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Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:56 pm
by Northstars Love
HELP!

When I was looking through Wizard #144, a thought had crossed my mind, "Where are all the female writers and artists? Are there any? At DC and Marvel? I'm sure there are some at the other publishers. But DC and Marvel being the biggest, I want to know if there are any female writers and artists. Or is this still a dominated male area? God I hope not. I'm soo pro-woman it's not funny;) Jill? Ryan? Christopher? Can you help me with this?

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 6:01 pm
by kurtlover
there's several females writters and artists around here, but males are dominant:
Gail Simmone, Christina Z, June Brightman, Louise Simmonson, Paty!!, and there's more but my memory right now is lagging :P
guys?

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 6:08 pm
by Northstars Love
What titles do they write/draw KL? I'm curious. I like to check out the titles. Everyone remember it has been 10 years since I have read a comic book. I'm sure there have been a lot of changes**with the X-Men alone**:)

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 8:29 pm
by Pirotess
Ahem.. me? Well not yet.. but ONE day Bamf! i swear... ;)
Originally posted by bamf!nightcrawler
Or is this still a dominated male area? God I hope not.
It is, very much so i fear. Some things don't change overnight or emm.. in decades. Well ok it's better than it was 20 years ago, where a female name as an edit coulda passed for a typo.. but still, i can barely count a whole hand of female writers, let alone artists. I like to believe that it is due to less women trying out in an industry, that isn't exactly focussing on them to begin with.. a naive view perhaps but i need to think that talent has no room for discrimination. I'm sure others are far more umm realistic about it though.

It's good to know that you root for female vein. Always cool to see someone who's into comic creation say that.

btw I know that gail simone has been linked to AgentX - among other marvel titles. And since Elfquest and DC teamed up, we can count Wendi Pini as one?..o.O

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 5:50 pm
by Elwing
Late reply, but, wow! Wendy Pini! The lady responsibe for my interest in comics...Too bad she hasn0t been very active lately...:bawl

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 6:14 pm
by Panz
Truth is there are not nearly enough of us out here. I have yet to be published, but I've worked in other capacites with the indy side of the industry. Comics are still largely written and pencilled by men.

Some of us are about to storm the boys club house tho' :naughty

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 6:49 pm
by Remy_LeBeau
Originally posted by **Northstars Love**
What titles do they write/draw KL? I'm curious. I like to check out the titles. Everyone remember it has been 10 years since I have read a comic book. I'm sure there have been a lot of changes**with the X-Men alone**:)
christina z was on the early issues of witchblade, up until #25 i think.

i can't even remember all the stuff Simonson has done.

and Gail was on Deadpool #65-69, agent x 1-7 and 13-15, birds of prey 65 (i think that's when she started) and currently still writes it. plus she has a short run on JLA coming up and the Rose and Thorn mini series out this week (rose/thorn is drawn by a woman also, though i can't remember her name) i highly recommend any of Gail's work!

