Gail Simone's Blog, page 924
September 15, 2012
ealperin:
steezymotherfuck:
See that guy?That’s me.My name’s...
:
See that guy?
That’s me.
My name’s Eli and I’m just your typical Homecoming King of 2012..
but I’m a trans* guy.
I ran for Homecoming King not for the popularity or the attention but to just see if I could do it. It’s my last year of highschool, and I’m openly out.
I was against 2 football playing jocks that everrrrrryone knew, and I was known as “the girl that’s apparently a dude now”.
On Friday, September 14, 2012, was Homecoming Night, and the guests were given Homecoming ballets once walking into the doors. I instantly knew that I was going to lose. While the night was going on, I suddenly had many friends and strangers tell me they voted for me.. as the end of the night arrived, and the King nominations were told to come front and center to be announced, I felt sick..
All of a sudden, I heard my name, and I was shocked. Hearing the screams and applause from the crowd, I was given my sash and my crown. I got congratulated by soooo many people.
The best part was having 4 random teachers come up to me and say that the admired my courage to even run for Homecoming Court and that this showed that a lot of people are open minded in my school now.
This helped my self esteem by so much. I feel like me being trans* is not going to stop me from making a stand and making a difference.
I DO feel like a king.
Hope for the future RESTORED.
September 14, 2012
Got Requests To Make This Rebloggable
And I would like to be able to respond to some of the points made, so I am reposting this, please feel free to repost your response if you like.
“
I can’t help but be curious: surely, you must have seen the displeased comments on Tumblr about the direction that DC is taking. Have you reported any of this back to the DC headquarters?
Anonymous”Every time I cover this, I feel bad, like I’m kicking a puppy but…
…well, it’s the truth. Message boards and Tumblr just don’t reflect the actual comics buying readership.
Believe me, I wish they did. But they don’t. The evidence is all over the place, we see it time and again and again and again.
Every message board and social media has its own culture. Tumblr’s tends towards a negative viewpoint of most current stuff, with an idealization of recent things past, sort of a short term nostalgia. Other message boards might be more oriented towards other eras in comics. Some are more pro-Marvel, some more pro-indie, or anti-mainstream.
I don’t know why that is, don’t have a clue.
But what we see endlessly is that the stuff people complain about the most on Tumblr and message boards is the stuff that sells the best. And the stuff Tumblr and message boards LOVE, like, say, Secret Six, Stephanie Brown, and X-23, that stuff all sells terrible and gets canceled.
I am not happy about any of this, it makes me downright sad. But it’s true. The stuff the message boards and Tumblr say they support almost uniformly sells very poorly.
So what does this mean?
Some people think it means that message boarders and Tumblrs disproportionately get their comics without paying for them. I don’t believe that at ALL.
I think what it means is, the people who frequent message boards and Tumblrs about comics are an ‘elite’ class of readers, and I mean that in the best possible way. They have elevated taste, they are very passionate, they don’t like some top ten stuff for the same reason they might not like Taco Bell. They have different taste than the mainstream.
So, I think in a way, the publishers know that even if a message board says they hate a book, it is not a direct reflection, necessarily, of the larger audience. And they have to look at the larger audience.
I’m not saying I agree with any of this, but if you follow comics mostly on Tumblr or message boards, you do get a very isolated view of what the comics readership in GENERAL actually wants.
I don’t say this to be dismissive. In general, I, too prefer the stuff that is a little more quirky and individualistic. But Tumblr represents a small part of the readership overall, and ‘support’ and ‘displeased comments’ there, are probably taken with a grain of salt by this time.
I hate to be so blunt. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, just that it’s a true thing.
An Interview with Christy Marx on the Return of Amethyst and More
Next week DC will debut the 0 issue of Sword and Sorcery which marks the return of the much beloved character Amethyst of Gemworld. Created by Dan Mishkin in the 80s, Amy Winston was a teenage girl who found out she was secretly a princess of Kingdom called Gemworld. Not only did the book featured a female lead, it was targeted at female readers. (You can read then DC editor Karen Berger on that here.) The original series and its follow-ups have a strong following as evidenced by DC issuing a Showcase collection of the comic series
next month and a cartoon version for DC Nation about to debut on DC Nation.
