Gail Simone's Blog, page 989

Batgirl by Mike Mayhew

Batgirl by Mike Mayhew

darkestknight32:Gail beautifully wrote this scene. It is...

darkestknight32:

Gail beautifully wrote this scene.   It is true that Wonder Woman finds love for everyone no matter how big, small or otherwise :)

Wonder Woman, she’s the bomb. Love her so much, SO MUCH.

ladiesmakingcomics:Congratulations to one of my favorite...

ladiesmakingcomics:

Congratulations to one of my favorite artists, current Batgirl fill-in artist and former Iron Man artist, Alitha Martinez! She’s been hired by Archie Comics on their new digital superhero initiative, The New Crusaders!  She takes over with issue 3, released in 4 parts throughout the month of July, and will continue for the foreseeable future.

I’d been meaning to check out this series since I enjoyed DC’s attempt to reboot the Archie “Red Circle” characters a few years ago (especially The Web written by D.E.B.s. writer/director Angela Robinson).  

Check out your digital buying options on RedCircleComics.com

A truly exceptional artist, I absolutely love her work.

Hope to work with her again, soon!

A Real Tip Just From Nowhere

I thought I would post a tip that might help a few people out there, who are aspiring writers in the comics industry.

Okay, I get a lot of mini-comics and comics and gns given to me at cons. I keep them all, I don’t throw them away, but I stack them and the stack is pretty large at this point. My goal is to read them all a few at a time.

One thing I see fairly often is what I want to mention here. It may seem a bit airy and ephemeral, but it is most definitely NOT.

I have read many, many of these first-time published efforts and often, even though some are absolutely at pro- levels of production, and have very costly printing and presentation, they lack a purpose, they merely emulate successful comics that already exist, ie., DC, Marvel, Walking Dead, Hellboy, whatever.

I can’t stress this enough. HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.

I came into comics with one hidden agenda: I wanted to create some new female characters that would add to the universes I wrote for. I wanted the next generation of young girls to have more choices of character types to root for and identify with. I wanted to try to undo some damage from the Women in Refrigerators era. That was always in my mind.

To that end, I created Mary Zero, Black Alice, Misfit, Scandal Savage, Jeannette, Outlaw, and lots of other female characters to try to make that happen.

As I talked to more readers and learned to look a little wider than my own experience, my mission opened up, and I wanted to create more diversity in general, because that’s sorely lacking and the readers deserve it.

But there was a goal beyond just recreating other stuff. There was a POV. It changes a little from book to book, but there is a message. Whether it’s effective or not, that’s up to the readers, not the author. But there IS something to say.

I look at the best writers in the game, they also have a message. Brubaker, Morrison, Snyder, Lemire, Aaron, and so many others, you feel what they are doing in almost every book. They, in short, have something to say.

And that elevates their work. It makes their books resonate where so many other books are forgettable.

You can work on craft, you can always improve your workmanship. The level of your basic skills will improve if you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses, and strive for bigger things each time.

But no book, class or teacher can provide you with a message. That has to come from you. You will never recreate Spider-man. But you could well create the next thing that is as COOL as Spider-man.

If you have something to say.

Find your message, make comics that mean something to you, that matter to you. Odds are, there is an audience that will respond. This isn’t rainbow/unicorn/fairy dust advice. This is a rock solid must, if you intend to create work that moves people.

And as always, good luck.

femmebotshaveemotion:Man: Now, see, if you don’t mind me...

femmebotshaveemotion:

Man: Now, see, if you don’t mind me saying, can I ask what you bench press sir?

Bane: Costumed detectives mostly.

Dude, I don’t say this a lot, but I was so happy when that line came to me, I thought I’d die.

askbanewhobreaksyou:((This is what happens when I’m bored and...

askbanewhobreaksyou:

((This is what happens when I’m bored and Bane is on my mind—okay, lately it’s been pretty much him in there. I started off with Bane and Scandal and then thought—“Well, might as well add some more daddy issues babies” and Jason popped up. Conclusion: Bane would be a better father than Bruce Wayne. I’ve lost control of my life. This is entirely relevant))

Okay, you made my day. That is adorable.

Hello! I am interested in going into the field of comic book writing, and I was wondering if you could give me a few tips, in addition to sharing your personal experiences within the field. Is it more of a freelance job, or are you contracted with a partic

I don’t mean to be obnoxious here, but I have posted a LOT about this topic, many, many times, and I still get at least ten letters like this a week.

My first suggestion, seriously, not trying to be mean, is to show that you are serious. That means doing a bit of research before asking this question. Odds are, at some point, nearly every writer you could contact like this has answered this question at least once somewhere on the internet.

I put “how to break in” and “comics industry” into google search and it immediately came back with a boatload of answers, some from very respected pros. That should be your first move. Read those.

Second, no pro can take an hour out of their day to answer this same question for strangers over and over again. It’s time-consuming, a little frustrating (because we have taken the time to post this stuff many times already), and not very helpful because we don’t know you, we don’t know your goals or skills, we don’t know your connections or resources, and even if we did, it is unlikely that we can help you other than with the advice we have already given out.

