Gail Simone's Blog, page 193
November 11, 2015
Hey I'm sorry, this really isn't a big deal, but on your bio information it says "preferred pronouns" and would you maybe consider changing it to just "pronouns"? Presenting pronouns as preferred (for me (a trans person) and other trans people I know at th
No, that’s not annoying, that’s good to know!
I will fix, thanks!
Hey I'm sorry, this really isn't a big deal, but on your bio information it says "preferred pronouns" and would you maybe consider changing it to just "pronouns"? Presenting pronouns as preferred (for me (a trans person) and other trans people I know at th
No, that’s not annoying, that’s good to know!
I will fix, thanks!
November 9, 2015
redsonjaofficial:
Trivia… According to the artist @wgpencil...
Trivia… According to the artist @wgpencil Walter Geovani , Red Sonja’s hair at the end of @gailsimone ’s run was a tribute to @brigitteneilsen ! That was a fun day meeting her!! #redsonja #brigitteneilsen #comics #vintagemarvel #comicstrip #comicart #geek @dynamitecomics
November 7, 2015
DC Comics Cafe, Singapore
Over the past few years, Marvel has had great success opening pop-up cafes with our characters around Asia. Now, it seems that DC has decided to not only follow our lead, but to one up us, by opening an impressive, and permanent, DC Comics Super Heroes Cafe inside the Marina Bay Sands here in Singapore last week…
The place is massive! It’s actually three different shops all under one roof; a retail outlet, a coffee & cake shop, and a sit-down restaurant. Above you see the entrance to the restaurant, below the cafe and store…
Here’s a look at the overall experience, starting with the coffee shop…
Harley on the signage, but Wonder Woman logos on the pie…
Nothing screams “Batman!” like apple pie…
Something you’re not telling us, Clark…?
The restaurant has smartly-designed booths devoted to many of DC main characters…
I love the pattern on these chairs and wanted to take one home!
Batman and Catwoman salt & pepper shakers…
As well as Super Friends S & P…
And a quick look at the DC Cafe’s menu; some of these naming choices cracked a lot of people at the press event up…
Not sure I fully understand “Catwoman into Tuna”…?! Huh?
Poor Krypto…
While we were there early for the event and not much food was being served, the one thing we did get to see were these cool black-bunned Batman Burgers…
While we were told these were made from 100% wagyu beef, the slime and barnacles you can see on the burgers below made me thing otherwise. I didn’t try one, but the folks who did wished they hadn’t. Holy Bat Barf!!
One final thing that’s interesting to note is that while DC Publishing still seems stuck on continuing with their New 52 characters and costumes, DC Licensing must feel differently as most of the art featured around the cafe was either classic or evergreen…
As a comic fan, even one who works for Marvel, I was thrilled to see the effort that WB/DC has put into building not only their brand here, but the super hero genre as a whole, and thoroughly enjoyed checking the place out today!
DC Comics Super Heroes Cafe
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
2 Bayfront Avenue, Bay Level
Singapore
+65-6688-7610
https://www.facebook.com/DCSHCafe
WOW!
November 5, 2015
feministbatman:
@MizCarmelVixen is the creator of the hugely...
@MizCarmelVixen is the creator of the hugely successful comic book movement #BlackComicsMonth (In which ever month is black comics month!). Fans and followers of her work in promoting black comic book characters and creators include Gail Simone, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Scott Snyder, G Willow Wilson, Greg Pak, Kieron Gillen, David Walker, and many many more. Right now SHE NEEDS OUR HELP.
After being rear ended by a vehicle going 35 MPH Vixen had to go through intense physical therapy. During September 2014 something went wrong and she lost feeling in parts of her lower body. She was diagnosed with having 3 degenerative discs and sciatica, and some of the nerve damage might be permanent. She has not regained feeling in her leg and walks with a cain. Vixen’s insurance claimed she was at her medical improvement limit for a year, and while they are finally willing to pay for her surgery, they are refusing to pay for post surgery rehabilitation care.
A single week at rehab would cost upwards of $5,000 and payments are upfront only. Vixen needs out help! You can read her story, read updates on the situation, and DONATE at this link. If you want to support diversity in the comics scene, want to support someone who has organized amazing online movements and convention panels promoting black comic characters and creators, or just want to support someone who really needs our help, now is the time.
Please reblog, share, and DONATE!
Vixen is one of the most amazing people anywhere. She’s fantastic, and she’s making a real change in comics.
She did everything right here. She was driving safely, she had insurance, and she’s still having a devastating thing happen to her and her family.
Please help if you can!
November 4, 2015
gimpnelly:
I’ve been thinking about leaving comics. Giving Fresh Romance to someone who can deal...
I’ve been thinking about leaving comics. Giving Fresh Romance to someone who can deal with it all, completing my current obligations, and then never looking back. In a couple years, people would be like “Janelle who?” and I’d maybe read a comic again. Or maybe I wouldn’t.
I love Fresh Romance, and I’m so lucky to have gotten a chance to make something that was entirely what I wanted to be working on. But running a business comes with a lot of stress, obviously. I knew that going in. What I didn’t expect was to be a critical darling that everyone said they loved, but with actual monthly sales post-Kickstarter going too slowly to sustain the business long-term. That’s really common in small businesses during the first year, especially in publishing, and especially especially in comics, but I think our critical success has led to the false impression that we don’t need as much support as other indie comics. I’m sure given the way Fresh Romance is talked about that everyone thinks I’m rolling in money, but the truth is that I haven’t been able to pay myself a salary, and only barely could afford one month to give myself a tiny paycheck when I absolutely had to. Thus, I’ve had to take on additional work in some way or another so that I can survive.