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2003 12:58 pm
by Paty
:mags:
Well...
Marvel told me I can't draw. Not comics, anyway...but then I wouldn't be "nice" to Mr.Shooter. and you all know what "nice" is.
Years after I finally left in disgust...having watched talented females being ignored or browbeaten or worse...Dave went to a comics con...without me, cuz i was doing firemantic things that day...and when he came back, he told me this story:
A couple of female artists came to my table and asked me tp critique their portfolios.. I looked at their work...which was really good...professional quality! and told them they should go up to DC or Marvel cuz they should be able to get work based on this stuff!!!! They told me that they had been up to Marvel..and that "there was PLENTY of work for female creators there...ALL of it HORIZONTAL!!!" No lie...their exact words!
I shrugged my shoulders and said...well they haven't changed in the last fifteen years, have they?
And they haven't really changed even today. .. at least not from what I can see... sure, they'll slip a female, if she's young and pretty and a possible..um...lay... or, at least, eyecandy... a job here and there...sometimes just to stave off accusations of sexual discrimination. And that is all it is there. Editorial is deemed proper...but female editors have a lot less say than male ones...and even if they "say" they are not listened to in the long run. Frmale writers bring back books from extinction only to be subtlely badgered off the books so the book can be handed off to a waiting male...who will probably run it into the ground within a year or so. Artists are told "here do this for me...it's a foot in the door!" and all it gets is a broken foot when the door slams in your face.
Christina Z's input on witchblade made that book interesting! It has gone downhill, storywise, since she left. Right now, it is being written competantly...but not interestingly...unless you count cheesecake every month as a reason for a comic. The art ranges from ludicrous to pathetic in it's wild grab for "sexy"...PTUI!
There are a lot of good female writers out there. Look at the proliferation of female fanfic writers! Some of them should be showing up the boyos in a professional vein...but you are never gonna see it. The boys have closed ranks, pulled up the rope ladder to the club house and posted a virtual "no girlz allowed" sign. that some creators actually help female writers and artists is to their credit...but don't hold your breath for the next superstar writer or artist to be female...you willdie of asphixiation!
I fear only a massive lawsuit will shake this stranglehold the boys have on the industry...and no female wants to upset the applecart that much!
And of course, the guys don't have the problem...you go in with any dgree of talent, you kiss up to the right guy... you get yourself accepted into the right poker night...and you're in like Flynn!
Sorry, kiddies... that's the way it was... that's the way it has been that's the way it IS...and will be into the future...unless something drastic happens.
There was actually more chance for females at Marvel...I do not know about DC, cuz i never worked there...during the time that i was on staff...the early days before Shooter. Stan, Roy thomas...those guys were not adverse to using female writers and artists...and were trying to advance more females into the forefront. Then Shooter came into power...and he wanted to know every female's "price". He couldn't deal with females whose "price" he didn't know. And he USED women to further his own image. he gave Weezie simonson a job as editor simply to lure Walt Simonson, who was big AT dc AT THE TIME... OVER TO mARVEL. iT WORKED, TOO. He gave Jo Duffy Power Man to write fully expecting a little convent raised, catholic whiter than white virgin to fail dismally writing a black, excon, male thug. She took the book from three issues to cancellation into the respectible black with a growing fandom within those critical THREE ISSUES!!! her writing was brilliant...and the fans responded. Marvel editorial and the boys club badgered her off the book! They gave her flak the boys never had to contend with. They vetoed plotlines, that, when slipped by Shooter, and actually lauded by the fans, he finally acceeded to and claimed credit for.
Shooter actually couldn't lose here. If she failed... which he expected her to do... he could always say "I gave her a chance...women just can't write super hero comics..." ! but she DIDN'T fail...she succeeded wildly! So, even though he was trying to sabotage her under the table, he was loudly proclaiming "See? I'm responsible for her success!"
What hypocrasy! And I do not see any change in the last twenty five years.

We've been having this discussion for the past year or so that I hav been visiting Nightscrawlers. Bamfette's experiences with Chuck aside, I do not see any emergance of females in the industry...do you? No.."NEXT BIG SUPERSTAR...(insert female name) hoopla. It's ALL boys. And I am firmly convinced it will remain so.
Sure, there are women there...hopeful little workers who will never be allowed to go anywhere..not with any amount of talent...not for long, anyway. Women leave staff like crowds through a revolving door when they get there and really figure out what the score is. Women used to slug it out...Marie Severin...Jo Duffy...until they got worn down by the crap that the boys did not have to battle or endure. Even if a female does land a gig at Marvel...you will find them not staying long. why is this? Lack of interest? I doubt it. It is covert badgering and sexism that finally disgust them or tires them so much they would rather leave than fight any more.

show me a female creator on the wizard top ten artists and writers. I don't think there has been one since Christina Z exploded onto the scene with Witchblade. But where is she today? and, more importantly...WHY is she not still writing...or co writing... this book?

No...there is a lot rotten in comicsville. It reeks to high heaven, and all the hype and perfume put on it to disguise it still can't hide the foul odor of hypocrasy and sexism in the industry.
Sorry, kiddo...
Paty
:mags:

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 2:02 am
by kiki
Well me an optimistic child, but I Do beleive that things will change. Maybe not soon, and definetly not without one helluva struggle, but some day. And I think that knowing as much about the industry - good and bad- as possible really helps us as aspiring artists/writers to know what we're getting into. Jumping into the industry blindly and only then finding out about all the crap we have to swim through would make things even more difficult. At least we can be prepared.

