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Old 04-12-2007, 08:15 PM   #1
MattBrady
 
GAIL SIMONE NAMED NEW WONDER WOMAN WRITER

While we brought you news earlier today of writer J. Torres stepping in to write DC’s Wonder Woman for issues #11 and #12, the question still hung there – who will be the new ongoing writer on Wonder Woman?

"Wonder" no more.

Speaking to retailers this evening at the Comics Pro Membership Meeting in Las Vegas, DC’s VP – Sales Bob Wayne made the announcement: beginning with issue #13, and going on for the foreseeable future, Gail Simone will write the Wonder Woman series. The news comes with a bit of surprise still attached to it, as clues to Simone’s new writing assignment seemingly began to fall into place last week, when it was announced that she would be leaving Birds of Prey, replaced by Sean McKeever.

Newsarama was able to speak with Simone about the new gig.

Newsarama: First off Gail, how long has this been in the works? Has this been something that was out there along with the relaunch, or was this all kind of sudden?

Gail Simone: To my knowledge, it was pretty sudden, for my part. Dan Didio called me into his office when I visited New York City (and the DC offices) for the first time during the New York Comic Con. So it was, stay in the beautiful Parker Meridien hotel overlooking Central Park, see three Broadway shows, attend a really fun convention, get VIP seats for David Letterman (thanks, Mike Carlin!) and get offered Wonder Woman all in the same week.

It’s gonna take a lot to top that week, for me, actually.

So to answer your question, it might’ve been in Dan’s head for some time, but it was pretty recent stuff on this end, which is great, because if I’d had to wait months before starting writing on it, I think I would have burst at the seams from excitement.

It’s just a book I want to write. I’m dying to do it. When I first started in comics, it was the one book I really made it clear I didn’t think I should take, partly because of fear of typecasting, but also because it’s just such a huge, important character. The superheroine, not just in comics, but in all media, period.

But I got over the stage fright, and got to write her a few times, in Birds of Prey and JLA: Classified, and I realized, DAMMIT, I love this character! I mean, it was just an amazing feeling. That feeling some writers get when they write Batman or whomever, that’s me with Diana, except times ten and covered with sprinkles.

NRAMA: Wait – who’s covered with sprinkles? Batman covered with sprinkles looks like Wonder Woman?

GS: Next question.

NRAMA: You're a busy person given your work, and on top of that, as was made clear last week, you had to give up Birds of Prey, which you loved like tweens love MySpace in order to take this on. What made you do it?

GS: Yeah, as recently as a few months ago, giving up Birds of Prey was simply inconceivable. I still feel I’m not completely done with those characters, as I just adore them. But Birds of Prey was a successful book before I came aboard and it will continue to be after I left. It’s going to sound silly, but look at whose hands I’m leaving the book in, Sean McKeever and Nicola Scott. That is a killer combination.

The thing is, after it really hit me that I was being offered Wonder Woman, I knew I’d have to leave a book, because I’m not doing Diana’s stories in my spare time. This is getting everything I have. It can’t be just another assignment. It has to be damn near a mission.

With BoP, knowing who would be doing the book, it was the book that I knew would flourish, and that’s what made the choice for me. I still agonized over it. I’ve said it often that friends always tell me not to get so attached to the characters, as they belong to DC, or Marvel or whomever. But I just find I can’t write that way. If I’m not attached, then the script is lousy. So saying goodbye is rough. I came across a blog post that was from a foreign site, and the headline was, “Gail Simone Abandona Birds Of Prey!” which made me feel guilty in two languages.

But the thing is, what was great about BoP was how it could appeal to so many people, particularly wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc. who didn’t normally read comics. I have utterly lost count of how often someone’s said that it was their gateway drug.

And of all the books I do, I think Wonder Woman can have that same quality, that same allure for people who really have nothing against comics, but haven’t yet found the doorway in.

That’s so ridiculously exciting to me. I know of so many people, men and women both, who love the Wonder Woman character, and are dying to read her book, but sometimes have a hard time getting past the baggage. That’s one of the things Allan was fantastic at, I though, presenting a compelling, very, very clean reality for someone new to jump aboard.

NRAMA: If you ask a majority of fans – and we were seeing this as late as earlier today - putting you on Wonder Woman was a no brainer, and some had been calling for it for months now. Had you seen those calls? Did you agree with 'em? Put any credence to them?

GS: Oh, yeah. DC’s gotten petitions, I’ve won the Wonder Woman writer of the year thing twice without having ever written her book.

NRAMA: That’s kind of nutty, right there…

GS: A little, yeah. But you’re right - the readers have been relentless. They thought I could do it before I thought I could do it. So they deserve the credit or blame, really. It really started getting loud after Diana’s appearance in Birds of Prey. Something in that portrayal seemed to strike the right note. It just...I don’t know, it seems a great fit to me.

