APE IN A CAPE

Guys, About That Anon Post…

Someone asked me what “cisgendered” meant. I knew the answer, but found I didn’t have a decent definition.

So, I used the Wikipedia definition. I am not an expert at all.

An anonymous poster pointed out that the Wikipedia definition sucks, and contends that Wikipedia has some cissexism in its definitions of trans topics.

After reading their post, I believe I see their point, I agreed, deleted the post, and apologized for using a sucky definition from Wikipedia.

That’s all. There is no reason to attack the poster, or cast aspersions, please.

The definition DOES seem to make cissexist assumptions, I had no regrets deleting it.

Just a couple pointless random thoughts. My little town has one department/grocery store. The downside is, we don’t have a lot of selection of anything. The upside is, when we have things like Black Friday or some massive film opening, we have no crowds and it’s easy to get the thing you went looking for. We have people coming here from cities nearby because there’s no lines.

My store got six of the Vita/Call of Duty bundle packs. They sold immediately. I got there late, the guy behind the counter discovered that they had forgotten to put one out and I bought it on impulse.

I was not impressed by the Vita, was not really interested. I think the handheld market seems to be dying. Sony’s problems with the Vita, the relative failure of the 3ds, it just seems people don’t want to carry these things around with them when they already have game-playing phones and ipads.

So I bought it, and I thought I might give it away to someone. But instead, I opened it up and took it for a test run, and I have to say, I might have been wrong.

It’s actually a pretty nifty little system. I haven’t put it down much since I got it.

Okay, the first objection I had was that it LOOKED like a PSP II, and I have never really used my PSP. I have one, have lots of games, never really enjoyed it. The games were mostly mediocre, the UMD storage system blew, it just wasn’t a great system.

But there’s a lot more under the hood. The Vita is playing full-on console games, for one thing. I’m told there are games that you can play on your PS3 and move them to your Vita but I haven’t tried that yet.

Let me list why I am changing my mind.

First, the video and audio seem dead on. And the control system is really comfortable and functional. I was surprised, I forgot I was using a handheld set up after a while, which I never got over on the PSP.

Second, it has apps, lots of free apps like Netflix, Skype, Twitter, and facebook, and they actually work very well.

And third, this is the coolest bit to me, as soon as I got home I realized I had a big library of games to play on the Vita without buying any of them.

It turns out that, if you buy now and have a Playstation Plus account, you get a thing called INSTANT GAME COLLECTION, which means you can download a bunch of high-quality games, the same exact ones that are in the stores right now for 40 bucks each or more. The games include UNCHARTED, WIPEOUT, and GRAVITY RUSH, as well as very cool downloadable games like JET SET RADIO, TALES FROM SPACE: MUTANT BLOCK ATTACK, and FINAL FANTASY TACTICS, all free as soon as you dl them from the story.

It also turns out that most any game or mini-game that you have downloaded from your Playstation Plus account that was PSP compatible is ALSO available for you to download for free.

I have to say, that is pretty impressive, to get a system home and have a ton of games ready to play that I didn’t have to pay for at all.

Finally, it actually FEELS like a game handheld, it doesn’t feel like a delivery system to try to get you to buy stuff (like the Kindle Fire does) and it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be a smart phone with no phone.

I forgot how much more fun a dedicated handheld is at playing most action and adventure games. I love the Ipad for puzzle games and the like, but few ipad games provide a decent twitch response.

There is at least one downside, the memory cards are proprietary and overpriced, which is a little ridiculous.

Other than that, this may be a truly under-rated little system. It’s light, well-designed, plays great, and actually ends up being a good value (if you have Playstation Plus) almost the second you open the box.

Surprised. Didn’t think I’d like it, kinda love it!

Question Of The Day: Reddit

Okay, I am just about as uninformed about this topic as it’s possible to be. I’m not sure I’ve ever even looked at Reddit, let alone explored it.

So I have a few questions…if you use it, what is it you like about it? What do you dislike?

What do you think about the current controversies there regarding free speech vs. racist, homophobic, or otherwise hateful subforums?

