Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

[GailSimone]

So, here’s the deal. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked at Marvel, with two short one-off exceptions. I was under a DC exclusive for a number of years. And the times they asked about me working for them other than those years, I was not available in the timeline necessary.

A lot of people thought there was some animosity there, but there never was. Marvel gave me my first big break, they did a classy thing by letting me come back and finish my Agent X and Deadpool stories, and Joe Quesada has been nothing but kind and decent to me even when I was working exclusively for his biggest competitor.

But this thing with Domino...I can’t explain it. It happened so quickly and so out of nowhere! The editor, whom I didn’t know, asked about my availability, I asked for what book, and he said Domino.

I can’t explain this. I have never written Domino. I had always liked her a great deal, I just found her appealing. But she had never been like, I HAVE TO WRITE DOMINO to me, I just found her interesting.

But when he asked, it was like this weird lightning bolt. I just remembered all her cool qualities and the artwork and stories and cosplayers I had seen, and it just suddenly hit me, like yes, absolutely I HAVE TO WRITE DOMINO.

I wrote him back the next day. I never do that. I said yes before we worked out ANY details. I just had this weird feeling that I was supposed to write Domino, like we were waiting for each other. I know this sounds goofy. But it was definitely the feeling I had. Like this was something I had to do.

And very quickly, she was in my thoughts all the time. I just wanted to take FULL ADVANTAGE of the Marvel Universe, especially all the cool mutants and mercs.

When I was first reading the X-books, there was this outsider feeling, like it was us against the world. It felt like, even though they were popular, they were off to the side, and I felt that as a reader, too. Like, this is my weird family, and I don’t care if they aren’t the Avengers, they’re BETTER than the Avengers.

As the X books grew, they became the inside a little bit. And the weird family feel sort of got pushed to the side a bit, as it increasingly became about cool posing and Wolverine every panel. . I loved that stuff, but I missed the stories that had so much heart and so many weird little connections. I loved the freaks, is what I’m getting at.

What I wanted to do with Domino is bring that feeling. That feeling of, what do you do when you don’t really belong anywhere, and suddenly, you find a place where you DO belong? What do you do when you suddenly have friends who GET what you have been through?

I love that stuff.

So I was on board and wrote the outline and first issue in a fever. We put Dazzler in because OF COURSE.

The best thing was when editor Chris Robinson sent me art pages for David Baldeon. The one thing that was gnawing at me was we originally were going to have to use an artist, a great artist, but one who was totally wrong for the book. That fell through, thankfully, and David came aboard.

David is everything to me on this book, he’s just so perfect. The designs, the action, the brilliant facial expressions and body language. It’s not hype, he’s one of my best collaborations in the fifteen years I have been doing this. Then you put the best colorist I have ever worked with, in Jesus Aburto, on top of that, and you have this book that feels like the best parts of Disneyland, it’s colorful and lively, instead of dreary and drab.

So I felt very blessed the entire time we were putting it together. We all felt we had a special book. Everyone from C.B. Cebulski on down at Marvel had read the script and wrote wonderful notes of support. Marvel did an ad that was hugely flattering to the entire team. Everyone felt we were doing something special.

But you never know. Great books can get ignored, books you hope are special don’t connect, retailers choose not to take a risk, all sorts of bad things happen.

I am happy to say it looks like we have a hit. Retailers told me all day yesterday that hey ordered heavy and still sold out. They told Marvel that people came in to get it who haven’t bought superhero books in years. A BUNCH of stores had to do rush re-orders by the time half of release day had gone by. Reviews are great, reader reaction is great, and we could not be happier.

I really wanted to thank you here at CBR, and I’m writing notes (not this long!) to a few other Domino/X communities for keeping the faith and spreading a hopeful message. I know not everyone was on board, and I am sure not everyone will like Domino as much as we do, but hopefully you know this is a sincere effort, a real attempt by all of us to bring a fun and lively book to the stands, and all of us have put our hearts into it.

Thanks for the kind welcome back, too. A lot of you may know CBR is why I became a writer and why I kept reading comics after I had almost given them up a long time ago. It was a very nice feeeling to come back and try to answer a few questions.

Anyway, we are just getting started. A lot of what is happening has not yet fully been revealed. But I promise a lot of fun, violence, sexy wrongness, and maybe some deep emotions even, you never know.

Just saying thanks. Thanks for supporting me writing Neena, who is now one of my favorite characters ever. I adore her. Thanks to those of you who adored her all along!

