Gail Simone's Blog, page 1091

I think that your encouragement for people to make their own content is a different topic entirely from criticism of professional comic artists doing a poor job with established properties. Creating your own comic and community and following doesn't change

Wow, not what I was talking about at all.

APE IN A CAPE: When Social Network Stuff Is Fricking Awesome

APE IN A CAPE: When Social Network Stuff Is Fricking Awesome:

ealperin:

gailsimone:

For some goofy reason, I was sick as a dog last night and still haven't recovered. Don't know if I ate something that disagreed with me, or what. But I went to bed feeling rotten.

Woke up this morning and remembered why I love social networks, sometimes, holy cats.

First, last night, some of…

Wow! What a douchenozzle, that "LGBTQFact" person is! Glad there was some heartfelt stuff up there to battle that stupidity! :)

The upside is that in just one day, we raised $1200 already for Al's amazing book.

THANK YOU, TUMBLR!

APE IN A CAPE: "Make Your Own, Then"

APE IN A CAPE: "Make Your Own, Then":

kirailabs:

gailsimone:

kirailabs:

Look, I'm sorry, but I honestly don't think this is as mystical as it sounds, here.

I can't draw a lick. But there are people on 9gag and elsewhere making comic strips seen by thousands of people with clip art and stick figures.

Yes. Seen by thousands. As examples of how they suck or just because it's a stupid story that happened to them. I'm assuming, at least, that you're referring to those comics made with 'MemeGenerator.com' or whatever it's called. They're half-assed things that take maybe five seconds to write, and they would never be considered anything worthwhile, even (especially) by the people who make them.

Exposure isn't always positive, despite examples like Rob Liefeld inexplicably continuing to get work as an artist despite his inability to draw, apparently just because he got a job once.

That's quite missing the point. ANYTHING done badly is going to be bad.

But there's a very successful strip out there, that's hilarious, that is nothing but the exact same dinosaur strip art having a different conversation every time.

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php

This thing is hysterical, I'm a huge fan, I bought the book, and there's not a lick of artistic talent involved.

Again, if you don't have the key, you find another way in.

The difference there is that Ryan North *can* draw, and he's an incredible writer. You either have to have talent or work pretty hard at something to be successful at it. In this specific case, he works hard at writing. Come on, you're a writer too, are you trying to say writing isn't artistic? :)

What difference does it make if he CAN draw if the strip is the exact same clip art every time (which I love, by the way). I mean, I CAN do a set of perfect acrylic nails, but if that has no bearing on the comic at hand, I don't see why it makes any difference at all.

And writing can be visual. It doesn't HAVE to be visual.

I strongly suspect Fred Hembeck couldn't get hired doing straight superhero style art. But he's a magnificent cartoonist.

This isn't a catchall answer, but it should be obvious to all…PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS. If you can't draw, you need an artist, or you need to make up for your lack of an artist in some other way. You need a workaround.

No one will give you all the answers, and if you have excuses, no one will solve them for you. You HAVE to at least take that much initiative.

The disagreements to the "make your own then" idea is rooted in the fact that EVEN IF all the talented people on the internet and band together to create content that represents more than the straight/cis/white/able norm, it will remain a subculture. It is

******

That is really beside the point. First, it's unlikely that almost ANY creative endeavor will 'pierce the mainstream.' Very few writing projects are successful, VERY few.

But if you want to make comics, you can make comics. 'Subculture' is by no means purely diminishing. Punk was subculture, rock was subculture, hip hop was subculture. Until then one day, it wasn't anymore.

People are reading this very differently from what I'm saying. I'm saying if you want to make comics, the tool to do that is the same tool you are using right this very moment…it's Tumblr. No other social media has the same tools, pool of talent, and audience.

Start small. Beware of scope creep. Find your voice.

But the tools are all there.

The disagreements to the "make your own then" idea is rooted in the fact that EVEN IF all the talented people on the internet and band together to create content that represents more than the straight/cis/white/able norm, it will remain a subculture. It is

******

That is really beside the point. First, it's unlikely that almost ANY creative endeavor will 'pierce the mainstream.' Very few writing projects are successful, VERY few.

