Gail Simone's Blog, page 1003
June 11, 2012
knightess-rouge:
I finally got my hands on some of the NEW 52...
I finally got my hands on some of the NEW 52 Batgirl comic books on paper (I’m not a fan of digital copies) and couldn’t withhold myself to wear my cowl again.
I missed to wear it so much! ..
You are adorable. Batgirl reads Batgirl!
Cover and Solicit for Batgirl #0
It does look like its time to find if she was Oracle. Interesting Ed Benes is drawing this.
BATGIRL #0
Written by GAIL SIMONE
Art and cover by ED BENES
On sale SEPTEMBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• How did Barbara first become Batgirl? What led to her to don the cape and cowl?
• Witness Barbara Gordon’s shocking injury and her inspiring drive to recover and walk again!
• Witness Barbara Gordon’s shocking injury and her inspiring drive to recover and walk again!
Ugh. Really DC? We need to go over that AGAIN?
I know it’s an important part of her past, but do we really need to see Joker shooting her AGAIN?
You liked Oracle? That’s too bad, she was either erased or heavily retconned.
You didn’t like Babs being fridged in TKJ? HERE’S ANOTHER FLASHBACK
On the bright side, we may finally know if she was Oracle once and for all. Since this is being released in September, it took what? A year?
You know what needed revisiting? The fridging of Barbra Gordon. Even better? Let’s add the skeevy porno-traced artwork of Mr. Benes. GREAT.
DC, are you actively trying to run off your female fanbase? I just want to know if I should leave before it gets worse.
Is everyone enjoying the 4-pack of udders on her torso? Great. Thanks for pointing that one out @ShivaeStudios
oh good
now i’m angry at specific people for specific things!
The solicit is incredibly misleading, unfortunately. The issue is not about TKJ at all.
Misleading my foot, I didn’t even THINK of The Killing Joke until reading all the above rants comments about it. Here’s a thought, guys: maybe it’s TKJ that’s being retconned out? Maybe DC finally listened to all the feminist commentators (not to mention ALAN MOORE HIMSELF) who thought it was exploitative? This has the potential to be a really good issue! OR, yes, it could be terrible and disrespectful, but we don’t actually know that until it’s published. We’re in the Schrodinger’s Batgirl period right now.
Also, the cover art? Yes, it is pretty ridiculous, but it’s a COVER. It’s SUPPOSED to be eye-grabbing! All it tells us about the actual story within is that it will feature Batgirl in some way. If you want to talk about the anatomy issues or the superhero medium’s continued over-sexualization of the female body, then great! Those are very important issues to discuss, but please try not to get it mixed up with the actual story that will be featured in the comic. They are two entirely separate topics (and the trend of featuring covers only vaguely related to the story within is a third topic also worthy of discussion. Just throwing that out there.)
I appreciate that a lot, but I totally understand why people would be concerned…we dealt with TKJ pretty heavily and this solicit makes it sound like the focus of the issue, which, no, it happens before then. I don’t blame anyone for taking it as read, I probably would, too.
The cover…hm. This is the first I’ve seen it, and that’s a little curvier than I like Batgirl. But it’s Ed’s first image of the character, I think, the interior pages are lovely and she’s got more of the shape she has in the book currently.
Gail, your patience is as always an inspiration. I’ll admit I don’t know the complete background for this issue (haven’t been buying a lot of comics recently due to some financial issues, and I don’t like torrenting for various reasons that are off-topic) so it’s possible I jumped the gun with my blanket dismissal of any connection to TKJ. I still think that the solicit itself, as posted, doesn’t contain more than perhaps a small implicit connect to TKJ, and that the reactions of the above commentators are pretty overwrought…buuuuut of course as I said in my own post, there’s really no way to know for sure at this point. Schrodinger’s Batgirl. :) I for one would definitely like to read this issue (and it comes out five days after my birthday! score!) so it seems that the solicit did SOMETHING right.
I’ll be honest, I used to freak out a little at solicit time every month, because people would tear their own heads off over these little paragraphs that were often written by editors, sometimes before the books were even written, and they rarely had much to do with the actual issues themselves. And I don’t let myself out of this equation, I write HORRIBLE solicit copy, probably the worst ever. The editors are doing me a favor when they write it themselves.
So it was always, sure as clockwork, people freaking out over nothing, the issue would come out, the solicit long forgotten, and sure enough, people are freaking out over the next set of solicits.
I used to get bugged about it, but then I realized that is totally my problem, not the readers at all. They are reacting to the information we have given them, that’s all they HAVE, so it’s not only understandable, it’s inevitable. We can’t give them a cryptic paragraph and be upset when they interpret it their own way, that’s goofy.
