GAIL SIMONE

'Gail Simone' is an American writer of comic books. Best known for DC's ''Birds of Prey'', she is the writer of ''Welcome to Tranquility'', ''All-New Atom'' and will soon become the writer of ''Wonder Woman''. Simone is also the writer of DC's 2005 ''Villains United'' limited series (part of the lead-in to ''Infinite Crisis''), and its spin-off, the limited series ''Secret Six''. Other work by Simone includes a run on the Superman title ''Action Comics'', a brief stint on ''The Legion'', and a ''Rose and Thorn'' limited series at DC Comics. For Oni Press, Simone wrote ''Killer Princesses'' with co-creator and artist Lea Hernandez, ''Gus Beezer'' specials for Marvel Comics, and a recently-announced revival of ''Gen¹³'' for Wildstorm.
Simone has gained a reputation for being a gifted comedy-action writer, especially showcased in her mainstream work on ''Deadpool'' and ''Birds of Prey''.

Contents

Early work

Mainstream

Other media

References

External links

Early work

Simone first came to fan attention with her Web site ''Women in Refrigerators'',^[1] listing the many instances in which female comic book characters were the victims of violent attacks on their womanhood (rape, miscarriage, murder) or whose attacks were used as a plot device for a male character. The site brought her into contact with many people working in the comics industry. Her popular humor column ''You'll All Be Sorry!'' appeared weekly on Comic Book Resources. Topics ranged from short, satirical of comic book summaries ("Condensed Comic Classics") to fan fiction parodies.
Simone worked for Bongo Comics, scripting many of their comics based on ''The Simpsons''. Her contributions include stories for ''Simpsons Comics'', an annual ''Treehouse of Horror'' special, and regular scripts for ''Bart Simpson Comics''. Simone also penned many Sunday strips for the syndicated ''Simpsons'' comic strip.

Mainstream

Following her ''Simpsons'' work, Simone entered the comics mainstream with a run on Marvel Comics' ''Deadpool''. In addition to ''Deadpool'', Simone ghost wrote for Bill Jemas during his tenure at Marvel, according to her blog ''Bloodstains on the Looking Glass''.^[2] Although she does not specify the titles, she denies that ''Marville'' is one.^[3] When ''Deadpool'' was canceled and relaunched as ''Agent X'', Simone continued as writer but eventually left the series after a conflict with the series' editor. In her absence, the series floundered, and Simone was asked to pen a concluding arc to ''Agent X'' some months after the series' cancellation.
After the dispute with Marvel, Simone moved on to DC Comics, where she was given the ''Birds of Prey'' title (beginning with issue #56) featuring the all-female group consisting of Oracle, Black Canary, The Huntress and Lady Blackhawk. Though humorous at times, ''Birds of Prey'' tends more to the serious than her ''Deadpool'' work.
Simone took over ''Action Comics'' after writer Chuck Austen, with John Byrne penciling. Simone continued her other projects, including the 2005 ''Villains United'' limited series - part of the "Infinite Crisis" crossover - in which she revitalized the Catman character. She also wrote a two-issue story arc that focused on the new Hawk & Dove for the third ''Teen Titans'' series, with Rob Liefeld penciling. While Simone maintained her usual enthusiastic stance, fandom was quick to lambast the promotional art Liefeld produced in tandem with the PR announcement.^[4] The controversy lay with Liefeld more than with Simone, a situation Simone acknowledged on the DC Comics message boards^[5] soon after the first Simone/Liefeld issue reached stores.
As of June 2006, Simone is writing a ''Secret Six'' limited series. Simone is writing an ''Atom'' series, based on ideas by Grant Morrison and penciled by her ''Action Comics'' artist John Byrne. She is also working on a ''Gen¹³'' series and a creator-owned project, ''Welcome to Tranquility'', for Wildstorm.
On April 12th 2007, Gail was officially announced to be the new regular writer of the third volume of ''Wonder Woman'', first scheduled to start from issue 13 but later changed to issue 14 onward. ^{[6] [7]}

Other media

Simone penned the ''Justice League Unlimited'' episode "Double Date", which features Question, Huntress, Green Arrow and Black Canary in a romantic adventure tinged with revenge and jealousy. Originally, Simone wrote the episode to feature Batgirl Barbara Gordon. After Gordon is injured while working a case, Batman forbids her from continuing. She reinvents herself as Oracle and contacts Black Canary and the Huntress to finish the case. Neither heroine meets Gordon in person. Due to the Bat Embargo, Simone replaced Batgirl with Green Arrow and The Question. Simone stated that she was interested in working on the show again, having in mind a "Queen of Fables" story which she felt would look good animated. ^[8]
In August 2007, Simone created and wrote an episode of GameTap's , entitled "Pre-Teen Raider."^[9]

References

1. Women in Refrigerators
2. Bloodstains on the Looking Glass
3. Was I Bill Jemas' Ghost Writer?
4. Newsarama
5. DC Comics message boards
6. GAIL SIMONE NAMED NEW WONDER WOMAN WRITER
7. Simon's Wonder Woman Debut Pushed Back a Month
8. "Double Date"
9. Pre-Teen Raider: Interview With Writer Gail Simone

External links

★ The ''Action Comics'' controversy (scroll to Tuesday, June 14, 2005)

★ Interview with Silver Bullet Comicbooks

★ The 'You'll All Be Sorry!' archives

★ The Simone Index

★ Bloodstains on the Looking Glass Gail Simone's blog.

★ Gail Simone Interview