Gail Simone's Blog, page 1026
May 4, 2012
Yesterday
…was a good writing day. Lois, Carol Ferris, a couple of young girls whose names I can’t mention (but you know who they are), some new characters, Swamp Thing…and one of the all-time best comic book characters, a guy who hasn’t been seen in a while.
Fun writing is fun.
angelophile:
Scandal Savage and Jeannette cosplay by Kat and...
Scandal Savage and Jeannette cosplay by Kat and Glitterpill at Wizard World Toronto 2012. Photo by stanicus. Source: Flickr
Angelophile, I swear, you post the best stuff. Sheesh. This made my day.
You're still awake?
Heh. Man, it’s deadline, I’m never asleep at deadline.
The truth is, I am an insomniac, I sleep fitfully and keep odd hours at the best of times. But I also prefer to write at night, with no distractions, no phones, no barking dogs, no noise at all.
I write and write, and then when I get stuck, I do social network stuff or play games for a little while, anything to let my mind wander, it helps me refocus.
lyanth:
gailsimone:
pirateking74:
gailsimone:
hellyeahsuperma...
hellyeahsupermanandwonderwoman:
In a dark fantasy where Wonder Woman rules with an iron fist…she conquers her foes and she has many suitors, including the Man of Steel at her feet.
What can I say? A woman’s amusements are her own.
She needs Bats at her feet too. ;)
See that little bit of blue in the lower left corner? That’s him.
I think the line-up was, Superman, Batman, Nemesis, Aquaman. I think that was all of them.
What, no ladies?
It would have been better to include a couple ladies, out of context. I gave it quite a bit of thought. But the story here was also about gender tropes in fantasy fiction, and the reversal of gender roles was important here, and an ongoing theme of the arc.
panda21595:
“I don’t give a shit…”
—
Gail Simone on haters she gets of characters of the LGBT...
“I don’t give a shit…”
—
Gail Simone on haters she gets of characters of the LGBT community or of color, Womanthology’s C2E2 panel
This is true, I did say this, and it is truthfully how I feel about it. I used to try to be more understanding about people who objected to progressive issues in my comics. But I realized that was misplaced politeness. It’s how I feel and I think there’s a value to saying it publicly and loudly. When people complain about too many lgbtq characters, or things of that nature, I just can’t be bothered to pretend to take it seriously anymore. It just feels ridiculous, given the history of non-visibility in comics of such characters.
But I remember this moment and I think I could have answered more universally.
What happened was, there was this beautiful adult African American woman (I think, it’s hard to say to say for sure from the podium), and she asked a really articulate and heartfelt question, what did we think of the backlash against females of color in the media, things like the bullshit over Hunger Games film casting, that sort of thing.
And my answer was about how I felt creators should respond, which is to not give a shit what people like that think, to continue to strive to do better. And to give those people the full weight of consideration that they deserve, which is none, nada, zero.
It’s good advice generally, but I wish I had addressed her question more specifically. She was asking about POC, specifically WOC backlash, which is a real thing, a real problem, and my response was more about general lack of inclusion and how to respond when people object to attempts to address it. But after we moved on, I really felt like I hadn’t addressed her question directly.
I wish we’d had a bit more time to talk about her question specifically. I tried to find her afterwards to talk but got grabbed for group photos and stuff.
On the off chance that that questioner is reading this, here’s the rest of my answer.
I agree that there is a POC/WOC backlash among genre fandom. I think it runs from blatant and obvious for some, to a lot more sinister and maybe even unconscious among others. But it’s there. It still feels like WOC are being addressed as low on the social hierarchy in comics, or we get stereotypes or pointless sexualization of WOC.
I do think those people who object to more lgbtq, poc, and more inclusive casts in general should be ignored, not in the sense that they can’t be confronted (by all means, that behavior should be fair game for mockery at the very least), but in the sense that their opinion isn’t really something to consider when you are actually in the creative process. It doesn’t matter if they are frothing racists or the more insidious types…making them upset is almost a perk of the job, in my opinion.
In answer to the question, yes, the backlash is painful to watch. But you know, sometimes the creative process is spurred on not by positive feedback, but by a LACK of positive inspiration. Sometimes you look at the Hunger Games backlash and all the other bullshit whitewashing and it makes you angry enough to create more, to fight a little harder, to be more inclusive. It definitely has made me examine my own work and want to do better.
I hope that is a little more direct. I stand by my answer, I don’t give a shit what those backlash people think. But the truth is there, they do exist. My hope is that their comments spur creators to prove them wrong, wrong, wrong, a million times wrong.
May 3, 2012
pirateking74:
gailsimone:
hellyeahsupermanandwonderwoman:
In...
hellyeahsupermanandwonderwoman:
In a dark fantasy where Wonder Woman rules with an iron fist…she conquers her foes and she has many suitors, including the Man of Steel at her feet.
What can I say? A woman’s amusements are her own.
She needs Bats at her feet too. ;)
See that little bit of blue in the lower left corner? That’s him.
I think the line-up was, Superman, Batman, Nemesis, Aquaman. I think that was all of them.
hellyeahsupermanandwonderwoman:
In a dark fantasy where Wonder...
hellyeahsupermanandwonderwoman:
In a dark fantasy where Wonder Woman rules with an iron fist…she conquers her foes and she has many suitors, including the Man of Steel at her feet.
What can I say? A woman’s amusements are her own.
May 2, 2012
learntobabble:
Out today! Bart Simpson’s Pal Milhouse, one-shot...
Out today! Bart Simpson’s Pal Milhouse, one-shot from Bongo Comics. Gittit gittit!
I have a story in this book…OCTO-WEENIE!
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