BV: From the very beginning, Greg and I wanted to make the show as realistic as we possibly could to differentiate our show from the other great DC shows that came before us. Again, these are young superheroes and they are taking on more grown-up missions from their adult mentors. For instance, Batman is now putting them on missions that he may have protected them from in the past. So you've got this collision of young heroes now taking their next step to adulthood, and we wanted those moments to feel [authentic]. To help along with that, we've put a lot of thought into the design. Our character designer, Phil Bourassa, has a real sharp eye for drawing in a more realistic manner that's animation friendly. So we've carefully tailored the outfits of the individual characters. It was very important that they all don't seem like they wear spandex and shop at the same superhero outfit clothing store. And Robin works with Batman on the streets, so you see a lot of seams in his outfits to make it seem like he's got some armoring and padding to protect himself in street fights. Aqualad needs a more streamlined outfit to cut through the water quickly. Backgrounds and the painting style are also more realistic. All of these artistic choices, again, support the kind of stories we're trying to tell.

BD: Let's talk about the Earth-16 universe you've introduced.

GW: I think the key is that you're obviously going to see some stuff that's familiar if you're a DC Comics fan. But you can't count on anything being the same: it's a parallel universe with a lot of differences. We won't deny that creatively we conflated errors quite a bit to modernize this and bring characters together that were introduced in completely different eras, ranging from Dick Grayson, who debuted in 1940, to Miss Martian, who debuted much more recently, obviously. But the idea is to try and create something coherent that still has this iconic feel to it but is also very contemporary. So we asked DC if we could have an earth -- and they gave us Earth-16.

Costumes are carefully tailored to fit the needs of each character.

BV: I think visually our influences live-action film based. We're not trying to look graphic or comic-booky with shots. I can't point to anything specific, but it really depends on the storyboard artist or the director.

BD: Who are some of the directors you're working with?

BV: Michael Chang from The Brave and the Bold; Jay Oliva, who we've worked with for years and has storyboarded almost all of the direct-to-video movies. I hired them because we all have some of the same interests and influences and I knew their strengths and that this project was a great fit for them. They have a strong handle on how to direct in a more realistic manner and, like all of us, they were looking for a new way to do something they we've all done a lot. When Greg and I plot stories, we write about superheroes in a way that's never been done before. We want to make it new for us and the audience. And our directors had the same challenge: How do we create these superhero shows in a visual way that's going to feel new to our audience.

BD: What are some examples?

GW: Well, in episode four -- "Drop Zone, "which is their first official mission from Batman, he sends them to a rogue country to investigate the production of a neo steroid called Venom. This puts them in the middle of a minor war between Bane and the Cult of the Cobra. We've got a lot of character stuff coming. We've got a lot of humor, romance, drama, tragedy and lots of action, obviously.