Gail, when writing a female character, what do you feel are some of the most important elements to add to their persona and how you convey their character? Let's say for Red Sonja, Babs, or Wonder Woman- they are all three warriors and remarkable women, ve

I just never think in these terms. I just don’t. To me, Wonder Woman and Red Sonja have no more in common than, say, Batman and Conan, but no one ever asks, “what do you feel is important to say about male characters” in the same manner.

I know you don’t mean it this way, I am just speaking in general because I hear this question a lot.

The idea that there’s a Grand Unified Theory of female characters is bothersome to me. Misfit and, say, Big Barda or Oracle have little in common. Trying to find the trace amounts of similar DNA in Lois Lane and Black Alice is kind of pointless to me. 

We don’t expect all male characters to be defined by some ineffable and mysterious male quality, why would we think that it’s a good idea for female characters?  Or POC or LGBTQ characters, for that matter. There’s more connective tissue between Batgirl and Robin than Batgirl and Jeannette. 

The idea is a spectrum, to create a wide range of compelling characters. A wide range. 

For my personal tastes, I like female characters that have their own agency. And I prefer that they have layers of character, rather than a single defining trait. 

But overall, emphasize humanity as you would with any other character.