Gail Simone's Blog, page 223

In Defense Of Fantasy

lilys-tony:

gailsimone:

Every few years, comics gets a new set of buzzwords that are meant to sort of self-immolate anything that has the appearance of being silly or childish or even whimsical.

Warren Ellis, who is one of my great writing heroes, is a master at this, he came up with ‘pervert suits’ for superheroes (never mind that there have been hundreds of brilliant superhero stories, many written by Warren himself). 

Since graphic novels are SO SO literary in comparison to individual issues (never mind that individual issues often make up some of the best comics ever made), we deride them as floppies.

Other words that started as complimentary because somewhat derogatory in common usage, “iconic,” and “widescreen,” for example. 

I understand, there’s a real desire in fandoms to establish status levels, you see it constantly. “Oh, I like comics, but not THOSE comics,” is a pretty common attitude. It’s fine, I get it.

But one I find kind of disheartening is the notion that everything should be ‘realistic’ or ‘practical.’

I think that’s really the death of whimsy. I think it’s trying to put an anchor on flights of fancy.

First, many readers don’t READ genre material for realism or practicality. That’s not why they buy Spider-man, that’s not why they read Lord of the Rings.

Second, who actually wants to BE the realism police? What a dreary, wasted effort. Who defines this?  Look at the ridiculous things people have worn (all the way from nothing at all, as some Irish warriors chose, to incredibly elaborate formal armor), and the huge variety of weapons people have designed in our own real history and ‘practical’ is not always a consideration. 

When I look at some of the costumes in anime, or in video games, I freaking LOVE that those designers just went wild, they created something beautiful to LOOK at, but impossible to wear. And who is damaged by this, what is lessened? It’s a fantasy. 

I get that there are issues of exploitation and racism and sexism and homophobia that have to be considered.  That’s just being humane and responsible. 

But when I read, say, Green Lantern, I want my mind to be blown, I don’t necessarily need a consistent set of rules to make the book comply with my concepts of reality and decorum.

By the way, I am not speaking of how much flesh is exposed on a costume, entirely, that’s a subject unto itself, on which I am still a bit divided. I think it works for some characters, and is often a bit ridiculous for others. But I feel that’s a separate issue somewhat from ‘practicality.’

Comics need LESS manners and fewer limitations, not more. 

When I see a creator really build a world or a character, and they are criticized on the basis of ‘not being realistic,’ I find that a poor excuse for analysis. What if realism was never the goal? Is that really our primary concern?

I can love a costume design because it looks gorgeous, because it’s striking. There are complaints for these designs that do have valid reasoning, but is ‘practicality’ really the horse we want to ride on? 

I want creators to create, I want them to unleash the dragons of their imaginations. Some of it might not be to my taste. 

But it IS possible to have a fantasy setting, whether its superhero stories, SF, high adventure, whatever, that is perhaps not strictly practical, yet altogether wonderful. Because the reality that is far more important is emotional reality. Does the story tell a human truth?

That’s what matters most. 

Also, I’m a complete hypocrite because when I see Black Canary in high heels I just want to scream. :)

And I still think Bayonetta looks cool. 

Realism vs sexual exploitation are two related but distinct issues. I totally don’t care if something is unrealistic as long as the token female character isn’t the only one scantily clad.

Yeah, I think people think I am talking about sexy costumes, and that’s such a small part of what I am talking about.

You make a fair point, I totally agree. 

Hi Gail. So, you're pretty well known for trying to write LGBT+ characters (even if you don't always get to actually do that, the effort is hugely appreciated), and I was wondering if you had any plans for an Aro or Ace character? Or if you've worked on on

I have! Tremor, from the Movement, was in canon stating that she was Ace. 

But I am always looking to add more characters so it’s not such a small representation. 

Hi Gail, just for future reference, I'm not sure q*eer is an appropriate word to use as an umbrella term or to call someone else as a vague way to refer to someone who isn't straight. Their respective label is more appropriate, gay, lesbian, bi, etc. Anyon

I don’t usually use that word. May I ask where I used it that we are referring to?