I've been told that I'm a crusader and I know there are many others out there who are too and one day we will 'storm the boys club' like Panz said.

It's only a matter of time. :)

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 10:02 am
by Paty
:mags:
Ahhh, child...from your lips to the ears of the Bright Lady!!!
LOL You gGO girl! I am not saying it cannot be done...and I hope the younger, more gung ho gals DO it. The industry desperately needs strong female input.
I am just not gonna hold my breath or hope to hang that long, OK? I am too disgusted with the whole thing right now...especially Marvel. I used to love Marvel with my whole being...it had such golden promise...it was like Camelot. that promise has fallen on evil times. I hear that Magneto isn't the only interesting character thise little poison people are destroying. And I wonder of some of this destruction of longstanding characters isn't the dreaded "updating" that we were hearing about over a year ago. Make certain characters sooo evil you have no choice but to off the originals...then you can bring them back by"cloning " them. You have the villain, but not his history. Stupid...stupid... their history is what makes the characters interesting...but some of these people need to do some personal growing to see that...if they will EVER see it. In the meantime, Marvel suffers a decimation of some of it's most interesting characters.
Oh, well... not my problem any more. I may rail at it, but i am too old,tired and disgusted to really do anything...even if I do care. battle with coroprate and editorial idiots is for younger, more energetic folk than I.
At this point, I almost feel like Bilbo Baggins...I have had my adventures with Marvel...I am gonna sit back now and write and let others who still believe take up the battle. But i will gelp in pointing out pitfalls and traps to aspiring creators. As you said, forewarned is forearmed. We blythely went into Marvel trusting...and got shafted. Do not do this. do not go into this industry expecting talent and good will to win the day...to prevail. You will get used and abused. Go in with your eyes open, your ear to the ground and your sword ready to do battle...and you might survive. And if you survive long enough, you might change something. But Claremont, a humongously talented person, has been struggling for years...and you see how far he has gotten in protecting an emmpire he basically created! If anyone should hav had some clout, it should have been him!!! clout to pick and chose the characters he wanted to write...but nope...so experience and eighteen years of fantastic success mean nothing.
subterfuge, sabotage and bakstabbing seem to be the order of the day.
Joe quesada lost his mother a year or so ago. I just recently heard that he also just lost his father. My heart goes out to him. These are terrible blows to anyone, but to have both dome so closely together, he must be reeling. I am sure he took off a week to attend to his fathers concerns...but in that week, you can bet the underground forces at marvel who want to undermine his newfound intention to take the reins of control in hand have been at work undermining him. Yeah...they would do that...it's how it's DONE! I hope he sees this and moves to nullify it.Goodness no longer lives at Marvel...only strength will prevail and protect what is so precious...the characters... their concepts and backstories...the integrity of Marvel as a storytelling entity...an entertaining and entertainment entity.
They seem not toknow what thin ice they are skating on...
So lotsa luck, kiddo...I'll be rootin for ya!

Paty
:mags:

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 12:34 pm
by Wolvertique
Hm. I can't say I'm familiar with how Marvel is run, but I am familiar with the lame power struggles and constant changes to their games that White Wolf has done. If it's any consolation, usually the fans/players go with what they LIKE, not what corporate wants them to believe. In my experience, translated to Marvel terms, the fans of Magneto will ignore Marvel's attempts to update him if they dislike them. Maybe Marvel will continue to be stupid, but they can only do it for so long before they start losing sales.

Anyway. Good luck. Merry Christmas.

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 1:13 pm
by Paty
:mags:
Yep... you are so right! Sales are the only consideration Marvel management has... It is bottom line! Or Else!
And, yes, we Magneto fans will always believe in the claremont Magneto and the wonderful stories of depth and complexity that were never written...and weep for that loss...and maybe write our own on fanfic boards across the net!

And pray for someone at Marvel to do a little desperately needed housecleaning there...sigh..

Paty
:mags:

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 7:41 pm
by kiki
Yay!! Someone rooting for me!!

