Gail Simone's Blog, page 1007

quixotess:[Trigger Warning: Murder of Black youth, gross...

quixotess:

[Trigger Warning: Murder of Black youth, gross police misconduct]

“Another unarmed black youth shot & killed. Darius Simmons was only 13 years old. *updated* “

Darius Simmons’s mother was questioned in a squad car for two hours after the police arrived, while his body was still on the sidewalk.

Read this, but be prepared for tears of outrage.

R.I.P. Ray Bradbury

A writing legend passed away.

The thing about Ray Bradbury is he was an advocate for the human imagination. He was able to, perhaps he was compelled to, bring vistas and scenarios from his mind to the page in a manner that made the incredible seem not just plausible, but immediate and unassailable. His superpower was his imagination, and he inspired that wonderful thing in his readers, as well.

The best way to honor him and to remember him is to do something creative, today. Write that story, draw that sketch, play that song, wear that outfit, think that thought that came from you and only you.

That’s the way to say thanks to a writer like him.

Nine days until International Black Alice Day! June 14th. Would love it if you spread the word. ;-) <3

You heard the lady! It’s just over a week til INTERNATIONAL BLACK ALICE DAY!  Get your art and cosplay photos ready! :)

Dear Trans Folk That IMed Me Yesterday...

…because of Natalie Reed’s wonderful essay, I promise, I will respond to your thoughtful and kind comments  and concerns, but it will take a couple days, due to deadlines. I am not forgetting!

I am going to respond by private DM because I don’t want to out anyone accidentally and none of the letters I got expressly said they were okay to respond in public, so I’ll err on the side of caution.

Thank you again, will respond asap!

Bitch Media: A profile on editor Laura Hudson

Bitch Media: A profile on editor Laura Hudson:

kellysue:

I like Laura a lot.  Profiled here. 

An important and fearless voice for better and more honest comics.

thehappysorceress:mshelenabertinelli:OOC: Right? I didn’t...

thehappysorceress:

mshelenabertinelli:

OOC: Right? I didn’t believe I could ship it until I read BoP. 

I have this theory that all cats are attracted to bats. Because let’s be honest. Helena is a lot like Batman.

Oh, how I miss this.

Deadshot actually comes out and makes that point in Secret Six #1. :)

My favorite thing about this scene is that later, Helena flings a meatball at Blake’s head. That seems totally Helena B to me.

badguyshavetheworstaim:a comic done by christianne benedict,...

badguyshavetheworstaim:

a comic done by christianne benedict, posted on the womanthology art forum. brilliant!

YES. Jesus, thank you.

I cannot tell you how many times I have had to point out what the audience at conventions actually LOOKS like to people in the industry. They can do signings in a booth full of every kind of person all day long, every color, every size, every orientation and more, and STILL go online and talk about how only white straight males read comics.

IT IS PROFOUNDLY UNTRUE AND INSULTINGLY IGNORANT.

Last question of the night, did you have a favorite comic book or graphic novel that inspired you to become a writer, while growing up? If so, what about it inspired you? Was it how they wrote the characters well, or was it something else, entirely? Have y

The first COMICS I ever read that made me want to draw and write (suck at the first, jury is still out on the second), was a bound set of early Peanuts comic strips in a little boxed set. I read those almost til the covers came off. If you read those early stories, what you find is a depth far beyond what was expected in a simple kid’s gag strip.

First, the art was almost abstract for the time, if you look at, say, Charlie Brown, that is a completely weird design, his head is the size of his body. That was not common stuff back then, and very innovative. I had a feeling, even as a very little girl, that Schulz had invented his own reality, similar to, say, Picasso or Dali. He found a world that no one else had discovered and conveyed it in such a way that he really HAD no competition, not for decades.

Beyond that, I still think a lot of what Peanuts is about has never been handled as well in almost any medium. Peanuts is about deep, bone-deep sadness, and cruelty, and the need for fantasy to escape the dreariness of reality and the judgmental nature of other people. It’s not about escape, it’s about the NEED for escape.

I suspect if you ask a lot of comic book creators, they would name Schulz as their first real inspiration to seek out and create comics.

I learned about the importance of subtext at that point, and most of my comics are deeply subtextual, not as allegory or with a contrived message, but with some reflection of the human condition.

Birds of Prey is about women punching bad guys, but it’s REALLY about sisterhood and acceptance. Secret Six is about mercs, but it’s REALLY about the inability to find a place for one’s self even when you are REALLY trying. And so on, and that emphasis on a deeper world, I learned how important that was and how to do it from Peanuts.

Last question of the night, did you have a favorite comic book or graphic novel that inspired you to become a writer, while growing up? If so, what about it inspired you? Was it how they wrote the characters well, or was it something else, entirely? Have y

The first COMICS I ever read that made me want to draw and write (suck at the first, jury is still out on the second), was a bound set of early Peanuts comic strips in a little boxed set. I read those almost til the covers came off. If you read those early stories, what you find is a depth far beyond what was expected in a simple kid’s gag strip.

First, the art was almost abstract for the time, if you look at, say, Charlie Brown, that is a completely weird design, his head is the size of his body. That was not common stuff back then, and very innovative. I had a feeling, even as a very little girl, that Schulz had invented his own reality, similar to, say, Picasso or Dali. He found a world that no one else had discovered and conveyed it in such a way that he really HAD no competition, not for decades.

Beyond that, I still think a lot of what Peanuts is about has never been handled as well in almost any medium. Peanuts is about deep, bone-deep sadness, and cruelty, and the need for fantasy to escape the dreariness of reality and the judgmental nature of other people. It’s not about escape, it’s about the NEED for escape.

I suspect if you ask a lot of comic book creators, they would name Schulz as their first real inspiration to seek out and create comics.

I learned about the importance of subtext at that point, and most of my comics are deeply subtextual, not as allegory or with a contrived message, but with some reflection of the human condition.

Birds of Prey is about women punching bad guys, but it’s REALLY about sisterhood and acceptance. Secret Six is about mercs, but it’s REALLY about the inability to find a place for one’s self even when you are REALLY trying. And so on, and that emphasis on a deeper world, I learned how important that was and how to do it from Peanuts.

thehappysorceress:Jeannette from Secret Six by Jason...

thehappysorceress:

Jeannette from Secret Six by Jason Eden

Magic Monday

Now I ask you…who would you rather read about, a tired Canadian berserker, or a bisexual death-sensing super-strong Hungarian aristocrat with the ability to make you feel her own beheading who was also the killer of Lady Erzebet Bathory?

I REST MY CASE.

Also, man, I love this art.