But if you want to make comics, you can make comics. 'Subculture' is by no means purely diminishing. Punk was subculture, rock was subculture, hip hop was subculture. Until then one day, it wasn't anymore.

People are reading this very differently from what I'm saying. I'm saying if you want to make comics, the tool to do that is the same tool you are using right this very moment…it's Tumblr. No other social media has the same tools, pool of talent, and audience.

Start small. Beware of scope creep. Find your voice.

But the tools are all there.

The disagreements to the "make your own then" idea is rooted in the fact that EVEN IF all the talented people on the internet and band together to create content that represents more than the straight/cis/white/able norm, it will remain a subculture. It is

******

That is really beside the point. First, it's unlikely that almost ANY creative endeavor will 'pierce the mainstream.' Very few writing projects are successful, VERY few.

But if you want to make comics, you can make comics. 'Subculture' is by no means purely diminishing. Punk was subculture, rock was subculture, hip hop was subculture. Until then one day, it wasn't anymore.

People are reading this very differently from what I'm saying. I'm saying if you want to make comics, the tool to do that is the same tool you are using right this very moment…it's Tumblr. No other social media has the same tools, pool of talent, and audience.

Start small. Beware of scope creep. Find your voice.

But the tools are all there.

rosalarian:I really like the way Gail Simone debates, like, a lot. And usually I'm on the same...

rosalarian:

I really like the way Gail Simone debates, like, a lot. And usually I'm on the same side as her, and this is one of those rare times when I'm sort of at odds with her, but it's still fantastic having this dialogue with her. It's all very respectful and no one's calling anyone a cunt. It's sad how rare that kind of debate has become.

But yeah, I love and respect GS a lot, even when she says things that don't line up with what I think!

It's mutual, and while we're at it, did you do the art on your background page? Holy cats, it's gorgeous!

APE IN A CAPE: "Make Your Own, Then"

APE IN A CAPE: "Make Your Own, Then":

kirailabs:

gailsimone:

keiren-smith:

rosalarian:

gailsimone:

Been thinking about this a lot lately, pardon me if it's a bit scattered, I have to jot this down between deadlines and may mess it up a little.

I have seen, a million times, people with complaints about art or comics or film or music, dismissed online with the simple comment, "Make your own,…

I must respectfully disagree. While I am a comic book artist and writer who loves "making my own then," not everyone… can. Or wants to. Not everyone can be a producer. Consumers are important, and while they may not always understand why things in comics are one way or another, there's a lot of legitimate opinions coming from people who can't/won't make them themselves.

I guess an analogy would be… say you're not a chef. Most people aren't. You still have taste buds and you may still love to eat. You may not know how to cook a steak, but you do know what it's supposed to taste like, or at least you know it shouldn't taste like shoes. You know the difference between "I dislike eating green beans but recognize that this is my opinion and they're still food that other people enjoy" and "Shoes are not food. Why do you keep serving me plates with shoes on them? This isn't about opinion, that ain't fit to eat!"

The chef can't run a restaurant and tell every customer who doesn't like the food to get in the back and cook it themselves. They came to this restaurant for food. When the chef needs their house painted, they hire a house painter. And if that house painter unevenly coats the house in the wrong color, the chef can get mad without being told to paint it himself. We can't all be good at everything, but we can demand quality from those who make something their profession.

Is that enough metaphor? :P

Comics are a lot of work to make! Fun work, but still so much work. We can't ask everyone to do this kind of work when they're dissatisfied with what they're being offered to consume. "Make your own then" is the worst kind of dismissive, not only to critiques of the comic industry, but to the comic creators themselves! These four words make it sound like it's so easy, dismissing the hard work we do, and we should cut it out saying them.

Now, people who want to do this work absolutely should. More avenues are open to us than ever before, and if you have the ability, don't let anything stand in your way. (Which I'm pretty sure is the main thing you meant to say, but it wasn't too clear.)

What she said. Perfectly stated.

Look, I'm sorry, but I honestly don't think this is as mystical as it sounds, here.

I can't draw a lick. But there are people on 9gag and elsewhere making comic strips seen by thousands of people with clip art and stick figures.