I don’t mean to be brusque…but it’s important to show that you have the minimum level of sincerity of effort in this. There’s no magic door in. I’ve spent hours and hours trying to post tips here and a dozen other places, I ask that you take a look at that stuff, look at the other stuff available on google, and THEN, if you have a very, VERY specific question, go ahead and ask and I will try to help.

But asking how to break in is simply too big a question to answer a dozen times a week. It’s like asking a chef, how do I get a restaurant?  It’s way, way too big a question.

Read what’s out there. Forget about the magic door. Then, narrow your question down tremendously, and I will be happy to try to help, okay?

Good luck!

Hello! I am interested in going into the field of comic book writing, and I was wondering if you could give me a few tips, in addition to sharing your personal experiences within the field. Is it more of a freelance job, or are you contracted with a partic

I don’t mean to be obnoxious here, but I have posted a LOT about this topic, many, many times, and I still get at least ten letters like this a week.

My first suggestion, seriously, not trying to be mean, is to show that you are serious. That means doing a bit of research before asking this question. Odds are, at some point, nearly every writer you could contact like this has answered this question at least once somewhere on the internet.

I put “how to break in” and “comics industry” into google search and it immediately came back with a boatload of answers, some from very respected pros. That should be your first move. Read those.

Second, no pro can take an hour out of their day to answer this same question for strangers over and over again. It’s time-consuming, a little frustrating (because we have taken the time to post this stuff many times already), and not very helpful because we don’t know you, we don’t know your goals or skills, we don’t know your connections or resources, and even if we did, it is unlikely that we can help you other than with the advice we have already given out.

I don’t mean to be brusque…but it’s important to show that you have the minimum level of sincerity of effort in this. There’s no magic door in. I’ve spent hours and hours trying to post tips here and a dozen other places, I ask that you take a look at that stuff, look at the other stuff available on google, and THEN, if you have a very, VERY specific question, go ahead and ask and I will try to help.

But asking how to break in is simply too big a question to answer a dozen times a week. It’s like asking a chef, how do I get a restaurant?  It’s way, way too big a question.

Read what’s out there. Forget about the magic door. Then, narrow your question down tremendously, and I will be happy to try to help, okay?

Good luck!

Hello! I am interested in going into the field of comic book writing, and I was wondering if you could give me a few tips, in addition to sharing your personal experiences within the field. Is it more of a freelance job, or are you contracted with a partic

I don’t mean to be obnoxious here, but I have posted a LOT about this topic, many, many times, and I still get at least ten letters like this a week.

My first suggestion, seriously, not trying to be mean, is to show that you are serious. That means doing a bit of research before asking this question. Odds are, at some point, nearly every writer you could contact like this has answered this question at least once somewhere on the internet.

I put “how to break in” and “comics industry” into google search and it immediately came back with a boatload of answers, some from very respected pros. That should be your first move. Read those.

Second, no pro can take an hour out of their day to answer this same question for strangers over and over again. It’s time-consuming, a little frustrating (because we have taken the time to post this stuff many times already), and not very helpful because we don’t know you, we don’t know your goals or skills, we don’t know your connections or resources, and even if we did, it is unlikely that we can help you other than with the advice we have already given out.

I don’t mean to be brusque…but it’s important to show that you have the minimum level of sincerity of effort in this. There’s no magic door in. I’ve spent hours and hours trying to post tips here and a dozen other places, I ask that you take a look at that stuff, look at the other stuff available on google, and THEN, if you have a very, VERY specific question, go ahead and ask and I will try to help.

But asking how to break in is simply too big a question to answer a dozen times a week. It’s like asking a chef, how do I get a restaurant?  It’s way, way too big a question.

Read what’s out there. Forget about the magic door. Then, narrow your question down tremendously, and I will be happy to try to help, okay?

Good luck!

Hello! I am interested in going into the field of comic book writing, and I was wondering if you could give me a few tips, in addition to sharing your personal experiences within the field. Is it more of a freelance job, or are you contracted with a partic

I don’t mean to be obnoxious here, but I have posted a LOT about this topic, many, many times, and I still get at least ten letters like this a week.

My first suggestion, seriously, not trying to be mean, is to show that you are serious. That means doing a bit of research before asking this question. Odds are, at some point, nearly every writer you could contact like this has answered this question at least once somewhere on the internet.

I put “how to break in” and “comics industry” into google search and it immediately came back with a boatload of answers, some from very respected pros. That should be your first move. Read those.

Second, no pro can take an hour out of their day to answer this same question for strangers over and over again. It’s time-consuming, a little frustrating (because we have taken the time to post this stuff many times already), and not very helpful because we don’t know you, we don’t know your goals or skills, we don’t know your connections or resources, and even if we did, it is unlikely that we can help you other than with the advice we have already given out.

I don’t mean to be brusque…but it’s important to show that you have the minimum level of sincerity of effort in this. There’s no magic door in. I’ve spent hours and hours trying to post tips here and a dozen other places, I ask that you take a look at that stuff, look at the other stuff available on google, and THEN, if you have a very, VERY specific question, go ahead and ask and I will try to help.

But asking how to break in is simply too big a question to answer a dozen times a week. It’s like asking a chef, how do I get a restaurant?  It’s way, way too big a question.

Read what’s out there. Forget about the magic door. Then, narrow your question down tremendously, and I will be happy to try to help, okay?

Good luck!