Gail Simone's Blog, page 656

Do you ever get nasty comments on tumbler

NEVER!

Surprise Convention Appearance!

I will be appearing at STRIBEFEBER in Kristiansand, Norway, this Sunday only, September 8th!  Come say hi, if you are around!

Then I will appear at the RAPTUS Comics Festival in Bergen the following week. Excited to see Norway and meet these readers!

This is Where I Was Today.

This is Where I Was Today.

do u ever wish you're jk rowling?

I am actually delighted with my life. I love my career, I love my family, I love the travel, I love meeting readers and collaborating with artists.

I admire JKR immeasurably.

But I feel pretty freaking blessed as is.

So, Yesterday...

I got to have a private, backstage tour of the Doctor Who studio thingie in Cardiff, Wales, where they have the actual new Tardis.

I am pretty much in heaven.

First, as you go through the studio office doors, there’s a big Dalek staring at you.  That’s pretty funny.  Then as you walk backstage, you pass another Dalek and a Weeping Angel, and you walk up regular wooden stairs to a door that looks like the regular outside wall of the Tardis, with green all around it so they can greenscreen in details.

Then we got to go in, courtesy the wonderful Edward and Richard, Brand Manager and Script Supervisor to the show (thank you guys, SO MUCH!), and we were allowed to take as many photos as we wanted. The prop guys turned on all the lights for us, which made it even more thrilling.

This new Tardis is the first one that is 360 degrees. Usually, it is an open set, incomplete, missing sections of wall so they can film. But this one goes all the way around and is completely immersive. The level of detail is fantastic…with the lights going round, it’s really quite stunning and I couldn’t help fangirling all over the place.

It actually DID feel a little bit magical.

You can actually go down the stairs in the set and there’s a green pulsing engine underneath the main set, making it feel even more real, somehow.

Then they arranged for complimentary passes to the Doctor Who Experience, just a block away, which was ALSO wonderful, but perhaps a story for another post.

Thank you so much, Edward and Richard, it was lovely to meet you, and Gareth, and we won’t soon forget getting to drive the Tardis!

(Note that we actually didn’t drive the Tardis anywhere because we would probably just crash into the era of the Black Plague).

 

 

 

Are there any differences between the American and British versions that you know of?

Of what?

Bugged you how?

Well, it seemed to be more than a little “inspired.”

rcbot:Wonder Woman #19I cannot tell you how much fun it was...

rcbot:

Wonder Woman #19

I cannot tell you how much fun it was to write Wonder Woman and a Green Lantern throwing punches around.

Did you watch Heroes? What was your opinion of the show?

I only watched a few episodes, I liked what I saw.

I was told by someone working on the show that there was a character inspired by my version of Rose and Thorn, and I think they thought I would find that flattering.

But truthfully, I didn’t, it kinda bugged me, and colored my opinion,of the show a little bit.

I am a transgender woman and a long time comics fan. I wanted to say that I really appreciate the inclusion of a trans character in Batgirl. I want to especially thank you for treating her like a real character rather than a one note character or a joke l

Thank you for the kind words!

I don’t have a great answer about why it was important to include trans characters, sadly, I don’t have a great story or anything, or a trans family member or anything like that.

I get a lot of snark and accusations about pandering to “social justice warriors” and the like, but it isn’t anything like that. It’s nothing very complicated at all, I just want there to be more diversity in comics. I don’t think that’s pandering. I don’t think it’s some big deal, it’s just that I would like comics to be more inclusive.

It’s not a great comparison, but I remember loving comics when I was a kid and seeing very few female portrayals that were meaningful to me. When I discovered Wonder Woman and Batgirl, it meant a lot to me and people will laugh, but it stuck with me.

A bunch of us who started in comics around the same time all felt that comics were not doing a great job of reflecting an increasingly diverse audience. It’s something we had all talked about as fans…most people think, “if I make it as a pro, here is what I would like to do…” And we got lucky enough to be able to follow through a little.

And the clincher was simply talking to so many trans folk at cons and online. Lack of representation sucks, it hurts, and also, it makes our industry look archaic and silly.

Alysia by herself is just a little tiny step, but with the other trans characters out there and hopefully more to come, we can just make comics a little more inclusive. I will never get why some people find that so upsetting.