Yes. Seen by thousands. As examples of how they suck or just because it's a stupid story that happened to them. I'm assuming, at least, that you're referring to those comics made with 'MemeGenerator.com' or whatever it's called. They're half-assed things that take maybe five seconds to write, and they would never be considered anything worthwhile, even (especially) by the people who make them.

Exposure isn't always positive, despite examples like Rob Liefeld inexplicably continuing to get work as an artist despite his inability to draw, apparently just because he got a job once.

That's quite missing the point. ANYTHING done badly is going to be bad.

But there's a very successful strip out there, that's hilarious, that is nothing but the exact same dinosaur strip art having a different conversation every time.

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php

This thing is hysterical, I'm a huge fan, I bought the book, and there's not a lick of artistic talent involved.

Again, if you don't have the key, you find another way in.

the goggles, they do everything: "Make Your Own, Then"

the goggles, they do everything: "Make Your Own, Then":

Fanfic is a different thing, and if that's what makes you happy, that's great!

Certainly, the idea isn't to make people do what they don't want to do.

But I've been doing this for ten years, and have had literally thousands of people ask me how to break in, how to get started, how to make comics.

And I say, hey, look!

Here's a publishing outfit called Tumblr, that charges nothing, that has a massive audience, where artists and writers already hang out and exchange art and ideas.

THAT's where you break in, THAT's how you get started, and THAT's where people could be making comics.

APE IN A CAPE: "Make Your Own, Then"

APE IN A CAPE: "Make Your Own, Then":

keiren-smith:

rosalarian:

gailsimone:

Been thinking about this a lot lately, pardon me if it's a bit scattered, I have to jot this down between deadlines and may mess it up a little.

I have seen, a million times, people with complaints about art or comics or film or music, dismissed online with the simple comment, "Make your own,…

I must respectfully disagree. While I am a comic book artist and writer who loves "making my own then," not everyone… can. Or wants to. Not everyone can be a producer. Consumers are important, and while they may not always understand why things in comics are one way or another, there's a lot of legitimate opinions coming from people who can't/won't make them themselves.

I guess an analogy would be… say you're not a chef. Most people aren't. You still have taste buds and you may still love to eat. You may not know how to cook a steak, but you do know what it's supposed to taste like, or at least you know it shouldn't taste like shoes. You know the difference between "I dislike eating green beans but recognize that this is my opinion and they're still food that other people enjoy" and "Shoes are not food. Why do you keep serving me plates with shoes on them? This isn't about opinion, that ain't fit to eat!"

The chef can't run a restaurant and tell every customer who doesn't like the food to get in the back and cook it themselves. They came to this restaurant for food. When the chef needs their house painted, they hire a house painter. And if that house painter unevenly coats the house in the wrong color, the chef can get mad without being told to paint it himself. We can't all be good at everything, but we can demand quality from those who make something their profession.

Is that enough metaphor? :P

Comics are a lot of work to make! Fun work, but still so much work. We can't ask everyone to do this kind of work when they're dissatisfied with what they're being offered to consume. "Make your own then" is the worst kind of dismissive, not only to critiques of the comic industry, but to the comic creators themselves! These four words make it sound like it's so easy, dismissing the hard work we do, and we should cut it out saying them.

Now, people who want to do this work absolutely should. More avenues are open to us than ever before, and if you have the ability, don't let anything stand in your way. (Which I'm pretty sure is the main thing you meant to say, but it wasn't too clear.)

What she said. Perfectly stated.

Look, I'm sorry, but I honestly don't think this is as mystical as it sounds, here.

I can't draw a lick. But there are people on 9gag and elsewhere making comic strips seen by thousands of people with clip art and stick figures.

Doing pro comics is hard, it's WAY hard. I agree with that. But I never suggested anywhere that what I'm talking about here is working at DC or Marvel or doing some huge OGN. I'm talking about making comics, which is a huge category.

A talented Tumblr artist might not be ready to draw Batman or whatever for a pro writer. Fine. So let them do, as I suggested, some other kind of comics, to learn and to get better and to gain exposure.

I didn't fall out of the sky and start writing Deadpool, I wrote a goofy column on a website that showed I had a sense of humor.  If these people are already drawing and/or writing stories, why not combine them and see what happens?

It doesn't threaten pro creators at all.