Gail Simone's Blog, page 1046
March 22, 2012
collababortion: ancillary trademark value as a superficially feminist icon
Wonder Woman is strong, and buxom, and noble-intentioned; and when necessary she, too, has never hesitated to knock some heads together. When I was a boy she was, as she remains to this day (because of her ancillary trademark value as a superficially feminist icon), a star in the…
I love Michael Chabon, but holy crap, this is disappointing. This is just a much better written version of the same crap male pros have said about her for thirty years or more.
Doesn't make it true.
Whoa. Whoa. WHOA. Wonder Woman "has no story?"
This is only true if you are unable to consider the idea of PERSPECTIVE. I wrote about this over on DOOM! awhile back, but the point is that Wonder Woman is the wake-up call to the world. She is the outsider, the one with no preconceived notions that there are things women CAN'T or SHOULDN'T be. She is from a society of women without men who are able to view each other as people, as peers, without the influences of "patriarch's world" on them (this is part of why I take issue with the idea of man-killing succubi Amazons, but that's neither here nor there right now).
Diana's story is that she owes no man her life, that she is meant to be a beacon to women, a symbol that we are ALL wonders and can do any damn thing we set our minds to. She is love, honor, honesty, sisterhood. THAT is her story and it is a story that needs to be told and repeated ESPECIALLY to young women who are currently living in a world that seeks to limit what women can or can't do/be/say/think/feel.
In short: yes, Barda is AWESOME but I'd rather not get competitive between who's better, her or Diana. Because I like to think of the two of them working together, kicking some butt and then maybe rounding up Dinah Lance and going for a cup of coffee. Because…yes.
I don't get why they have to be compared ANYWAY. No one feels that because they like Wolverine, it makes the Punisher less badass. It's just silly.
Barda and Wonder Woman are both phenomenal characters, they have inspired people for decades. I hate that, "I don't get this character's appeal to others" is always translated to, "this character has no appeal."
There can BE two strong females in comics. It's not outside the realm of imagination.
I say again, I am a huge Chabon fan. I just read a novel of his last week and I completely was blown away again by his work.
But I really find this article depressing.
dumoktheartist:
APE IN A CAPE: Good...
Watching Anderson Cooper, a white friend of George Zimmerman is defending him in a remote interview.Slight paraphrasing, I was too pissed off to DVR it.
He describes what a good guy George is, and how Zimmerman actually…
People are seriously Missing the point….
1) Zimmerman had a history of harrassing black men/boys
2) Zimmerman can clearly be heard calling Trayvon a racial slur during the UNEDITED 911 audio clip.
3) What is really annoying alot of POC is that the POLICE did NOTHING to Zimmerman, hell the District Attorney did not even convene a grand Jury to Investigate Zimmerman's MURDER of Trayvon.
4) Another thing annoying POC is how white folks are working so god damned hard to avoid calling this a race crime. It's not a big suprise here, but even Liberal white folks are trying so damned hard to hide the fact that Zimmerman is in fact a racist, and that the Racist police officers in florida were not pursuing the investigation because the victim was BLACK.
So let's be honest here and stop denying that OBVIOUS racism behind this tragedy.
thank you.
Thank YOU. Even putting Zimmerman completely out of the picture, the response from the moment the cops showed up to the 'investigation' to nearly every bit of the media response has been rife with racist bullshit. And I think it's going to get a LOT worse. I think we have barely felt the first breeze of an upcoming tornado of racist excuses to muddle this situation to make it a little LESS like the murder of an innocent black 17 year old and a little MORE like a 'regrettable mistake.' It's just started. It's going to get worse.
Good Lord
Watching Anderson Cooper, a white friend of George Zimmerman is defending him in a remote interview.Slight paraphrasing, I was too pissed off to DVR it.
He describes what a good guy George is, and how Zimmerman actually thwarted a robbery in his (the friend's) house, just a couple weeks previously.
Then the friend says that they have had a lot of burglaries, and '90% of the burglars are young black males.'
Anderson fails to ask how this man knows that…were all the burglars caught? If they weren't, how would they know?
In any case, he makes a point to say that 90% of the burglars were young black males, a bit of information he volunteers without a question being asked about it.
Fine, whatever. Then ten seconds later, Anderson asks, "And you don't believe that there was a racial component to this incident?"
The friend is adamant, even offended, "Absolutely not," he says, emphatically.
Repeat, unasked, the guy goes out of his way to point out that black males committed these alleged crimes. Black males. "These crimes you didn't ask about, Anderson? Black males did them." THEN, TEN SECONDS LATER, he says race had nothing to do with Zimmerman singling this young man out and following him as if he had already committed a crime.
He's trying to use the ultimate white douchebag logic that has been used for every bit of racist profiling ever: George Zimmerman was justified in following and harassing Trayvon Martin because he was a black, young male, like the criminal suspects (that we only have this guy's word were black), but of course, there is no racial component to Zimmerman's actions.
What?
George was right in following Trayvon because he was black, but race had nothing to do with it.
If that makes sense to you, congratulations, you are now a horrible human being.
NO.
NOT A "HORRIBLE HUMAN BEING"
A RACIST.
WHEN SOMEONE IS RACIST
OR THEY ARE PERPETUATING RACISM
THEY ARE A RACIST.
STOP DANCING AROUND THIS.
RACIST. RACIST. RACIST. RACIST.
HE IS A FUCKING RACIST.
