The All New Ask Gail Thread

[sk716]

Previous Ask Gail thread. Moving posts of answered question to this thread to alleviate confusion. Unanswered questions will remain in this thread.
The FAQ Thread. Please Read before posting a question.

Things got a little confusing in the previous incarnation, so we're going back to doing this the way I had intended to do it. Only a few questions at a time. I'll give it 5 questions and then lock the thread up until Gail answers them. I'll also take some time to work on that FAQ thread.

No, really, I will this time.

Anyway, five questions . . . GO!

[Gail Simone]

What's the correct pronunciation of 'Simone?'

Sih-MOAN.

[Gail Simone]

I'll ask what got buried in a thread I started last week.

In the Pro2Pro interview that Gail did with "BackIssue" (which I loved, by the way) -- were all of y'all on a conference call?

or did they do the interviews separately and then splice them together into a "conversation" format.


In my head, they flew you all out to the Beverley Hills Hilton, and y'all sat around the piano in the lobby bar (requesting "Billy Don't Be a Hero" over and over), martinis in hand, talking shit about Mark Waid in between answer the questions.


I hope it was at least a quarter THAT cool!

No, sadly!

We're all veteran interviewees, so we answered the questions and shared the answers with each other to make it more responsive, which does make it sound more like a conversation.

But it wasn't, at least not in a face-to-face way!

[Gail Simone]

Dear Gail,

Who wears short shorts ?

Starfire!

Well, she SORTA wears them!

[Gail Simone]

Gail, what is your favorite single issue you have written?

This is actually a tough call.

For a long time, it was Welcome To Tranquility #4.

But there are some other contenders...

I wrote an issue of Simpsons Comics I was very proud of, it's funny all the way through. The Simpsons go back to Scotland (don't know the issue number).

The last issue of Secret Six, I liked a lot.

The first issue of Wonder Woman I did, I think issue 14.

The Golden Age issue of Birds of Prey.



Those are probably my favorites!

[Gail Simone]

I'll re-post what was actually my first post on this forum, because I've never stopped wondering about the answer:

A question that has been bothering me for quite some time, we're talking months here, is how Scandal views herself. I mean personally. What does she think of her life and actions? Does she believe that she is a "good guy"? Does she think she is a "bad guy"? Does she believe that the concepts of "good" and "evil" as commonly defined have no place in a complex world without asolutes, and thusly refuses to classify herself?

What got me thiking about this is how much of Secret Six is devoted to introspection and personal beliefs. The very first issue I read was Catman and Deadshot debating whether or not Catman had become a good guy while simultaneously foiling/participating in a convenience store hold-up. Throughout that conversation, and much of the series before and after it as well, it is obvious that Catman wants to be a hero. He wants to be the good guy, the role model, the All-American Face, but (As Deadshot so succinctly points out to him afterwards), he is not there. That's not who he is, but he wants that to be who he is.

Deadshot gets his own story later, visiting his priest as he tries to understand why he is so overcome with the compulsion to kill. Unlike Blake he does not want to be a hero, he does not feel guilt over his life of crime and has no urge to join the White Hats, but he does want to be in control of his life, to be evil (If he is evil at all) because he chooses to be evil, and not because of an urge he can't control.

What I'm wondering is where does Scandal fit into this? What does she want? Where does she see herself fitting in? If given the choice tomorrow would she chose to abandon the world of capes forever? Does she want to live a nice, quiet life with a 9-5 job? Does she want to settle down with Liana? Or does she enjoy her life as it is? Does she, maybe, want to be eviler?

It's at this point that I always come back to the ending of that wonderful cowboy Elseworlds issue. It ends, so simply, with the wish that, if only this time, they could have been the heroes.

I know how I feel about Scandal (Well, actually, I don't "know," since one of the things that makes for such a great character is the complexity that keeps my own interpretation constantly shifting), and I know how a lot of my friends/people online who I've never met feel about her, but how does she feel about herself?

This is a great, meaningful question. So much so that I am hesitant to answer it because I feel that the answer is almost purely subjective.

I think Scandal has the problem a lot of us have, which is she feels defined at least partially by her background. If your father is an abusive alcoholic, that feels like it's in your makeup even if you've never touched a drop.

Scandal's mother hated her father's guts and killed herself to be away from him. So that choice is always in front of Scandal...does she continue to exist, knowing Vandal wants her under his wing, or does she kill herself?

She chooses to live, but that means her father is always going to be out there watching, and scheming. So her background haunts her.

I think she doesn't see herself as a hero. She doesn't mind doing merc work.

But the thing that we tried to stress day in and day out, what makes the Six the Six is NOT that they are violent or successful, it's that they won't ever, ever be pushed. They will not compromise.
Scandal sets that tone, but it costs her. It's draining.

I don't think she sees herself as a hero. But I think she made far more moral choices overall than Catman.

[Gail Simone]

So, is it bathing or showering in the blood of innocents that keeps you eternally young? Bathing just seems like so much more work.

I wish, I would happily bathe in blood, except, messy messy messy.

I don't have eternal youth. But I do exercise, I eat very little junk food, I don't drink, smoke or do drugs, and I am blessed with a family I love. I'm sure that helps keep me
from becoming cranky, at least.

[Gail Simone]

I've been liking your new villains in Batgirl, both Mirror and Grettle (especially Mirror) were really evil yet sympathetic villains, though I'm wondering, will Batgirl be facing any new rogues in the future that aren't motivated by tragedy or twisted psychological reasons? I know that's a staple of most of the Bat Family's rogues but I'm just wondering if there will be any new Rogues for batgirl that aren't crazy/insane/loco/sociopathic/psychotic/cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs/You get the picture, ? XD

She's got GROTESQUE coming up next issue, he's not really disturbed like that, just incredibly snobby!

[Phantomskyler]

She's got GROTESQUE coming up next issue, he's not really disturbed like that, just incredibly snobby!

Ooh a snobby villain. Add the right amount of snob and snark and those are usually some of the most fun villains. XD

[Gail Simone]

Is there anywhere in the world that you haven't gone to yet, that you would like to travel to?

Pretty much anywhere I haven't been, I love travel, love the discovery of it all, and meeting the people. I may be going to South Africa this year...would love to go to Thailand.
Haven't been to South America really. Would love to go.