WW '08 - The Gail Simone Era General Discussion

[ComixGail]

Despite its flaws (and what run doesn't have any flaws?), Gail Simone's WW voice is one of my top three favorites (in no particular order: Perez, Simone, Marston). Bar none.
I have always wanted for Simone to do some sort of WW Origin story today, unencumbered by her inheriting anybody else's continuity messes or mandated canonical details.
My perfect-world pairing with Simone writing would be Amanda Conner illustrating (while Marc Andreyko and Jesús Saiz write/draw a Helena Wayne Earth 2 Huntress back up).
A person can dream.

I would write just about anything for Amanda to draw. Love her.

[Vordan]

Aw, I'm sorry you didn't love it, but I appreciate the kind words from all of you!

I liked the Gorilla Knights, I get how they wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. The idea was to incorporate all eras of Wonder Woman, like many readers,
it drove me bonkers how every new writer threw out the previous stuff. So I wanted to say, it all happened, if you liked a story, it happened. And the early
WW had a lot of absurdist stuff, so that was my tip of the tiara to that era.

Since my time on WW is long gone, I am happy to answer questions here about it, if you like. OR if it feels intrusive, I can start a different thread. Whatever works for everyone!

Hey Gail, cool of you to show up here. Hope the X-Fans don’t drive you off and that you’re having fun doing whatever it is you’re doing for Marvel which definitely isn’t X-Men lol.

1. How heavy was the editorial interference of the era? You don’t have to name names (although I suspect everyone you worked under at DC is gone thanks to the recent Bloodbath), but was WW a book that came with a ton of editorial demands, or was it one of those books where nobody in power cared, so they just went “we gotta put a book out, give it to Simone she can do whatever.”?
2. Any Wondy villains you wanted to get to but weren’t able to?
3. This is more of a general Wondy question but how old do you think Diana is? Is she 1000s of years old, or did Hippolyta have her around the same time Clark and Bruce were born? Do you prefer her debuting in the modern day or showing up in WW1/2 and disappearing again before resuming heroics in the modern age?
4. You made your feelings regarding Diana’s attitude to lethal force clear with that great Amazon quote about “don’t raise a hand before you’ve extended it”, but does *your* Diana have a hard rule against killing or is it more “only as a last resort”?
5. Who’s Diana’s archnemesis in your opinion? Who is her greatest villain, the one you see standing above the rest like Lex and Joker? It’s traditionally been Cheetah but Circe is my personal fave for that role.

[ducklord]

Also, I designed the costume, so that's not Aaron's fault. AND I designed it using character options from City of Heroes!

A) The character creation set-up on CoH was insanely great.
B) Now that you've said it, I can totally see it.

[I'm a Fish]

I haven’t read the full run cover to cover but I like the team-ups with Powergirl and Black Canary. They were fun. I feel like Wonder Woman almost never get to team up with non-Wonder Girl superheroes (and even then that has been few and far between until as of late). And the Justice League feels like it doesn’t count because it’s just her half the time and the other half it’s her and one other woman sooo.

Also the artwork was always top notch.

[SiegePerilous02]

Aw, I'm sorry you didn't love it, but I appreciate the kind words from all of you!

I liked the Gorilla Knights, I get how they wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. The idea was to incorporate all eras of Wonder Woman, like many readers,
it drove me bonkers how every new writer threw out the previous stuff. So I wanted to say, it all happened, if you liked a story, it happened. And the early
WW had a lot of absurdist stuff, so that was my tip of the tiara to that era.

Since my time on WW is long gone, I am happy to answer questions here about it, if you like. OR if it feels intrusive, I can start a different thread. Whatever works for everyone!

Hey Gail!

Before you were taken off the book, did you have any ideas for other old villains to be brought in? I thought I remember reading somewhere that you had plans for Dr. Cyber and Dr. Poison, but I may have imagined it.

[Gaius]

Fair about Genocide, that arc was NOT supposed to be quite so long. I think she's a good kind of villain for Diana to have, someone who is just a machine of chaos and pain, without the cunning of a lot of her other foes. But there was a mix-up in editorial, and they asked me to spend more time on the island, which I am absolutely positive they did not think through. I had time to plot to make it at least fit the pages, but I think it would have had more impact with a little less space. Also, I designed the costume, so that's not Aaron's fault. AND I designed it using character options from City of Heroes!

That's really cool, I think Aaron Lopresti is a really underrated WW artist.

[HestiasHearth]

I think [Genocide is] a good kind of villain for Diana to have, someone who is just a machine of chaos and pain, without the cunning of a lot of her other foes.

I was not a huge fan of Genocide at first, but I have grown to love what she brings to the table. I also love that she is an unstoppable tornado of destruction that can go mano a mano with Diana, and I would love to see her return.

[Largo161]

I haven’t read the run since the original publication. A lot of it has faded into the mists. LOL That’s not a reflection of the work, but I find now that I’m…of a certain age I don’t remember the specifics of comic runs like I used to.