So now I look at it as kind of like sports fans, or something of that nature. It’s FUN to quibble and critique, I do it myself. There’s nothing wrong with it, it took me forever to learn that. It’s healthy. It’s fun, it doesn’t bother anyone.
I corrected this one here, but it’s not the readers who are at fault, the copy itself is a bit misleading, is all.
I was kinda hoping it would be an opportunity to explore the possibility that other people were Batgirl during her hiatus. You know, the same way they managed to cram four Robins in.
Crazy, I know.
I am not going to lie about it, it isn’t that. But that isn’t off the table, as far as I know.
Am I Going To SDCC, Or Not?
I wasn’t.
Now, I am!
I will be there from Thursday afternoon through til Sunday. I will be doing signings at the DC booth, and possibly at the Heroes Initiative and Comic Book Legal Defense Fun booths. I know I am doing two DC panels and a couple progressive topic panels. Not sure what else yet.
It’s weird, I have been going to the SDCC for years, and I have never once been able to see the convention. I don’t think I’ve ever even been able to walk the convention hall from one side to the other.
I would love to see some Tumblrs there! COME SAY HELLO!
Cover and Solicit for Batgirl #0
It does look like its time to find if she was Oracle. Interesting Ed Benes is drawing this.
BATGIRL #0
Written by GAIL SIMONE
Art and cover by ED BENES
On sale SEPTEMBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• How did Barbara first become Batgirl? What led to her to don the cape and cowl?
• Witness Barbara Gordon’s shocking injury and her inspiring drive to recover and walk again!
• Witness Barbara Gordon’s shocking injury and her inspiring drive to recover and walk again!
Ugh. Really DC? We need to go over that AGAIN?
I know it’s an important part of her past, but do we really need to see Joker shooting her AGAIN?
You liked Oracle? That’s too bad, she was either erased or heavily retconned.
You didn’t like Babs being fridged in TKJ? HERE’S ANOTHER FLASHBACK
On the bright side, we may finally know if she was Oracle once and for all. Since this is being released in September, it took what? A year?
You know what needed revisiting? The fridging of Barbra Gordon. Even better? Let’s add the skeevy porno-traced artwork of Mr. Benes. GREAT.
DC, are you actively trying to run off your female fanbase? I just want to know if I should leave before it gets worse.
Is everyone enjoying the 4-pack of udders on her torso? Great. Thanks for pointing that one out @ShivaeStudios
oh good
now i’m angry at specific people for specific things!
The solicit is incredibly misleading, unfortunately. The issue is not about TKJ at all.
Misleading my foot, I didn’t even THINK of The Killing Joke until reading all the above rants comments about it. Here’s a thought, guys: maybe it’s TKJ that’s being retconned out? Maybe DC finally listened to all the feminist commentators (not to mention ALAN MOORE HIMSELF) who thought it was exploitative? This has the potential to be a really good issue! OR, yes, it could be terrible and disrespectful, but we don’t actually know that until it’s published. We’re in the Schrodinger’s Batgirl period right now.
Also, the cover art? Yes, it is pretty ridiculous, but it’s a COVER. It’s SUPPOSED to be eye-grabbing! All it tells us about the actual story within is that it will feature Batgirl in some way. If you want to talk about the anatomy issues or the superhero medium’s continued over-sexualization of the female body, then great! Those are very important issues to discuss, but please try not to get it mixed up with the actual story that will be featured in the comic. They are two entirely separate topics (and the trend of featuring covers only vaguely related to the story within is a third topic also worthy of discussion. Just throwing that out there.)
I appreciate that a lot, but I totally understand why people would be concerned…we dealt with TKJ pretty heavily and this solicit makes it sound like the focus of the issue, which, no, it happens before then. I don’t blame anyone for taking it as read, I probably would, too.
The cover…hm. This is the first I’ve seen it, and that’s a little curvier than I like Batgirl. But it’s Ed’s first image of the character, I think, the interior pages are lovely and she’s got more of the shape she has in the book currently.
Gail, your patience is as always an inspiration. I’ll admit I don’t know the complete background for this issue (haven’t been buying a lot of comics recently due to some financial issues, and I don’t like torrenting for various reasons that are off-topic) so it’s possible I jumped the gun with my blanket dismissal of any connection to TKJ. I still think that the solicit itself, as posted, doesn’t contain more than perhaps a small implicit connect to TKJ, and that the reactions of the above commentators are pretty overwrought…buuuuut of course as I said in my own post, there’s really no way to know for sure at this point. Schrodinger’s Batgirl. :) I for one would definitely like to read this issue (and it comes out five days after my birthday! score!) so it seems that the solicit did SOMETHING right.
