Gail Simone in the NYT
Long ago, I first ran across my future wife on a message board (gasps of horror) dedicated to comic books (more gasps of horror). There, in addition to grousing about comic books, we did fun little shared fiction games, where one person would post a chapter, the next person would pick it up and run with it.
One of us, Gail Simone, has run with it all the way to DC and Marvel Comics. She’s the new writer on Wonder Woman comics and the New York Times is all over the unfortunately radical idea of having a woman be the regular writer on the most prominent female superhero comic.
“I was a hairdresser until a couple of years ago,� Gail Simone said. “It took me a long time to admit that I was a professional writer.�
Ms. Simone was talking about her rise from hairstylist to online commentator to professional comic-book author. This month she added a new title. With the publication of issue No. 14 of Wonder Woman, which hit stores two weeks ago, Ms. Simone has become the regular writer of that amazing Amazon’s super-adventures, published by DC Comics. She is the first woman to serve as “ongoing writer� (to use the industry’s term) in the character’s 66-year history.
It’s an assignment that will only increase Ms. Simone’s profile. It’s also the latest move by DC Comics to push Wonder Woman, the company’s third-ranked hero, behind Superman and Batman, into the spotlight.
During a telephone interview from her home in Florence, Ore., Ms. Simone was effusive when discussing Wonder Woman. “She’s just the best kind of person,� she said. “She was a princess who didn’t need someone to rescue her. I grew up in an era — and a family — where women’s rights were very important, and the guys didn’t tend to stick around too long. She was an amazing role model.�
In 1999, during what she described as “a rough patch,� she was advised to try something creative. She went down a list: “I can’t draw. I can’t really sew. Well, I used to write.� This led her to create “Women in Refrigerators,� an online chronicle of the suffering experienced by female comic-book characters. The site (unheardtaunts.com/wir) garnered attention, which led to a modestly paid humor column on comicbookresources.com, a Web site that was read by many industry professionals. Still, she didn’t give up her day job.
So, here’s a mixed blessing: Hooray for all the exposure that WiR will get — cool logo by Daniel Merlin Goodbrey — and it’ll be nice having the late, great Rob Harris’ name out there, for the folks who read the credits at the bottom of the page, but oy, I expect Jonah will want to discuss the Web traffic with me at the end of this month. (For what it’s worth, Gail wanted the purple text on that page, since that was how she wrote on CBR. I wanted a monochromatic site, although Rob and Gail fortunately overruled me.)
Anyway, it’s a long way from Gail’s quips on a message board to the New York Times. Very cool stuff to see.
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I saw that article and meant to send it to you and Beli. I saw the forum mentioned and thought, I bet they know all about that already. Cool story, I agree.
Comment by Cameron S — November 28, 2007 @ 22:22
Wow. Incredible story. Please discuss the lack of gnomes in comic books with this woman. Why has there never been a gnome superhero? I think a gnome would make an excellent love interest for Wonder Woman.
Comment by Dmitry — December 1, 2007 @ 4:16