[Purplevit]

Thank you for sharing your happiness with us! I wish you a great, fun and successful run on Domino

[BroHomo]

⬆⬆⬆ That is so cool⬆⬆⬆

[Angrel-San]

The Dazzler inclusion is nothing short of genius.

Domino on her own with her connections to the X-Men, Cable, X-Force and Deadpool has a huge network to work with.

Having Dazzler show up and costar in next issue...can't wait!!!

Enjoy the run.

Domino was unexpected (just like Diamondback as well) but the 1st issue was a nice surprise.

[BBeeryan]

So, here’s the deal. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked at Marvel, with two short one-off exceptions. I was under a DC exclusive for a number of years. And the times they asked about me working for them other than those years, I was not available in the timeline necessary.

A lot of people thought there was some animosity there, but there never was. Marvel gave me my first big break, they did a classy thing by letting me come back and finish my Agent X and Deadpool stories, and Joe Quesada has been nothing but kind and decent to me even when I was working exclusively for his biggest competitor.

But this thing with Domino...I can’t explain it. It happened so quickly and so out of nowhere! The editor, whom I didn’t know, asked about my availability, I asked for what book, and he said Domino.

I can’t explain this. I have never written Domino. I had always liked her a great deal, I just found her appealing. But she had never been like, I HAVE TO WRITE DOMINO to me, I just found her interesting.

But when he asked, it was like this weird lightning bolt. I just remembered all her cool qualities and the artwork and stories and cosplayers I had seen, and it just suddenly hit me, like yes, absolutely I HAVE TO WRITE DOMINO.

I wrote him back the next day. I never do that. I said yes before we worked out ANY details. I just had this weird feeling that I was supposed to write Domino, like we were waiting for each other. I know this sounds goofy. But it was definitely the feeling I had. Like this was something I had to do.

And very quickly, she was in my thoughts all the time. I just wanted to take FULL ADVANTAGE of the Marvel Universe, especially all the cool mutants and mercs.

When I was first reading the X-books, there was this outsider feeling, like it was us against the world. It felt like, even though they were popular, they were off to the side, and I felt that as a reader, too. Like, this is my weird family, and I don’t care if they aren’t the Avengers, they’re BETTER than the Avengers.

As the X books grew, they became the inside a little bit. And the weird family feel sort of got pushed to the side a bit, as it increasingly became about cool posing and Wolverine every panel. . I loved that stuff, but I missed the stories that had so much heart and so many weird little connections. I loved the freaks, is what I’m getting at.

What I wanted to do with Domino is bring that feeling. That feeling of, what do you do when you don’t really belong anywhere, and suddenly, you find a place where you DO belong? What do you do when you suddenly have friends who GET what you have been through?

I love that stuff.

So I was on board and wrote the outline and first issue in a fever. We put Dazzler in because OF COURSE.

The best thing was when editor Chris Robinson sent me art pages for David Baldeon. The one thing that was gnawing at me was we originally were going to have to use an artist, a great artist, but one who was totally wrong for the book. That fell through, thankfully, and David came aboard.

David is everything to me on this book, he’s just so perfect. The designs, the action, the brilliant facial expressions and body language. It’s not hype, he’s one of my best collaborations in the fifteen years I have been doing this. Then you put the best colorist I have ever worked with, in Jesus Aburto, on top of that, and you have this book that feels like the best parts of Disneyland, it’s colorful and lively, instead of dreary and drab.

So I felt very blessed the entire time we were putting it together. We all felt we had a special book. Everyone from C.B. Cebulski on down at Marvel had read the script and wrote wonderful notes of support. Marvel did an ad that was hugely flattering to the entire team. Everyone felt we were doing something special.

But you never know. Great books can get ignored, books you hope are special don’t connect, retailers choose not to take a risk, all sorts of bad things happen.

I am happy to say it looks like we have a hit. Retailers told me all day yesterday that hey ordered heavy and still sold out. They told Marvel that people came in to get it who haven’t bought superhero books in years. A BUNCH of stores had to do rush re-orders by the time half of release day had gone by. Reviews are great, reader reaction is great, and we could not be happier.

I really wanted to thank you here at CBR, and I’m writing notes (not this long!) to a few other Domino/X communities for keeping the faith and spreading a hopeful message. I know not everyone was on board, and I am sure not everyone will like Domino as much as we do, but hopefully you know this is a sincere effort, a real attempt by all of us to bring a fun and lively book to the stands, and all of us have put our hearts into it.

Thanks for the kind welcome back, too. A lot of you may know CBR is why I became a writer and why I kept reading comics after I had almost given them up a long time ago. It was a very nice feeeling to come back and try to answer a few questions.

