Gail Simone's Blog, page 224

Hi, Gail. Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your work on The Movement. You bring so much to DC Comics! I hope you have a long and happy career there, because the quality of books instantly rises with you on them.

Thank you so much!

DC has been my home for a long time. I love it there. I love the people, I love the characters, I love the support and I just adore the DCU proper and always will. To me, it’s an honor to get to add in some small way to the tapestry of that massive story. I love it.

DC let me work on the characters I have loved and been inspired by since childhood. They have universally supported my passion for inclusion, in both characters and creators. They have given me the best artists to work with, they have listened to my complaints, and I have watched them make changes for the better over the years.

I am very proud to write for DC.

When I first worked there, I couldn’t believe it, I was pinching myself every day. It was like being a Star Wars fan and suddenly having a working lightsaber. I got to work on books like Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman and Secret SIx and many others, and say what you like, I don’t think we would have been able to do the things we did with those books anywhere else at the time.  

When the New52 happened, we seemed to be pulling in different directions and there was a lot of friction between myself and DC. Some of it was on their side (most of the people I really struggled with are gone), but some was on my side and I have to take responsibility for it. It was a rough couple years, the way it is sometimes with family, where nobody means ill, but bad feelings are generated nonetheless. And again, I didn’t handle it well.

And we had that weird situation happen where I got fired from Batgirl that made such a big fuss. Which felt like a weird train wreck to observe at the time, I felt it was a crash where I was a passenger watching it happen, somehow.

It was also a rough time personally, as we had some family crises (my own family) that made everything very stressy and I now believe I was suffering a bit from undiagnosed and untreated depression. My house got robbed, our identities stolen, my son was attacked, our dogs died within a week of each other, my brother was hit by a car and had to have extensive help, just stuff kept piling on.

But here’s the thing. DC didn’t give up on me, and they absolutely could have. They’re a business, they have to keep the trains running and I was in a rough way. 

But they didn’t give up, and everyone from the top levels down was just incredibly kind. Diane Nelson, Dan DiDio, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Jim Chadwick, Larry Ganem, Mark Doyle, Shelly Bond, Bob Harras, they (and many more) all spoke to me personally and offered kindness and support and advice. They helped me get through the rough patch, they reminded me that I was still valued there, and they offered me exciting, fun work they knew I would enjoy. When Secret Six shipped late (my first late-shipping DC books ever, due to a huge confluence of horrible stuff hitting the entire creative team), everyone at DC pitched in to help us get back on track when they could easily have just given up.

I have not always worked in comics. I’ve had some shitty jobs for rotten employers. I know very few companies where everyone would be encouraging like that. And it means a lot to me. Not everyone has that luxury. 

I think of how, whenever I talk to Bob Harras about a new project, he always asks if we can be sure to include lots of characters of color, of different ethnic backgrounds. That’s his key issue, he wants a DCU that looks like the readership. I love that.  I think of how I went to Dan DiDio with a list of reasons why we needed a trans character in Batgirl, only for him to agree immediately, concerned only that it not be  exploitative.

I remember having an hour long conversation with Jim Lee about a future product and just being astounded at the guy’s endless creative vision. And hearing Diane speak eloquently about how comics can do good in the world beyond just telling stories. 

We obviously haven’t agreed on everything, and I have made myself quite the pain in the ass over it at times, but again, DC was publishing out and proud lgbtq superheroes when Marvel wouldn’t even mention out loud. 

The past year or so, maybe a little more, DC has made a lot of changes for the better, for the books and for the creative teams, and it’s exciting to see. I am delighted to see them going after new talent, and actually developing mentorship programs. I love the resurgence of Vertigo. I love that every day, I am working in the same universe as people like Scott Snyder and Greg Pak and Pete Tomasi. 

I have always felt that DC published a much wider spectrum of material and genres and formats than Marvel (I love Marvel, don’t get me wrong). And that’s pretty lovely, too.

It’s been an exciting, rebuilding year for DC. They’ve had some happy successes and some unfortunate setbacks, but I am very excited for the stuff I have seen coming up. It feels far more forward-looking than elsewhere, and that’s where I always want to be.