I am looking to be informed, I don’t know enough detail to have an opinion worth two beans at this point. So I’d really appreciate hearing from people who know more about it.

A HUGE Thank You To Tumblr!

My friend, the very talented mouth-artist Larime Taylor, had a Kickstarter going for a project he is doing, a comic featuring a young female serial killer.

Larime is severely disabled…he has to draw and write and edit his book using his mouth. Despite what seems like a nearly insurmountable obstacle, he draws like a bandit and his comics are always excellent. As I said before, it’s not just a hobby or a career for him, it’s therapy, it’s an important outlet. And the comics are great, this looks like his best work yet.

He was in the last day of the Kickstarter, the last four hours, in fact, and I asked you guys for help in spreading the word and donating, if possible. In just FOUR HOURS, your ringing that bell brought in almost four thousand dollars, well over twice the total pledge amount he had been asking for originally.

Because of the size of the donations, he has expanded the size and length of the book considerably.

You guys did that, in just four hours. I love it because for all the bullshit about slacktivists and negativity about people on Tumblr, when it came time to put up or shut up, you guys put up.

Freaking awesome. Thank you so, so much.

A Question About Race

A serious question for a change, I think.

My question is, how do you feel about the way race and racism are addressed in your country? Happy to hear from Americans but am very curious to hear how people living in other countries feel about the current political and sociological aspects of their country regarding race.

Do you feel your country as a whole is doing well, fair, or atrociously, do you feel they are making headway, staying the same, or losing ground?

Not making any judgments on this end, just curious to hear since this topic rarely makes it to the American media in any serious way. Please remember to include the country you are talking about in your response, if you don’t mind!

Thank you!

Just Got The Full Pages To Batgirl 14

The finale to the Knightfall story.

Wow.

I am not kidding, it is STUNNING. The art is just remarkable. It is intense and brutal.

I am absolutely thrilled. I would kill to have these pages in my home.

WOW.

I Have Come To A Conclusion!

Most people are great, but some people are jerks.

Thank you, this has been my conclusion.

Batgirl As Gay Icon?

http://www.comicbookbin.com/Batgirl_Gay_Icon001.html

Very interesting and thoughtful article. Lot to think about there for me.

A Discouraging Year So Far…

It seems like the worst year in a while for the causes I believe in, and we’re only three months in.

A record number of increasingly hysterical bills are coming before various state congresses that limit women’s rights over their own bodies, some actually allowing doctors to lie to their patients, others actually endangering women’s lives. Some are purely vindictive and punitive, and worse, many of the worst of these bills are passing. Planned Parenthood, which is one of the only healthcare options available to marginalized and underprivileged women, is being attacked and unfunded all over the country.

As it is an election year, we have some frontrunners that seem to be playing a game of, ‘who hates gay people more?’ And increasingly, no one seems to be holding them accountable for it, for trying to vilify American citizens. Insane laws designed to reduce lgbtq people to non-human status have passed in several states, with no corresponding outrage from the general population. And violence again lgbtq folk is treated as a lesser crime, even as a defense in some cases.

And it’s already been a year of shocking violence against and demonization of people of color, often with the eager support of the police and the media, while a clearly different legal standard is applied to those who abuse, and even murder, people of color. Meanwhile, every social ill is laid at their feet by increasingly shameless politicians. Tacit and overt racism is forgiven without apology or consequence, over and over.

I don’t know what the hell is going on, it feels like we’re going backwards.

We do have these social network tools, that’s a hopeful thing. They have helped bring down governments, they can help keep the pressure on the bad guys.

Thank you to those people on Tumblr and other social networks who have been doing the job the networks and newspapers have not. Thank you to those of you who have kept up the thankless job of exposing these people and keeping the names of both the victims and the victimizers in the public eye. We should remember the first fondly, and make sure the second remember us a good deal LESS so.

So thank you for being a hopeful spot in a bleak time.

