Gail Simone's Blog, page 864

comicbookwomen:Wait-what?Is Ollie and Selina an item?I...

comicbookwomen:

Wait-what?

Is Ollie and Selina an item?

I personally think it’s just cape gossip.

At least, I think so.

Heavy Rain is going to be the death of me.

huntressjill:

This fucking game.

So STRESSFUL.

One of the few games I played because I had to know what HAPPENED.

Why do you think Oracle became such a strong symbol of handicapped representation in comics but Professor X didn't? No one really blinked an eye the times he regained the ability to walk.

I think because Oracle wasn’t superpowered, and has come to symbolize something more real. No offense to Charlie, but he’s been able to walk many times, and his POWER is essentially whatever the writer needs at the time. I think Oracle was a less fantasy-based character in a less fantasy based setting.

And of course some of the other things people objected to also contributed…many readers weren’t even alive when Barbara was Batgirl. Oracle is the only Babs they know. Of COURSE they are shocked to see her in the Batgirl suit again.

It’s interesting that  you mention it, because I remember a Birds of Prey story that happened before I took over the book where Oracle regained her legs for a couple issues. It was by one of my favorite writers, but bam, she regained her legs and suddenly, like two seconds later, she’s kickfighting.

That’s exactly the kind of thing I did not want to do. But I don’t remember people being angry at the time, perhaps BECAUSE it was so clearly a temporary effect.

Still…interesting. I hadn’t really put those two things together before.

Anyway, I think the fantasy elements in the X-men made Charles a little less symbolic in that regard. I could be wrong, anyone else have a theory?

Which part of James Bond do you hate? The secret agent part or the misogyny douche part?

Oh, there’s a lot. Some of it, they have downplayed a bit recently.

Women as trophies, women as murder bait, the glamorization of torture, the mythologizing of the lawless spy, the glorification of killing political opponents, the rampant misogyny, the repetitive storytelling, the casual racism, there’s a lot to dislike.

But I still like James Bond. I think Daniel Craig is undoing some damage every film, actually.

If DC offered you The Creeper to write as a weekly, would you take it?

Well, I probably wouldn’t write anything as a weekly, to be honest. It takes me more than a week to conceive and write a script. But I do like the Creeper!

Hello Gail! Recently learning about this in school, and I was wondering how much you looked to the handicapped civil rights movement for drive and characterization for Oracle - since it was all happening when she got paralyzed, and the Americans with Disa

I would love to be able to say that it was a huge inspiration, but I have to say I don’t recall using it in that manner in particular.

Truthfully, I tried my very best to imbue Oracle with the experiences and information that disabled readers shared with me while I was writing her. I kept in close contact with several disability rights groups, and I tried to keep up on the recent literature.

But reading about such things is not the same as practical experience, and we could have done SO much more. In particular, it took ages for us to get her in a chair that wasn’t a relic, and some of that was my fault. I should have made it a priority.

And now she’s gone, which sucks.

Truthfully, if there are more Oracle stories someday, I would love to see a writer with disabilities take on the character. I think it could be incredibly meaningful to a great many people.

readers do not owe creators anything, they do, however owe it to themselves to not hide or shy away from art that doesnt line up 100% nicely with their ideals. you are not less of a feminist if you read cerberus. even the crazy misogynist parts.

I appreciate that, I certainly think reading what you want is part of BEING a feminist.

But I will also say that I did intentionally go back and read the latter half of Cerebus, just to make sure I was informed when I discussed Dave’s work.

It’s got some bright spots and a lot of brilliance, but man, is it dreary and dull and the ending is just nearly incomprehensible. There’s plenty in it for a liberal like me to absolutely hate, but even forgetting that, it’s just not a reading experience I would recommend.

I know that a lot of superhero costume design is pure fantasy, and I can appreciate that, but sometimes, as the owner of an 32F-sized chest, I really wish that superheros with breasts got to wear sports bras. To me, the extreme definition of each breast in

This is an interesting question, because as video games and manga have an increasing influence on comics, the costumes are actually getting MORE complicated and less functional to a real life person.

I have to say, I am fine with comics having a fantasy element, particularly in the costumes. I am not exactly small-chested myself, and some outfits go way too far, but I don’t know that I can expect some woman wearing armor to be thinking of sensible support, you know?

At some point, what we do contains a fantasy element. I think the key is diversity. If we have SOME characters wearing billion dollar armor, it’s fine with me, as long as there are also characters like Misfit who picked her outfit out at the local Goodwill.

EDITED because a poster below seemed to think I was blaming Manga for the large chest sizes of superheroines. That’s not what I was talking about, I was saying the manga influence has made superhero costumes a lot more complex-looking.

I just saw that Dave Sims post, when I was on twitter, last night trolling you. No one deserves being put down, in accordance to viewpoints. Especially, any of my followers & friends, here. We all have folks we can love & love to hate. Can't we all just ge

I appreciate the kind words, but I don’t think anyone was trolling me.

The OP had a thought I disagree with somewhat and we are having a discussion about it. Seems pretty civil to me, to be honest.

Hope You Had a Lovely Holiday

If you celebrate the holiday, of course.

I spent it thinking of new projects quite unlike what I have done previously.

Scary and exciting, but I never signed up to this career to be surrounded by safety. :)