Gail Simone's Blog, page 811

Hey Gail. Any artist that you've always wanted to work with, but have never had a chance to?

Yeah, Brian Hitch, Walt Simonson, Phil Jimenez (we did a one-page dealie), Philip Tan, Dustin Nguyen, Sergio Aragones, Jim Lee, Lee Garbett, Colleen Doran, Amanda Conner, Steve Dillon, LOTS of people!

Any future plans for Mary in Batgirl? I know she's in BoP, but you gotta figure that, considering Mary's nature and her recent reintroduction into the world, not having a place to go, and that Babs is probably her best and only friend at this point, Babs m

We’re actually talking about having Mary/Strix appear in a future issue. Not sure yet, but cross your fingers!

Any future plans for Mary in Batgirl? I know she's in BoP, but you gotta figure that, considering Mary's nature and her recent reintroduction into the world, not having a place to go, and that Babs is probably her best and only friend at this point, Babs m

We’re actually talking about having Mary/Strix appear in a future issue. Not sure yet, but cross your fingers!

Any future plans for Mary in Batgirl? I know she's in BoP, but you gotta figure that, considering Mary's nature and her recent reintroduction into the world, not having a place to go, and that Babs is probably her best and only friend at this point, Babs m

We’re actually talking about having Mary/Strix appear in a future issue. Not sure yet, but cross your fingers!

Hi Gail. I just read your Brutal Tips on Breaking in, and you mentioned not including fanfic in your writing portfolio. Is this also something to keep in mind for artists, or does having fanart in one's portfolio make any difference?

It’s different for artists, they want to see how you can handle their characters. I know, it seems unfair, but it takes them ten seconds to look at a drawing, it can take an age to read a pitch.

I was wondering how you get the job of acctually writing the comic books. Do u take art and writing classes? I've been wondering about that. :) big fan of your work (and your tweets) :)

I took writing courses in high school and college, but it was an online humor column I wrote that got editors’ attention. I wasn’t even trying to work as a pro, I was doing it for fun.

“Okay, so I have to save the President and prevent a war that...

“Okay, so I have to save the President and prevent a war that could destroy the universe. Bring it.”

Osric Chau as Ryan Choi/The Atom
Jon Hamm as Professor Ray Palmer
Emma Stone as Doctor Doris Zeul
and Frankie Muniz as Sylbert Rundine/Dwarfstar

I dreamed a beautiful dream that this was a real thing!

Are there any genres outside of your comfort zone that you'd love to do someday?

Working in a couple of them as we speak. :)

Do you think there is life in outer space?

Almost certainly.

I am an actual skeptic, I don’t believe in much of anything without evidence. But the numerical odds of there being no life in the universe seem very remote indeed. I’m not an expert, but it seems very unlikely that this planet is the ONLY one that is supporting life.

I'd love to see you do a bit on Portlandia. I have no idea what the bit might be, I just want to see it. Maybe you could play a fake nerd discussing the Hobbit with Kyle MacLachlan over some Middle-Earth fare at your favorite Denny's. Or maybe I should jus

Ha!  I would actually rather have the Portlandia cast appear in Batgirl, if we could.

I actually met Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein backstage after a Patton Oswalt/Ron Funches show in Portland last year (both Patton and Ron are comics readers, Patton’s been a friend for years).

Fred and Carrie were both incredibly nice. I talked to Fred for a good while, he was fascinated that I wrote Batgirl. I don’t think he’s a comics reader, or if he is, he didn’t say, but he asked several questions about it. It could have just been simple politeness, but it seemed very sincere and kind.

We’re such fans of his, at my house, we sing his Blue Jean Committee song, “Massachusetts Afternoon” ALL THE TIME but I was so flustered to meet him that I forgot to tell him that, for which my son will never forgive me. And we’re huge fans of Portlandia, too.

If they’d be okay with it and DC was okay with it, I’d love to put them in an issue of something. :)