I’ll be honest, I used to freak out a little at solicit time every month, because people would tear their own heads off over these little paragraphs that were often written by editors, sometimes before the books were even written, and they rarely had much to do with the actual issues themselves. And I don’t let myself out of this equation, I write HORRIBLE solicit copy, probably the worst ever. The editors are doing me a favor when they write it themselves.
So it was always, sure as clockwork, people freaking out over nothing, the issue would come out, the solicit long forgotten, and sure enough, people are freaking out over the next set of solicits.
I used to get bugged about it, but then I realized that is totally my problem, not the readers at all. They are reacting to the information we have given them, that’s all they HAVE, so it’s not only understandable, it’s inevitable. We can’t give them a cryptic paragraph and be upset when they interpret it their own way, that’s goofy.
So now I look at it as kind of like sports fans, or something of that nature. It’s FUN to quibble and critique, I do it myself. There’s nothing wrong with it, it took me forever to learn that. It’s healthy. It’s fun, it doesn’t bother anyone.
I corrected this one here, but it’s not the readers who are at fault, the copy itself is a bit misleading, is all.
covenmouse:
gailsimone:
comicbookcovers:
Rose & Thorn #3,...
Rose & Thorn #3, April 2004, cover by Adam Hughes
Incredibly proud of this book, a really dark story that takes place in large part in the lead character’s mind. The first time I met Greg Rucka, he came up and raved to me about it, and let me tell you, I walked on air for the entire weekend.
It’s never been collected…but the wonderful Mark Waid had the entire series bound in green leather for me for my birthday one year. Best present ever (except for the other presents he’s sent…Mark is AMAZING at presents!)
Wow. I had no idea Gail Simone wrote this series. I read it when I was a teenager, back before I started paying attention to those things. I still have the whole series, though, saved in protectors and occasionally displayed for the fact that the cover art is glorious. Still one of the best written mini-series I’ve ever read.
Thank you so much, it means a lot to me, personally.
When I write teenage characters, you will see a theme pretty routinely, which is a little darker than much of my other work. The common way to write them is usually as happy go-lucky adventurers, horny party time funsters enjoying life and their powers, like the Teen Titans or some of the younger X-men, as an example.
My teenage stories have a bit of an edge to them, which is that a young person without a support system is a target for victimizers. Our society is very, very rough on young people whom it deems as vulnerable. If you are poor, and young, there are people who want to take advantage of that, and life can get very hard and very dangerous very quickly.
I’m not talking about sexual abuse, although that’s obviously out there. But the entire package…abusive employers, apathetic (if not worse) police, dangerous living situations, the whole thing. If you’ve been young and poor, you know how hard it is, when you are a step away from being homeless or incarcerated at any moment. It’s when the system that at least makes a token effort at protecting children stops worrying about you entirely, and every official eyes you with suspicion and mistrust.
And you are ripe for abuse…who are you going to tell? Who will believe you?
Roshyn in the Rose and Thorn book is based on a real girl and the real obstacles she had to face in a system that views teenagers as the enemy. Expendable. It was a similar theme in my Gen13 run…I know Wildstorm picked me because they expected funny, carefree stories. But when the issues came in, they were very much about the darker side of being without a support group at an age where you are just approaching adulthood. It resonated with a lot of people, for which I’m thankful.
Rose and Thorn is still one of the most personal stories I’ve ever written in comics.
Cover and Solicit for Batgirl #0
It does look like its time to find if she was Oracle. Interesting Ed Benes is drawing this.
BATGIRL #0
Written by GAIL SIMONE
Art and cover by ED BENES
On sale SEPTEMBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• How did Barbara first become Batgirl? What led to her to don the cape and cowl?
• Witness Barbara Gordon’s shocking injury and her inspiring drive to recover and walk again!
• Witness Barbara Gordon’s shocking injury and her inspiring drive to recover and walk again!
Ugh. Really DC? We need to go over that AGAIN?
I know it’s an important part of her past, but do we really need to see Joker shooting her AGAIN?
You liked Oracle? That’s too bad, she was either erased or heavily retconned.
You didn’t like Babs being fridged in TKJ? HERE’S ANOTHER FLASHBACK
On the bright side, we may finally know if she was Oracle once and for all. Since this is being released in September, it took what? A year?
You know what needed revisiting? The fridging of Barbra Gordon. Even better? Let’s add the skeevy porno-traced artwork of Mr. Benes. GREAT.
DC, are you actively trying to run off your female fanbase? I just want to know if I should leave before it gets worse.
Is everyone enjoying the 4-pack of udders on her torso? Great. Thanks for pointing that one out @ShivaeStudios
oh good
now i’m angry at specific people for specific things!
The solicit is incredibly misleading, unfortunately. The issue is not about TKJ at all.
