CAPE 3: Gail Simone Interview

by Stefan Halley

Stars

Gail Simone tells all...about her career and what you can expect from her upcoming run on Wonder Woman.


I know nothing about pre-Women in Refrigerators Gail Simone. Please, tell me your origin story. What comics first hooked you? How long had you been a fan?

Well, I was raised on a farm, no television, in very rural Oregon, so reading was a huge deal, and these adventures of fantastic characters in these amazing locations was very appealing to me. It was actually Justice League of America that first hooked me—I loved the friendship aspect the characters had.


You’ve done a fair amount of title hopping over the course of your career. Are there any books or characters you miss writing?

All of them. I find if I can’t relate to a character, if I don’t get attached, then the stories suck. I miss the characters in all the books I’ve worked on. Writing the last issue of Birds of Prey I’m doing was actually physically painful.


Do you have a particular type of story you like writing the most? How about genre?

I love comedy and horror, and hope to be doing a bit more of both very soon.


It seems every year brings more books that you’re writing. Do you feel like you’ve reached or are approaching your maximum capacity for monthly writing? Does the workload intimidate you?

Yes and yes, I really have to drop something at this point to add something new. I can do little scattered short stories and one shots, but I actually have some really cool projects that aren’t strictly comics that I’ll be announcing soon. I work very hard, but I feel very fortunate in that my books have very different core concepts and attitudes.


How do you deal with writer’s block?

Writer’s block is something people get when they don’t have deadlines. I find something else to work on and then come back.


Do you see yourself transitioning entirely to company titles? Is there any more creator-owned work in Gail Simone’s future?

Well, I own part of Welcome To Tranquility, Killer Princesses, and Gus Beezer. I’ll be doing more definitely.


Are there any artists you’re dying to work with?

Yeah! I feel crazy lucky to have worked with Jose Lopez, Michael Golden, Ed Benes, John Byrne, Nicola Scott, Dan DeCarlo, Adam Hughes, Mike Norton, Ed Barrows, Talent Caldwell, Neil Googe, Dan Jurgens, and so many others, I can hardly complain. But I do hope to do ANYTHING with any artist named Kubert. And I love George Perez and Mike Kaluta. Someday! Oh, and Phil Jimenez!


Women in Refrigerators was a collaborative effort by a small group of people who mostly went on to become comics professionals. How did it start?

There was a character I really liked in a Green Lantern comic, who got murdered off-screen. Kyle comes home and finds her stuffed in the refrigerator. It was actually a well-told story, but a part of me, as a female reader who had seen too many stories like that at the time, I just resented it. It made me wonder why this sort of ghoulish, anti-woman violence was such a big trend at the time, and I asked a bunch of pro friends for their feelings about it.

I still think it’s interesting as a history lesson, and I know it had an effect as writers and editors have TOLD me it did.  But I think the trend was already going away at the time of the website, although some writers still use it as a crutch regularly.


Do you still keep in touch with those folks? What’s the consensus between you these days?

A little bit. They were good friends but for the most part we’ve all sort of gone in different directions, and one of the best of us unfortunately passed away far too young. I dedicated an issue of LEGION to him, because he loved the Legion, and created the character of Nightwind. I miss him terribly still.


Your career has taken you through every level of the comic profession worth mentioning. Do you feel the internal politics of the comic profession has changed regarding gender? Do you consider these changes an improvement?

Oh, yeah. I mean, we’re still just inches from the darkness, but I do believe the industry is waking up. I hate to put it this way, but it’s not bitching on websites that will make the most difference. It’s success. As more and more women produce comics and commentary and are successful, by critical and/or commercial standards, that’s going to smash walls faster than any number of things that have been tried in the past. When a woman writes something with the crossover success of, say, SANDMAN, then we’re going to be less like a club run by former fans and more like a genuine, vital medium that reflects the real world.  That’s not to say that bitching on a website isn’t helpful, because it very well can be. But I honestly believe the secret is in great work being produced, work that can’t be marginalized or ignored, because it’s successful, it’s noteworthy.

That said, I was in the DC offices and they have an amazing amount of female editors and are getting more all the time. I talked with Karen Berger and the writer of Plain Janes and several brand spanking new female editors and Jann Jones, and I couldn’t help but feel optimistic for the future of that company, like the expansion into more inclusive comics is right around the corner. And I do believe many of the best commentators on comics right now are women, too many to lists. It’s going to make a difference. I’m hopeful that sites like Girlamatic will also seep into the mainstream consciousness, because they’re doing brilliant work there.


In a fit of madness (or genius), Jim Lee forks over a good amount of startup cash and gives you your own label under DC, to do whatever you want with. How does Gail Simone run her label? What standard practices do you adopt? Which ones do you do away with?

Heh. I actually think something a LITTLE bit like this may be coming true, so I can’t say what it is I would do FIRST. But I’d love to take some forgotten company’s characters, Atlas, maybe, and buy them up and re-invent what a superhero universe could be in today’s vocabulary.


What mark do you hope to leave on the comic field?

I don’t think about that, much, honestly. I just, hmmm. I put a bit of my heart into everything I write. I haven’t learned how to hack out a script because an editor needs something on short notice. If I have an artistic legacy, I hope that shines through a little bit.


What is your greatest, most secret writing ambition?

In comics, I have a small town horror story I’m dying to tell. A novel in the truest sense. Someday.


You’ve kept Bird of Prey going very successfully, how hard is it to leave after being on the book so long?

Darn near unbearable, actually. I turned in my last issue last week and I miss it terribly.


Any BoP story you didn’t get to tell that you were really looking forward to?

Sure, lots. But I did get to have the huge Black Canary arc, almost fifty issues, that I was dying to do. So I’m happy.


Wonder Woman has been everything from the secretary of the JSA to the rebel outcast, what will the Gail Simone Wonder Woman be?

Simply put, the greatest female adventure hero of all time. Period. Not because of me, but because at her core, that’s what she is meant to be.  That’s all there is to it.


What can we expect over the first year of Wonder Woman?

Some unbelievably cool villains, and art by a team that blows almost everything else on the stands out of the water. And a huge statue of Diana with a Khund face on it.


Are there any characters you haven’t had a chance to tackle that you really want to leave a mark on?

I woke up from a dream with the entire plot of a Spider-man arc in my head, encapsulated in three words. I honestly feel like that assignment will be destiny. It will happen. For DC, it’s all about the Marvel family.


Pirate or ninja?

Ninja. I’m kinda pirate-d out.

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