Gail Simone's Blog, page 1064
February 29, 2012
One MillIon Moms Protest Comics
…and what should be done about it?
The bigot group ONE MILLION MOMS is protesting Archie Comics for their positive and prominent portrayal of a gay male character, Kevin Keller, in their recent books. They are also protesting Toys R Us for displaying and selling these books.
These are the same awesome bigots (who, by the way, number in the tens of thousands, nowhere near a million) who tried to shame JC Penneys into dropping Ellen Degeneres as a company spokesperson because she was gay. They are the same philosophical type that successfully bullied Lowes and other companies to dropping commercial ads for a tv series about a Muslim family because the show didn't present them as appropriately terrorist-y enough.
Simply put, they want to shame and bully companies into pretending gay people do not exist. The very idea of gay people being visible in the media upsets their delicate bigot brains.
Of all the mainstream comics companies, Archie is doing some of the most progressive and positive stuff out there right now. They have a book with a lead male character who is gay, and prominently did a story of him marrying another man. Without shame, without judgment, in a joyful spirit and in a very entertaining manner, at a time when a lot of lgbtq young people are hungry for positive messages. When some people asked if they were worried about controversy, Archie reps literally said, "We don't care if bigots don't read our comics." I love them for that.
So of course, some small minded people want them to sit down, shut up, and pretend it's 1950.
Here's the story: http://www.comicsbeat.com/2012/02/29/it-had-to-happen-one-million-moms-targets-archies-gay-marriage-and-toys-r-us/#comment-177206
What I propose is this: even if you are not a regular Archie reader, when you go to the local comic store to get your books this week, pick up one or several Archie comics. Make your voice heard at the retail level. Same thing with Toys R Us, if you happen to be there.
Just as importantly, let the retailer know you support what Archie is doing. I've been kidding around, calling this Occupy Riverdale, but the message is serious. Pick up a couple or a few Archie books and let the retailer know why you support them (aside from the fact that their comics are always lots of fun and gorgeously drawn).
I would love to see the industry stand up to these bullying zealots for once instead of quietly hoping the little squalls don't become a big storm. We all can help!
Please spread the word, buy Archie comics and make a bigot cry!
When Grumblrs Attack!: What to do?
So I plan on meeting Gail Simone at a Free Comic Book Day event in Clermont, FL. I have been trying to figure out what books to bring to get signed! I just reread her Wonder Woman run and really enjoyed so many of them. I've just pulled Birds of Prey #56 out of the box to start rereading her BoP…
Aw, sweetie, really, please feel free to bring as many books as you would like signed…I am always happy to sign as many books as you bring. It's absolutely fine. If there is a line, I may have to sign a bunch of your books in intervals but we will definitely get to them all.
This is why you're amazing, Gail! Any plans to be in California any time soon??
Aw! YOU are! And I may be in California later in the year, not positive yet!
YATA, It's Chris!: Please, stop saying "gay marriage"
Totally not going to leave a comment. This is my way of not leaving a comment on a specific comics blog. It's good for two reasons: nothing I say in a comment will change the writer's opinion, and I get to have this off of my chest on my own terms and move on.
This headline: "It had to…
Well said, Chris.
Also, you and Richard rock.
February 28, 2012
When Grumblrs Attack!: What to do?
So I plan on meeting Gail Simone at a Free Comic Book Day event in Clermont, FL. I have been trying to figure out what books to bring to get signed! I just reread her Wonder Woman run and really enjoyed so many of them. I've just pulled Birds of Prey #56 out of the box to start rereading her BoP…
Aw, sweetie, really, please feel free to bring as many books as you would like signed…I am always happy to sign as many books as you bring. It's absolutely fine. If there is a line, I may have to sign a bunch of your books in intervals but we will definitely get to them all.
itsinthetrees:
gailsimone:
itsinthetrees:
My issue with the...
My issue with the Sonia Sato Judomaster (since I can't speak to the Asian representation issues) was that there was already a legacy to the original — his son Tommy Jagger, a great, stereotype-defying gay character in Checkmate. Checkmate avoided the problematics of -calling- him Judomaster or putting him in the flagsuit, but he was still clearly a legacy and it was weird to me to have an unrelated character introduced afterward claim the legacy when he already existed.
I mean, I was generally annoyed about Tommy Jagger's steady marginalization after a strong introduction — and introducing a new Judomaster felt like yet another aspect of it.
I like Tommy, but I am not certain I would say he was a legacy character in the sense that is traditionally used in comics. No use of the name or costume, for one thing.
And he's still a white American dude, so it's not like the issue of cultural appropriation in his father's case goes away.
Sonia and Tommy would have been very, very different characters splitting the Judomaster legacy in very different ways. One is his father's son without the name or costume, the other has the traditional trappings of the outfit without the blood relation.
I mean again, I'm not defending the Rip Jagger character's cultural appropriation. I just felt that as soon as a 'real' Judomaster III showed up, Tommy Jagger completely disappeared from use. I'm not trying to pit Asian representation against gay representation here at all. It just felt as a reader like there apparently wasn't room at DC for both of them, which is unfortunate when both are minority characters.
Understood, but I suspect it's more BECAUSE Tommy didn't have the code name or costume that Judomaster was in use in JSA instead of him.
It's unfortunately hard to get new characters to take off, particularly in a book as heavily identified with one author as Checkmate was. I loved Checkmate, I referred to it often, and when Etta came around in Wonder Woman, I asked Greg Rucka if he was cool with her having been an agent in that organization. Greg was not only okay with it, he had a bunch of great suggestions.