Wonder Woman Documentary

Hi Gail,
I just wanted to drop you a quick note about the documentary “Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines” and say hello. You were interviewed for the movie as was my daughter, Katie. (She seems to be the darling of the show according to the reviews.) We attended the world premier at SXSW last weekend and we loved it! I don’t know if you had a chance to see the final edit but I would love to hear what you think about it.
Best,
Juan

— turtlestampede

***********************

Oh, man, that was your daughter? We saw extended clips of the film at Geek Girl Con and that little girl absolutely brought down the house. Please tell her I said I am a huge fan of hers!

I enjoyed what I saw quite a lot, it seemed remarkably smart and focused, and highly entertaining. Some of my friends in the industry had really bright things to say. I haven’t seen my segment yet, I was incredibly distracted at the time and suspect I wasn’t as wonderful as the other commentators.

A Goofy Problem To Have

Okay, I’m going to be at a couple of lovely stores in Florida for Free Comic Book Day (Hello, Yancy Street Comics! Hello, Heroes Landing!).

I’m excited. I’ve only been to one comic-related event in Florida and it was at a college, so I’ve never really gotten to meet the readers in that area. Can’t wait!

Some of you may know, I am a ridiculous theme park nerd, I love them. And we are going to add a theme park visit of a couple days, either at Universal Studios Florida, or at Walt Disney World.

This is the problem. We have maybe three days.

I’ve been to WDW twice, loved it love it loved it, but it’s been a few years. They’ve added some new stuff, I’m told. And I love the parks to pieces, and the Typhoon Lagoon is a fun day there, as well. Upside, they have a few new things since we were there, especially at WDW Studios park. Downside, we were just at Disneyland a few months ago, so the Magic Kingdom isn’t such a huge deal anyway (it’s my least favorite of the four parks in WDW, in any case, I much prefer Anaheim Disneyland).

I’ve been to Universal Florida only once, but we LOVED it, had a great time there as well. Upside, we haven’t been to Harry Potter’s land there yet. Downside, we were just at the Universal park in Hollywood recently, a few months ago, and much of the Studios park is a duplicate (Islands of Adventure isn’t, obviously).

We enjoy the resort hotels at both places. The food is better at WDW in general, but Emiral has two excellent restaurants on the Universal resort, one of which is really amazing. Disney World has Boma, an African restaurant and our favorite place to eat at WDW.

So I have to choose, and soon.

Any thoughts or suggestions? And yes, I apologize for such a goofy, non-problem question like this, but I really am having a hard time deciding!

APE IN A CAPE: Oh. My. God.

kaerya:

gailsimone:

valerie-renee:

gailsimone:

[cut for length and relevance]

It was so thoughtful, and the questions afterwards were so smart…I love this con, it’s just amazing. I hope there are more like it, soon. It’s an astounding creative success. I hope it’s a commercial one, as well.

The discussion after was brief, they kicked us out for time.

The only real complaint about the books that we heard (and again, the discussion was short, there may have been more with time), was from a very smart woman who sat right behind me (I didn’t make my presence known, I just wanted to sit in to support scholarly discussion of comics), who felt that Scandal telling her father, Vandal Savage, that she would not give him a true heir, was giving the message that lesbians don’t want to have families, or are anti-childbearing.

It’s an interesting point, I think it’s a fair observation to make—I will have to reread the scene because I’m pretty sure that Scandal just objects to Vandal’s manipulations, not the IDEA of childbearing.

I can see where someone would come to this conclusion, especially if they take Scandal’s flippant remarks to her father out of context:

She had a few of these little outbursts, making it seem like having a child would be the worst possible thing she could imagine. At one point, she told her father she’d rather die than continue his (their) legacy.

Of course, if you read the whole book, it’s very clear that Scandal is most vehemently opposed to the force that’s being used against her, and many of the things she says, above example included, are to make a point, and get under Vandal’s skin.

But, I still think it’s valid to say that Scandal is opposed to having kids. At the end of that book, she talks about getting her tubes tied, like it’s an easy way to be permanently rid of a pesky problem. She goes on to say that people who lead her kind of life don’t make good parents.

But she’s not talking about being gay, she’s talking about being a villian-for-hire. So yes, I get the sense that Scandal never wants to have kids, but I never really tied that in to the fact that she’s gay. I think the two just happen to mutually coexist.