I have no problem calling this asshole a racist whatsoever.
But point taken. The friend is a racist, and perpetuating his double-talk bullshit is racist, and the people perpetuating are racist, as well.
I like how being racist is worse than being a simply horrible human being.
I don't want to speak for Hamburgerjack, but I don't think that's what they were saying at all.
herhero:
Will somebody please explain to me why everyone is asking Gail Simone what she thinks...
Will somebody please explain to me why everyone is asking Gail Simone what she thinks about the change to the Amazons' backstory in Wonder Woman #7? Is it just because she wrote Wonder Woman? Or has there been some kind of controversy revolving around Azzarello's Wonder Woman?
There is a significant change to Wonder Woman's origin and the story of the Amazons in the current issue. People are asking me about it for possibly several reasons; that I'm female, that I'm available, that I am opinionated, that I wrote WW, that I work for DC, or some combination of the above, I guess.
APE IN A CAPE: Good Lord
Watching Anderson Cooper, a white friend of George Zimmerman is defending him in a remote interview.Slight paraphrasing, I was too pissed off to DVR it.
He describes what a good guy George is, and how Zimmerman actually thwarted a robbery in his (the friend's) house, just a couple weeks previously.
Then the friend says that they have had a lot of burglaries, and '90% of the burglars are young black males.'
Anderson fails to ask how this man knows that…were all the burglars caught? If they weren't, how would they know?
In any case, he makes a point to say that 90% of the burglars were young black males, a bit of information he volunteers without a question being asked about it.
Fine, whatever. Then ten seconds later, Anderson asks, "And you don't believe that there was a racial component to this incident?"
The friend is adamant, even offended, "Absolutely not," he says, emphatically.
Repeat, unasked, the guy goes out of his way to point out that black males committed these alleged crimes. Black males. "These crimes you didn't ask about, Anderson? Black males did them." THEN, TEN SECONDS LATER, he says race had nothing to do with Zimmerman singling this young man out and following him as if he had already committed a crime.
He's trying to use the ultimate white douchebag logic that has been used for every bit of racist profiling ever: George Zimmerman was justified in following and harassing Trayvon Martin because he was a black, young male, like the criminal suspects (that we only have this guy's word were black), but of course, there is no racial component to Zimmerman's actions.
What?
George was right in following Trayvon because he was black, but race had nothing to do with it.
If that makes sense to you, congratulations, you are now a horrible human being.
And lazy journalism, to boot! I normally like Anderson Cooper just fine, but that's incredibly disappointing.
I still don't understand how this is a controversial issue. I mean…how can you even read the slightest bit of information on the situation and side with Zimmerman? If he and his friends admitted he made a mistake and he was repentant for it, I'd feel some sympathy. But how can people actually be fighting back against all this? Oh, right, because apparently society is cool with assholes.
Doesn't make a lick of sense.
I was disappointed, too. Anderson was very respectful and clearly distraught when talking to Trayvon's father via remote interview. He was professional, but clearly moved.
I don't know, maybe he just thought the guy's own words made him look bad enough. But I am convinced a tsunami of bullshit is heading our way to muddle this story and make Zimmerman's actions more sympathetic. Letting people slide with racist hogwash like this is tacit approval of that tactic.
Unbelievable and unacceptable. The latest I heard on NPR this morning is that the reason there hasn't been an arrest is because of Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' law, which, from what they said of it, seems like it shouldn't even apply to this case.
And let's say, for argument sake, that 90% of the crimes in the area were perpetrated by young black men, that still doesn't make ALL young black men criminals, nor should they be subjected to extra scrutiny. It's racial profiling and it's wrong.
Even several backers of the Stand Your Ground bill have said it didn't apply in Zimmerman's case (although it frankly seems like they are simply covering their asses, as not one of them has come forward to denounce the bill that has TRIPLED so-called 'justified shootings' in Florida alone).
Hi! Do you have any thoughts that you could share about the change to the Amazon backstory as learned in Wonder Woman #7? Thank you!
I don't yet, I've been asked about this about a million times, but I have to read the book first.
There is always a lot of sentiment to take away the female aspects of Wonder Woman, always has been, likely will be for a long time. I hate that. But I don't know if that's what's going on here, I haven't read the book.
I love Brian Azzarello's work, I think he's amazing. I just have to read it and see.
March 21, 2012
ealperin:
raffaelemarinetti:
new Batgirl of the...
new Batgirl of the series..
Painted with ps-CS2, as my usual..
Holy Mother of GOD….O.O GAIL!!!! I THINK I'VE FOUND A NEW COVER ARTIST FOR YOUR BATGIRL SERIES…Well, other than Adam Hughes and Syaf. ;)
Holy BEJEEBUS.
THAT IS AMAZING!
blackalice:
Black Alice Cosplay Appreciation Day! To my fellow...
Black Alice Cosplay Appreciation Day!
To my fellow Black Alice cosplay sisters! This is for you. You guys rule! You're all very beautiful, and bring something very unique and special to cosplay: Yourselves.
Gail, thank you so much for creating such a meaningful character that means a lot to fans!
I love these women, every one.
Just read Birds Of Prey 7
I love the "tender" moment between Babs and Canary
I love Katana chopping someone's head off
But what's got me tingling is this
Can I get Batgirl 8 now DC
I am pretty excited about the next few issues…a lot of stuff that has been simmering comes to a raging boil, and there are some really heartfelt moments.
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