Anyway, we are just getting started. A lot of what is happening has not yet fully been revealed. But I promise a lot of fun, violence, sexy wrongness, and maybe some deep emotions even, you never know.

Just saying thanks. Thanks for supporting me writing Neena, who is now one of my favorite characters ever. I adore her. Thanks to those of you who adored her all along!

I just wanna say that I haven't picked this series up. Domino has a fun look and a cool power, but she just never jumped out at me, really. But after reading this post and witnessing your passion, love and admiration for her character, it makes me really jealous that you haven't been given a Storm series to write. Whether it be a team book or a solo. (I am aware of your work on WW.) I just want to say this post more than anything I've seen of the solo has convinced me to give it a try. Thanks, lady!

[DDM]

I enjoyed the first issue so good job! It was great to see Outback and Diamondback too.

Please do a Psylocke fight in the future!

[cc008]

You have my complete support on Domino, Gail. I adored your Deadpool/Agent X run back in the day and I'm confident this will be a nice addition (while standing out on it's own) to those stories!

[ariwl1]

Congratulations!

[CraigTheCylon]

*is dead from the feels*

I figured if I waited long enough I'd have some greater insight - something poetic - to offer David, Jesus, Clayton and yourself, Gail. It's been a whole day since first reading and I still don't have much beyond a sort of...excited seal noise. Y'know, like MYEEEEERP-ONKA-ONK!

Pretty much the whole reason I ever joined the CBR boards was to spread knowledge of Domino. A whole year and change spent collecting back issues, nights spent over a scanner, absorbing every little mention of note that I could...all that time, I knew how amazing she was, but there's always been that infuriating, cynical monkey on my back hissing about how she'll never really amount too much because she's too '90s, or because she's not made by Saint Claremont, or she's not in been in a movie (see who got the last laugh on THAT, monkey!), or Marvel already do Black Widow comics on the reg and likely class her as 'derivative' to a degree. My negativity trumps my hopes, frequently.

I never prayed for a Domino stand-alone because that was just too damned unlikely, and I sure as hell didn't expect to get a killer creative team I'd be 100% aboard with if the series somehow did happen.

But you know who's got a really good knack for beating the odds...?

This was a big rambling way to say that Domino #1 was everything I wanted and everything I didn't actually know I wanted. It already feels like my favourite book ever. And it's no small comfort to know it's been so much of a joy to create as it is to read.

Y'all rock and thoroughly deserve a victory lap. <3


p.s. don't hurt pip

[Harpsikord]

Love your work, Miss Simone!

[Agatha's Ghost]

AI am extremely happy that you get to write a character you love. I hope that one day you explore how Domino's powers differ -- or are similar to -- the kind of magic that Wanda Maximoff wields or to the abilities of Longshot, which are a mixture of science and magic.

[AbnormallyNormal]

AI am extremely happy that you get to write a character you love. I hope that one day you explore how Domino's powers differ -- or are similar to -- the kind of magic that Wanda Maximoff wields or to the abilities of Longshot, which are a mixture of science and magic.

^ Very good questions for sure as to how Domino's power differs from Longshot's. Wanda's is just their powers inversed though. Although maybe someone could explore the differences in personality and backgrounds among the 3 mutants as partly correlating to differences in their mutant abilities as well.

[DDM]

Longshot’s luck isn’t mutation based.

[AbnormallyNormal]

Longshot’s luck isn’t mutation based.

??? What. I thought it was. I know he also has that really weird mutant ability about like, when he touches inanimate objects he can kind of psychically recall their "history".

And something about he has weird light and durable skeleton as well. Where is Ricochet Rita, the like supreme Longshot expert

Ok just did quick check on wikipedia apparently the distinction between Longshot's powers and Domino's is Longshot needs a "Pure Heart/Motivation" for his to activate properly.

Whereas at least under Simone's rendition, Domino's mutant ability basically operates less successfully if Domino is "overtaxing" it due to her own mistakes

[AcesX1X]

dear gail,

thank you so much for giving us a domino book, but more importantly, thank you for this incredibly warm and heartfull post. your excitement and energy over this is contagious and couldn't be happier for you.

outlaw was a real treat in this issue. her voice was so distinct and genuine, a treat and a half. your take on her kind of reminds me of dolly parton, if you wind the clock back on her a bit and give her superpowers. dolly herself is infectiously joyful as well, so i hope you take that as a high compliment.

really looking forward to more from you and the team on this book. there's a whole world (or marvel universe) for domino to explore and i'm so glad you've found the opportunity to explore it with her.

thank you for including us on your journey