Gail Simone's Blog, page 1093

Thanks for answering my questions about your #1 moment in your career. You made my LIFE!! :D If you had the chance to bring a writer back to life and work on a story (comic book or otherwise) who would it be and why? Personally, I'd bring back Dwayne McDuf

*******

This question makes my heart heavy a little bit, because the two names that leap to mind are Dwayne McDuffie and Steve Gerber. I loved everything I ever read that those two guys wrote, they were both huge influences on me, they were personal heroes of mine, and they both were so ridiculously supportive and kind to me that it's hard to think about either of them without feeling really weighed down by loss.

They both spoke to the outsider in comics, which definitely included me. When I was young, I didn't even know ANY girls read comics. But stories by Dwayne and Steve made that not matter so much.

The problem is, those guys weren't appreciated by the industry as a whole when they were around and available and I'm not sure that it would be any different now. 

Thanks for answering my questions about your #1 moment in your career. You made my LIFE!! :D If you had the chance to bring a writer back to life and work on a story (comic book or otherwise) who would it be and why? Personally, I'd bring back Dwayne McDuf

*******

This question makes my heart heavy a little bit, because the two names that leap to mind are Dwayne McDuffie and Steve Gerber. I loved everything I ever read that those two guys wrote, they were both huge influences on me, they were personal heroes of mine, and they both were so ridiculously supportive and kind to me that it's hard to think about either of them without feeling really weighed down by loss.

They both spoke to the outsider in comics, which definitely included me. When I was young, I didn't even know ANY girls read comics. But stories by Dwayne and Steve made that not matter so much.

The problem is, those guys weren't appreciated by the industry as a whole when they were around and available and I'm not sure that it would be any different now. 

It's a good thing the game autosaves when I enter Breezehome.

littleyellowboxes:

Every time I go to store all my ingredients in the chest, I end up eating them all instead, because it's Square, not X, to store.

Silly Lem.

I NEVER EVER DO THIS, I SWEAR, EXCEPT MAYBE ALL THE TIME AND ALSO I ACCIDENTALLY SELL MY GOOD ARMOR AND WEAPONS BECAUSE I AM NOT PAYING ATTENTION.

Plus, I kill ALL the dragons.

"When there is 43% Black teenage unemployment, there is a very, very serious challenge in making sure..."

"When there is 43% Black teenage unemployment, there is a very, very serious challenge in making sure that people get the work habits and learn the skills and the requirements of being successful."

-

Newt Gingrich pretty much makes clear who he was addressing with his "make them work as janitors in the schools" comment. (via stfuandlistenwhitepeople)

Nah, Newt's not racist. Nope.

(via deliciouskaek)

Sure, because that's all it is, work habits.

GOP, I hate you so much right now.

brokusatsu:Vigilante Stories // Cat StaggsBatwoman x The...

brokusatsu:

Vigilante Stories // Cat Staggs

Batwoman x The Question x The Huntress x Batgirl

DAMMIT.

These pieces are so gorgeous they are actually making me ANGRY.

DAMMIT!

Also, Cat Staggs is one of the coolest humans on the planet. I am going to write for her one happy day, that's a promise.

Dhani Tackles The Globe (Sorta)

Okay, first, I realize that I've posted about race several times lately. And I realize no one is hugely interested to hear another white feminist's super speshul (and quite possibly dumbass) thoughts on race. And thank god, there are hundreds of people on Tumblr who speak on this topic with a thousand times more experience, eloquence and authority than I have.

But holy shit. I am annoyed right now.

My family and I have been enjoying a show on Netflix streaming called Dhani Tackles The Globe. We're not sports fans, we know very little about football, but it's a travel show hosted by a very charismatic and likable player for the Bengals, Dhani Jones.

Dhani is a REMARKABLY handsome guy, big smile, great hair, great physique, the camera absolutely loves him. The point of the show is, he goes to a different country each week and takes a crash course in the local sport, be it mountain climbing, long boat rowing, or Luchador wrestling.  He also spends some time meeting the locals and experiencing a bit of local culture.

I find the show very compelling because very few people on Earth could actually host this show in the way Dhani does, most travel hosts can't compete (and acquit themselves beautifully) in a strongman competition in Iceland, for example.

I travel a lot, and the best experiences always seem to happen off the beaten path, when you are just meeting the local people and trying not to be  an asshole tourist to the best of your ability. And there's a real sense of that in this show, that Dhani is genuinely trying to understand a bit of the local culture. He is a guy who likes Sprite and Twinkies, but he'll eat bugs if that's what the locals do. He won't enjoy it, but he'll try it.