And I DO intend to do all those things and maybe force myself to make soem sort of difference, or at the least do a little road paving for soemone else who can make a difference. And if things are run as rediculously as you say (which, i'm sure they are) then eventually they'll hit the end of the dark tunnel of stupid they've been crawling into and be forced to see the light!! If only for revenues sake. *shrug*

Ug, and that renovating characters thing is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It's the history that makes the characters interesting! And gives us reason to sympathise with them!! It creates moral conflict to have bad guys we like and root for soemtimes, or at least feel for, and that can only be achieved by KNOWING the characters.

Anyway, I'm not gonna rant. I'm just gonna run off to my little hole in the ground to draw my little heart out and prepare myself for the harshness of the real world. *nod,nod*

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 11:58 pm
by Panz
Paty! have a little faith in your fellow heathen! I will get somewhere with all this Irish gift of gab. I may not be young, but I know what I want :naughty and I'm hella persistant. Anyways, have a safe move I'm jelouse!

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2003 7:27 pm
by Bamfette
actually Paty, Jill Thompson has beeon on the top 10 list, i believe, won a number of awards too for her work... and that's besides for Sandman, a lot for her Scary Godmother. she doesn't do mainstream, but that's by choice from all i've heard.

Gail Simone was hired at Marvel to write Deadpool, one of Marvel's top properties. i have talked to her and she said she has never felt any opressive feelings from the editors there. they certainly never offered her the job just to sleep with her, as she's barely stepped foot in NY, working freelance from somewhere in Oregon (?). her oftentimes partner in crime Lea Hernandez was also gonna do something mainstream with her, but i dunno what... and of course as mentioned she's doing Birds of Prey and JLA for DC currently, and is hardly hard pressed to find work.

right now there is alsp Pia Guerra, who is drawing the critcally acclaimed surprise hit Y: The Last Man for DC/Vertigo. (not surprise since she was a woman, jsut a surprise since it came out of nowhere from reletavely unknown creators and hit HUGE.... for an indyish book.)

there's a woman, he name slips my mind at the moment, who draws one of the Star Wars books... oh, i dunno. I don't really follow the whole struggle for females to get work, as i don't see it as a struggle right now. the numbers are just against us and that's no ones fault but our own, if you could call it anyones fault. a WHOLE LOT more men want to get into creating comics than women do. just look at the line for portfolio reviews at cons. so naturally more men will end up actually doing so. i just know i have talked to Gail about this at her forum, and other comic book writers and artists, and read an in depth interview witht he Star Wars woman on this subject, and while it may have been that way in the past, i genuinely don't think it is that way right now... and i don't believe i am being naiive either. i mean i know i am gonna face rejection when i submit to the big companies, but i am not gonna let myself think it's because i am a girl. i may be rejected, but i also have to remember that about 100 men were rejected right alongside me.

well in any case, we were gonna wait a couple days to announce it, (so excuse the unfinished sections of the website) but there will be one more comic from a female creator come SDCC. it may be indy, but we feel very strongly about it, and we hope to get it picked up by someone. maybe Vertigo or CrossGen (hey, we can hope!) Heathen Sent coming to you from the twisted minds of Christopher Stuck and Jill Johansen. ;)

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2003 2:34 pm
by Panz
Congrats Bamfette and Crawler!:) sounds like a lot of fun.

To add to what you've just said, I never think of my self as a FEMALE creator, just as a creator. I haven't set out to be a female writer either, just a good one. I am likely always going to go the indy route to some extent, because I don't really have a lot of interest in writing Supes or Spidey. I want to tell my own tales :)

I hope more women give it a go, it is a lot of fun. I love scripting dialogue and making up sound effect is a blast. . And while I get irritated with guys when they say something brilliant like, "YOU'RE a comic book writer?!?!?!?" I found a lot of people at the Eisners last year to be very accepting and encouraging.:)

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2004 11:04 pm
by Paty
:mags:
Well...it is a new year...
Maybe it is covered in a different thread, but how did SDCC go???
The last part of 03 was so hectic with moving and all that I lost track of everything!
Did you manage to interest someone in your book, Jill? sorry I haven't been paying attention but the move from hell is finally almost over so I can take a moment to look around and say "what's happening?"

