Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dynamite, entertainment, gail simone, red sonja, Walter Geovani, wonder woman

Gail Simone On Changes To Red Sonja And Extending Her Stay

Published Thu, 08 May 2014 16:00:57 -0500

Recently, fan-favorite writer Gail Simone announced that she would be extending her run on Dynamite's Red Sonja series. I got a chance to ask the writer about her love of the character and what made her want to stick around longer.

BLEEDING COOL: You have recently extended your run on Red Sonja for Dynamite. How long is the extension planned for and will you continue working on the multiple series in that time or just focusing on the main Red Sonja book?

GAIL SIMONE: Yeah, this is just one of those things where you fall in love and can't let go. I agreed to do six issues of Red Sonja, then I was having so much fun, we bumped it to twelve, then I wanted to do Legends of Red Sonja with my favorite female writers, so that was five more, then I agreed to do Red Sonja Zero, and then Red Sonja/Conan, and finally six MORE issues so that pretty soon I'm just going to be writing Red Sonja until I am 1037 years old.

I just love her. Sometimes you get a character that's just such fun, you can't give her up.

The exact date of my last issue, I'm not sure, it's still up in the air, and Dynamite has suggested a crossover so fun I don't want anyone ELSE to get their grubby mitts on it.

BC: You said you originally wanted to tell one Red Sonja story and then "drop the mic". What made you change your mind? What is it about this character the pulled you back in?

GS: Really, I like that she's uncouth. I love characters all over the politeness spectrum, but I love that Sonja takes no **** from anyone. Ever. She would sass Galactus.

BC: What are your plans for Sonja over the next few months? Will this tie into your previous stories or would this be a jumping on point for newer readers?

GS: Sonja right now is in an epic quest to find the greatest artisans in the world, to save the lives of a thousand slaves. It's funny, sad, sexy, and a bit thrilling, I think. I'm having a blast with it. Conan/Sonja is just epic in every sense. And the Sonja Zero is a story about a man claiming to be Sonja's widower…it's a lot of fun.

BC: In the press release from Dynamite announcing your extension, you said, "Then I started writing her and she got very controlling about it…" Can you explain to the folks who aren't writers what it's like to have a character start guiding the story you're writing?

GS: That's the thing, I hear writers say this all the time and I scoff a little. I like to be in the driver's seat, you know? When I am writing, I am writing, not the characters. But Sonja DOES reach up and yank the wheel sometimes. She's bossy and doesn't care who knows it.

BC: Apart from the difference in settings/eras I am curious how you would compare and contrast the characters of Red Sonja and Wonder Woman. Being that you have written both, what similarities do you see in them when you are writing and where do they differ?

GS: I think that they are the alphas of their respective worlds. I mean, I know some will say Conan and Batman/Superman are, but they just are fooling themselves.

BC: Having written the character for a year now, how do you see the character having grown under your guidance? And what if any kind of mark do you want to leave on the character once you are done?

GS: To be blunt, I hated all the rapey stuff in her origin and her motivation. It's not aged well and it wasn't a brilliant idea to start with. We can have a Sonja who is sexy and very sexual, but without the whole "I will only bed you if you beat me in combat," stuff, I think that stuff is alienating not just to women, but to almost anyone born in the last several decades.

I'm not bashing what the original writers did, I'm only here because the stories were so great. But that idea's time is done, unless it was going to be handled with a different level of sensitivity.

Also, a big part of her growth is in the art, Walter Geovani is simply slaying on the book and he draws her sexy, but funny and fierce and powerful and holy crap, just buy the book, everyone!

Red Sonja #9 is on sale now.