The Kickstarter raised enough money for five months of Fresh Romance, and with our sales we were able to pull off six+ months and promotional stuff and convention appearances. All the Fresh Romance money goes to the creators or to getting the comics out, as it should, but that leaves precious little for expansion. I wish I could pay them all more. When we had print copies of #1, they disappeared amazingly fast (including copies that we sold) and I was told we’d sell more if we did print, but in order to do print I would need to conjure up some extra money — or to not pay my creators, which I will not do. Comics has enough publishers who don’t pay people what they’re worth. I’d rather shut Rosy Press down than be yet another publisher like that.
I’m at a point now where to stay sane, I need to put a pin in Fresh Romance while I figure out what happens next. If any publishers want to purchase it, that’s a conversation I will absolutely have. I didn’t think I would, but frankly I’m at a point where it continuing on is more important than me having sole control. I’m also considering another Kickstarter, but that too requires time and money and energy that I am lacking at the moment. Either way, or any other way, Rosy Press deserves my best, not whatever scraps I can throw it as I deal with everything else. However it gets done, though, I’ll make sure that our backers and supporters get what they paid for. It might just take longer than anticipated. My top priorities with Fresh Romance are the creators and the customers. While FR is on hiatus, I’ll still make sure collections of the 60-page School Spirit and Ruined stories thus far get put out, although they may take a little extra time. We’re looking at a hiatus of a few months for FR, but I’ll try to be as transparent as possible about what is going on behind the scenes.
Unfortunately, I’m having to consider a day job again, because I’m about to have medical bills up the wazoo and I *need* to get better. Being unhealthy means more than just not being able to work on comics stuff, it means everything in my life gets put on hold. And managing my health is a difficult job at the moment, between my depression and my fibromyalgia, so I don’t know that there’s enough bandwidth for me to take on even a part time job and manage all my doctor appointments and my handful of freelance gigs AND run Rosy Press. I realized earlier this week when I needed to answer a doctor’s question about when I was diagnosed with fibro that I was literally diagnosed three days before the Fresh Romance Kickstarter launched, which at the time seemed like an added success (finally! diagnosis!) but really just meant I didn’t give my health as much care and thought as I should have because I was trying to launch a company. I’m trying to rectify that now. I’m about to have at least three standing appointments a week for my health, all of which are either physically or mentally draining. Plus, our cat Monkey is sick with what could be anything from a thyroid condition that requires daily medication or intestinal cancer, and we’re a few more (expensive) tests away from knowing what it is.
I could do more work as a journalist in comics (and outside of comics) but the truth is that journalism is not what I want to do. I only write what I feel like no one else will write, and when I’m obligated to write other things, my work suffers. I’m not a writer at heart. I’m an editor. That’s one of the reasons I don’t even know if I *can* leave comics. Editing comics is the only thing I’ve ever done for work that felt right. But there are too many excellent freelance editors in comics right now for me to be able to pull in regular good money that way.
And I’ve had friends so traumatized by this industry that it took them years of working outside comics to even be able to pick up a comic again. I’ve also had friends who are so smart and talented that they should be running this industry go outside comics to be appreciated for their true worth. I’ve had friends accept a salary that won’t allow them to build a life beyond paycheck to paycheck all for the chance to edit comics somewhere that isn’t the Big 2. I’ve watched this industry try to tear down everyone who ever tried to do something good and have no remorse. Comics wears you down after a while. No matter how much you love the medium, the characters, or even some of the people, it can feel oppressive and limiting after a while.
I worry a lot about letting people down. Not even specific people so much as just people in general. There have been a lot of moments in the last month where I literally would’ve rather died than let anyone down. When it came to stepping back from comics, letting my investigation into sexual harassment in comics go, and putting Fresh Romance on hold, more than once I thought about suicide rather than giving up those things that everyone has told me are so important. If I died, I wouldn’t have to admit that I wasn’t up for the challenge. I could just give up. I know people mean well when they tell me that I’m an important voice in comics, but it comes with a lot of pressure. I went into comics as a career because I thought it would be fun. I didn’t stay because it was fun, but because I love(d) comics. Now, I don’t know if I love it anymore, and I know that it’s not fun. I’m not the kind of person who can only worry about the surface stuff, though. If I’m in comics, I’m all in, and I can’t help but think about and talk about representation and diversity and all of those things. I might be able to work at an office job as a receptionist and not give a shit about whatever that industry is treating women well, but when I’m in comics, I’m all in. Otherwise, what’s the point?
A friend asked on Facebook yesterday about how to know the difference between working to do a hard thing or hurting yourself by pushing too far. That entirely sums up my life right now. I *want* to work hard at making Rosy Press and Fresh Romance successful. I want to work hard at making comics a better place. But at what point am I just hurting myself by pushing so hard? It’s taken concerted effort for me to not engage in whatever is the comics furor of the moment every day since I got out of the hospital. Sometimes I fail, and go online for a bit to say my piece, before I force myself to unplug and think about something else. If I continue in comics, something has to give. Whether that’s control over Fresh Romance, my role as an occasional journalist/outraged feminist, or taking on a day job and doing comics as a hobby… I just don’t know right now. As always, it’s all a work in progress.
Okay. This is very sad to hear.
If anyone has put herself on the line for comics in the recent past, it’s Janelle. She’s a terrific writer and an amazing editor.
I’m not sure what happens with Fresh Romance at this point, but I believe with 100% surety she will keep her promises. That’s who she is.
And if you need an EXCEPTIONAL editor with some real vision, please give Janelle a call. Seriously.
stephenemond:
I wanted to contribute something to the mass of...
I wanted to contribute something to the mass of reimagined Disney Princesses, and the only thing that hadn’t been done yet was hedgehogs. I did my best with it!
I’m sorry, but these are adorable.
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