NRAMA: Of course, that also brings up the issue of you're a woman writing Wonder Woman, the most popular female superhero in the world. When it comes to Wonder Woman, does the writer's gender matter?

GS: No, I think most of the best Wonder Woman writers have been male; Greg Rucka, George Perez, and Phil Jimenez, just to name a few. Not to slight the small handful of females who have written here, they did great work as well.

I don’t know, maybe there’s a bit of life experience that helps, or a different perspective, but I’m never inclined to pigeonhole by things like gender or race. I frankly would just as soon not worry about such things as a reader and a writer. It feels a bit antiquated, to my mind.

When people talk to me about Wonder Woman, they seem to be talking about other things in my writing that they think will suit Diana, more than just the gender thing.

NRAMA: Looking at your body of work to date, you've written Superman, you've hit Batman a time or two, as well as dozens of other characters. Where does Wonder Woman fit on that lineup in terms of difficulty to tackle?

GS: I just don’t see it as ‘difficult.’ It’s a joy, an honor, a pleasure, a thrill. It’s exhilarating, is what it is. She’s a dragon. She just kicks so much ass.

I think, and I mean this with affection, but I think occasionally people have tried to burden her more with message than with character, and you know, when a writer tries that with Superman or Batman, they’re instantly called on it. It’s not the whole of the character. But it’s a common approach with Diana.

NRAMA: Yeah, but many argue that WW has the same problem Superman or Batman do in that case - that they've become so much larger than life, and mean so many things to so many people...

That said, does Wonder Woman still "work" in today's world? She comes form a matriarchal single-sex theocracy that preaches peace, yet are the planet's fiercest warriors, despite a lack of an ever-present enemy...playing devil’s advocate, and not pulling punches here, if someone claiming to be from a world like that showed up in our…“man’s” world, she'd end up marginalized, not warmly accepted and certainly not seen as having much of value to offer…

Or would she?

GS: Eh, bleah, that just isn’t what this book is going to be at all, to be frank. Look. It’s simple, and it’s never outdated.

The book is about the best goddamned warrior planet Earth has ever known, and she happens to carry a mystical arsenal around just for the hell of it.

If a writer can’t make that interesting and fun, they really shouldn’t be writing superheroes.

There are layers upon layers of the character, and we’ll get to them all. But let’s just make it very clear that Diana is the premiere asskicker in the DCU, period. Batman and Superman have other things that make them special. Diana is the one who occasionally carries an axe if someone gives her lip.

This is actually in my first issue, but the quote is, “When a giant robot attacks Metropolis, send Superman. An alien attack? Get Green Lantern. When a car is hijacked by an escaped loony, turn on the bat signal, by all means. But if an ARMY shows up on your doorstep, that’s when you call in Wonder Woman.

Simple.

NRAMA: Okay. Good point. So – larger picture, how do you see Wonder Woman? Of any character in the DCU over the past handful of years, she seems to have swung the most in terms of how she's portrayed, from competent ambassador to secret agent to slightly out of touch stranger in a strange land. Where on that continuum do you put her?

GS: This is a great question. First, I hate the supposed ‘dichotomy,’ that she preaches peace while fighting. This is not contradictory at all. It’s not ‘a’ or ‘b,’ it’s ‘a’ AND ‘b.’ It’s like saying a cop is a hypocrite when they say they want to keep the peace, just because they might have to wrestle a perp to the ground on occasion. Diana’s both. She loves the light, but she’s right at home in the dark, too. She can do dark.

I actually contacted a lot of my favorite Wonder Woman writers when I got the news. I knew very well in my heart what I wanted to do, but I wanted to share the wisdom of the people who got it right, as well. So I talked to the master, George Perez, I talked to the whipsmart Jodi Picoult, I talked with Phil Jimenez who has always been a terrific supporter. Greg Rucka was wonderfully gracious at the Emerald City con. And I talked at length with Allan Heinberg, as well. Allan and Geoff Johns have been harassing Dan to get me on the book for some time. It’s been Wonder Woman 101 for me, in fact. These people all love Diana and are devoted to her, so their universal blessing is really nice.

I had a direction and definite ideas about her character, but I think it’s very important not to give readers whiplash, or New Direction Fever, as it’s commonly called. I want people to be able to understand by page three of our issues who Wonder Woman really is, but there are echoes of all the great work that came before, in the background, as well.

Of course, since she’s punching a monkey off a waterfall on page three, maybe that’s not the best example.

On second thought, no, it definitely is.

NRAMA: Monkey off a waterfall?

GS: Monkey off a waterfall.

NRAMA: You’re going to get letters.

GS: Bring ‘em.

