Gail Simone's Blog, page 1172

Anime and Comics: I really enjoyed Batgirl 1

Anime and Comics: I really enjoyed Batgirl 1:

fullmetalblogger:

As much as I was worried and freaking out this comic because Barbara Gordon can walk again. The issues I have with that are well very close to my heart as a disabled female.

However I really like how it was handled. Barbara was written as someone who was recovering from an injury and trying to…

I am really glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for your message here.

I didn't want to take away the inspirational aspect of Barbara. Losing Oracle is rough, I go back and forth on that.  But from my time working crisis centers, and personal experience, there are so many people who have suffered great personal traumas, and suddenly have to deal with a changed life and the unexpected and unwelcome presence of lasting after-effects.

Barbara thought she was ready, she thought being able to walk meant she was 'healed.'  And it's a theme that she has a long way to go.

DC and I have gotten a ton of mail from people who are going through the after-effects of major trauma, it's been very moving. I've heard quite a lot from trauma experts and trauma psychologists.  There is a very common thread out there that people who haven't experienced a massive, life-altering trauma do not understand what the aftershocks are like.  We're going to face that in Batgirl head on, and it's not always going to be pretty.

Thank you again for your lovely thoughts.

APE IN A CAPE: Lovely Moment At The Airport

APE IN A CAPE: Lovely Moment At The Airport:

dangerous-ladies:

gailsimone:

This happened yesterday and it's been on my mind quite a bit.

Comics fame is is a weird, fake kind of fame, for which I am very grateful. It's like being famous in the world of model trains or something. You go to a con, everyone knows you and you can't even go to the bathroom without someone…

When I met Grant Morrison at SDCC 2010, I was kind of flustered and rushed because I knew I only had like 0.5 seconds to talk to him. He was the one that got me into the Bat books because of one Damian Wayne, so what I blurted out was "Thank you for Damian!"

And he said "You're welcome! He's great, isn't he?"

"I hated him so much at first, but you turned him into one of my favourites in no time," I replied, and I shook his hand and beamed at him like I'd just been given a million dollars. We wished each other a good convention and he went on his way.

And it was awesome.

But I still feel kind of dippy for phrasing it like that, ha ha. I mean, he didn't give Damian to me personally or anything, but that said, I love the little brat so much that I felt a thank you was in order.

- Jenn

I'm sure Grant knew exactly what you meant. :)

Grant's a good fella.

I think someone up thread might have pegged it, that the airport lady was saying that the characters mattered to her, that that made them HER characters. Which I love,  that sense of ownership in the reader. I definitely feel that way even as a professional who writes the characters.

One of my heroes, the great Steve Gerber, told me to always remember that the characters don't belong to us, they belong to a company and we will get our hearts broken every time we forget that. Warren Ellis gave me similar advice just a couple years ago.

But I find I can't really write them that way. It doesn't work for me. I've taken jobs where I wasn't completely in love with some of the characters before I started, but by the end, I always end up feeling possessive and protective.  It can cause a LOT of conflict.

Lovely Moment At The Airport

This happened yesterday and it's been on my mind quite a bit.

Comics fame is is a weird, fake kind of fame, for which I am very grateful. It's like being famous in the world of model trains or something. You go to a con, everyone knows you and you can't even go to the bathroom without someone recognizing you, but then you go across the street and the waiter wouldn't know you if you gave him your complete resume.  It's nice.

But there ARE a lot of comics readers and I've been on television and in magazines and documentaries a lot and sometimes I get recognized in weird situations, at a bank, on the phone with a hotel reservation guy, that kind of thing, and it's always a little odd. I come from a small town, and despite my con appearances, I'm very shy and private in person.

We live four hours from the nearest airport of any real size. Getting to a flight at noon means waking up at 4:00 am. We got a late start to get here (Macon, Georgia) and I was worried we would miss the flight, so we were a little harried and nervous and disheveled. We got to the gate, we had seating requests, so I had to stand in a long line, we barely made it, they were already boarding when we arrived.

I get up to the lady at the gate information booth, a pretty lady in her thirties maybe, with slightly silvery hair in a short bob, and hand her my tickets, and she says, "You're Gail Simone? Really?"

And I said yes, not quite making the connection, because I was sleepy.

And she just looks at me like she's almost about to cry all of a sudden, and I was taken aback, I had no idea what was going on.

And she says, "Thank you for my characters."

She handed us back the seats, I mumbled something along the lines of, "Oh, you're welcome, that's nice of you to say," or something. And smiled and got in line to board.