Misleading my foot, I didn’t even THINK of The Killing Joke until reading all the above rants comments about it. Here’s a thought, guys: maybe it’s TKJ that’s being retconned out? Maybe DC finally listened to all the feminist commentators (not to mention ALAN MOORE HIMSELF) who thought it was exploitative? This has the potential to be a really good issue! OR, yes, it could be terrible and disrespectful, but we don’t actually know that until it’s published. We’re in the Schrodinger’s Batgirl period right now.
Also, the cover art? Yes, it is pretty ridiculous, but it’s a COVER. It’s SUPPOSED to be eye-grabbing! All it tells us about the actual story within is that it will feature Batgirl in some way. If you want to talk about the anatomy issues or the superhero medium’s continued over-sexualization of the female body, then great! Those are very important issues to discuss, but please try not to get it mixed up with the actual story that will be featured in the comic. They are two entirely separate topics (and the trend of featuring covers only vaguely related to the story within is a third topic also worthy of discussion. Just throwing that out there.)
I appreciate that a lot, but I totally understand why people would be concerned…we dealt with TKJ pretty heavily and this solicit makes it sound like the focus of the issue, which, no, it happens before then. I don’t blame anyone for taking it as read, I probably would, too.
The cover…hm. This is the first I’ve seen it, and that’s a little curvier than I like Batgirl. But it’s Ed’s first image of the character, I think, the interior pages are lovely and she’s got more of the shape she has in the book currently.
TELL ME THIS WILL BE AT A CON I AM ATTENDING.
combonight:
I told my friend about my plans to...
TELL ME THIS WILL BE AT A CON I AM ATTENDING.
I told my friend about my plans to cospay Catman and whaddya know, he’s gonna be Batman next year! We’re gonna spar. YES.
Cover and Solicit for Batgirl #0
It does look like its time to find if she was Oracle. Interesting Ed Benes is drawing this.
BATGIRL #0
Written by GAIL SIMONE
Art and cover by ED BENES
On sale SEPTEMBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• How did Barbara first become Batgirl? What led to her to don the cape and cowl?
• Witness Barbara Gordon’s shocking injury and her inspiring drive to recover and walk again!
• Witness Barbara Gordon’s shocking injury and her inspiring drive to recover and walk again!
Ugh. Really DC? We need to go over that AGAIN?
I know it’s an important part of her past, but do we really need to see Joker shooting her AGAIN?
You liked Oracle? That’s too bad, she was either erased or heavily retconned.
You didn’t like Babs being fridged in TKJ? HERE’S ANOTHER FLASHBACK
On the bright side, we may finally know if she was Oracle once and for all. Since this is being released in September, it took what? A year?
You know what needed revisiting? The fridging of Barbra Gordon. Even better? Let’s add the skeevy porno-traced artwork of Mr. Benes. GREAT.
DC, are you actively trying to run off your female fanbase? I just want to know if I should leave before it gets worse.
Is everyone enjoying the 4-pack of udders on her torso? Great. Thanks for pointing that one out @ShivaeStudios
oh good
now i’m angry at specific people for specific things!
The solicit is incredibly misleading, unfortunately. The issue is not about TKJ at all.
That’s good to know! I wish DC editorial didn’t seem to think that TKJ is what sells Batgirl or Barbara.
I would like to move on from it.
I will also say that most of the zero issues really aren’t origin stories, in the traditional sense. They are sort of…expansions, maybe? To show the things that haven’t been covered. The ones I have read have been really interesting.
comicbookcovers:
Rose & Thorn #3, April 2004, cover by Adam...
Rose & Thorn #3, April 2004, cover by Adam Hughes
Incredibly proud of this book, a really dark story that takes place in large part in the lead character’s mind. The first time I met Greg Rucka, he came up and raved to me about it, and let me tell you, I walked on air for the entire weekend.
It’s never been collected…but the wonderful Mark Waid had the entire series bound in green leather for me for my birthday one year. Best present ever (except for the other presents he’s sent…Mark is AMAZING at presents!)
princelesscomic:
princelesscomic:
MORE FREE PRINCELESS
Chapter...
MORE FREE PRINCELESS
Chapter one was free on Bleeding Cool, but that’s not enough for us! Only one issue of Princeless was nominated for “Best Single Issue” and that is Issue 3. We want you to read what they read. READ, LIKE, REBLOG, and VOTE PRINCELESS FOR EISNER!
http://www.actionlabcomics.com/slide/for-your-consideration-the-eisner-nominated-princeless/
The Eisner Awards are only a month away! If you’re not reading Princeless yet there’s only a month left to get in on the Eisner nominated Issue 3 for free!
This is a WONDERFUL book with great stories, tremendous art, it’s just amazing. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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