I will say with my chest, though, that The Circle was a terrific opening arc.

ETA: Oh, and Ms. Simone, aren’t you the one responsible for WW getting her own forum on this site?

[Stanlos]

It is oh so sad her run was riddled with the DiDidiocy's BS. That Amazons Attack and Granny effin Goodness defeats Olympus shite is unforgivable. I guess she gets kudos for trying to take the high road and acknowledge that giant poo poo platter, but it definitely hampered the run a bit.

My favorite element of her run was the 5 Questions With series of interviews with vatious creators on WW

[The I.A.D.C.]

I enjoyed that 5 Questions series as well. Especially the ones with Dan Mishkin and Martin Pasko because Bronze Age WW doesn't get talked about much. DC acknowledges the Golden Age, the mod Diana Prince era and then skips straight to Perez.

Have you all seen the announcement for the new reprint line - DC Finest - that's supposed to launch in November? Apparently, it's supposed to be DC's version of Marvel's Epic series. The first WW volume is supposed to the Gail's run.

[ComixGail]

Keep forgetting actual writers/artists actually post here on this site.


Hope you don't mind me asking but your revamp of Silver Serpent near the end of your run has me wondering if there was any other overlooked/forgotten WW villains you wanted to tackle.

I think we wanted to use Doctor Poison for something, but I don't recall. I also wanted to use the original Shaggy Man, even though he's not a WW villain!

[ComixGail]

Love that you're here! I think this would be the perfect place for questions as we discuss your run

I'm in! Thanks for the welcome!

[ComixGail]

Oh sweet! One element I was kinda confused on during your delightful run is how after promising Pele to make right Zeus' actions in murdering Kane Milohai....That plotline kinda just dropped and later Zeus would decide to just tour outer space. Was there more planned to this, or was there subtext I missed if I might ask?

I don't recall immediately, but I sadly suspect it got dropped for space due to the guy coming in to take the book over. It's a shame, I really liked Pele and Kane a lot, and was looking forward to Diana wearing a Polynesian-inspired costume for a while!

[ComixGail]

I think it's allways easy to go quick and fast and just pretend like the previous run didn't happen at all, but it actually requires some goddamn bravery to take the title after one of her worst moments and go like "Im going to fix this"

I have to re-read the run since I recently got the flashy omnibus (which you'll be able to buy from me from my cold dead hands) but I remember it as a fun adventure.

Usually I can't stop comparing the three golden age runs: Jimenez, Rucka, and Simone. I think Jimenez nailed the lorebuilding, Rucka nailed the message, but Gail Simone nailed Wonder Woman, or better said than ever, Diana. Under Simone's pen Wonder Woman makes jokes, gets serious when the job needs to be done, gets "wtf" reactions when seeing sex dolls of herself... she's fun, she's complex, but most of all, Simone's Diana is the version of the character that feels the most human to me

Don't get me wrong, her WW is still THE superheroinest. When she enters a room filled by an army of nazis, you know from second 0 that those fuckers don't stand a chance. But while she's at it she's having emotions on herself, both aspects allways compatible. Gail Simone's Wonder Woman is a character that will offer you her hands whenever she cans, but if ou come to punch her be prepared for your career to end there.

And also, you can never go wrong with elite nina talking gorillas.

Thank you! One thing that has happened a LOT, and I want to be clear that I don't blame them at all, but I find that guy writers seem to worry a LOT about making
Diana anything but a perfect flawless character. A few make her the opposite, sort of a terrible person inside and out, which is another problem entirely. But most seem
to worry about feedback if they show Diana as more human, more flawed.

Even some of the best writers seem to make her an ice queen, because making her make mistakes and have less-than-noble emotions at times is going to get some
pushback from some fans.

I have found, to some degree, that female writers seem to inherently embrace her being more human and more flawed. I think we feel we have more license to do that
than guy writers. I'm not saying it's fair, but it does seem to be the pattern. There are exceptions in both directions. Sometimes you can see that a writer, whatever their
gender, just plain doesn't like Diana and it shows.

For me, I love her, but I never wanted her to be cold. As I said often, Amazon blood runs hot. I like a Wonder Woman who is compassionate always, but is perfectly capable
of surrendering to fury if necessary.

[Stanlos]

I enjoyed that 5 Questions series as well. Especially the ones with Dan Mishkin and Martin Pasko because Bronze Age WW doesn't get talked about much. DC acknowledges the Golden Age, the mod Diana Prince era and then skips straight to Perez.

Have you all seen the announcement for the new reprint line - DC Finest - that's supposed to launch in November? Apparently, it's supposed to be DC's version of Marvel's Epic series. The first WW volume is supposed to the Gail's run.

Mmmmuhuhahahahahaaaaaa! Dey sheeyell be mine! Und den eh sheeeyell tek oooooovah ze voild!!!!