And Then There Were (About) Seventeen: Gail Simone No Longer Writing Batgirl

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There have been rumors going around for a couple of weeks that Gail Simone, in the face of her exclusive deal with DC Comics coming to an end recently, would be leaving Batgirl, which she has written since the DC New 52 relaunch. Simone has been denying those rumors pretty consistently, to the point where just one week ago, she publicly and flatly stated that “I have not left Batgirl” on her Tumblr blog.

That, however, was a week ago. About 90 minutes ago, on her Twitter page, Simone announced that she would no longer be writing the book… and that her earlier statement was technically true: she did not leave Batgirl. She was replaced.

 

 

 

So what was DC’s reasoning behind firing a writer on a book that sold about 50,000 copies in October? It’s not clear, but Simone gave a possible hint:

About a half-hour later, Simone posted a more detailed statement on her Tumblr blog:

…I unfortunately have the sad duty to confirm that it’s true. As of Wednesday of last week, I was informed by an email from my new editor that I am no longer the writer of Batgirl.

I cannot express my disappointment at this. I think everyone is aware how important Barbara Gordon is to me, and how important it is to me that her stories be told with respect and care, both for the character and the readers.

We tried our very best to do that, and it was an honor to write Barbara for these many years.

…I want to thank DC for giving me the opportunity to write Barbara. When the new52 was announced, I was terrified that telling early stories of Barbara would mean completely invalidating her story as a disabled icon. We tried our best never to forget that, even when putting her back in the suit.

Very few writers are ever lucky enough to get to work in the bat-offices, it’s a rare honor and thrill and I absolutely loved it and will miss it terribly.

I am probably sounding a little bit maudlin right now, as I feel a genuine sense of loss. This wasn’t just another assignment to me.

…So, while I am very sad right now and I won’t deny it, I have to say, I’m sure this sounds corny, but I feel very, very fortunate.

I have been lucky enough to live a dream that was too big for me to even think about as a child. I got to write Batgirl. When I was just a little kid, she was the first superhero I’d ever seen. A redhaired smart girl who could kick ass? It changed my life. And I grew up and got to write her. I wouldn’t be any happier if I’d won the lottery.

I still understand that not everyone was happy with the changes to her in the new52. But if it was going to happen, I wanted it to be done with honesty and care. And we produced a book that was a critical and commercial success. Twice in the past year we got raves from the New York Times. We had many sell-out issues. In short, I am very, very proud of what we’ve done.

On one hand, this is a bummer, because it dwindles the number of New 52 original creators and books down to pretty much a handful: Peter Milligan on Red Lanterns, Scott Snyder on Batman and Swamp Thing, Jeff Lemire on Animal Man, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey on All-Star Western, J. H. Williams III on Batwoman, and Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato on Flash. Oh yeah, Geoff Johns on Justice League and Aquaman, and Adam Glass on Suicide Squad, but I think that’s it… Right: there’s also Scott Lobdell on Red Hood And The Outlaws and Teen Titans, and Grant Morrison on Action Comics. So that’s, what, thirteen, assuming I didn’t miss any (and I probably did – right! Johns on Green Lantern, Peter Tomasi on Green Lantern Corps and Batman and Robin, and Kyle Higgins on Nightwing. And let’s just assume I missed some others)? That’s not a great average for 52 books in less than a year and a half.

Further, while we didn’t always think that Batgirl was the best book of the Bat titles, it was always entertaining enough to keep us reading it, unlike, say, Batwoman. And there was always the hope that, with Batgirl outselling Suicide Squad by about two-to-one, that Simone could leverage that into bringing back Secret Six, which was a spectacular run of comics by almost anyone’s accounting. And while there is no word about negotiations over an extension of Simone’s recently-expired exclusivity deal at DC, I would imagine that firing her from her only current title would be either a negative indicator that DC is interested in maintaining the relationship, or otherwise an indicator that they learned negotiation tactics from Tourette’s patients with methamphetamine habits.

So I guess the big question is: what happens for Simone now? I suppose it’s possible she could remain with DC, but again: firing someone off their main project with no contract in place isn’t what you’d call a gesture of goodwill, unless your idea of goodwill normally involves the use of a safety word. It’s been quite a while since she worked for Marvel, and while Brian Posehn’s Deadpool is entertaining enough, the fact of the matter is that Posehn is a high-profile comedian. Sure, a high-profile comedian who’s a comic fan and probably having a blast working on Deadpool, but I wouldn’t put any money on him chucking the TV and movie projects to write comics on a regular basis. So it’s possible she could return to Marvel on Deadpool, picking up where she left off back in 2002 or so.

Regardless, I imagine we’ll see what Simone’s up to next, as well as who the new writer for Batgirl is, in the coming days.

Categories: Comic Book News Tags:
December 9, 2012 by Rob
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