From The Library: Gail Simone

Posted by ElizabethGenco on Thursday, October 19 2006 at 9:36 am

From The Library is a series of interviews with some of my favorite storytellers. For the latest SCHEHERAZADE update, click here. For NIGHTVISIT, click here.

With WOMEN IN REFRIGERATORS, her thoughtful, passionate examination of one of comics’ nastiest plot devices, and YOU’LL ALL BE SORRY, her hard-hitting humor column at CBR, Gail Simone was making a splash in comics well before she started writing them. These days, her work includes runs on DEADPOOL, ACTION COMICS and LEGION, the miniseries KILLER PRINCESSES with Lea Hernandez, Simpsons titles for Bongo Comics, and of course, BIRDS OF PREY, where she continues a long stint as ongoing writer.

Gail is warm, witty, a wickedly good writer, and wise. She has also heartily encouraged my own writing efforts for years. I’m thrilled to have her in the comfy chair and honored to call her a friend.

I remember that when we first started talking, ages ago, I was somehow under the impression that you didn’t have a long and extensive history as a reader of comics. I have no idea where that came from, but there you go. And then one day it hit me: waaait a minute, Gail has read a comic or seven! I’m tellin’ ya, my thought process is a little screwy sometimes.

Anyhoo. Can you tell me a little bit about your history as a comics reader? When did you start reading comics? What were your favorites back in the day?

For me, it was more a matter of reading everything I could get my hands on than comics in particular. But I immediately had a great fondness for comics–I love everything from the tactile sensation to the hidden language artists use to convey movement with static images. I loved kids’ comics, girls’ comics, horror comics, and humor comics especially, but I did have a weird love for the Justice League. I liked how they were friends, how they obviously cared about each other.

The advice I always give to aspiring comics creators is to create, not RE-create, but in some ways, I still work that theme a lot, that the characters care for each other, even if they show it in unorthodox ways.

Bitching about the comics industry is lame and un-fun, so this question isn’t meant to be about that. However, what’s the one thing you would change about the comics biz if you could?

This is one thing I feel I’m fortunate enough to be in a position to be able to do something about, in a small way. I find a lot of readers have lofty goals as fans, about what they’d do if they could turn pro. Then they turn pro, and those goals mostly seem to be firmly back-seated, as it were. For every pro who writes what they said they would if given the chance, there’s another who is taking an easier path.

For me, it’s about diversity. And it’s not merely an issue of fairness, it makes good economic sense. If we have diverse creators, and diverse characters of note, then we are more likely to have a less cloistered readership.

It offends me when I go to a con and see this whirlwind of color, age, gender and orientation reading our books, and there are still dinosaurs saying that the readership is purely male and white and straight. It’s stupid. Every other goddamned media on the planet knows this, that you can’t make that kind of pure generalization anymore because damned if the audience won’t betray your prejudices.

This is one of the things I do really respect about Dan DiDio, is that he knows this, and believes it’s important. So I’m happy that we’re in sync about this. Say what you like, the guy is walking the walk, and we’ve only just started. He knew he’d take shit for it, and he still felt it was important. I think that’s terrific.

There’s a lot more yet to be done. A lot. But we’re trying.

You write a lot of superhero comics. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

I do, although I hope to branch out more a bit in the next two years. I miss doing humor books, and I love horror, and I have a fantasy book I’d like to try.

And flight, it’s no question. Although Aquaman’s powers would be pretty cool!

Villains or Heroes?

Both, no doubt about it. Love Superman AND love Dr. Psycho. It’s all voices, and voices are what makes writing like heroin for me.

Your rather roundabout (and hella cool!) way of breaking into comics has been much-discussed, so I won’t go there. Instead, tell me about your first job.

My first job? I worked at a pizza place in high school where the boss was creepy. I quit and turned him in to the labor board. I worked at Dairy Queen for a while. I could probably still make a fair dipped cone.

I found your blog recently and was delighted. However, it’s been a while. More updates soon?

Yeah, as dumb as this sounds, one thing I don’t want is to have one of those blogs/message boards/websites that’s nothing but a shrine to myself. I’ve been to a few that…I don’t know, they just make me shake my head. When people start talking about their ‘fans,’ I get a little appalled.

At the same time, I had a few little stories I wanted to tell, and if I simply put them on my message board at comicbookresources, they’d disappear quickly and I’d lose them. So I made a blog, and at first I didn’t even tell anyone…it really was just kind of an inside joke that would amuse only me.

The truth is, I just don’t find myself all that fascinating, and if you want to learn about my writing, the best place is always going to be in the books themselves. So it’s kind of an oddball spot where I will occasionally drop a bit of drabble and if people read it, fine, if not, that’s also okay. But I don’t worry about updating…if it gets updated, it’s because I had some dumb thing to say at that exact moment, rather than because I’m trying to maintain traffic.

I know some writers have created websites not to promote themselves, but as convenient catchalls for information and reader interaction. If I can do that, and not make it a shrine deal, that might happen someday.

(Image copyright 2002-2005 Lea Hernandez; nipped from Wikipedia)

Category: From the Library

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