It might just be the way it worked out, but my husband and I ARRIVED with tickets that weren't together and were in the very back row (aisle seats, him sitting behind me, which would be no fun on a four hour flight), but the tickets she handed us were together, the best seats remaining on the plane, window and adjoining seat, front of the cabin so no seats were in front of us.  I think she did that to be nice.

But I started thinking about it, what does that mean, "Thank you for my characters?"

Did she mean that I was writing characters that belonged to a group of people she belonged to?  Did she mean that she loved certain characters so much that she felt they belonged to her and felt possessive of them?  Did she write fanfic or do fanart or something?  Or did she mean something else entirely?

It was kind of a lovely moment because it was unexpected but I also admit I love the hint of mystery about it…what did she MEAN, exactly?

I will never likely ever know.

And that's lovely in itself.

comiccombatant:ealperin:fullmetalblogger:ealperin:sapphos...

comiccombatant:

ealperin:

fullmetalblogger:

ealperin:

sapphoshands:

gailsimone:

theemeraldbar:

Ugh, let's buy her a bunch of presents!

Yeah, ugh! Wait. I have some pretty awesome plashes people have made me, though!

Gail… how do you travel so much and yet maintain such amazing hair?  Seriously. *g

 ^That's what I'd like to find out!^

I bet she uses Catman's secret shampoo+conditioner combo pack! ^_^

She is forever fabulous.

Yep! And she's got the awesome hair and Cat-Koala to prove it! ^_^

She was a hairdresser before she wrote comics, of course she has perfect hair forever.

You guys are too sweet but man I WISH that were true. Most days after a con my hair looks like a bowl of melted crayon soup. 

But I did used to be a hairdresser—the first big con I ever went to, I colored and cut Lea Hernandez' hair right in my hotel room sink. 

I still get women creators asking about style suggestions or what to do when its humid, and guys mostly ask about hair loss prevention.

Somehow I wrote 'plashes' when I meant to say 'plushies,' and someone had to point out how weird it sounds to say you have awesome plushies when you are wearing a shirt that shows cleavage!

theemeraldbar:Ugh, let's buy her a bunch of presents!Yeah,...

theemeraldbar:

Ugh, let's buy her a bunch of presents!

Yeah, ugh!

Wait.

I have some pretty awesome plashes people have made me, though!

The Feminist Hub: jaded16india: transsexualferox: Hi everyone,I held off as long as I...

The Feminist Hub: jaded16india: transsexualferox: Hi everyone,I held off as long as I...:

jaded16india:

transsexualferox:

Hi everyone,

I held off as long as I could, but I finally put a donation button up on my Tumblr. Tomorrow I go in for what is probably going to amount to some serious dental work, all of which is necessary, but none of which I can afford right now. My…

tictocrabbit:dc-youngsters:kleiner-kaktus:Project...

tictocrabbit:

dc-youngsters:

kleiner-kaktus:

Project Supersuit #2

Cause I obviously have been keeping up with this project HERP anyway. I felt the NEED to make a Nightwing sweater today. And off the shoulders ala the 90s have been coming back lately B) So what better reason than to make one right? Plus. It's been hitting the mid 70s here in Los Angeles which is FREEZING for me…* v * no better time to make a sweater that doesn't actually keep you warm at all!!

This was made from 2 separate sweatshirts found at the thrift store. Total material cost- $4. B)

AND YES IT IS A BLUE ROBIN WEARING A DOMINO MASK uhuhuhuuu

waaaaaaaaaah

Lo-lo-LOVE.

The sweater's so cute ;A; oh my goodness. I'm in love with it. so cuttee ;o;

GREAT JOB ON IT!

I am speechless. That's the most amazing piece of clothing I've ever seen.

It's amazing.

fyeahlilbitoeverything:jesterwitch:gailsimone:jovenisthewor...

fyeahlilbitoeverything:

jesterwitch:

gailsimone:

jovenistheworst:

Firestorm is dope.

Rusch is a douche like only a brilliant teenager can be a douche, and Raymond is empty-between-the-ears dumb, but earnest and likable.  With all their propensity for hotheadedness (see what I did there?) and pride running unchecked, I believe them as characters. More importantly, I believe them as teenagers.

Here's hoping no one gets along all that well, and the Fury tears through villains and scenery like a nuclear powered metaphor for angst.

I'm really glad you enjoyed it!

It's a book that has a lot happening, but it ALSO has nuclear nightmares and rebooted cold war paranoia. So it's definitely different!

Just bought. Can't wait to read!

