Immediately after the conclusion of Death of the Family in February, longtime Birds of Prey and Batgirl scribe Gail Simone will be leaving the book. She was reportedly informed via email on Wednesday, and had this to say on Twitter later in the week:
“I honestly don’t have the words right now to thank you all. I’m pretty choked up and it’s all gratitude, not bitterness.”
So there you have it. Gail Simone put aside her usual sarcastic and borderline offensive language for a rare serious note. That makes the fact that she will no longer be writing Barbara Gordon, as Oracle or as Batgirl all the more bittersweet. I have complained in the past about her writing style and public persona on the internet, but am still in a state of shock over this news. I can’t believe she won’t be writing Babs anymore. But for how long? And where will she show up next? One thing is for certain, love her or hate her, Simone is a force to be reckoned with. And even though this departure seems a little out of left field for most fans (and the writer herself), we can all rest easy knowing that wherever the author shows up next, it’s sure to be a hit.
Gail Simone is famous at DC Comics for her portrayal of strong-willed female characters, both good girls and bad girls alike. My personal favorite of her work was her legendary run on Birds of Prey, but I will always hold a special place in my heart for her greatly underappreciated run on the should-be classic series, Secret Six. She is also famous, of course, for her work on Batgirl after DC’s controversial decision to have Barbara Gordon walk again. Her other DC contributions include runs on The All-New Atom, Welcome to Tranquility, Gen 13, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Her other work included a yet again underappreciated run on Deadpool and numerous other projects, such as the now infamous “Women in Refrigerators” blog, which made her famous and got her her first writing gig. Her feminist presence and snarky wit will be missed, but hopefully not for too long.
Thanks for everything, Ms. Simone!
Stay tuned for a statement from Gail Simone herself, which hopeful will shed some more light on the situation.
Bring in Sterling Gates!!! Look what he did for Supergirl!!
No big loss.
Wow that is shocking…since she had a good run on Batgirl. I wonder why this happened.
BOOOOO!
This is… surprising. Apart from Snyder's Batman, this was my favorite Bat-book. Coincidentally (maybe), following Death of the Family the "Birds of Prey" (Babs' other book) is ALSO getting a new writer. Coincidence?
We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose. Seems odd that they would take one of the most prolific current female writers off of one of the most iconic current female characters. Hopefully there's a good reason or at least a valid explanation coming our way sooner rather than later.
It might not be all bad news. Maybe she's going to do something cool next and maybe they're replacing her with someone else who can give a breath of fresh air to the character. I remain hopeful that DC has their reasons.
Good observation. Maybe there is a correlation. Maybe not. Or maybe we'll just have to wait and see. I for one think that there won't exactly be a shocking revelation on the part of Simone or DC… Sometimes things, especially in comics and the entertainment industry, just don't quite work out the way we all want them to. I just hope they don't do something stupid like kill Batgirl off or make her Oracle again. Man, that would make so many people mad.
This sucks.
Maybe they'll replace her with someone awesome. Hopefully.
False alarm. All is well in the realm of Gail Simone fans. She will be returning after a brief fill in writer gives us a taste of a different writer's approach to the character. Sigh…