Gail Simone's Blog, page 963
July 30, 2012
fyeahbatgirl:
Batgirl by Katherine Clarke,...
Batgirl by Katherine Clarke, www.asplinteredsight.tumblr.com
Lovely design and line work here, interesting perspective. Very unusual, but very accomplished and arresting. GREAT!
branch56:
Scandal Savage from Secret Six.
Hmm. I was going to...
Scandal Savage from Secret Six.
Hmm. I was going to post this yesterday on Gail Simone’s birthday, but after much inner monologue-ing I thought better of it, since its a bit…..on the violent side. So you get it TODAY, the day after.
And I do know how I badly I did her blades, so we’ll just say it was artistic license, yeah.
Wow. Good lord, that is eye-popping! Fantastic!
APE IN A CAPE: Blade
It’s weird how the Blade movie has kind of been removed from Marvel cinema history.
Maybe I’m mistaken here, but Marvel’s recent, and well-deserved success is no secret. But whenever people talk about what a juggernaut Marvel movies have become, we keep hearing that it was Iron Man that ‘started…
Yes, this. Blade showed movie studios that superhero movies could turn a profit, so it makes it that much more frustrating that Marvel Studios won’t make a Black Panther movie because it’s ‘too hard.’
Heck, DC Comics owes Blade a lot too. It would have been a lot harder for them to get another Batman movie done had Blade not been around.
I can understand uninformed journalists making this mistake…Iron Man is more recent and the success of the Avengers gives people short memories.
But I see it even from comics journalists who should know better. Why reserve the first successful Marvel franchise from the narrative? It just seems weird. The X-men movies in particular owe a LOT to Blade.
I don’t think it’s Marvel itself, just the journalism narrative. Readers seem to remember BLADE in its proper place in cinema history more than journalists do.
Blade
It’s weird how the Blade movie has kind of been removed from Marvel cinema history.
Maybe I’m mistaken here, but Marvel’s recent, and well-deserved success is no secret. But whenever people talk about what a juggernaut Marvel movies have become, we keep hearing that it was Iron Man that ‘started it all.’ I must have read that twenty times in mainstream and fan stories about the mega-hit, the Avengers, and Marvel’s recent successes.
Which seems only partially true. Iron Man was a big hit, and definitely the first of the Avengers predecessor franchises, absolutely.
But that ignores the hugely successful Spider-man trilogy, which came first.
And the extremely successful X-men films that came before, as well.
Now, my understanding is that neither of those franchises are owned by Marvel itself, but by other studios. IF the pr for Marvel studios puts more emphasis on their own films, I can understand that.
But I don’t get why BLADE has been forgotten.
Doing the math, the three BLADE movies brought in over half a billion dollars in worldwide box office, NOT INCLUDING dvd, pay per view, and licensing.
It had a tremendously charismatic lead, portrayed to perfection by the screen-owning Wesley Snipes, arguably his signature character on film. It helped reinvent the way vampire movies would appear (until Twilight ruined them again), and at least a couple very successful film franchises seem to be entirely ripped off from the style of those films. It was, in short (correct me if I am wrong), the first hugely successful Marvel movie, the first genuinely kickass comic book action film from Marvel, it established Marvel as a licensing gold mine during a time when the company itself was doing very poorly, AND it featured an African American lead in an action movie, still a relative rarity to this day.
I don’t quite get why when people talk Marvel films, Blade is always left out. If you watch the first X-men film, the Blade influence is HUGE. The X-men wear Blade-like costumes, the action attempts to match Blade’s frenetic style. Would X-men have even been made without it?
It makes me curious…why is this successful series of films, that probably ACTUALLY ‘started it all’ seemingly deliberately left out of Marvel film history?
Is it because of contentious animosity with the characters’ creator? Is it because of star Wesley Snipes’ later legal trouble? Is race a factor? I don’t quite get it.
I personally really enjoyed the Blade films, and I love the character. I wanted to use him in Agent X, I think he is one of the premier badasses in comics, created when that much cool almost wasn’t even ALLOWED in one character.
My understanding is that the rights to Blade have reverted back to Marvel for films…it would make me VERY happy to see the character return to the screen, and to see the surviving creator, Marv Wolfman, receive proper credit and compensation. Badass vampire killer, still a great idea, even if a dozen movies since have tried to steal some of its thunder.
Anyway, it seems odd that Blade never comes up in the list of Marvel cinema franchises.
Aurora Comics Benefit Auction
Aurora’s only comic shop, ALL C’S COLLECTIBLES, is doing a benefit auction to raise money for the victims of the recent tragedy. Many pros and publishers are contributing.
Please check out this worthy cause: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aurora-Rise-Benefit-Event/479465245414113
lady-toyano:
I wanna read a book filled with nothing but life...
I wanna read a book filled with nothing but life lessons from Bane with annotations from ragdoll.
Best book eva’.
Bane says stuff and Ragdoll never QUITE gets it…
July 29, 2012
elzee3:
Because it’s Gail’s birthday and I wanted to draw her a...
Because it’s Gail’s birthday and I wanted to draw her a flaming cake.
Ha ha ha, cakes and Scandal just never seem to work out!
Thank you! I love it!
Confessions of a Comic Shopaholic: Happy Birthday Gail Simone!
confessionsofacomicshopaholic:
Today, July 29th, is comic book writer extraordinaire Gail Simone’s birthday! I know I’ve done a post about her already but I’d like to do another one to pay tribute to my favorite comic book writer.
Everyone knows Gail is best known for Birds of Prey where she really nailed each and every…
Wow.
