Gail Simone's Blog, page 957

thesexuneducated:perfectcrash:Pink Dot Sg 2012The closest...

thesexuneducated:

perfectcrash:

Pink Dot Sg 2012

The closest thing that Singapore has to a pride parade. It’s simply a gathering of the LGBT community and their family/friends as a show of solidarity. It started in 2009 with only 2,500 participants and has since grown exponentially to reach a record 15,000 participants in 2012. I have never attended any of the past 4 Pink Dot events, mostly because I’m still deep in the closet, but also because, coincidentally, I’m usually overseas when these are held. Because it is Singapore, this is a much more subdued affair, with love as its main theme. No half-naked men running around or any of those risqué stuff you usually see at the pride parades. I hope to attend, possibly next year. But for now, I’m just glad there is a growing acceptance of the LGBT community, and this helps a lot in allowing us to love openly.

From the Pink Dot Sg website:

Pink Dot Sg is a non-profit movement started by a group of individuals who care deeply about the place that LGBT Singaporeans call home. It is a group for everyone, straight and gay, who support the belief that everyone deserves the freedom to love. With openness and acceptance, we hope to bring LGBT Singaporeans closer to their family and friends. Pink Dot stands for an open, inclusive society within our Red Dot, where sexual orientation represents a feature, not a barrier.

beautiful

Nothing to add but hooray!

Women in Comics: It Ain't Over (Response to Gail Simone and others)

Women in Comics: It Ain't Over (Response to Gail Simone and others):

dumoktheartist:

gailsimone:

dumoktheartist:

gailsimone:

rectumofglory:

In the last couple of weeks there has been a slew of articles about the subject of “women in comics” that range from calling out “hot” women that supposedly pretend to be into “geek culture”, to telling us that the phrase “women in comics” is passée because the battle has been won, and to other articles taking the depressing line that superhero comics will never change.

Really excellent article about women in comics.

I’ll be honest, some days, I can barely face this topic, I have talked about it so much. But this article again states why giving up is not an option.

Giving up may not be an option but ultimately it may be time to change strategies. What the big companies fear most is not so much protest (Protest brings attention to their brand and oddly enough will increase sales) but rather COMPETITION. 

It’s one thing to get upset about how there is sexism in the comic industry, It’s one thing to talk about it and try to change the industry from within. but IMNSHO, effort is wasted in trying to change something that already has a firmly entrenched business model. The Way you want to change how women are treated in comics is for women and women friendly men to produce their own material and SELL it. 

If you can sell the material on your own and generate a significant fan-base, then it becomes proof to the industry professionals that there are alternate methods of story telling that can turn a profit. It also empowers young writers and artists to not HAVE to cater to the lowest common denominator to sell books (Unless they CHOOSE to). 

The point is to create opportunities that will show that a book can be well written and not fall into the same old comic book tropes. It’s a lot of work and requires a serious commitment, but in the end if you can prove that you can be successful it will bring about a lot more change than trying to do things from within or writing a bunch of blog posts about it. (No Offense Gail).

Perhaps it is time to give more support to independent creators that tell the stories WE want to read as opposed to banging our heads changing the “big companies”.

Do you really think that all I have done about this is “write a bunch of blog posts about it?”

Because I promise, that’s not the case.

That’s not what I mean, Sorry, if I came across wrong…

but sometimes when the topic comes up from other bloggers, I don’t often read solutions to the problem. All I read is, well, just complaints. That’s not saying complaining is a bad thing, but in the time it takes for someone to write a well written post about why comics are horrible to women, that same energy could be spent writing a really awesome book that shows people how it could be done properly.  

 What I have seen as an independent creator is that a lot of the popular webcomicers create the stories that draw their audience to them and there are some seriously successful and talented folks that prove that you dont have to treat women like crap in order to have a rabid fan following.

I know I have promoted these titles before,

Mindmistress: http://mindmistress.comicgenesis.com

Fusion: http://fusion.thecomicseries.com/

Girl Genius: http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/

Gunnerkrigg Court: http://www.gunnerkrigg.com

These are but a few examples of successful books that prove that you can tell great stories and not have to be jerks about it.