Those are really good points. I realize intent is always a tricky issue, but my feeling at the time was that the ‘tubal’ comment was her last way of saying FUCK YOU to her father and his plans to dominate her life.

Also, I didn’t write that top panel, that was Paul Cornell.

I think you make a good case. I can see now what the woman in the panel was talking about.

I think Scandal would make a lovely mom. As an adopted kid myself and a foster parent, it’s important to remember that there are LOTS of ways to have kids, not all of which would satisfy Vandal’s desires. She could certainly adopt.

Agreed with the above, but I also want to point out that in addition to the original commenter’s issue, another stereotype that tends to crop with lesbians is that, even though they’re gay, they’re still women so of course they want to have children. Which is a whole nother kettle of problematic fish. So coming from that perspective, I really quite enjoyed reading about Scandal not wanting kids. Even if it was a context based decision.

But yeah, while I think the context for this makes Scandal’s reasons very clear, it also creates so associations, by proximity if not by semantics, that are a little uncomfortable in their implications.

Which obviously just means we need tons more LGBTQ heroes, so that the whole spectrum of emotions on the topic can be shown off. XD

That’s also a great point, and you’re right, we see that presented as cliche quite often, which is seemingly trying to indicate that the lesbian character feels incomplete somehow, like they feel they have to make some sort of substitution for a life they would have had if they were a straight wife and mom, which, agreed, is all bullshit.

The lady in question felt it was tone-deaf because she had been aware of a lot of gay parenting blogs, which is a fair point, but doesn’t necessarily apply to every gay character.

You’re right, Dwayne McDuffie talked about this—if you have one black character, that character tends to have to represent all black characters. So the idea is to have more, lots more diversity. The default for almost everything still seems solidly cis-gendered, straight, white, male and able-bodied. We can do better than that.

APE IN A CAPE: Oh. My. God.

valerie-renee:

gailsimone:

[cut for length and relevance]

It was so thoughtful, and the questions afterwards were so smart…I love this con, it’s just amazing. I hope there are more like it, soon. It’s an astounding creative success. I hope it’s a commercial one, as well.

The discussion after was brief, they kicked us out for time.

The only real complaint about the books that we heard (and again, the discussion was short, there may have been more with time), was from a very smart woman who sat right behind me (I didn’t make my presence known, I just wanted to sit in to support scholarly discussion of comics), who felt that Scandal telling her father, Vandal Savage, that she would not give him a true heir, was giving the message that lesbians don’t want to have families, or are anti-childbearing.

It’s an interesting point, I think it’s a fair observation to make—I will have to reread the scene because I’m pretty sure that Scandal just objects to Vandal’s manipulations, not the IDEA of childbearing.

I can see where someone would come to this conclusion, especially if they take Scandal’s flippant remarks to her father out of context:

She had a few of these little outbursts, making it seem like having a child would be the worst possible thing she could imagine. At one point, she told her father she’d rather die than continue his (their) legacy.

Of course, if you read the whole book, it’s very clear that Scandal is most vehemently opposed to the force that’s being used against her, and many of the things she says, above example included, are to make a point, and get under Vandal’s skin.

But, I still think it’s valid to say that Scandal is opposed to having kids. At the end of that book, she talks about getting her tubes tied, like it’s an easy way to be permanently rid of a pesky problem. She goes on to say that people who lead her kind of life don’t make good parents.

But she’s not talking about being gay, she’s talking about being a villian-for-hire. So yes, I get the sense that Scandal never wants to have kids, but I never really tied that in to the fact that she’s gay. I think the two just happen to mutually coexist.

Those are really good points. I realize intent is always a tricky issue, but my feeling at the time was that the ‘tubal’ comment was her last way of saying FUCK YOU to her father and his plans to dominate her life.

Also, I didn’t write that top panel, that was Paul Cornell.

I think you make a good case. I can see now what the woman in the panel was talking about.

