Gail Simone's Blog, page 823

I just saw that Batgirl is number #13 in the estimated list of december sales. Congratulations. I am so happy for you, for my favourite character (I waited 25 years to see her back as Batgirl) and for me (month to month it is a real pleasure to read your s

I don’t follow sales that much, other people worry about that, thankfully. But Batgirl sales have been excellent, trade sales are fantastic, overseas is great, and digital has been wonderful.

I am always really happy to have a book with a female lead be a serious hit, no matter who is writing it! :)

I just saw that Batgirl is number #13 in the estimated list of december sales. Congratulations. I am so happy for you, for my favourite character (I waited 25 years to see her back as Batgirl) and for me (month to month it is a real pleasure to read your s

I don’t follow sales that much, other people worry about that, thankfully. But Batgirl sales have been excellent, trade sales are fantastic, overseas is great, and digital has been wonderful.

I am always really happy to have a book with a female lead be a serious hit, no matter who is writing it! :)

Thank you for such a detailed answer to such a poorly worded question. Like I said, Batgirl is one of the highlights of DoTF and it's clear you are enjoying yourself from the quality of your writing. I apologize for the poor formatting in my last message,

Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean YOU at all. I meant MY formatting was coming out completely weird.

Honest, look at my response, it’s all weird and clumped together!

Thank you for such a detailed answer to such a poorly worded question. Like I said, Batgirl is one of the highlights of DoTF and it's clear you are enjoying yourself from the quality of your writing. I apologize for the poor formatting in my last message,

Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean YOU at all. I meant MY formatting was coming out completely weird.

Honest, look at my response, it’s all weird and clumped together!

flatbear:mspandarew:gotitforcheap:dolphin-frenzy:they...

flatbear:

mspandarew:

gotitforcheap:

dolphin-frenzy:

they are so amped on their bread

I would be too 

Dude you could feed a family for a whole wheat

FUCK SHIT FUCK DON’T LET JAVERT SEE THIS THOSE GUYS DON’T LOOK LIKE THEY CAN DO HARD TIME.

They are the DUKES OF BREAD.

“Morning Gail. I was curious about your opinions on large-scale crossovers like “Death of the...

“Morning Gail. I was curious about your opinions on large-scale crossovers like “Death of the Family”. How do you feel when you find out you are going to be part of one? Are you given a strict outline to follow, like “OK Gail, Scott is going to to x,y, and z in Batman, so you can do whatever you want as long as this, this, and that happen?”, or do you have much more creative freedom? I’m still a noob so DOTF is my first arc that I’m following in real-time and I’ve picked up every issue in the crossover (sucker). Outside of Batman, your Batgirl is the only title that has been consistent in delivering that special event feeling (loving it, btw). Nightwing has been ok, this last Detective Comics was solid, and Batman and Robin was good, but wow…the rest? Some are just flat out bad and seem like nothing but cash grabs. Suicide Squad could have been so great with Harley and all, but it was just meh, and Catwoman? I have no words…

I’m rambling here, but it seems like crossovers are basically a epic storyline that runs through one specific title, like a river, and the tie-ins are like little streams that meander here and there, sometimes adding something significant to the story and other times going nowhere at all, doing nothing but selling a few more copies. Am I about right or way the hell off base?

For the record, super excited for Batman and Batgirl tomorrow!
PS: I started reading Punk Rock Jesus last night and it is amazing! Thoughts?
-Jesse— heatvents”

This is a big question, in some ways. Also, dang, why is this (my response, not the OP’s post) so badly formatted? Weird.

Okay, first, I’m sorry some of the DotF issues aren’t working for you.

About crossovers, it’s a little funny even inside the publishers. Readers love them, even the ones that aren’t great seem to boost sales. But the ones that are good REALLY create interest and often will give a flagging title a nice boost that sometimes will carry over to continued purchases. That’s the marketing portion. I never give a crap about the marketing portion, could not be less interested.

But I LIKE writing for crossovers. I just do, I always have.

Sometimes, a well-meaning editor will ask about if I want to be part of a crossover, or it will be suggested that we should, and they are a bit trepidatious, like I’m going to be angry or resistant about it. They think I will be upset, I guess, and don’t want to mess with the integrity of the book, which is all good and understandable.