I have nothing against the word but it feels like it belongs to the people it applies to, so I tend not to use it. 

Hi Gail, just for future reference, I'm not sure q*eer is an appropriate word to use as an umbrella term or to call someone else as a vague way to refer to someone who isn't straight. Their respective label is more appropriate, gay, lesbian, bi, etc. Anyon

I don’t usually use that word. May I ask where I used it that we are referring to?

I have nothing against the word but it feels like it belongs to the people it applies to, so I tend not to use it. 

Hello Gail, I just wanted to tell you that you are my favorite comic writer of all time and your run on Birds of Prey is my favorite comic book of all time. I'm basically just writing to tell you I love you and to thank you for all your wonderful work both

Thank you so much, I actually wrote her a bit this week!  :)

I got into a debate with someone on tumblr due to their hatred of Babs because of how she treated Helena at first I was wondering if you could explain how you feel about the evolution of their relationship & friendship. Ps: love everything you do

There are few things that boggle my mind faster than people who fixate on the BEGINNING of a story  and don’t look at the end. 

The story of Helena and Barbara is them both being imperfect and LEARNING to love and trust each other.  The first part of a stroy isn’t the destination, for god’s sake, it’s the point of departure. How meaningless would their friendship have been if it had appeared by magic with no friction at all? It’s ridiculous, worse than that, it’s bad storytelling.

I assume this is about Barbara and Helena being prickly because they both dated Dick. The goofiest thing about this is, everyone admits they are wrong IN THAT ISSUE. That same issue, Barbara realizes she was unfair (Dinah, too, she actually puts it in words) and tried to make up for it with Helena. 

I find it weird. Friendships don’t have to be perfect and they certainly don’t always start with perfection. Almost all the great romance stories and buddy stories start with some friction, but for some reason, we are less comfortable with that when the players are all women. Which is weird as hell. 

Re: that previous ask about LGBT in the big 2, the anon is wrong about Marvel not having queer-led books. Marvel has been publishing Angela, a book with a queer headliner, for a while now and will continue to after Secret Wars.

Yeah, it didn’t sound right.

I often get angry questions from people who haven’t actually READ any comics in years, it’s a little weird.

Hello and good day. I was unsure if you had seen on your twitter account, but I made and sent you a fan comic based on your Harvest character from your run on Birds of Prey. Sincere apologies if you had seen it, I just wanted to make sure the comic reached

Wait, where is this?

Were Midighter and Apollo broken up in the Great Relationship Destruction of New 52?

I have no idea.

But this does refer a bit to something I talk about a lot, what the new52 was SUPPOSED to be.

It was never supposed to be, OH WE’RE CHANGING EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS ENDING.

But I feel we kind of muffed the delivery and that’s how people took it.

What it was SUPPOSED to be was more like DCU: YEAR ONE. It was supposed to be (according to what we were told) that almost all the characters were taken back to their earliest days BEFORE the status quo they all eventually developed.

So it’s not that they ‘broke up’ Apollo and Midnighter, the new52 was supposed to be a story like a prequel, before that relationship happened. Same with Clark/Lois, similar even to Batgirl, that it was supposed to be her origin years, before she becomes Oracle.

That message never got out and I think it left readers far more upset than they needed to be. I think if we’d called it DCU: YEAR ONE or DCU: BEGINNINGS, everyone would understand that things weren’t being erased most likely, so much as we were showing the characters before they became gods, as it were, when they could still make mistakes and were still learning.

It wouldn’t have made everyone happy still, obviously, but I think that’s a lot more palatable. 

EDITED TO ADD: I am informed that Midnighter wouldn’t have qualified for this reasoning anyway and that they actually HAVE been shown to break up in the new52. My apologies, I totally missed that!

Hey, are you familiar with the internet comic critic Linkara? He's a fantastic guy, he pushes your work occasionally, and he has some spectacular thoughts on the industry!

I do know Linkara a little bit, we were on the same message board all the way back before I started working in comics. I don’t know him well, but he seems like a good guy!