Gail Simone's Blog, page 967
July 25, 2012
Dammit, greatest story ever. Wow.
Dammit, greatest story ever. Wow.
Do you miss writing Zinda Blake? (I miss you writing Zinda Blake) and second question for fun, how do you think a relationship between Zinda and Captain America would go?
Gods, yes.
One of my heroes, Steve Gerber, gave me the advice to never treat licensed characters like they belonged to me, never really let them into my heart, because eventually, it would break my heart.
But I find that I can’t write a character well if I haven’t adopted them emotionally on some level. And once I have done that, I never really want to let them go.
So I still miss Deadpool and Big Barda and Black Canary and Taskmaster and Ryan Choi and Superman and Lois and Wonder Woman and Artemis and Catman and on and on forever, pretty much all of them, really.
But the ones that are the most FUN to write for whatever reason, those are especially hard to let go. Zinda had such a particular patois…unlike anyone else in comics.
For one thing, she was from Oklahoma, a very particular voice, then she liked to have a good time, she was a can-do gal, she was military, a naval pilot directly plucked from the 1940’s, she liked to imbibe pretty regularly, and she wasn’t quite as hung up as most of her teammates.
That’s a LOT of fun stuff to play with. Anyone who reads my work knows I am crazy about dialogue, it’s my passion and my obsession, and I want a singular voice for each character. My most hated thing in comics is when a character sounds the same as all the other characters. That’s bad life observation and bad writing.
So characters like Zinda, or others who have that very particular unique quality, those are just a joy to write. Honest to god, I used to feel bad for people writing some of the hit books out there that didn’t get to have voices to write like Zinda and Helena and Dinah and Barbara, just as one example, four personalities that were completely different.
I miss her optimism and joy and the way she liked a good honky-tonk, but still tried to understand that some of her worldview was genuinely obsolete and uninformed.
Just a great, fun character. My dad was a fan of the Blackhawks, but by the time I could write them, the team was unrecognizable. With Zinda, I could bring a LITTLE bit of the good stuff from that era (and there was plenty to leave behind, like racist caricature) with a character who hadn’t had crap poured on her for decades.
I dearly love her…readers responded as well, she was just supposed to be the pilot but every time she got significant panel time, readers loved it. Fun.
Photon
Oh, I knew she became Photon, I guess my question was way off in wording, sorry! I meant, is Monica’s new identity actually being used, is she appearing in anything regularly?
chastmastr:
gailsimone:
… I’m sure a lot of you already know...
… I’m sure a lot of you already know this, but Kilmainham Gaol is a real place, a prison built in Dublin, Ireland, built right around the year 1800. At the time, it was considered quite ‘humane’ and progressive, even. It’s been out of commission since, I think, the 1980’s, and is now a museum.It’s disturbing as hell, and was one of the least ‘humane’ places I have ever been in. It held, at one time or another, nearly all of the imprisoned Irish Nationalists, and at one time, public hangings were held right out in front, later, the executions were no longer public.
There are things about it that are very haunting…it’s several levels, the main room is shaped like an oval, so a few guards could see every cell. Doors did have this design, that of an eye with a viewing hole in the center, on the cell’s interior, so that the prisoners felt they were being watched 24 hours a day by both the guards and by God, never a moment’s privacy. They were made to feel like hopeless sinners. No peace, even in sleep.
They were also not allowed to speak, not even to themselves. …
————-
Is it troubling that I think Bane is really rather hot in this, with his tearful longing for “the captivity, the security and routine” as something “glorious”? Mind you, this is speaking from a consensual-kink worldview, and a thousand miles away from the genuinely brutal horrors described in the real history of the Gaol (much more is on original blog; this is an excerpt) described.
I don’t usually judge people for what they find hot in comics, it’s really their business.
My thinking on Bane in story is that, he was born in prison, prison nurtured him, and even though he would fight like hell for freedom, he found something comforting in being imprisoned…in a way, it’s where his family is.
robin-cave:
Yes. Run.
More of that ‘gone soft’...
Yes. Run.
More of that ‘gone soft’ Bane here, twisting a gentleman’s head off in passing with one hand…
shobogan:
Captain Marvel by Csyeung
I am a little behind on...
I am a little behind on this, does Monica have a new identity now?
Geekquality: - POC - CREATORS COLLECTIVE! REBLOG!
Are you tired of throwing things at the tv/movie screen/book/game/web series because creators can’t seem to stay away from damaging and hurtful stereotypes?
Have you had it up to here with arguing that whitewashing is not, was not and will NEVER…
Signal boost. Good luck!
comicbutts:
James Gordon, Batgirl #11 (2012)
Actually my...
James Gordon, Batgirl #11 (2012)
Actually my favorite panel of that scene…I like how James, Jr’s body language is commanding, like his father’s, and I like Alysia’s pose here.
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