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Gail Simone

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Gail Simone
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Critic
Notable works
Birds of Prey
Welcome to Tranquility
Wonder Woman

Gail Simone is an American writer of comic books. Best known for penning DC's Birds of Prey, she is the writer of Welcome to Tranquility and All-New Atom and in the late 2000s became the ongoing writer of Wonder Woman.

Biography

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 because of their gender (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.[2] Topics ranged from short, satirical summaries of comic books ("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. 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.[3] Simone did, however, return to pen the concluding arc to Agent X, some months after the series' initial 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.

Simone is also the writer of a Villains United limited series spin-off, entitledSecret Six. This turned out to be popular enough that fan demand warranted an ongoing series, which started September 2008. Other work by Simone includes a run on the Superman title Action Comics, a brief stint on The Legion, a Rose and Thorn limited series at DC Comics, and a revitalization of Wildstorm's Gen¹³. For Oni Press, Simone wrote Killer Princesses with co-creator and artist Lea Hernandez, Gus Beezer specials for Marvel Comics.

Simone also wrote an Atom series, based on ideas by Grant Morrison and penciled by her Action Comics artist, John Byrne and later Mike Norton. Other work includes a Gen¹³ series and a creator-owned project, Welcome to Tranquility, for Wildstorm.

On April 12, 2007, DC announced that Simone would be the new regular writer of the third volume of Wonder Woman, first scheduled to start with issue #13 but later changed to #14.[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 Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series, entitled "Pre-Teen Raider."[9]

Bibliography

Comics work includes:

  • Birds of Prey (DC Comics, August 2003 - July 2007) collected as:
    • Of Like Minds (with Ed Benes, collects Birds of Prey #56-61, 144 pages, March 2004, ISBN 1-4012-0192-X)[11]
    • Sensei & Student (with Ed Benes, collects Birds of Prey #62-68, 168 pages, February 2005, ISBN 1-4012-0434-1)[12]
    • Between Dark & Dawn (with Ed Benes, collects Birds of Prey #69-75, 176 pages, March 2006, ISBN 1-4012-0940-8)[13]
    • The Battle Within (with Joe Bennett and Ed Benes, collects Birds of Prey #76-85, 240 pages, October 2006, ISBN 1-4012-1096-1)[14]
    • Perfect Pitch (with Joe Bennett and Paulo Siqueira, collects Birds of Prey #86-90 and #92-95, 224 pages, February 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1191-7)[15]
    • Blood and Circuits (with Nicola Scott, Paulo Siqueira and James Raiz, collects Birds of Prey #96-103, 208 pages, August 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1371-5)[16]
    • Dead of Winter (with Nicola Scott, collects Birds of Prey #104-108, 128 pages, February 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1641-2)[17]
  • Welcome to Tranquility (with Neil Googe, Wildstorm, February 2007 - January 2008) collected as:
    • Volume 1 (collects Welcome to Tranquility #1-6, 160 pages, December 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1516-5)[18]
    • Volume 2 (collects Welcome to Tranquility #7-12, 144 pages, May 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1773-7)[19]
  • Secret Six (with Dale Eaglesham, DC Comics, November 2008 - ongoing):
    • Six Degrees of Devastation (collects 6-issue limited series, 144 pages, March 2008, ISBN 140121231X)
    • Unhinged (collects Secret Six #1-6, 144 pages, August 2009, ISBN 1401223273

Awards

In 2007, Thomasina Lindo of Welcome to Tranquility was named Best Female Character in the Glyph Comics Awards.

Notes

  1. ^ "Women in Refrigerators".
  2. ^ The 'You'll All Be Sorry!' archives, Comic Book Resources
  3. ^ The Gail Simone Dialogues, Comics Bulletin
  4. ^ Newsarama
  5. ^ DC Comics message boards
  6. ^ Gail Simon Named New Wonder Woman Writer, Newsarama
  7. ^ Simon's Wonder Woman Debut Pushed Back a Month, Newsarama
  8. ^ ""Double Date"". Retrieved 2007-10-12.
  9. ^ "Pre-Teen Raider: Interview With Writer Gail Simone". 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
  10. ^ Villains United details at DC
  11. ^ Of Like Minds trade details at DC
  12. ^ Sensei & Student trade details at DC
  13. ^ Between Dark & Dawn trade details at DC
  14. ^ The Battle Within trade details at DC
  15. ^ Perfect Pitch trade details at DC
  16. ^ Blood and Circuits trade details at DC
  17. ^ Dead of Winter trade details at DC
  18. ^ Welcome to Tranquility Volume 1 trade details at DC
  19. ^ Welcome to Tranquility Volume 2 trade details at DC
  20. ^ The Circle hardcover details at DC
  21. ^ End of the Earth hardcover details at DC

References

Interviews

Preceded by Birds of Prey writer
2003–2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Action Comics writer
2005–2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Wonder Woman writer
2007–present 		Succeeded by
Current Writer

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| #default = 1974 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:LIVING}} 

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
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