Ah, okay, sorry, mentioning me specifically maybe made me misunderstand, no biggie either way.

But while I do think constructive activism is great, I don’t want to dismiss all blogging on the topic as ‘writing some blogs,’ or whatever. Many people can’t make comics, or don’t WANT to make comics, and their opinions are still valid and in many cases, their voices do make a difference. Kyrax2, just as an example, isn’t making comics that I am aware of, but she got the whole industry to listen to her talk about women and comics, you know?

Women in Comics: It Ain't Over (Response to Gail Simone and others)

Women in Comics: It Ain't Over (Response to Gail Simone and others):

dumoktheartist:

gailsimone:

rectumofglory:

In the last couple of weeks there has been a slew of articles about the subject of “women in comics” that range from calling out “hot” women that supposedly pretend to be into “geek culture”, to telling us that the phrase “women in comics” is passée because the battle has been won, and to other articles taking the depressing line that superhero comics will never change.

Really excellent article about women in comics.

I’ll be honest, some days, I can barely face this topic, I have talked about it so much. But this article again states why giving up is not an option.

Giving up may not be an option but ultimately it may be time to change strategies. What the big companies fear most is not so much protest (Protest brings attention to their brand and oddly enough will increase sales) but rather COMPETITION. 

It’s one thing to get upset about how there is sexism in the comic industry, It’s one thing to talk about it and try to change the industry from within. but IMNSHO, effort is wasted in trying to change something that already has a firmly entrenched business model. The Way you want to change how women are treated in comics is for women and women friendly men to produce their own material and SELL it. 

If you can sell the material on your own and generate a significant fan-base, then it becomes proof to the industry professionals that there are alternate methods of story telling that can turn a profit. It also empowers young writers and artists to not HAVE to cater to the lowest common denominator to sell books (Unless they CHOOSE to). 

The point is to create opportunities that will show that a book can be well written and not fall into the same old comic book tropes. It’s a lot of work and requires a serious commitment, but in the end if you can prove that you can be successful it will bring about a lot more change than trying to do things from within or writing a bunch of blog posts about it. (No Offense Gail).

Perhaps it is time to give more support to independent creators that tell the stories WE want to read as opposed to banging our heads changing the “big companies”.

Do you really think that all I have done about this is “write a bunch of blog posts about it?”

Because I promise, that’s not the case.

erotiterrorist:gailsimone:randazzinator:gailsimone:I...

erotiterrorist:

gailsimone:

randazzinator:

gailsimone:

I don’t even get this.

…I think…

Okay, hold on, let me open my Mary Poppins carpet bag of ideas -

I think this is a playful jab at that old porn standard that sexy women just hang out together in their sexy lingerie, teetering precariously on the edge of an impending pillow fight or makeout sesh or whatever. Like when you see old pinups a la Vargas and you think, “Gosh, it sure is a stroke of luck for me the viewer that this gorgeous creature happened not to be wearing any panties as she was climbing that ladder to pick that apple.” Likewise when you see two hot chicks just kinda being hot around each other in erotic art you might wonder “What are those bitches talking about so casually and believably in their see-through nighties?”

Or maybe it’s just that New Yorker cartoons are made by an infinite number of chimpanzees collaging their way through an infinite number of quotation books and art magazines.

Hmm.

That might be…it’s hard to say. For a lot of bullshit reasons, Playboy often gets a pass for shitty attitudes towards women over the decades. Yes, they published some magnificent fiction and interviews, and yes, they had some of the world’s best cartoonists, but the whole ‘Playboy lifestyle’ sham was not at all immune to some really crappy ideas about women.

I could totally be wrong, but to me it looks like the punchline is, “Ha, look at those silly WOMEN talking about having CAREERS. HILARIOUS!”

I think the joke is that these women are hot and are being foolish talking about their careers, or in particular placing their career before marriage. I may be wrong, but I suspect there’s a bit of a backhand to the women’s liberation movement…can’t tell what the exact vintage of the cartoon is.