But I like writing to touch other books. When I first started reading comics, like a lot of people, I loved the characters, but what I really loved was the UNIVERSE. I loved that in some complex way, Sgt. Rock and Superman had lived in the same universe. I loved that tapestry. I still do.

When a crossover is done correctly, we are remaking that tapestry. We are connecting, we can make something bigger than the sum of the individual books. That makes me happy…I want Batgirl to live in the same space as Supergirl and Swamp Thing, and I am constantly trying to reinforce that message, with graffiti, with background detail, and especially, in crossovers.

Having a character from Batman or Nightwing appear in Batgirl, I love that, and crossovers make that a prime opportunity. Yes, some are cheap cash grabs, sometimes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take that opportunity and make a great story out of it. Secret Six came out of a crossover, just as an example. You can use these opportunities to move lots of players on the board together…I adore that. It’s one of my favorite things.

The crossovers since the New52 have both been spearheaded by Scott Snyder, one of my favorite writers. And the way he does it is, he makes a huge framework for Batman, and offers us a couple suggestions and entry points, but with the full knowledge we can go another way if we choose. He is one of the most generous and helpful guys ever, all he cares about is good stories.

So we all get input, especially on our own characters. I don’t recall ever having taken part in a crossover where we were just ordered what to do, I wouldn’t enjoy that at all, I’m sure. But it’s never come up, at least not for me.

Some writers hate doing the crossovers. I love them. The reason I love the DCU and MU so much is all the connections, all the intertwining. So I love making those ends touch in the middle. There’s a real art to it.

I have read some tie-in stuff where the writer clearly didn’t enjoy that aspect and it shows. But if you love it, you can really go wild and elevate the story.

It really is a fun mix of my fan-like enthusiasm and hopefully the outer reaches of my writing ability as a professional. I like that mix.

when it comes to writing Barbara, are there any past creators you draw inspiration from? How about other characters like the Secret Six, Deadpool, or Agent X (a personal favorite!)?

All of them and none of them, in a way.

That sounds weird…hmm.

None of them, because I want her to feel fresh and many of her stories are pretty dated (I’m talking about her Batgirl stories, not her Oracle ones). They are simply from a different era and time has passed some of those tropes by. She was relatively independent and progressive for the most part, but there’s still some oddball stuff.

However, I take a LOT from previous versions in terms of what I love about her…that she’s smart, determined, she stands on her own, she’s not a sidekick, all that stuff, I think that’s all classic Barbara. She’s not as world-crushing as she gets as Oracle, but that’s in there somewhere, the roots of it.

My favorite Barbara story by far is Batgirl: Year One, but I don’t know if it’s a huge influence at this point, I’ve not read it in a good while.

Everything and nothing, in a way.

Any chance we'll be seeing LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS hitting the heavy duty, & not to mention STURDY, comic book shelves, soon? I keep hearing that you only have the 1st editions set out to your supporters via the Kickstarter. Just wondering. The series looks A

I THINK the plan is to eventually offer an edition without the bonus materials. We are still working that out…we want people to be able to read it, but we also feel that the KS backers deserve something special.

It’s a fine line to walk and we’re new to it. We’re working on it!

Any chance we'll be seeing LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS hitting the heavy duty, & not to mention STURDY, comic book shelves, soon? I keep hearing that you only have the 1st editions set out to your supporters via the Kickstarter. Just wondering. The series looks A

I THINK the plan is to eventually offer an edition without the bonus materials. We are still working that out…we want people to be able to read it, but we also feel that the KS backers deserve something special.

It’s a fine line to walk and we’re new to it. We’re working on it!

gingerhaze:sarah531:Lego Theoden did not think this one...

gingerhaze:

sarah531:

Lego Theoden did not think this one through

I may or may not have spent an entire afternoon watching all of the cutscenes from LEGO Lord of the Rings

let me tell you, the people making these things have WAY TOO MUCH FUN

I was twittering about how fun this game was, as I was playing it, and suddenly, one of my followers tweeted to me that she had worked on the cutscenes, including the one I had just watched (the Eagles save the hobbits).

I tell you, I squeed a bit. I meet a lot of movie stars and stuff. But this woman worked on the LEGO HOBBIT GAME.

A much bigger deal, I say. :)