Gail Simone's Blog, page 1183
September 7, 2011
Will Spoiler and The Question be making any appearances any time soon? I think it would be awesome to have a team up between the two.
I'm pretty sure one of those will be showing up pretty soon, can't say about the other one because I don't know yet!
May 29, 2011
jbacardi:
Amethyst by Richard Case
I tried to write her...
Amethyst by Richard Case
I tried to write her several times, starting with Villains United, believe it or not. The last time, we were going to have her meet Wonder Woman, I talked with her creator, Dan Mishkin, and he was going to co-write it.
This is what sucks about comics, all your cool plans can be thrown out the window at any moment.
fuckyeahsavantandcreote:
It may be summertime, but sometimes we...
It may be summertime, but sometimes we just need some snuggly with scarves.
Damn, these are so adorable and emotional.
Really lovely. You can caretake these two for me any time you like!
fyeahlilbitoeverything:
thehappysorceress:
Black Canary by Pop...
TotalRandomness: gailsimone: Why the fuck would I want cranberries with chicken:...
pinchepeaches replied to your post: Okay, I get it now.
Michelle, the fact that…
In general, for all the strides comics have made with female fans, I still get the sense that the fandom at large isn't particularly inclusive to women of color. I mean it kills me when I see someone awesome like DCWKA recommending books to budding fans, and not a single one of them is a POC heroine or a team book WITH a POC heroine in it. And it's not her fault, but it's the sort of environment the industry has cultivated.
You can see tons of cute white girls with blue eyes and blonde hair, but black, Latina, Asian, and Middle Eastern heroines are few and far between. I would not be surprised in the least if a young black girl was excited about getting into comics but then backed out upon seeing how few people there were that look like her. And seeing as how it is the fanboys and fangirls of today who are the writers of tomorrow, that's a big problem.
*********
It's true, and let's face it, there's still a lot of misogyny, homophobia and racism on both sides of the table in the industry. I have heard that a lot of people didn't care for Felicia Henderson (a WOC, I met her once, a lovely, smart lady), on Teen Titans. But the TENOR of bile for her work is astounding and seems way out of proportion to whatever problems people may have had with her work (and I haven't read enough of it to be familiar).
I do know there are a lot of female editors at DC and Marvel. I believe they, in particular, would like to hire more female writers. I know they want GOOD writers of all kinds. But I know they'd like to see more female writers take a shot. Right now, it feels like Marvel has more female writers doing superhero titles than DC. And remember, until a VERY few years ago, no black writer, male or female, had had an ongoing gig on any of the "icon" titles at DC or Marvel. That was in this past DECADE.
I don't know the answer. I want comics to be a meritocracy, I want the best writer for the job every time. But I also want to encourage a vastly more diverse GROUP of good writers to try to make their way in, as well. As I said before I left Tumblr for a while, we've lost several important voices for diversity lately. I am always hoping people will rise up and carry those principles with them as they work in comics. But I despair that too many people are discouraged. It's a tough gig to get and a tougher one to keep.
But I hope some of you out there will keep trying.
okay! I am a young lady-type who does comics and studies comics and interns with cartoonists. I am also really unwell, so please please bear with me here. I don't really like to talk about my feelings about the industry because I do not want to affect my employment opportunities. However, I think this is a pretty important thing to get out there!
I used to want to do superhero comics really badly, but now I am more interested in other kinds of comics. I still would like to work with superheroes someday, but I am somewhat nervous to work with mainstream comics. this isn't so much because there aren't a TON of lady-type writers in mainstream comics, although there aren't nearly enough, but because I am not necessarily comfortable working with some of the people who perpetuate things that I may not like in superhero comics, and I don't always feel particularly welcome in superhero comics spaces that are not the traditionally lady and queer dominated fandom spaces I operate in! some of my (dude) peers who are also interested in superhero comics are interested in them for mainly the reasons that I have problems with superhero comics, and don't even think about or actively dislike the things that I do! plus, there are very few ongoing titles out there that accurately reflect my tastes or where I would like to take superhero comics if I were in a position to write them. I feel like working permanently in a space like that could be emotionally draining to me. which isn't to say that I wouldn't like to do it, and that I don't respect all of the people working in the industry today! only that I think, for a lot of people who are not straight cisgender dudes, or even straight cisgender white dudes, the mainstream comics space can seem unwelcoming for things that aren't even necessarily related to representation.