When things were great, DC was there for me, but when things were crappy for me, they were there still. And that means a great deal, and I won’t forget that. 

Right now, I really want to see DC succeed. I love the universe best of all fantasy universes, and I love the people, and I want them to kick ass. 

I’m having a blast working with other companies. But I hope I will always have a spot at DC, because it really is home. 

In Defense Of Fantasy

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. 

Photo

Hello Gail! I just read Secret Six #5 and I have a REALLY BIG QUESTION! I understand if you can't give me an answer for plot reasons, though. When The Riddler said he has Scandal's wives... Does that mean what I think it does? Is Scandal in a polyamorous r

Bet your ass she is. 

:)

Hey Gail, we met at the comic con in London last year. I was the Static if you remember? I just wanted to say thank you for all of your work. I really am a huge fan of yours. What will be your next project?

I remember you! You came behind the table and we took photos! Did you make that mask yourself?

I always get very happy when I see any Static cosplayers, or really, any cosplayers that remind me of Dwayne McDuffie, who was a mentor to me and I miss dearly. 

Thank you for the kind words! My next projects are CROSSWIND for Image, CLEAN ROOM for Vertigo, and maybe a couple things not yet announced. :)

Actors

I still get a huge amount of mail and queries about actors and television shows, people asking which actors should play characters I’ve written or what I think of a DC or Marvel show or whatever.

Guys, it’s fine, I don’t mind, but I also will not be any help at all. I avoid celebrity culture to a ridiculous degree. I only know a celebrity if I have seen people talk about them on social media and even then, it’s not likely that I will remember them at all.  I don’t read entertainment news, I don’t know these people. When I see a People magazine or anything like that, I rarely know who the people on the cover are (mega movie stars, I know some of those. TV people, almost none). 

I have not followed any Marvel or DC shows in years. My cable box died and I forgot to have it replaced, so I haven’t had regular broadcast television for a year or more. I DO watch movies and a couple series on Netflix and Hulu or Amazon Prime, but I don’t pay much attention to the actors’ names. 

I say this not to sound snooty, it has NOTHING to do with actors being ‘beneath me’ or television being a bad medium, it’s just that I don’t have much interest in it, and it’s just gotten less as time as gone on. I don’t know why. I sometimes hear that a show is great, and I put it on my list, but then I never seem to get around to watching it. I just spend a lot of time in front of a screen, and would prefer to read, be outside, or play a game over watching most tv.

I think tv is producing some of the best stories around. I think actors are pretty terrific people, often. It’s me, not them. 

I only say this because I get so MUCH email asking these questions and I feel weird just responding saying “I have no idea who that is” or “I don’t know who should be Black Canary” or “I have never seen that show” over and over again all day.

SO feel free to ask, but I will likely disappoint you (regretfully) with my astounding lack of knowledge every time.

I just had a thought…when I had a salon, we kept all the entertainment magazines in the waiting area and I had to keep a little bit abreast of this stuff. I wonder if I just hit my limit on it and now that I don’t have to, I don’t keep up.

Huh. Could be a factor. But basically, I just am mostly ignorant of these topics and will likely be no help regarding them. Just letting you know in advance, okay?

gaygeekry:Geekery Montage: CATMANCATMAN!

gaygeekry:

Geekery Montage: CATMAN

CATMAN!

Related to a previous question, I was just curious if as someone who works in the industry, have you noticed if comic companies prefer a specific point or time of a year to announce new comics? Or is it just a spontaneous thing with no particular date for

No, they used to just worry about their own releases. Now comics companies try to pay some attention to what months have crossovers and events, so that they can launch their own books in a different month.

Excuse me, are there any other aweome writers or artists from the comic Industry who use Tumblr? I enjoy following your tumblr, and I was hoping to branch out to see what other people in the industry tumble

I don’t really know who is on or not…anyone have suggestions?

I know Kelly Sue DeConnick is, and Matt Fraction, I believe. And Tom Peyer. Not sure who else.

dynamitecomics:The next Swords of Sorrow Cosplay cover is...

dynamitecomics:

The next Swords of Sorrow Cosplay cover is here! The order code for your Local Comic Shop is JUL158371

Make sure you let them know to order your copy today!

AMAZING!