In May DC announced that Amethyst would return to comics and be written by Christy Marx. Marx is best known for her scripting of mid 80s animated programs such as G.I. Joe and Jem. But she has also written for comics including the Marvel/Epic series from the mid 80s Sisterhood of Steel which focuses on all-female island of warriors. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend picking it up. It deftly blends strong world building, an examination of the complexity of female relationships and palace intrigue and adventure.
I was very excited to see DC name Marx as creator and I’m looking forward to reading her Amethyst. Marx chatted with me earlier this week about Sword and Sorcery, her take on the character and how comics have changed through the years.
So many things to love here. Christy Marx is a hero of mine, she was WAY ahead of her time as a comics writer. Amethyst is a character I love, and it’s drawn by the brilliant Aaron Lopresti. I am JAZZED.
I will also say, I talked to Dan DiDio about this at a lunch a while back. Dan is a huge Christy fan as well, and what I love is, he didn’t pick her because she’s female, he picked her because she writes the best action scenes ever.
Which, I’m telling you, as a female writer, we LOVE to hear that stuff!
I can't help but be curious: surely, you must have seen the displeased comments on Tumblr about the direction that DC is taking. Have you reported any of this back to the DC headquarters?
Every time I cover this, I feel bad, like I’m kicking a puppy but…
…well, it’s the truth. Message boards and Tumblr just don’t reflect the actual comics buying readership.
Believe me, I wish they did. But they don’t. The evidence is all over the place, we see it time and again and again and again.
Every message board and social media has its own culture. Tumblr’s tends towards a negative viewpoint of most current stuff, with an idealization of recent things past, sort of a short term nostalgia. Other message boards might be more oriented towards other eras in comics. Some are more pro-Marvel, some more pro-indie, or anti-mainstream.
I don’t know why that is, don’t have a clue.
But what we see endlessly is that the stuff people complain about the most on Tumblr and message boards is the stuff that sells the best. And the stuff Tumblr and message boards LOVE, like, say, Secret Six, Stephanie Brown, and X-23, that stuff all sells terrible and gets canceled.
I am not happy about any of this, it makes me downright sad. But it’s true. The stuff the message boards and Tumblr say they support almost uniformly sells very poorly.
So what does this mean?
Some people think it means that message boarders and Tumblrs disproportionately get their comics without paying for them. I don’t believe that at ALL.
I think what it means is, the people who frequent message boards and Tumblrs about comics are an ‘elite’ class of readers, and I mean that in the best possible way. They have elevated taste, they are very passionate, they don’t like some top ten stuff for the same reason they might not like Taco Bell. They have different taste than the mainstream.
So, I think in a way, the publishers know that even if a message board says they hate a book, it is not a direct reflection, necessarily, of the larger audience. And they have to look at the larger audience.
I’m not saying I agree with any of this, but if you follow comics mostly on Tumblr or message boards, you do get a very isolated view of what the comics readership in GENERAL actually wants.
I don’t say this to be dismissive. In general, I, too prefer the stuff that is a little more quirky and individualistic. But Tumblr represents a small part of the readership overall, and ‘support’ and ‘displeased comments’ there, are probably taken with a grain of salt by this time.
I hate to be so blunt. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, just that it’s a true thing.
I loved Batgirl 0 very much, but I was left wanting more. I was expecting a full explanation on how Barbara was able to walk again, but I was happy with what I read. Was there anything you wanted to squeeze into the zero issue, but couldn't get it in?
Well, not really…incorrect solicit copy aside, this was always meant to be more of an origin story, and to me, that meant we HAD to end on the note it ends on (which I don’t want to spoil!). We ARE doing the story you are talking about, more info on Barbara’s recovery. It happens right after the DEATH OF THE FAMILY arc. It’s two issues, and it answers LOTS of questions!
That Batgirl painting was done by Phil Noto, maybe 2005-ish?
Aw, well, that explains it!
Ack!
Last twenty minutes to pledge for LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS. This is the only way to get a physical copy at this point!
Suspense-y!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2069222802/leaving-megalopolis/posts
sonybaloney:
buckybird:
Beware our power, Poozer.
Reblog all...
Beware our power, Poozer.
Reblog all the Green Lantern cosplays. Seriously you guys are amazing.
Um.
WOW?
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