I think Scandal would make a lovely mom. As an adopted kid myself and a foster parent, it’s important to remember that there are LOTS of ways to have kids, not all of which would satisfy Vandal’s desires. She could certainly adopt.

ealperin:

Look at what I got over the week! ^_^

Review is coming up shortly! Just need to find an awesome pic! ^_^

This picture is ALREADY the most awesome thing ever!

My Special Yell Thing: gailsimone: My Special Yell Thing: So, apparently Catman’s bi. Yay for...

bitchbehindthemask:

gailsimone:

gailsimone:

My Special Yell Thing: So, apparently Catman’s bi. Yay for him, and for bi readers now…

thenakedlibrarianontheroof:

The one thing I still disagree with is Scandal. I still don’t see how showing her love life and sex life is really a problem…we didn’t show her as pandering to the male gaze, her relationships with Kay and Liana were never about the straight male gaze in any particular sense. It was just that she was the romantic of the group. She says she’s gay explicitly twice, I think, the rest is just story and her character, and I think many of her most memorable moments are non-romantic, such as her relationship with Bane.

I guess that bit puzzles me a little, to be honest. I agree that it would have been nice to see more of Creote and Savant together on panel, even as supporting characters, but I’m not sure I see what having Scandal’s romantic life getting less screen time would do that’s positive.

As part of that, I also disagree a little that we haven’t been reminded of other sixers’ sexuality, even if they didn’t have as much of a romantic turn as Scandal. Floyd’s heterosexuality came up often, as did Bane’s desire for Spencer.

The odd thing for me, and this isn’t about your post, but, man, since this book started, I’ve been hearing about the clear romantic vibe between Floyd and Blake, just endlessly. I found it all charming and amusing, I never denied it, it’s mentioned in many, maybe most of the reviews and commentaries. I don’t think ‘bromance’ covers it…it’s clear that Floyd and Blake care more about each other than they are comfortable admitting and sometimes, they seem almost obsessed with each other. I think that subtext has always been there like a neon sign…but Black and Lawton aren’t really any good about talking about their feelings, and Blake, who is the superhothot dude of the group, has never really expressed much in the way of his feelings sexually in the book for ANYONE but Huntress, so she is looming large in his sex life, which excludes others. Jeannette is in the same boat—she’s bisexual, but her obsession right now is Floyd. But she TALKS more about what she wants than Blake, so we at least had oblique reference to her openness to relationships with other women (which we see in her hatred/attraction with Amazons).

I talked about Deadshot’s reaction if Blake had come out to him on another thread—my initial thought was, yeah, Lawton would probably have some shock. Then I thought, no no no, it’s much more Lawton if he already knows and could not care less. It’s not that he’s so enlightened, it’s that he genuinely doesn’t give a shit what other people do because he’s not a hypocrite. Of all the Six, Blake is probably the one least likely to show his feelings, even more so than Lawton. I always felt the ‘Secret’ Six meant secret as in personal, not secret as in covert.

My opinion is that Blake is fired by an animal impulse, he wants what he wants, he doesn’t care what Lawton or anyone else things, and when someone gives off the scent, he responds in an animal way. His feelings for Huntress hurt and confuse him, they take him out of his own control. He doesn’t like it, he resents it. But he still pursues it.

This is starting to sound a little inside, but that was the approach I had for the characters. I don’t know if it’s obvious but I MISS WRITING THE SECRET SIX. :)

Anyway, fun comments, thank you for giving me the opportunity to present what was in my head at the time. I agree, again, with the idea that it would have been lovely to show Creote and Savant in their downtime. And you’re right, they did become very popular supporting characters…Savant was originally supposed to die in the first arc he appeared in but he immediately struck a chord and Creote followed soon after. The dichotomy was that giving two guys lots of page time in the ONLY successful female team superhero book in DC and Marvel history seemed like it would be doing a disservice to the core team, as well. The perils of a team book are always about balance and panel time!

WAIT..JEANNETTE IS BI?!!!!! love love love love love!

Absolutely she is…I feel a bit weird here because I thought I’d been pretty clear about that in the scripts, especially when she’s facing Artemis and Diana.

The backstory is that she and Scandal were lovers in a Russian gulag, but decided they are better as friends.