Gail Simone appears to have been re-hired as the writer for DC’s Batgirl series, according to a series of tweets she made around an hour ago —

 

So, that’s weird. We’ll work on the assumption that this is actually true, and we’re not experiencing a vaguely upsetting The Shining-style meltdown here, in which case DC have made one of the quickest turnarounds in recent memory. Simone was only fired a few weeks ago, with it looking as though she was not only off the book – but gone from DC as a whole. This tweet puts all that to rest, although it’ll be interesting to see how the internet reacts.

Most people will obviously be delighted, and perhaps many will now have to make good on their complaints and actually start buying the book from now on. Others will likely be disappointed – the thought of Gail Simone ripping into the world of creator-owned comics was an exciting one, and this could be seen as a step backwards.

Essentially, however, Gail Simone is now untouchable, and people upset about the loss of a female creator at DC can celebrate the gain of a female creator by DC. So — what happened? Perhaps we’ll find out over the next few days. Either fan outcry put her back on the book, creator backlash put her back on the book, it was all a carefully planned marketing scheme…. …

or Gail Simone was fired from writing about the Barbara Gordon Batgirl and is now writing a series about Cassandra Cain — everybody’s second-favourite Batgirl.

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52 COMMENTS

  25. It’s good to see Gail Simone get that kind of validation. We knew that she had a loyal fanbase, but who knew that they had this kind of clout? Also, what the heck is going on at DC right now?

  28. Great news but “untouchable” or “bulletproof” ? I think the opposite is true, actually. If sales dip or an actual reason is found for her dismissal, she’s toast.

  32. Anyone get the impression that this was a power struggle between Gail and her editor? She did not fall in line, he fired her, the higher ups picked her side? (All pure speculation, I stress.)

  33. If I was fired then begged to come back, I wouldn’t. Why would I? They’ve shown their true colors. I’m sure she can find another writing job. This whole thing made me lose a little respect for her.

  34. I have a sick feeling.

    After reading issue #15, in light of Gail’s cryptic ‘speaking of’ reply in regard to the refrigerator comment….I’m afraid something really horrible is going to happen to Barbara. Something that effectively re-stuffs her back in the fridge, so to speak. Then after a ‘cooling off’ period for a couple of issues with a guest writer, Gail will come back to re-introduce Cassandra or something. She may have freaked out about it initially, they fired her during a blow-out, then brought her back due to backlash and with a promise over control with the new direction.

    Pure speculation of course, and I really hoping I’m wrong, but I’m not liking where this feels like it’s heading.

  35. I think Gail could do far greater work developing her own characters. Her DC work is great but would love to read something of her own.

  36. do far greater work developing own characters = yes
    sell nearly as many comics and get paid nearly as well = no

    Sometimes a girl has to pay the bills.

  38. I really had high hopes that Gail would be moving on to a company whose comics I actually buy and read. Gail is a talented writer and I’ve long hoped that she would enrich some other corner of the comics industry, either with some creator owned work or, had I dared to hope, a long run working on the Buffy titles.

    DC does not seem terribly hospitable to its talent at the moment. She could do better.

  39. Damnit. I was hoping Batgirl will get chance to be good. Gail is great writer when it’s come to dark humor, but Batgirl and WW aka her “dream projects” just so fracking dull.

  40. @Pink Apocalypse – I think it was much more likely she was asked (or told) to “fridge” either her mother or newly introduced roommate by James Jr. and she refused for obvious reasons.

    While I agree that jumping to her being untouchable maybe a bit premature, what will be more interesting will be to see if Brian Cunningham is indeed still the editor on the book (if this is indeed the book she’s coming back to write and she wasn’t actually teasing a new Batgirl book.) That will really tell us how untouchable she and he is.

    Whichever the case might be, the DC higher ups have proven to be very unhappy over the years when things flame out publicly to a level like this did. They don’t seem to like tales of how the sausage getting made getting out at all (see all the NDA’s being signed around the launch of the new 52) I’m sure DC higher ups, regardless of who’s ultimately right or wrong in the whole thing, can’t be very happy with the way Cunningham allowed this spin out of control.

  42. DC really is a mess right now. I’m happy for Gail, but this is just one more reminder that management over there is just lost. I’d rather them figure out a strategy to get kids and at least a little fun back into their mainstream superhero comics rather than peddling mayhem and darkness to 15-19 year old boys. That’s not a recipe for long-term success.

  43. My theory on the Gail Simone issue ties into the tragedy in CT.

    I believe DC wanted Simone to kill off Barbara in the Death of the Family event, and DC also wanted to kill off both Nightwing and Damian.

    Simone outright refused to kill Barbara, and was promptly fired.

    The events in CT caused DC to shift course and decide (rightly so in my opinion) that murdering fictional women and children all the time is in poor taste all the time, but especially after CT. So they changed thier minds and decided everybody gets to live.

    With Simone’s issue removed, she was free (and apparently happy) to return.

    Given the heavy hand editorial takes at DC, this makes sense to me.

    But i have no inside knowledge and it is 100% pure speculation.

  46. @Awesome Dude, you do realize that comics are produced ahead of time and the completion of Death of the Family would have been written already before the events in CT, and are now being inked and colored ?

    Your “theory” is probably way more fascinating than the real deal.

  47. Poor DC just seems so confused and lost. Most months they don’t seem to be able to figure which end is up. Hopefully this will work out as a good thing for Gail, but I can’t help but worry :(

  48. I think it is ridiculous that women cry about there not being “enough” women creators on books. The market decides who gets a book. Some women are awesome like Fiona Staples, others are just bad. Why should being a woman make any difference? Of course, I still think Bill Loebs did an awesome story in those DC Retroes that shows he’s as awesome as he was back in the day, and he doesn’t get work because he’s old.

  49. This year, lots of projects in lots of places.

    I’m sorry if going back to a book I love after a good faith effort on the part of DC makes anyone ‘lose respect’ for me, but I have never chosen an assignment based on what it pays and don’t intend to start now.

    Thanks for all the well-wishing, everyone. Bit of a roller-coaster, but the end result is wonderful.

  50. You know, even if she did “sell out”, it would still be some pretty enjoyable storytelling!

    So, yeah, I’ll add her to the “carte blanche” list of authors I read without hesitation, like Gaiman, Moore, Ellison, Dorkin…

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