Interview with Wonder Woman's Gail Simone: Part 1

Gotta love Gail! I am so happy she was asked to take over Wonder Woman! What a talent!!

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^_^ tomoz is comic book wednesday. I think joss would be the best person to helm a wonder woman flick, I read and love the comic, and I cant imagine anyone else doing justice to WW. Loved the interview!

Thanks Sarah, this interview is wonderful! I've been a fan of Gail Simone for a LONG time now.

I love her work, but I have to say, I do really appreciate her change of heart when it comes to feminist material in the WW film (which I saw and really enjoyed). If the film had been all overt stuff it would have been preachy, but if it had been covert, I think a lot of it would have been lost on its audience, so I really like that BOTH forms of feminism were included.

Because she's completely right, there are a LOT of people out there that don't get the basic stuff, that's don't really understand why holding doors open for women, why guys paying for dinner, why women being thought to be naturally physically weak, are all wrong, and really DO need the overt stuff, the stuff that had been thought to be settled a long time ago, in order to be educated.

I love that she rethought that and came to the correct position ... validates how much I love her as a writer.

Sarah 

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http://kiwi-grrl.livejournal.com/

solid interview pt1
gail simone and wonder woman rock!

Many thanks to both parties for this: like others, I am a huge fan.

"Seeing a woman as powerful as Wonder Woman debating things like guys opening doors for women seems a little like it's lowering her, that she's stooping."

This and the comment at the start, on Wonder Woman's role and goals as a warrior and, specifically, the scene she created where Diana allows herself to become the battered object of her opponents rage, only to then hold out her hand to him, are what make Gail Simone so good with the character.

Wonder Woman, in these moments, challenges the reader to something better and different in their expectations. Even when part of me is dying to hear her become an outspoken champion of LGBT issues, among other things, in Gail's Hand's she reminds me that there is something beyond the battle we must not lose sight of.

She refuses to spell out what we should know and shows us instead, by example, through her actions. She does not preach or follow an abstract code, she teaches responsibility, requires us to understand others.

She, at her best, is the example of what comes after the childlike idealism of Superman and the teenage cynicism of Batman.

Gail Simone should have a statue erected in her honour she's awesome. I love her Secret Six and was thrilled when they came back. She's a great writer I haven't come across anything that I disliked. Though I was a bit worried about where the Wonder Woman v Cactus Girl recent story was going...it was a Cactus Woman!! Her Wonder Woman though is one of the few consistently good and enjoyable reads coming from DC lately.

I wish we could of gotten more Welcome to Tranquility, seems whenever you come across something you like it doesn't last long.

Thanks for the interview Gail and AE!

"Wonder Woman could have a movie where she sits in a chair eating peanut butter and it'd still be better than Catwoman and Elektra." hahaha :)

 i would love to see another WW movie or anything really that has Gail Simone on the writing staff. can't wait for part2!!

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We Want Revolution Grrrl Style Now! -BIKINI KILL 

I am a BIG fan of Simone's.  I got back into comics about 3 years ago and it was her portrayal of the BoP that was a big part of that.  I was very excited when she took over WW, but hated that she left BoP.

I wish that there were more female writers of Simone's talent in the industry.  There are so many good female characters out there in the comicsverse, and they have storiesto tell that are just as riviting as RIP, Final Crisis, Dark Reign, etc.

I believe the genre needs more female characters who are strong and empowered.  There are far too many who are mere sex objects, victims, and stereotypical minxes.

I have to respectfully disagree on the Catwoman flick though.  Catwoman is an awesome character.  I love what Brubaker did with her while he was on the book.  It's too bad the movie didn't follow Brubaker and Cooke's style.  I'm still waiting for the real Catwoman movie to emerge.

First of all, how much do I love the line about Wonder Women eating peanut butter? Those of us who want to see strong women in movies want to see strong women in GOOD movies, and too many people try to force us to choose one or the other.

Second, I think her point about where we are in discussions of feminism is right on target--there are so many people (*raises hand*) who are tired of having to have the same basic conversations about why working for women's equality is not the same as hating men, and about small gestures reaffirming inequality adding up to a poisonous whole. And then there are many people, of various genders and ages, who still need to have those conversations.

Although from the way she tells the story, it sounds like the guys who rewrote the script might have been uncomfortable with her more subtle and up-to-date approach, and wanted the storyline to revolve around old-school 70s ideas so it would be less threatening.

I must go out and find some Gail Simone comics ASAP.

What a cool interview, and seeing as Wonder Woman is my least favourite Gail Simone comic, I'm very much looking forward to the next part. Hopefully she'll discuss Secret Six as well as Birds of Prey. The latter has been sub-par since she left, no wonder it's getting the chop... The Batwoman series discussion should be interesting too - I was expecting that 2 years ago when Devin Grayson was still pushing it. But then DC can be rather fickle with their loyalty on projects, especially when Devin is attached to them...

By the way, I would say there are plenty of good female writers/artists in the comic industry, but they just don't feature all that much within DCU and Marvel. Possibly because of the dominance of the superhero genre and the culture of it being a ''male interest'', and possibly because of the editor power within those two publishing houses. For instance, Alex de Campi is one of the best writers I've read, with no real aversion to the superhero genre, but she felt she didn't 'connect' with the powers that be at 'the big two'. I wouldn't be surprised if others share a similar view.

Really nice to see an interview with Gail Simone, like most commentors I've been a big fan for a long time.

I hadn't paid too much attention to Wonder Woman, as I've not been a big fan, but I feel more inspired to give it a read now. On Scans_Daily the "When Wondy was Awesome" leadup before Gail's run looked quite interesting, so I'm sold.

Can't wait for part two, I love BoP and Batwoman, hope Secret Six gets a good mention.

www.myspace.com/lunakiss7.com

Thanks for the 411! on Wonder Woman. I'll be waiting on Part II

  This picture is actress Paula Patton, the R&B/Soul RobinThicke's  of this interview.wife. She played in Deja Vu,Idelwild and Rush Hour 3. So it's not me.

I am amazed at the people you get to interview Sarah. Can't wait for part 2. I love it when AfterEllen caters to the geeky nerdy crowd.

While we wait for Batman XXII and Superman XVI, it seems impossible that Wonder Woman hasn't had her string of films too.

3 main obstacles for a WW film: sexism, size-ism and a bit of xenophobia. A big tall light-brown black-haired feminist amazonian Greek warrior who worships many goddesses and who comes from an island of warrior women - well, that's just illegal in Hollywood. Tssk! Nincompoops!

http://geekygaygal.blogspot.com/