I never considered myself a female creator either...just an artist. And seeing some of the art that came through Marvel, as i gleaned art for the merchandising, I came quickly to understand that at that time if you were female you stood virtually no chance of being accepted or given the chances that lesser talents...as long as they were male... would get. Girls came and went rather rapidly for one reason or another...Oh, yes, a BETTER JOB...right...a move...right...personality conflicts with an editor...or whatever...This stuff isn't RIGHT FOR OUR STYLE... and half a year later a male artist comes up with the same kind of art and it is WONDERFUL...BRILLIANT... TREND SETTING...right...
There are women in the industry...mostly on the fringes...often as editors...but rarely as writers and artists. There seem to be better opportunities at DC for female creators...or should I say, creators that happen to be female...There are a lot of women in the independent and underground comics...because they simply cannot GET into the mainstream.
It is a subtle thing, for certain. And you can call me cynical if you want...but deep in my heart i know it hasn't changed...and probably won't in my lifetime.
I wish it would...It really should for the good of the industry...but it won't. Not unless a big stink is made about thelack of female creators in the industry...and the whole nasty little business is blown out into the open. DC won't be as affected as Marvel, I am sure...cuz Marvel is the little boy's clubhouse...no girlz allowd...

I applaud all the ladies and gals out there who want to work in the biz! Hooray for you! I am also telling you...keep a weather eye out for subtle put downs, underminings, behind the scenes shufflings that you might otherwise not pay attention to...cuz it's all just a big sleazy crapshoot.Talent doesn't matter. It is who you know or kiss up to ..or...well...you know...
That's how it is with a lot of businesses. That is how it is. If you can deal with that, maybe you can make it...for a while, at least...
I, for one, while wishing females the best, will not hold my breath or hope to hang until a female is a writer or artist of some tenure on a MAJOR book that isn't about to be cancelled under her...or who has been brought back to write it's last issues and tie up the plotlines that the inept boyos have dropped.
If I am cynical about the business I love, it is because I have observed it too long...and I despair of seeing any change...cuz no matter where I look, it ain't happening. One step forward here...three back there. Oh, yes, you can have this book...it's gonna be cancelled in two issues... sorry, kid, this male hack who couldn't draw without his lightbox and lucie machine needs the work...doesn't matter if it sucks...we don't want to bruise his ego by telling HIM he can't draw...
NO..sorry...Goddess, I wish you well...you know I do...and if you let me know when you have a permanent gig on a major title at Marvel, I will roll over in my grave and shout to the skies..."They DID it!!!"
I really don't want to be this cynical...I just can't help it.
sigh...
Paty
:mags:

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2004 5:17 am
by Panz
Part 1. SDCC and the Eisners.
First of all, having just been in the high desert dryness of Idaho, stepping of the plane in San Diego was like walking into a marine aquarium....I loved it! :love

I can't speak for Jill, but I met so many talented and wonderful people and had many good conversations. I was hampered by the fact that the individuals that was sharing a table in artist alley with, were all involved in taking fun drugs, something that I avoid. So I was left to roam. As you well know,a writer without art to show with it, has no chance of even getting sneered at. Non the less I was allowed to pitch my project at Devils Due. Who, at least told me that I had an intriguing concept and a tight scripting style. Hey, a compliment is a compliment....I had a lovely conversation with people from Humanoid press and said hi to Len Wein...other wise I got flirted with a lot by fanboys and I'm OLD....

The Eisner awards were probably the single most inspiring moment of my life. Standing beside people that were influential to the medium that I love, who I one day want to call peers and colleages....no one was rude, or unfriendly. Some handsome dark eyed fellow from DC ( I think he was an artist) talked to me for an hour or two about how to better artist/writer working partnerships, and the flaw of changing teams in the middle of an arc...etc. It was fun to talk to people about things that I'M interested in rather than be merely put up with as that weird chick that write comic books....everyone there did what I want to do...Neil Gaiman gave a beautiful and passionate keynote speech, that I will have to send you a copy of Paty! It was very good. The fun of watching people all tense and wondering if they've won and all the smiles and community of it. To me, only a part of why I want to wrtie comics has to do with merely writing them. I love the art form and want it to be reconized as legitimate art, not just kid stuff No other place in the world could you get into an arguement with another person on how to spell the sound of a full gallon jar of mayonaise hitting the floor. :LOL

Part 2 Women in the comic business
Either I am to stubborn or too dumb, but I love it and am willing to go it one toe hold at a time. DC seems marginally more receptive to female creators than Marvel form my observation, but I'm not on the inside and I don't for truth, know diddly...I do not care for the way that they treat the talent of either gender. I would be ashamed to treat an employee like what i've seen out of them, and no I won't apologize...the upper office hijinx are even getting stale from my point of view. In many ways I think you are right, Paty, I am much easier recieved as an editor than as a creator. No one blinks an eye when I say I was executive editor for Alliance comics, but I got goggled at if I say I'm a creator. I sometime think that I am a better editor than writer, and I actually enjoy editing, but I digress.