One last post, because what you're saying is true.
It's not even that it's deliberately unwelcoming—it's not that anyone is saying, WE DON'T WANT QUEER CHARACTERS OR POC OR LGBTQ CHARACTERS. It's an industry that runs at least 75% on nostalgia, and a lot of what really excites editors, readers, and publishers was created decades ago.
And all of that stuff was white, straight, and mostly male.
However! I want you to keep trying. What it sounds like you need to do, if I understand your post, is to create some indy stuff. That sounds like you will be able to say the things you want to say in that arena. If you do that stuff, and you do it well (and I hope you do), then that is the BEST possible entry app for superhero comics, even if you are only doing them on the sidelines.
Bringing a comic you wrote and produced to an editor is a huge deal. It's a much, much better chance to get in to at least see if you enjoy doing this at one of the bigger companies.
I hope you do. I understand that it's a little unwelcoming. But the truth is, it's hard breaking in even if you are Geoff Johns' twin brother. It's hard for EVERYONE. I just think that havin a more diverse creator base and character set is the thing that is most needed for our industry, for readers and publishers both.
I hope you'll try.
Put It Another Way
This would have been smarter at the beginning.
To all offended by that page with Emoticon shown here earlier, my sincere apologies.
I do hope some people will actually read the book. This page, out of context, gives a very distorted view of the book's content. I don't blame anyone for judging based on a panel or a page, we all do that. No harm, no foul. I'm not mad at anyone, I'm not upset at anyone.
If anyone has a sincere question about the series or the characters, feel free to ask me directly and I will answer politely (please forgive me if my answer runs long, I am wildly verbose at times).
The book has a message of anti-racism all through it. Emoticon is part of that, he is mocking a very particular white-created stereotype. But I am not immune to the suggestion that maybe that kind of character is better handled by a writer of color, nor am I disagreeing with the notion that as parody, it simply didn't work for some people at all.
There's a lot of shitty stuff out there in the media regarding race. WtT makes fun of a LOT of it, sometimes with a feather, and sometimes with a club. That doesn't mean it's all effective.
As always, if anyone has a question, please feel free to ask, otherwise I have to get back to work and I've said a lot more than I should, anyway (that verbose thing, again!).
I appreciate all the thoughtful comments.
I will say, that very soon, and I mean REALLY soon, I will have some very good news about this particular discussion to announce (and no, it's not more Tranquility!).
Best wishes and good night for real.
Gail
Why the fuck would I want cranberries with chicken: Okay, I get it now.
'Chicken slut' is a stone's throw away from 'chicken head.' "Chicken head" was used a lot in the 80s/90s hip-hop circuit to describe women who gave sexual favors in order to fit into a male rapper's inner circle. I'm not sure if that the reference being used, but it's the only thing I can link…
Wow, that IS bad. I admit I hadn't heard that one.
I did do some searches at the time for 'chickensluts,' and at the time I couldn't find any DIRECT reference to it as being in anything like common usage. But that was several years back and now I do the same search and it comes up a lot, mostly a self-applied term, it looks like.
I do think the chicken thing is problematic. It's a chicken restaurant, but they're not as famous for fried chicken„ it's the chicken and dumplings that is the big deal. So the 'chicken' reference seemed more disconnected in context.
But yeah, there's enough shitty stuff out there about POCs and chicken that it would have been kinder and smarter to not mention chicken at all.
I apologize to anyone offended by this scene. Again, the statement here is parodying racist portrayals, not black men. But particularly out of context, shit, that line is pretty thin to see.
It's not even about the racist stereotype of black people and chicken (I honestly hadn't thought of that and I don't think it fits, but people are welcome to disagree.) It's just that it's pretty terrible to have the black male character automatically use misogynist statements while ordering a piece of pie. There's a lot of backstory to the black male character being overly offensive because the black male character takes a lot of heat as it is, you know? There's a lot of ammunition when it comes to black men and misogyny (as in, black men are believed to be more misogynist, as seen by most critiques of rap/hip hop in the history of EVER) even if it's meant as slang. I cringed because I knew that the panel reflected a lot of thoughts and beliefs about black men and that some racist asshat out there was probably smirking and laughing at the funny black guy that hates women because don't all black dudes hate (their) women!!!!
Plus there's all those other little details that soft-intelligence pointed out that I didn't even notice, but that's my main thing.
