Gail Simone's Blog, page 784
March 11, 2013
Which female character from DC do you think needs a solo title? (Benched or not.)
No question, it’s the Question.
Then Black Canary.
Hi Gail! I've been wondering- what issue of Birds Of Prey whas your favorite to write and why? Thanks! Hope you have a marvelous day!
I don’t know the issue number, but I loved writing the Golden Age Bop issue that Michael Golden drew. That was a dream come true AND he gave me a beautiful page of the original art, WITH an added, beautiful Black Canary sketch on the back. He wrote, “Was it good for you, too, Gail?” on the back which made me laugh.
Michael doesn’t do interiors very often, and he’s a master, so that was a rare treat.
One of the most HELL YEAH issues for me was Huntress vs. Shiva in volume two. I loved showing that even in a world where Canary and Shiva exist, no one screws with Helena Bertinelli and gets away with it.
I have a friend interested in starting into deadpool, which run would you recommend they read first?
Well, the classic run is Joe Kelly, but there are lots of great runs. The easiest would be the current run, which is only a few issues old and is written by my two brilliant and hilarious friends, Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn.
Seeing as you're going to introduce a trans* character in one of your books (THANK YOU, by the way), is there any chance there might eventually be a genderqueer character showing up? (I would ask about a genderqueer hero, but that would be greedy...)
It’s not greedy!
Hmm. I don’t know that I have a distinctly genderqueer character in the works, but I will definitely give it some thought.
Not to put in hype at this moment, but I hope you will give the MOVEMENT a try. I don’t want to give away more information yet, but…there’s a lot of great characters. :)
Super Awesome Things!
In honor of my new pal Shelby, I am asking people to respond with things they think are super awesome.
They can be people, things, or experiences, whatever. If it made you think, “This is super awesome,” then it qualifies.
Here are a few of my super awesome likes:
Dungeons and Dragons with friends
Baby toes
Hot tea in the morning on a cold day
Getting art in my email box for projects I am working on
Meeting readers at cons
That Mitchell and Webb Look
Greyhounds
Singapore
Random lists of Super Awesome things requested!
Discovery Cove
So, we love coming to Florida because we get to go to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando…for me, it’s hard to beat Epcot and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
But we were just here a few months ago and did all that stuff. Someone recommended Discovery Cove on twitter, so I looked it up at Discoverycove.com.
It’s a smaller, more exclusive park run by Sea World Orlando. Instead of rides and big shows, it has more personal experiences, and they only allow 1300 people in each day and during busy seasons, they often sell out far in advance. We thought we’d try it…it’s spendy, but each ticket gives you fourteen days of unlimited visits to Sea World and their water park, Aquatica, as well.
The key element of your day at Discovery Cove is a half hour dolphin interaction. There’s a ton of stuff to do, snorkeling with rays and tropical fish, a freshwater oasis, a ‘river’ that winds through caves and grottos. We loved it. And you don’t pay for anything, your ticket gets you unlimited food, breakfast and lunch, snacks, and alcohol for drinkers (we’re not). They even had extensive gluten-free choices for me, which is lovely. They gave out gluten-free snack packs at the snack bars, which is very thoughtful and convenient.
But above all, the place is beautiful. Because there are so few people there, it’s not crowded and miserable like most theme parks. And the landscaping is spectacular, everywhere you look there are spectacular plants and flowers.
But the key thing is the dolphins. We love them, I am just wild about them, so for the past couple weeks this is all I’ve been able to think about. Our appointment time with the trainer was eleven and I couldn’t wait.
You are placed in a small group, a ‘pod.’ We were Pod B. And next to us was a father with his daughter, a beautiful little girl with golden curls named Shelby, who was developmentally disabled. She had a huge, huge smile the entire time we were in the water waiting for our trainer, so I talked to her, and it turns out that she loves dolphins more than anything in the world, and so for her birthday, her father took her here, to Discovery Cove, to meet the dolphins. It was her birthday yesterday, the day of our swim.
I have been very happy many times in my life, and I have been fortunate enough to witness true joy on many faces. But I don’t know if I have ever witnessed the sheer happiness on anyone like that on her sweet face yesterday.
The trainer’s name was Riley, and he brought over our dolphin, who was named Yoko. Yoko came and showed some behaviors, and we all go to touch her skin…the trainer said that Yoko really likes human interaction, and makes up games to play with the trainers. Some dolphins are less social with humans, understandably, but Yoko actually initiates contact all the time. Most of the dolphins only do a couple interactions a day, but Yoko is happy doing four.
It’s hard to explain, I know it’s a very choreographed and scripted encounter, and no part of it is natural, but getting to touch and speak to a dolphin, a healthy, happy dolphin…well, it’s beyond amazing. I’m still sort of over the moon about it.
The climax of the interaction is you swim out to deep water, and hold Yoko’s pectoral and dorsal fin, and she tows you back to the shallows.