 I really thought Jason came off as a bit too much of an asshole for my liking, but I do appreciate that he was competent and capable.

And Ronnie's line about how he wasn't sure if he was human anymore was perfect. The sort of sensation he was feelin must have been incredible.

I totally get it…but everything Jason said is either a true fact or a fair observation. Jason has the completely inability to avoid telling the truth as he sees it, and he doesn't bother to sugar-coat it. When we explore his relationship with his father a little bit, I think we see where his standards for telling the truth come from.

jovenistheworst:Firestorm is dope.Rusch is a douche like only...

jovenistheworst:

Firestorm is dope.

Rusch is a douche like only a brilliant teenager can be a douche, and Raymond is empty-between-the-ears dumb, but earnest and likable.  With all their propensity for hotheadedness (see what I did there?) and pride running unchecked, I believe them as characters. More importantly, I believe them as teenagers.

Here's hoping no one gets along all that well, and the Fury tears through villains and scenery like a nuclear powered metaphor for angst.

I'm really glad you enjoyed it!

It's a book that has a lot happening, but it ALSO has nuclear nightmares and rebooted cold war paranoia. So it's definitely different!

I didn't follow the whole conversation, but I just wanna say it was cool that you wanted to use Rocket and it's a shame it didn't work out. I know Dwayne woulda been thrilled to see her get such broad exposure in a fan favorite book like BOP.

Dwayne was the man. I cannot explain easily how much he meant to me. He just was so completely the guy, the one writer, and such a kind hero to me.

First, I loved everything he wrote. I ate it up like candy. I didn't know he was black or white or whatever, I didn't know how he was such a strong voice for social justice, I just knew he wrote from a position of humanity. Every character he wrote was human, even when they were Kryptonian.

I finally contacted him by email once, long before I went pro, and told him how much the Milestone books meant to me, and that we had just bought our son a puppy and named him Static after my son's favorite superhero. Dwayne sent a handwritten thank you note and a signed STATIC tpb, just to be kind.

Later, when I was writing columns, he remembered me and encouraged me all the time. He told me I should go professional. I couldn't believe it. That was the first time he asked me to write Static…he said DC was doing a book and that he would suggest me for it, if I wanted. I wasn't ready, it was too much to think about.

Later, when I went pro, he offered the best advice and was a wonderful critic when I dared send him something. He was just amazingly supportive. Again, when I started getting work, he asked me to consider writing Static. At one time or another, he asked me to do that a total of four times, but it never made any sense to me—I couldn't figure out why I should be writing the book when Dwayne was alive, available, and a thousand times better writer than I could ever hope to be.

Later, Dwayne got me my first animation gig, for Justice League Unlimited. His advice and help, honestly, was worth its weight in gold.  All my future animation gigs, I used his advice every time.

I know it was just him being nice. I know he did this with a lot of people. But I still feel him over my shoulder, in so many ways. I feel like he felt we had a similar struggle, that people didn't always judge us by our work, but by what they saw when they looked at us.

I don't have a lot of people that freak me out when I meet them. I could not care less about meeting actors or politicians. But I was a nervous wreck the day I knew I was going to be at the same party as Dwayne. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to talk to him.

I needn't have worried. When I saw him (and if you've met him, you know he was REALLY tall and handsome with an amazing smile), I just ran up and hugged him and told him thank you. Pretty much one of the all time great evenings.

We had a huge long talk and it was nice, he felt things were finally starting to change a little about race and gender in comics, and I mean this was only four years ago or so, not in the 70's. And how so many of our experiences had been the same…every interviewer asked him about being black and every interviewer asks me about being female. It meant a lot.

Dwayne was one of those guys who gave you courage by example. He didn't lower himself, and it made YOU want to have those same standards. He once told me I write the best dialogue in comics, and I almost fainted.

We weren't best friends. I didn't call him all the time, we didn't email every day. But he knew what I thought of him as a writer and a person, and I knew that he cared about me and my work and was proud of me. I can't tell you what that means to me to this day.

It's also why I haven't taken Static when it's been offered—it just makes me too sad to contemplate right now.

My son's dog Static is old now…I'm not sure how much longer he's going to last. He's totally deaf and losing weight. It makes me sad for many reasons, one of which is that he is a living connection to my first time talking to Dwayne.

Just a great guy I will miss every day.

Sigh.

As for Rocket, I adore her, she's my favorite Milestone character. She's so full of life and so honest. I tried to use her MANY times and she was never available. If it comes to pass that she can be used in the DCU now, don't be surprised if she's in one of my books at the soonest possible opportunity.