NRAMA: Touching on some of the specifics both of the modern take and general – as we’ve seen both in Heinberg and Picoult’s issues, she’s still got the “Diana Prince” identity. Why does she need a secret identity?

GS: This was one element I had some resistance to, but eventually it hit me, that while we as readers may ask that exact question, if you look at it from Diana’s point of view, it’s a whole different question. She’s someone who wants to understand people, yet really has spent most of her time up in the clouds.

Plus, I’m telling you, Diana Prince as a secret agent in some of these first stories, it’s just going to be hot. Way hotter than you might suspect, I think.

NRAMA: How does she relate to her contemporaries within the DC Universe?

GS: If you’re Diana’s friend, she loves you unreservedly. That’s all there is to it. I’m not a fan of bitchy Diana.

NRAMA: How do people in the DCU see her?

GS: Oh, I think the more cynical you are, the less of the actual Diana is visible to you. So to some, yeah, she’s a hot babe in a swimsuit. People with souls (in comics reality, I’m talking here!) tend to see more of what she’s really about.

NRAMA: One thing you absolutely adore about Wonder Woman?

GS: Holy moley, just one thing?

GS: Just one…for now…

GS: Maybe those boots. Those boots are awesome.

She’s the best Princess in comics for one thing. We’re going to be hitting a couple themes hugely in the first stories, things that have always been in her story, but I don’t think have really been examined for what they would do to a person’s mind. That’s the most fun thing right now!

NRAMA: One thing you're not so crazy about?

GS: I think she’s got a handful of great villains, but needs a lot more. We’re on that like cheese on a puff.

NRAMA: And just so we’re all clear, where are you going to be picking her up when you start?

GS: Right after J. Torres’ two Amazons Attack tie-in issues, so, issue #13.

NRAMA: And a rough idea of your plans you're going to launch with?

GS: Rather than tease this stuff this early, let me just say that I think what Diana needs most right now is velocity and some focus. The recent writers have all been brilliant. But this is someone saying, okay, I’m on this book, I’m gonna stay on this book, and I’m putting everything I have into it.

Everyone I know wants to see a kickass Diana, and we’re going to deliver that if it kills us. Hell, we’re gonna deliver that if it kills you.

And your dog.

In the first arc alone, she rips through enough villain ass to fill a dump truck. And what would be a huge climax to most stories is just the start for this first year. Honest.

Finally, about the art team. I can’t say who it is yet. But if the readers all made a list of who the best possible Wonder Woman art team would be, I bet this would be the number one choice. It’s that good.

NRAMA: And finally, any big broad teases as to directions you'd want to go? Issues you want to tackle?

GS: Left, and ATM fees.

I said too much already. Can’t help it.

I’m excited.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:13 PM   #2
KoozyK
 
finally, the book will have some coherent writing. i swear, it's been nothing but a train-wreck since rucka left. hopefully, i'll enjoy this as much as i've enjoyed bop and secret six.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:13 PM   #3
Jake_Lockley
 
AND the DC world of Wonder Woman JUST became a BETTER place!
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:18 PM   #4
ElijahSnowFan
 
well, well.

nice job, DC. had a feeling -- hoped, actually -- that was what was happening, but there have been times when i've wondered whether the DC brass could see the forest for the trees.

i'm fully prepared to have Princess Diana kicking somebody's -- anybody's -- ass on a consistent basis, worthy of her status as one of DC's greatest characters.

Simone will deliver that.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:19 PM   #5
Violent Gorilla
 
It only took them thirteen issues into the relaunch to do what should've been done with issue #1.

This series is a mess, but at least they've put it in somebody's hands who will be capable of fixing it. 13 can't get here soon enough.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:19 PM   #6
jedifish
 
Congrats Gail. Looking forward to you run.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:20 PM   #7
Matopi
 
I was hoping for JLA, but if Gail is this excited about WW, I'm on board.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:20 PM   #8
wonderfish
 
Not much of a surprise, but highly welcome all the same. Wonder Woman deserves to be given to someone who not only understands but truly loves comics. This is going to be the first time I buy Wonder Woman, and I'm looking forward to it.

Besides. Monkey off a waterfall!
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:21 PM   #9
froinlaven
 
My Girlfriend just dropped Wonder Woman...I think I'm gonna pick up the trades though.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:21 PM   #10
rwe1138
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MattBrady
GS:The book is about the best goddamned warrior planet Earth has ever known, and she happens to carry a mystical arsenal around just for the hell of it.

If a writer can’t make that interesting and fun, they really shouldn’t be writing superheroes.

There are layers upon layers of the character, and we’ll get to them all. But let’s just make it very clear that Diana is the premiere asskicker in the DCU, period. Batman and Superman have other things that make them special. Diana is the one who occasionally carries an axe if someone gives her lip.