Since Shelby was about to explode with excitement, it was unanimously and non-verbally decided she should go first and she swam out excitedly, and Yoko swam back with her, and I have never seen a smile like that on any other person. She was ecstatic. The look on her dad’s face was also worth a million dollars. She came back to the shadows and yelled out, “THAT WAS SUPER AWESOME!”
When it was my turn, I swam out. You don’t realize how much sheer muscular firepower a dolphin has until you feel them while they are swimming, they are just like rockets of muscle. I had a smile on my face a mile wide. Such a beautiful, intelligent animal, in blue water under a perfect sky. I don’t remember ever feeling quite so spoiled and fortunate. I have been a great many wonderful places but holding this dolphin was so moving, it was hard not to cry.
Shelby’s connection to Yoko was the best part of one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. She wasn’t just happy, she was enchanted. This was her Princess Moment, hopefully just one of many. And she just wanted to stay with Yoko forever.
When we left, reluctantly, she again declared Yoko to be super awesome, and my hubby and I have been saying that about every great thing since. Our hot chocolate was super awesome, because it reminds us of Shelby’s happy face to say it. Lying in the sun was super awesome.
Life in general is pretty super awesome, we decided.
Later, when the park was closing, and everyone was putting their street clothes back on and leaving our beautiful little oasis, I saw Shelby, dressed all in pink, and she looked over at me and waved a big wave, and I waved back and said happy birthday and she just beamed, and I thought, I am going to miss that little girl forever and I barely even met her.
I came for the dolphins but I got an added bonus.
Happy birthday, Shelby.
March 9, 2013
xbirdsofpreyx:
So, the second issue cover of The Movement by...
So, the second issue cover of The Movement by Gail Simone was released today and we get a peek at some of the much anticipated cast of the street level “vigilante” superheroes. I recognize…. No one. Actually, that’s not entirely true. The young woman in red looks A LOT like a Gail Simone character from Secret Six, Tremor! The other charactersI have no idea about. But I do have some characters I’d like to see in the movement…
Does it count as spoilers if I guess right? haha
Anarky- Isn’t it obvious? He was made for a book with this concept. Not to mention he’s a computer genius, hello, Hacktavist!
Black Alice- Easily fits in. Troubled teen, with mega powers. Who has some authority issues and would be very into protecting the streets, especially against [prescription] drug dealers.
Cassandra Cain- Not likely at all. Especially since someone somewhere has a major grudge against her. An outcast with near unbeatable martial art skills.
Catman- Notorious for being a down on his luck kinda guy, you can definitely see him fighting for the defenseless, especially if they’re in his territory.
Gimmix- Totally left field. But, I love the idea of a young, cool Gimmick Girl making her gimmicks on a budget. Thrift store shopping anyone? Dumpster Diving!? Hello, MacGyver!
Gypsy- Possible, depending on how tied up she is in the Vibe book. Invisibility, among other useful skills, she too is perfect for a book about social/political injustice.
Jericho- Mute and a very rare ASL character. He is also possibly gay(?) I just love the fact he uses sign language. Possession powers through eye or physical contact. Literally giving a voice to the voiceless.
Mary Marvel- Not sure about her current state in the 52, I know she popped up in JL backups. Gail has always wanted to write her and a orphaned hero with the power of the Gods and has mostly been portrayed with the sincerest of actions would fit the theme.
Misfit- Orphaned, and by her own powers it seems. She would be a free spirit protecting the innocent and helpless with her own brand of Dark Vengeance.
Obsidian- Everyone is sad that he might be gone, here’s a chance to bring him back. Gay, superpowered teen standing up for his rights and the rights of thousands.
Scandal- Not likely, but I have seen a lot of posts that think she might be back in this book. I can see it to a degree. I picture Scandal isn’t too fond of the elite/powerful abusing the little guys, it could remind her of her father.
Stephanie Brown- Now, we know I’m just dreaming. Someone seems to dislike her more than anyone else in any universe. However, a teen vigilante who wants to “spoil” the fun for the bad guys, especially her criminal father- could we make it any easier to fit into a contemporary teen, urban decay, social issue comic?
Thunder- Daughter of Black Lighting. Divorced parents and living with her mother. She is a lesbian and dating Grace (originally). I think she may be the character in the blue and yellow costume on the cover, this could be reaching on my part. She has a desire to gain her fathers approval by being a superhero.
Thunder, Johnny- Always been a friendly urban neighborhood kinda guy. An updated take on a classic [teen] Johnny Thunder could be fun to pair with a more mischievous character like Misfit.
Tremor- The only character I think has any chance of actually showing up. But that’s strictly on two things- Cover image and Gail has written her before.Those are some of my ideas as of right now… I may post some other thoughts later. And I can’t get out of my head that the “Red Hood” person looks familiar. But I’m curious, who do you think or want to appear in The Movement?
*Images from comicvine.com, except Tremor (that ones mine! haha)*
Very, very interesting!
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