Again, I don’t know how to respond to all the kind words and thoughts, except to say thank you SO VERY MUCH.
It is my honor and joy to write stories for you guys and I am the most fortunate woman in the world that there are people out there like you that like to read them.
THANK YOU!
Happy Birthday Gail Simone!
Happy Birthday to one of my favorite writers, Gail Simone. She is also one of the most generous and dedicated people in comics. Congrats to her on making the New York Times bestseller list, what a nice gift!
Here is a cake to celebrate! *
(via)
And this!
*not baked by either me or Barbara Gordon, Sr.
^THIS!!!^ Happy Birthday to a great writer who’s not only down-to-earth, but, is one of the best listeners I’ve got to know, online, over the years. Happy birthday, Gail!!! :)
Aw!
Seriously, I don’t want to sound maudlin, but…I can’t really express how much I appreciate how kind people have been to me since I started in this industry. Lots of wonderful colleagues and friends, but there is something incredibly moving about people who don’t even know you, whom you have never even met in most cases, taking the time to say kind things like this.
It’s very humbling. It means the world.
All I can say is thank you, everyone. I will never deserve all you guys, probably, but the number of times you have picked me up when I was down is just uncountable.
Thank you SO MUCH!
July 28, 2012
I Don't Know What To Say
I am a writer, even at the worst of times I am rarely at a loss for words. In this case, I am afraid words fail me entirely.
I just received a note that verified a fear that had been lingering in the back of my mind since the tragic events in Aurora, Colorado.
Not that long ago, I went to the first ever Denver Comic Con, the first large scale comics convention in the city’s history, apparently. It was a massive success, completely sold out, and I fell in love with the town and the people of Denver. They could not have been kinder, more welcoming, or more genuine. They treated me like a friend, and everyone from the organizers, to the attendees, to total strangers, showered the legendary hospitality of their city down upon myself and my husband. Immediately after leaving, we couldn’t wait to start planning for a return visit at a future date.
It was also a convention with a huge number of cosplayers, and two of my absolute favorites were two characters well known to me, Knockout and Scandal Savage, played by two delightful, funny, fierce young girls, one of the highlights of a show full of highlights.My husband and I insisted on photos with them and they were kind enough to agree.
I was also interviewed for a video interview by a very sweet and considerate young man named A.J. Focht. He was as gracious as can be even though I had to reschedule the interview several times as my table was swamped.
Since then, I had had a terrible fear that someone I met at DCC would have been in that theater. ANY loss of life or threat of danger is a tragedy, but knowing it was someone that I met and really liked was just too scary to contemplate, somehow.
I just received a note from A.J. that confirmed my fears. A.J. and a group of people from the convention were in that theater, including Caitlin, the lovely woman playing Scandal Savage.
They both survived, thank god. But one of their group, Alex Teves, did not survive. He died a hero, trying to protect his girlfriend. Another of their group was hospitalized.
I am broken-hearted again. As relieved as I am to hear that these two people I barely know, but who left an indelible impression in that brief time, are alive, my heart goes out to them for what they lived through, and for the friend they have lost, and for the other friend who has suffered.
Because Caitlin was one of the first to tweet a message after, that she was okay, to let her family know she had survived, she apparently became hounded extensively by the press, and was not allowed to mourn in peace.
A.J. has written about this at the Suicide Girls website…please read: http://suicidegirlsblog.com/blog/back-row-perspective-part-1-an-aurora-theater-survivors-message-to-the-media/
My heart and my thoughts go out to the victims of that awful night, to the survivors, who are also victimized, and to their families. We all feel so empty and helpless, but we can insist that the media treat these people with respect and kindness. They do not need to be traumatized again.
Finally, I’m going to say something that has been in my mind since the first reports started coming in. I don’t want this to appear frivolous, I hope I say this correctly.
We have been seeing stories of impossible heroism that occurred that night in that theater. Jarrell Brooks, just nineteen years old, had an exit out of the theater, and went back in to help a young mother and her two daughters get out, getting wounded in the process.
Three men gave their lives using their own bodies to shield their girlfriends; Jon Blunk, Matt McQuinn, and the member of my friends’ party, Alex Teves. All three threw their girlfriends to the ground and put their bodies in the path of the bullets. Not one of these men was yet out of his twenties.
Stephanie Davies, when her friend was shot in the neck, dropped to the floor and held pressure on the wound while the gunman was still firing, instead of making for the exit, quite likely saving her friends’ life.
Mike White, Sr., after his son, and his son’s girlfriend were shot, removed his shirt to apply pressure to her wound to save her life, and then as the gunman approached, put his body on top of hers to take the bullets if necessary.
There’s more, but this is what I keep thinking about.
I write stories about morals all day…stories about fictional heroes and fictional villains. And I want to believe they have influenced my life, that they have taught me to stand up when called upon, to try to do the right thing even when it is a sacrifice.
Few are called upon like the heroes of Aurora that night. They remind me what heroism really means. They give me hope. In the middle of the despair and shock, these people saw what needed doing and did it, regardless of the cost to themselves.
A lot has been made of the idea that the gunman was influenced by a fictional villain.
But I think it’s very telling to note that all those heroes, all those amazing, remarkable, beautiful people, came not just to see the latest Batman movie…they went to the first possible showing, a midnight show. They wanted to see Batman. I have seen the power that character has, I have felt it myself. He doesn’t kill, he doesn’t use guns.
He’s a good guy. A hero. A protector.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that THOSE remarkable people were there to see a movie about a hero.
Bless every one of them.
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