batman show, it's a great DCU show, as well.

I'm guessing Green Arrow/Oliver Queen will indeed eventually evolve into the bearded version that has become the more iconic version of the character. Makes sense, especially after seeing Robin graduate to Nightwing, that there is room for growth on THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD. I just hope it's not too soon, because I do like this version of GA a lot. It's one we don't get to see very often anymore, and I think writers tend to focus too much on Green Arrow's politics with the facial hair. I don't want to see too much of that in this series (and I doubt I will, anyways).

I liked that James didn't define this as a Teen Titans episode. That's good, because I am hoping we get to see a classic Titans line-up! It would be so much fun!

I guess what he said about buying the DVD's makes sense. It's just tough to drop the cash when you know the big season set is inevitable, especially in these hard times.

Wings1295 said...

Great interview again, Rob!

The other "clean shaven hero" must be Green Arrow.

And as for Robin's choice of a name... I have no clue! hahahaha

Earth 2 Chris said...

Great interview! Does sound like Ollie will get some whiskers, and maybe a social conscience too?

Robin names:

Wingnut

Sparrow

Birdbrain

Chris

Joe Huber said...

Too bad they didn't use the 28th episode as the intro to the JLA.
Like you Rob, I'm off to Target to buy some DVDs also. I do hope that when they finally collect entire seasons that they release then on blu-Ray though.
Thanks again for providing another great interview for us! And thanks to James Tucker for providing another awesome episode!

Steve said...

Another great interview, rob! And thanks also to james Tucker for his time.

He really does seem to know and love his DCU lore, and I love that yet another creator has some interest in bringing Aquaman to these various venues. here's to more Aqua fun all the way around!

Russell said...

Nice job as always, Rob, and thank you to James Tucker for his time and his efforts. You can really tell he enjoys his job, in both the tone of the interview and in what we see on the screen.

Plans for Kid Flash?! Awesome!!! A possible Teen Titans appearance? Cool! Possibly more of the Justice League...outrageous!!!

I'm loving this show. ;-)

Scott Bryan said...

Great interview! We're lucky you've got either guts or connections!

That's good news about Kid Flash and the JLA.

Um... Dick's name...

Bird O' Prey
Nightbird

rob! said...

Thanks for the kudos, everyone.

Jack--for the record, James is an extremely nice guy, very friendly and generous with his time.

I'm generally not a pushy guy, so if someone turns me down for an interview (which has happened several times), I pretty much give up. I would never think to interview someone twice, let alone three times, unless they were really great and open to talk to, which James is.

As much as I love B&B, it gives me an extra special thrill to be able to tell one of the people that make it how much I enjoy what they're doing. It adds immeasurably to my enjoyment of the show.

Rick Duncan said...

Another outrageously wonderful episode and interview.

Josh Hill said...

Joe, I'm with you, I hope we do get B&B on Blu-Ray, too. I watch the show in HD when it airs, so it would be kind of a downgrade to only have it on DVD. I did see that they have released the CLONE WARS animated series on Blu-Ray, so there is hope.

Unknown said...

Another great interview, Rob, and thanks, one more time to James.

Always great to see returning interviews and also get an inside look at how are favorite shows are done.

Is James an official F.O.A.M., yet Rob? ;-)