But it's simply factual that a more traditionally superheroic character is likely to find more places for placement in a world where superheroes are the stars of almost every book the company puts out.
I'd like to see Tommy again. One of the bummers about the relaunch is that a lot of legacy characters we haven't had a chance to miss yet are really going to be difficult to bring back. :(
As it is, I suspect if there is a Judomaster in the new 52, it will likely be a new character altogether, and then hopefully they can get her, or him, a new design. I actually like a lot of elements of the original Judomaster design, but I'm less entranced with the one shown here on this page. And it still feels wrong to have a white military dude in that outfit.
fashiontipsfromcomicstrips:
Batgirl Tee, by Junk Food Clothing,...
Batgirl Tee, by Junk Food Clothing, $50.
As the first installment of Junk Food Clothing's Art House line, artist Anthony Lister collaborated with Junk Food to create this beautiful graphic tee featuring Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. This t-shirt is limited edition (with a production run of only 50 shirts), so if you dig it, be sure to grab one ASAP!
Wow…that's stunning!
itsinthetrees:
gailsimone:
fyeahlilbitoeverything:
thefingerfu...
Birds of Prey 101
Dammit, I miss this.
I really dislike Judomaster A LOT but I love this scene.
I couldn't stand how she was written in JSA.
But in her brief appearances in Birds of Prey I didn't mind the character
And this is a great scene :D Huntress's expression here is just perfect
TBH if there was never another Asian superhero dressed in their country's flag and who was martial-arts based, it'd be no great loss.
It's a fair point, I always had the same problem with Katana.
IN this case, it was actually meant to be a course correction for the only thing that seemed even more problematic…which is having a white American military dude wearing the flag of an Asian country. The original Judomaster was created in 1965, an army Sergeant, I think, and very much a product of his time. I think the SECOND Judomaster was also a white dude, if I remember correctly. I swear to god, if there had been a character called MEXICO MAN in the 50's, it would have been a white guy who got his magic powers from an enchanted sombrero.
Which just seemed wrong to me.
So I created Sonia Sato, to at least put an Asian in the costume of her country. Unfortunately, I didn't get to give her enough page space to really make her interesting. I wanted a playful, young, but very formidable character. It seemed weird and unjust to have only white guys have the costume and title.
However, yeah, it's problematic to have all Asians be martial artists, and it's weird to always put people's flags on their clothes, two cliches that should have been avoided.
My issue with the Sonia Sato Judomaster (since I can't speak to the Asian representation issues) was that there was already a legacy to the original — his son Tommy Jagger, a great, stereotype-defying gay character in Checkmate. Checkmate avoided the problematics of -calling- him Judomaster or putting him in the flagsuit, but he was still clearly a legacy and it was weird to me to have an unrelated character introduced afterward claim the legacy when he already existed.
I mean, I was generally annoyed about Tommy Jagger's steady marginalization after a strong introduction — and introducing a new Judomaster felt like yet another aspect of it.
I like Tommy, but I am not certain I would say he was a legacy character in the sense that is traditionally used in comics. No use of the name or costume, for one thing.
And he's still a white American dude, so it's not like the issue of cultural appropriation in his father's case goes away.
Sonia and Tommy would have been very, very different characters splitting the Judomaster legacy in very different ways. One is his father's son without the name or costume, the other has the traditional trappings of the outfit without the blood relation.
fyeahlilbitoeverything:
thefingerfuckingfemalefury:
fyeahlilbit...
Birds of Prey 101
Dammit, I miss this.
I really dislike Judomaster A LOT but I love this scene.
I couldn't stand how she was written in JSA.
But in her brief appearances in Birds of Prey I didn't mind the character
And this is a great scene :D Huntress's expression here is just perfect
TBH if there was never another Asian superhero dressed in their country's flag and who was martial-arts based, it'd be no great loss.
It's a fair point, I always had the same problem with Katana.
IN this case, it was actually meant to be a course correction for the only thing that seemed even more problematic…which is having a white American military dude wearing the flag of an Asian country. The original Judomaster was created in 1965, an army Sergeant, I think, and very much a product of his time. I think the SECOND Judomaster was also a white dude, if I remember correctly. I swear to god, if there had been a character called MEXICO MAN in the 50's, it would have been a white guy who got his magic powers from an enchanted sombrero.
Which just seemed wrong to me.
So I created Sonia Sato, to at least put an Asian in the costume of her country. Unfortunately, I didn't get to give her enough page space to really make her interesting. I wanted a playful, young, but very formidable character. It seemed weird and unjust to have only white guys have the costume and title.
However, yeah, it's problematic to have all Asians be martial artists, and it's weird to always put people's flags on their clothes, two cliches that should have been avoided.
Catman/Deadshot
Did you ever consider making Catman and Deadshot romantically involved with each other? The bromance angle was superb, but I always wondered if you considered it.
— iskios
To be honest, not really. I knew Catman was bi, he revealed that to me very early on. But I really couldn't find anything in the canon to support Deadshot reciprocating. Part of my writing of Birds of Prey and Secret Six was always the idea of not invalidating these things…I wanted readers to be able to read the relationships in the way that made the most sense to them, that was the most personal. So, while I never wrote it explicitly, I think there's a ton of blatant subtext if that is how you see them.
I totally encourage people to read what they like into it. What is unseen is unexpressed, and thus, completely in the reader's prerogative.
:)
Hope that makes sense!
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