I don't think things will ever completely change...mainstream comics will always be precieved as the boys domain....we can make inroads, but we will never topple it. Women are thought to only like romance and manga, so how do we attract women if they are only given these choices? Can we write/draw comics that everyone can enjoy?

I have been in once facet of the entertainment indutry or another most of my life, and comics are no different than the rest...there is, and always will be a whole lot of bull$*** and ego...never gonna fix that .

I don't give up....and I won't go away, so they can ignore me, but I know that I will eventually come up with something that will catch thier attention. The funny thing is, Paty, I'm not much interested in any of the major titles , maybe Bats...but I'd rather shoot myself with an elephant gun than write the Hulk, I really would. I've always liked the odd titles: John Carter Warlord of Mars, Doc Strange, Swamp Thing....you couldn't pay me to write any of the Ultimate line either...like comics NEED to be dumbed down any more?!?!?!?

I understand all too well why you are cynical and I may join you in a year or two, but I won't give in just because it's never been done. I hope that in your lifetime, I, or any of my sister creators can give you the victory of knowing that it is possible.

Have just a little faith...light a little candle, and don't look when we jump out over the void of impossible...most of us are pretty good gymnasts by now. Some of us will fall, but a few of us won't. I believe that I will be one of the latter.

Hugs to all
Annika

P.S. Paty, I hope I don't come across as too flippant and arrogant, the only way that I know how to do things is head first...if you falter, or let the big guys scare you, you lose.

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2004 6:52 am
by LoneWolf21
I remember Christina Z writing a one-shot for Frank Tieri's Weapon X book, I think it was the Marrow one, and se also did the Avengers:Icons Tigra mini-series, whch I also liked, but yeah, other than that,I can't think of what else she's done

Oh, and there's also Ann Nocenti, one time editor for the X-books, wrote the original (excellent imho) Longshot mini-series, and had a fantastic (and long) run on Daredevil. I think she has a Batman project with Etan Van Sciver coming out sometime soon, right?

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 4:38 pm
by Crawler
Well, as I think Jill said earlier, I think that a big part of there being so few female comic creators is simply because of the numbers game. Go to a convention and look at the portfolio submission lines. You'll probably see about 50 or so guys for every one girl. Seriously.

And it's not as if there aren't a great deal of men struggling in the fringes of the industry, squabbling over pennies in the indy scene.

I also think one part of the greater percentage of women in independent comics is what the main mainstream comics are and who their target audience is. I'm not saying women can't write huge fights between muscle-bound guys and huge-breasted women wearing body paint and carrying big guns...I'm saying that a lot of them probably would rather not.

Not to stereotype, but I think that a lot of the female comics audience started out by reading those "fringe" comics. A lot of the male comics audience started out with the big-guns big-boobs books. It makes sense to me that they would gravitate toward creating works that are what they enjoy.

Personally, I wouldn't want to work for Marvel. Here I am, an aspiring writer at the bottom of the pile, and I can tell you right now that I don't want to work for them unless they're massively overhauled.

I'd guess that a lot of creators, both male and female, share that outlook.

And, just to put this into perspective, I can name off quite a few female creators right off the top of my head...but I can only think of ONE black creator.

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 8:43 pm
by Bamfette
i can think of two off the top of my head, actually... Chris Priest and Olivier Coipel... never really given it much thought, though... there may be others who i just don't realize are black :p

there are certainly a lot of asian creators today though, with the big manga craze.

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2004 4:23 am
by kiki
Hey Panz, any chance I could get a copy of Gaiman's speech too? If it's not too much trouble?

Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2004 1:51 pm
by Paty
:mags:
does anyone know if Ron wilson or Keith Pollard are doing anything in the comics industry? they were two balck artists who worked for Marvel when I was on staff there. Keith was the one i called the "light brown person" and ron was the "dark brown person" . I used to tease ron that the only thing really "black" about him was his hair and the pupils of his eyes!...The rest was wonderful shades of brown...he used to say if I wasn't crazy I would be DEAD!!! But he always said it with a grin...we liked and respected each other. ron was this huge Black dude...think Luke Cage...think Bishop...yeah... think Bishop! ron was the kinda dude you wanted to wald down the streets of Hells Kitchen with you...if you weren't a crazy whitebread witch who wasn't afraid of anything....and who nobody bothered at anytime of the day or night...cuz I was "the meanest looking person" one guy had ever seen ...and he told me so...LOL...as he walked a wide berth around me...LOL...one summer night in Hell's Kitchen...
chris Priest I knew as Jim Owsley...and I suppose I will always think of him as "Owsley". He, I understand, is stillhanging in there..butI would bet you don't see many ethnic faces in the merrie ol' bullpen these days. I mean...I cann't say for certain...I havenn't been down to the offices for years...probably close to a decade...and now that I am safely out of NY, I cannot ever see me going back...but...I would just bet the "color" at Marvel isn't any where near what it USED to be...back in the good ol' days.

And of course, noone can complain without losing their job or getting sued by the company. I was talking to one of the older artists, who shallremain nameless, cuz Marvel occasionally reads these columns...yesterday. He told me that the document stating what he could and could not say that he had to sign was as thickas a book! And I don't mean a comic book, either! and that was only to extend his health coverage! You work for them these days, you are bound and gagged and led to slaughter. We never had gag orders back in the good ol' days..but then we LIKED the place we worked at...and there were no "secrets". Secrets are a puerile little boys game to let them think they control everything. And they use it to gloat, drop hints and chant Nya, nya nya...we knoooow more than yooouuuu do!
Gimme a break! Grow up, little boys! And diversify your ethnic and sexual input if you want to survive! Minority and ethnic and female input will help Marvel...not destroy it!

Oh, well... this is a rant that I have made for years...and as I said, nothing changes. It's gotten worse, actually. sometimes I...and others, .who want only the best for Marvel...think that they do just the opposite of what we suggest simply to annoy us. they don't understand...like the children they are...that we don't want to hurt Marvel...we want to make it better...to help it climb out of the hole it has dug for itself...but no one listens cuz what we are saying is not what they want to hear...

So what else is new?
Paty
:mags:

Re: Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:40 pm
by Paty
OK... is this last post a bunch of gobbeldegook or is my new computer screwing up and encoding everything? A whole block of unreadable stuff?

And what's all of a sudden going on with Nightscrawlers? For literally years no posts and suddenly I have 90 new emails from the site in my mailbox!!!??? Has there been a policy change or something? I have been away from the whole scenario so long I have no idea of what's going down! Is something happening out there?

I did have some very nice gal call me from Marvel and interview me for inclusion in the women of Marvel book. We babbled on for about an hour or so. a couple of weeks later she sent me a copy of the stuff that would be included in the book attributed to me and I wrote back and said " change this and fix that and it is relatively OK...I guess. Goddess only knows what will finally appear...LOL

A very lovely big... literally!... book on Dave's art for the X Men, his designs, etc. is out and has just won a "Ringo" award for best design. It is a beauty and features Dave's art full sized... which, of course, is 11x17... so the book is about twelve or thirteen inches by about twenty, or so, and is huge, as as "coffee table" books go, but, if you love Dave's art, you will want to see this book and, possibly, own it! It is a beautiful, loving tribute to his talent!

If all the stuff in my mailbox is aimed at me, or responses to threads I have posted to, I shall try to answer them...it may take some time... the blind eyes being what they are, it takes quite a bit of time and pain to stare at a screen at two inches from it, which is what I have to do to read posts, sigh... but I shall persevere... bear with me, please. I just hope this isn't ten years worth of posts suddenly showing up... and being as out of date as I am!!!

LOL
Paty

Re: Female Writers and Artists

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 5:32 pm
by Slarti
Hey Paty! I'm not sure what's up with the email, but we're still here! That's awesome about the book with Dave's art, and the women of marvel book!