And being a fierce competitor, he tries some sports he has no aptitude for, some that are actually pretty dangerous (climbing Everest, fighting angry muy thai fighters with something to prove). It's a really enjoyable show.

And one of the nice things is, there's a real feeling that sports makes competitors brothers, all over the world. That Dhani can go to Russia and fight with the martial artists there, and they will come to respect each other and find some common ground beyond race and country. It's kind of a hopeful message.

Except, no, apparently.

There IS some of that, but the whole show appears to be edited to make white people feel comfortable, just like that. 

I liked the show, so I bought Dhani's book, the SPORTSMAN. To his credit, he talks about both his good and bad qualities…he's very ambitious, very competitive. He had remarkable parents, and a bit of a rebellious teenhood. He can get angry. He can be stubborn. He acknowledges all of this.

But his parents, both remarkable people, instilled in him a desire for excellence and achievement. He talks about how race affected him growing up (somewhat), and he very candidly speaks about the countries he traveled to on the show.

It turns out that, even if you are a celebrity, a sports hero, a millionaire, a ridiculously good looking guy, an educated man, and a television personality, to some folks, you're still just a "black guy." And in their eyes, that makes you suspect.

Dhani talks about how some of the countries never warmed up to him at all, countries where he went where he never saw another black person, where he was greeted with hostile eyes just for being there.

On one show, they show Dhani before a fight, and there are all these smiling little old ladies watching him fight, apparently rooting him on. No. It turns out, they were actually saying (quote), "Fuck you, you stupid motherfucker."

I want to stress that some countries, places like Italy, immediately embraced him as family…the cyclists in that episode say Dhani is their brother now, and meant it. Neat. But other episodes completely whitewash the uncomfortable racial issues that came up in Dhani's visits.

And that's what pisses me off here. Dhani is not hugely focused on race, at least not according to his book. It's part of his life, he's aware of it, and he strives to present a different face to the concept of a black sports figure. He has a company that makes designer bow ties, he owns an advertising agency, he wants people to know that there are a lot of black athletes who don't make headlines for the good work they do. Fair enough, a great message.

More importantly, he sees his show as important, because there are so few black travel show hosts. He speaks about that with some real heart, it's important to him.

And the show never even TOUCHES on any of that, never even raises the possibility, in fact, it goes out of its way to imply that race is never an issue on the show anywhere in the world. Even when Dhani goes to South Africa and Jamaica, you get the impression that the only message the white audience wants to hear (or that the show is convinced they want to hear) is that things are 'getting better.'  Dhani is full of insightful things to say about those countries and his experiences there…the show itself betrays him on that at every opportunity.

In short, all his efforts have to be undermined over the POSSIBILITY of white people experiencing a moment's discomfort at the truth.

I understand that sometimes, the trailblazer is packaged to be as palatable to the mainstream as possible.  But the truth is always better to know, always.

It's still a worthwhile show…it shows aspects of cultures that many Americans never get to see, let alone experience. But like a lot of things, it could be a lot better if it didn't have to worry quite so much about discomforting ignorant white people.

That's great that you're working on an original novel. I work at a literary agency and the other day I was looking at queries and thought, "You know who should write a novel? Gail Simone." :D :D :D

Heh.

Thank you.

It's funny, I get asked about this by agents ALL the time. I have probably twenty such letters, from some top names and agencies.

I need to figure out what I want to accomplish and choose one, I think!

Marvel Query

If you could write for Marvel again, which comic would you most like to write for?
— oheysteenz



Probably Spider-man, but I would love to write Deadpool again, or one of the X-ladies or smaller team books.

Dear Gail... Do you ever wish you had to opportunity to write a story involving DC characters as a novel (or series of novels) instead of as comic books? Personally, though I do enjoy comic books, I hate how I have to wait months (even years?) to go throu

I don't know that I would want to write a DC novel, actually. I love the comic book novels I've read, but I don't feel that that's where my skill set is. It's a very specialized skill, guys like Peter David and Andy Mangels, they're great at it…I have no feeling that I would be good at that.

I do want to write novels, but I want them to be original concepts. I'm working on it. :)

Dear Gail... Do you ever wish you had to opportunity to write a story involving DC characters as a novel (or series of novels) instead of as comic books? Personally, though I do enjoy comic books, I hate how I have to wait months (even years?) to go throu

I don't know that I would want to write a DC novel, actually. I love the comic book novels I've read, but I don't feel that that's where my skill set is. It's a very specialized skill, guys like Peter David and Andy Mangels, they're great at it…I have no feeling that I would be good at that.

I do want to write novels, but I want them to be original concepts. I'm working on it. :)