This is actually in my first issue, but the quote is, “When a giant robot attacks Metropolis, send Superman. An alien attack? Get Green Lantern. When a car is hijacked by an escaped loony, turn on the bat signal, by all means. But if an ARMY shows up on your doorstep, that’s when you call in Wonder Woman.

Simple.

I'm sold. Any small, itty-bitty, Ryan Choi at microscopic level doubts I had about Gail writing Wonder Woman just flew out the window. This is going to be all kinds of awsome.

Sad to hear the Dodson's are leaving, though. Why do they always get stuck with uber-hyped, terminally late writers? My personal pick for art duties, though? Ethan Van Schevier.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:23 PM   #11
hosstbl
 
Generally, I'm against relaunching books with a new #1, but if ever a book needed it, this is it... Anything to ignore the previous 10 issues plus the hypothetical issue 5A/13/"whatever the hell it is when it gets released two years from now WIWW conclusion issue."
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:24 PM   #12
bg.
 
Excellent news, I might even buy a WW comic, who'd have thought?

Too bad though, I'd have much rather see her drop Gen13 than BoP.....really, also I'd prefer they put her on a Secret Six ongoing
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:25 PM   #13
Action Ace
 
One year later than it should have happened, but Athena be praised!
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:25 PM   #14
SexyAsian
 
YES!!!! I feel that this is the best way to go for all parties, DC, Gail and us the fans. Gail has said time and again how much she wanted to right Wonder Woman and she made it clear that she deserved to write it with all the amazing stuff she has written. And good for DC for finally noticing that and giving us fans what we have been waiting for. I really feel that this is the start of a new era for Wonder Woman and I'll be with it every second! Congrats again to Gail!!!

Last edited by SexyAsian : 04-12-2007 at 11:28 PM.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:26 PM   #15
SexyAsian
 
So the Dodsons aren't doing the art anymore? Man...

Last edited by SexyAsian : 04-12-2007 at 11:33 PM.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:27 PM   #16
nickmaynard
 
let me say the following...

i have never cared for wonder woman ever.
i am a true blue marvel guy.
i have never read anything by gail simone.

BUT

this interview, and gail's take on the character sortof have me pumped on wonder woman. i will definitely be getting this when she takes over.

"she's a dragon." too cool.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:28 PM   #17
James Asia
 
Excited for Gail and the book. Lord knows this book needs a writer who can devote 100% to it.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:29 PM   #18
SpyGuy
 
Thumbs up

Well, it's about damn time.

Now, cancel the current title and relaunch it as yet another number one or just return the numbering to #227. WONDER WOMAN (Vol. 3) should be nothing more than an unpleasant, year-long nightmare.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:29 PM   #19
stacy4.0
 
This news has indeed made me happy. Best wishes Gail.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:30 PM   #20
bluebird
 
Consider yourself un-dropped

I don't care for the secret agent/Diana Prince thing staying, but I suppose Gail can change it eventually, particularly if she stays as long on this as she did on Birds (or longer?)

Seriously though, let's scarp #13 and get a new #1. New #1s sell better than #13's and, let's face it, this is going to be the start of a brand-new book. Everyone will be happier that way (DC can still collect the Picoult and Heinberg arcs as stand alone, numberless gn's and slap big fat "Jodi Picoult" and "Guy Who Writes Gray's Anatomy" stickers on 'em to push 'em in bookstores.

One more thought--the real reason Gail's so excited about this? She doesn't want to let anyone else write Dr. Psycho.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:31 PM   #21
Binker
 
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WONDERFUL news for my gals, both real (Gail) and not real (Wonder Woman).
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:32 PM   #22
dedagda
 
Incredible news!

Wonder Woman has been the #3 selling DC title at my store after 52 and JLA since OYL. Simone will solidify its place at the top.

Go Gail!
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:33 PM   #23
Nicola Scott
 
Gail,

LOVE YOU, LOVE YOUR WORK!!!

And, I just happen to love Wonder Woman too!

#13 is just too far away!!
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:35 PM   #24
Samy Merchi
 
I'm not too wild about the huge emphasis on "ass kicking". To me, Diana has been a more serene, gentle being. A woman of peace who can fight, rather than a woman of fight who can peace.

But I have a lot of faith and trust in Gail, so I'll definitely be giving this a shot. I must say I'm impressed. I had pretty much resolved to dump the book any month now, but this is one of the VERY few possible writer announcements that could have made me reconsider.

Last edited by Samy Merchi : 04-12-2007 at 11:37 PM.
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Old 04-12-2007, 11:35 PM   #25
Gamma Charge
 
Finally. Wonder Woman has been unreadable since Rucka left. Now I can start picking it up again.
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