Gail Simone's Blog, page 1145

Where is Zinda from? I always liked to think of her as one of us South Georgia peaches, but I also think she could be from Texas. Where IS she from?

I looked and didn't find a regional background for Zinda in her stories before I got her, so I wanted her to be a Southerner. There aren't that many in comics and many are stereotypes…I wanted her to be tough, smart, and strong.  My backstory has her from a small town in Oklahoma, originally. 

therearecertainshadesoflimelight:Yvonne Craig. Batgirl.I...

therearecertainshadesoflimelight:

Yvonne Craig.  Batgirl.

I wasn't alive when the Batman series aired on television the first time around.  But I used to love watching the re-runs when I was a little kid.  

I loved Catwoman and I was always excited to see Catwoman.  But I loved Batgirl the most and much of that was due to Yvonne.  I just adored her when I was a little girl and I still think that she was such a beautiful woman.

An amazing lady and a fantastic Batgirl of her time.

Making it up as I go along.: OK, so at Thoughtbubble I shall be queuing to meet comic creators for...

Making it up as I go along.: OK, so at Thoughtbubble I shall be queuing to meet comic creators for...:

bevismusson:

OK, so at Thoughtbubble I shall be queuing to meet comic creators for the first time since… I don't know how long. This is because both Tim Sale and Gail Simone are going to be there and that will make me squee like a fanboy who has never met anyone even vaguely connected with comics before…

Yay! Looking forward to meeting you. I don't know if this makes a difference in what you bring but  I never have a signing limit and am always happy to sign as many things as you can pack, no worries and no charge, of course!

Hi Gail! I'd like to thank you for signing a copy of Batgirl #1 for me at the Montreal Comiccon! ^_^ I'm really enjoying Batgirl right now, despite the fact that I didn't want to see Oracle go. If anyone but you had been writing this title I doubt I would

I remember you!  Seriously, this is obnoxious, but a lot of people from Canada said that people in Montreal could be a little cold and distant. I should never believe this crap, it turns out to be wrong every time. I have never gotten so many hugs and effusively kind welcomes as we did in Montreal. We fell in love with the people there immediately, and not just at the con—we walked miles and miles, all over town, through different neighborhoods and complete strangers were as nice as you could possibly hope for. It was absolutely lovely.

Thank you for helping make the trip so nice!

Zinda IS in Blackhawks. She's on the cover of #5.

Are we sure that's Zinda? I hope so.

Hi, Gail! I've been wondering - as one of the many writers whose characters have been handled very poorly at the hands of other writers, if one day presented with the opportunity to retcon what happened to Savant, would you do so? He's my favorite comic ch

Okay, first, I apologize, but I'm not positive on what you are speaking about. Are we talking about Suicide Squad?  Because I am told that it's very clear we do NOT see Savant dead.  I'm not sure what SA is, and I'm a little confused by the Mad Dog reference. Can you clarify a little, please? I want to answer properly.

Just curious but how much communication is there between writers? Like when you create a new character, want to kill off a character who appears in your book, or send your character out of the country, do you discuss it with other writers and ask for their

I get this question a lot, and the answer is that it's different every time.

In most cases, this stuff is all handled by the editors. If writer A wants to use writer B's character, he or she asks the editor and that editor asks writer B's editor, and so on.

I don't care for that, myself, I think it's simple courtesy to ask the writer directly. We all know that we don't OWN the characters (well, I feel like I do in the ways that count to me, when I'm writing them, but I am really just a custodian).

So, if it's me, then I like to contact the writer who is mainly using that character directly and ask if they're okay with my plan. If they have input, I take their input…they are the experts and they are being kind enough to let me use their characters.

I also try to go another step if possible, and speak to the character creators, if they are alive and available. Again, I just think it's good courtesy.

Usually, other writers have been great…they know I will be respectful, I have a pretty good rep for borrowing characters and treating them well. 

A few times, a writer has asked I not use a character for personal reasons, and that becomes an immediate picket line I won't cross. Marv Wolfman was very nice, but clearly had hard feelings about Marvel's use of the character BLADE and it made him uncomfortable that a friend would use him, so we didn't. I felt the same thing with Tony Isabella about Black Lightning (but Tony later gave me his full, gracious blessing).  And Greg Rucka felt awkward about me using Veronica Cale in Birds of Prey (but has let me use every other character I've ever asked about, he's been grand).

I just think it's courteous. I hate, HATE finding out one of "my" characters is appearing somewhere and I didn't know. It happened with Batgirl in the new Birds of Prey (but it was totally a mistake, not anything intentional, and the writer has been a doll about it, so no worries there), and it happened when Black Alice was showing up in that coven back-up series. The characters don't belong to me, but I do wish we would get just a simple head's up, it's something I try always to do and it helps tremendously.

Hey Gail! I hope everything's going well with you! I just wanted to say that when I saw that you were working on something with Snyder, it really made my day. It was all going fairly godawfully, lol, but to hear that my two favorite current DC writers are

Thank you, that's very kind.

Scott's one of those guys that I am simply in awe of, he brings a crime fiction bend to Batman, but in a different way than most have approached the character in the past. I dearly love his work, and he's been ENDLESSLY kind and effusive about my stuff.

One of the biggest perks of this job, one of the very best things, is when you get to work with people whose art and craft you adore. I've gotten to work with artists like George Perez, Nicola Scott, Dan Jurgens, Dan DeCarlo, Jose Garcia Lopez, John Byrne, Michael Golden, just on and on and on…

And then I've been fortunate enough to write with people like Paul Cornell, John Ostrander, Keith Giffen, and Steve Gerber.  Adding Scott Snyder to that list is just icing on the cake.

I have been fortunate beyond measure.  It's thrilling. And I PROMISE, it's going to be a blast to read. What we're planning is massive.

Hey Gail! I hope everything's going well with you! I just wanted to say that when I saw that you were working on something with Snyder, it really made my day. It was all going fairly godawfully, lol, but to hear that my two favorite current DC writers are

Thank you, that's very kind.

Scott's one of those guys that I am simply in awe of, he brings a crime fiction bend to Batman, but in a different way than most have approached the character in the past. I dearly love his work, and he's been ENDLESSLY kind and effusive about my stuff.

One of the biggest perks of this job, one of the very best things, is when you get to work with people whose art and craft you adore. I've gotten to work with artists like George Perez, Nicola Scott, Dan Jurgens, Dan DeCarlo, Jose Garcia Lopez, John Byrne, Michael Golden, just on and on and on…

And then I've been fortunate enough to write with people like Paul Cornell, John Ostrander, Keith Giffen, and Steve Gerber.  Adding Scott Snyder to that list is just icing on the cake.

I have been fortunate beyond measure.  It's thrilling. And I PROMISE, it's going to be a blast to read. What we're planning is massive.

Is Barbara Gordon religious? I've not followed her for that long, and the way she's been talking about miracles in the comic got me curious. (When I think of James Gordon being religious, I think of Terry Pratchett saying "Cops find it hard enough to belie

I don't think so. I'm all for heroes who follow a faith, but I don't see Babs as one of them. I think the 'miracle' she refers to is secular.

It's a situation where I'm going with her history and I don't recall her talking about faith in her past. I could be wrong, but I have no memory of that.