Right, I totally agree. And IF he was the only black male in the book (and remember, he is BEING PAID TO START A FIGHT IN THIS RESTAURANT), it would be an even bigger problem. But the other black male, Thomasina Lindo's grandfather, the Black Glider, is the most pious, honest, and faithful guy in the book.
If you have a book with eight black characters in it, and all of them are noble but one, and that one starts off as a troubled kid, it seems unfair to focus on that one kid and make it seem like he represents all black men or all black characters, doesn't it? Especially since he later risks his life to save others.
I kinda wish it was possible to put a bunch of the pages of Thomasina or Seresa or the other POC characters up to get a better sense of what the book is about.
But I really appreciate your comments, I am giving them a lot of thought.
But have you thought of it across the board? I know you can only control the portrayal of characters in your written stories but across the board in more media than just comics the image of the angry/stupid/slang speaking/neglectful/woman hating black man is so prominent it isn't even funny (it was never funny)
..I'm just surprised I didn't think of chicken-heads first…wow I fudged on that one
Oh, yeah, I think about it, absolutely, what Peaches said about context is right. No one would be mad about this page if it wasn't on top of a thousand shitty, mean-spirited portrayals of black men in all media.
I am not Dwayne McDuffie. I can't speak with his authority about being a black male in America, and I don't have his invincible gifts. I am a white, cisgendered straight woman. I know I am not the person comics needs to fix all this stuff. I wish I were.
All I can really say is that I'm listening, I'm trying, I fight this fight constantly. I know I'm going to get stuff wrong, we all do. Writers are imperfect and I might be more imperfect than most. But if I do have a mission in comics aside from trying to tell good stories, it's about diversity. I don't want people to feel they don't belong in the industry or hobby because of how they were born or what they do in life or what they believe in.
I don't feel like my voice is special. It clearly isn't. But what I DO feel is that I wish there were a lot more people raising up their voice in the industry. I wish there were more Greg Ruckas and Phil Jimenezes, and I agonize a lot over the loss of people like Dwayne and Perry Moore. Sometimes it feels like we can't replace those guys, and that's when I despair a little bit. I don't wish everyone listened to me, I wish there were a lot more people IN the industry saying this stuff out loud. Saying it in private only helps so much.
Bleah. Now I'm bummed!
Anyway, thank you guys for the thoughtful comments. It's much appreciated.
TotalRandomness: gailsimone: Why the fuck would I want cranberries with chicken:...
Michelle, the fact that…
In general, for all the strides comics have made with female fans, I still get the sense that the fandom at large isn't particularly inclusive to women of color. I mean it kills me when I see someone awesome like DCWKA recommending books to budding fans, and not a single one of them is a POC heroine or a team book WITH a POC heroine in it. And it's not her fault, but it's the sort of environment the industry has cultivated.
You can see tons of cute white girls with blue eyes and blonde hair, but black, Latina, Asian, and Middle Eastern heroines are few and far between. I would not be surprised in the least if a young black girl was excited about getting into comics but then backed out upon seeing how few people there were that look like her. And seeing as how it is the fanboys and fangirls of today who are the writers of tomorrow, that's a big problem.
*********
It's true, and let's face it, there's still a lot of misogyny, homophobia and racism on both sides of the table in the industry. I have heard that a lot of people didn't care for Felicia Henderson (a WOC, I met her once, a lovely, smart lady), on Teen Titans. But the TENOR of bile for her work is astounding and seems way out of proportion to whatever problems people may have had with her work (and I haven't read enough of it to be familiar).
I do know there are a lot of female editors at DC and Marvel. I believe they, in particular, would like to hire more female writers. I know they want GOOD writers of all kinds. But I know they'd like to see more female writers take a shot. Right now, it feels like Marvel has more female writers doing superhero titles than DC. And remember, until a VERY few years ago, no black writer, male or female, had had an ongoing gig on any of the "icon" titles at DC or Marvel. That was in this past DECADE.
I don't know the answer. I want comics to be a meritocracy, I want the best writer for the job every time. But I also want to encourage a vastly more diverse GROUP of good writers to try to make their way in, as well. As I said before I left Tumblr for a while, we've lost several important voices for diversity lately. I am always hoping people will rise up and carry those principles with them as they work in comics. But I despair that too many people are discouraged. It's a tough gig to get and a tougher one to keep.
But I hope some of you out there will keep trying.
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