But man, it’s clunky even if you like the premise. It doesn’t scan, the rhythm is flat, the cat adds a distracting element.  It just doesn’t work.

It’s a nice drawing of its type, I just find the punchline baffling!

The artists is Doug Sneyd and one of his reoccurring themes is scenes that take place inside a brothel.  You can tell the ones that take place in a brothel because the women are wearing transparent clothes.  Granted, that doesn’t help the newbie viewer to his work but to fans of his, it is his trademark shorthand.

Since this takes place inside a Sneyd Brothel, the joke is that the women won’t get married because it would interfere with their profession as prostitutes.

Ah, okay, thank you for the context! It’s such a lovely drawing in purely visual terms (dirigible boobs aside, perhaps). But the idea that, ‘Ha! Those dumb prostitutes think they have a career!’ is a punchline is somehow worse. Urgh.

Sikh Comics Readers?

Please note that this is ONLY if you feel up to it in light of the recent tragedy, and ONLY if you are 100% comfortable, but I am curious to know if I have any Sikh readers here on Tumblr.

It’s not for vanity, I just would like to know, just to know if Western comics have much visibility in this community. There are about 500,000 people in the US (apologies, by the way, got this number way wrong and was corrected so have made an edit here), according to sources, yesterday, but I am ignorant of how many readers in comics identify as Sikh. Additionally, are there any Sikh characters of significance at the major companies?

Thank you. PLEASE only respond if you feel completely comfortable. And of course my thoughts are with the victims of the Wisconsin terrorist, and their families, in this horrible time.

Ms Simone, Ms Simone! This may be a random question, but what are your feelings about this whole Mars thing?

I think space missions, particularly ones that do new things, are important to the national and global psyche. I really do. Forget that space exploration has been a massive boon to our knowledge and science and industry…I think it’s vital for us as humans to stretch further and reach higher. I think we wither without that.

It takes a cold heart and a weak imagination indeed not to be thrilled and moved by this mission. I think it puts our petty squabbles in pinpoint perspective. It makes us think bigger and dream better.

That probably sounds a little touchy-feely.

But if doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

I don’t even get this.

I don’t even get this.

You Know That Thing...

…where someone sets off alarm bells, and you think, wow, this is a person to avoid?

And then you later find out you were dead right?

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I was thinking of Luthor.  :)

kenshiro28:gailsimone:shortbrunetteandsnarky:gailsimone:I...

kenshiro28:

gailsimone:

shortbrunetteandsnarky:

gailsimone:

I had nightmares for a week after reading this series.

What is this series? It looks awesome.

It is from a series called GYO, by Junji Ito, one of the all-time great masters of horror comics art. It’s a manga series, it’s been collected into English editions, only a couple books so it’s not hard to get the whole story.

The thing is outlandish and surreal. I don’t want to spoil it, but it is gripping as hell and nightmarish in the BEST possible way.

GAIL SIMONE READ GYO

Dude, I am a HARDCORE Junji Ito fan. I think he reinvented horror comics. I love everything he’s ever done…last time I was in Japan, the only manga I couldn’t bear to not buy were Japanese editions of his work.

Like everyone, I love Uzumaki, I think it’s brilliant.

But I think his most remarkable achievement is Tomie. I’ve said this a lot, but I think he invented the first genuine new horror archetype since Michael Myers (the unkillable serial killer), in Tomie. I think he created the first genuinely effective and terrifying succubus, an archetype that has never achieved any kind of massive significance in fantasy fiction. You see Dracula, and you know that is the VAMPIRE archetype. The Werewolf is the CHANGELING, etc.

But there’s not a succubus that has that kind of iconic power. Until Tomie.

If the movie adaptations of her stories were better, she would be a worldwide sensation, and THE iconic succubus archetype that could spawn a hundred imitators.

Ms Simone, sorry to bother you and sorry if I've already asked this (memory of a sieve), but are you attending any UK comic cons this year or next?

I HOPE to have some news about this very shortly.

Would LOVE to go back! I’ve been a few times in the past couple years, and the people have been so beyond wonderful that I missed them the moment I left.