Interview by AJ Dent, GeekGirlCon Staff Copy Writer
Kelly Sue DeConnick
If ever there were an author who’s as much a superheroine as the characters she writes about, it’s Kelly Sue DeConnick. From adapting manga into English to revamping Captain Marvel, her comic book career knows no bounds. We are very excited to welcome her to GeekGirlCon ‘13!
Recently, I had the honor of chatting with her about women in the comic book industry, her collaboration with artist Kelly Rios, and her prolific career.
Are there any particular challenges or flak you’ve received for your reinvention of Captain Marvel?
I know there are people who aren’t into it, but for the most part, they don’t seek me out to let me know. The people who seek me out are the ones who are super into it. So from the beautiful little bubble that I live in, it is a resounding success! [Laughs] I mean, there are things about my own performance I am not happy with, because I’m on a learning curve. I have ten years in the industry, but I only have three years writing original comics. It has been a kind of whirlwind.
I have been very lucky. In 2007 was Eben and Stella, and then my son was born, and I went back to doing very little for about a year, so I had to kind of restart my career again. So it’s really only been three years I’ve been back at it. Ten-plus years as a professional writer, ten years in the comic book industry, but really only three doing this kind of thing, and only one doing a monthly superhero comics. And let me tell you, monthly superhero comics are a grind! I am not particularly gifted at that part of it.
Matt [Fraction] and Brian [Bendis] are both very fast and very good. They’re also both a lot more experienced than I am so I try to take solace in that, but I don’t know how long I get to ride that. I don’t know if I’m getting faster fast enough. I don’t know if I can keep the quality up the way that they do. When I start getting too upset about it, Matt points out that Sandman never came out monthly, and Gaiman was doing just Sandman. He’s one of my favorite comic book writers of all time, and he is not fast either. Now someone will probably hear that and suggest that I’m comparing myself to Gaiman, which is not my intention! [Laughs] This is just to say that better artists than me have had the same problem.
Back in the day you could get away with not being fast enough in a market that insists on being fast, but you cannot get away with it now. But most of my favorite comic book writers working today are crazy fast! They’re just amazing. They keep the quality up, and they put them out like clockwork. I have not figured out how to do that yet, and I say ‘yet’ because I haven’t quite given up yet. But I’m teetering on the edge of giving up! [Laughs]
Have you seen any shifts for women working in the comic book industry over the course of your career? Do any current trends particularly excite or frustrate you?
I think popular culture is reflective of culture in general, and we are having a lot of conversations right now about what happened to the women’s movement, how it sort of fizzled, and how it seems to kind of be coming back again. Unfortunately, I think—and I’ll reveal my political leanings here a bit, as though it was a secret to anyone!—women have been culturally under duress, if not attack, over the last few years, and are certainly starting to respond. And I think that female comic book characters came to the fore and made big strides in the 40s, in the 70s, and again right now—not coincidentally in times when women’s movements was coming to the fore. In the height of the second wave movement in the 70s, in the 40s when women were going into the workplace, it is not a coincidence. So you see this conversation happening a lot right now, in our industry and about our industry and in our fandom.
I think that that is very exciting to me in one respect; in another I do get frustrated because it’s a difficult balancing act. I want to talk about it, it’s something that interests me. As a young woman, I was not aware of having experienced any sexism until I was well into my adulthood, it was probably not until I was married that I was aware of it. It wasn’t until deeper into my career did I start to see, “Oh! Oh, yeah! That’s why that happened!” And so I think that sometimes there are people who have not yet experienced it—and I say yet with unfortunate resign—who do not think that it exists, so I think it’s important to call it out when it happens, as much as you can and as delicately as you can.
At the same time, boy am I sick of this being the conversation! My husband’s gender almost never comes up in an interview. I would say never, but I don’t know, maybe it has come up once, I’m not sure, but I kind of doubt it. When Brian Bendis was invited to write Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD, no one asked, “Ooh, are you going to be able to write that? You’re not a spider!” [Laughs] You know? “Aren’t you afraid you’ll bring too much masculinity to that character? Are you only going to write about her hitting and punching things?”
These conversations don’t happen in reverse. Although, when you put them in reverse, you can sometimes illustrate just how asinine they are. But I get sick of it. I get sick of the notion that I am “other.” My husband is a writer, my friend Brian is a writer. I’m a “girl writer.” It fucking sucks. I don’t want to be a “girl writer.” I’m a girl, yes, I’m a woman, I’m also a mother, an outspoken feminist, and I’m proud of all these things, but the entirety of my identity doesn’t need to be present in these things. It becomes that adjunct thing—“you are other.” The joke I always make is that I don’t want to be Girl Writer any more than I want to be Lady Deadpool. It’s like, “You are the linguistic Other.” Now watch, the world’s biggest Lady Deadpool fan will write me: “There is nothing wrong with Lady Deadpool!” Missing the point. [Laughs] Missing the point.
So I have mixed emotions about the conversation happening right now, and my role in it. On the one hand, I think it is important, because as much as it may infuriate me, as much as it may at times embarrass me, you know, I think every time I have this conversation is one time my daughter doesn’t have to. Fingers crossed.
What advice would you give young geeks who are interested in working in the comic book industry?
I have so much advice, I can teach a class on it! It’s hard to boil down into a line or two, but the most important thing is to stop making excuses. Any creative pursuit is scary, and you’re not going to be as good as you want to be. You’re probably never going to be as good as you want to be, but if you never start, that guarantees it.
Start making comics. It doesn’t matter if you can’t draw, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have an artist. Do them with stick figures, make mini-comics, use cut-outs from magazines, use pictures, or just start practicing writing scripts. One thing you can try is to take your favorite comic and reverse-engineer it. Try writing the script that would have produced that comic. You don’t need anything to do that except a notebook, a pen, a comic book, and some time.
So start. I get inquiries from people who want to know how to get jobs writing comics, and they’ve not written comics. You know, I’m not going to hire a plumber to fix my sink if he’s only ever washed his hands. Using a sink does not qualify you to build a sink.
So start. Start now. I started too late, I will tell you. I am 43 years old, I have two small children, and I am utterly exhausted. The number of all-nighters I have pulled to keep up with my deadlines is stupid, so don’t do what I did. Start now. I am an idiot: do not follow my path.
Everybody wants to wait until they’re hired, or they say it’s hard to find an artist, it’s all very, very hard. It is all very, very hard. You must do it anyway.
Talk about inspirational tough love! For more life lessons and looks into the works of Kelly Sue, catch Part 2 of our interview with her next week!
Make sure you don’t miss out on seeing Kelly Sue at GeekGirlCon ‘13—buy your passes now!
While a full-time volunteer staff is essential to making the magic happen, an extra-inspiring aspect of our yearly convention is the contribution of geeks who come from across the country to work during the big weekend. These GeekGirlCon Agents donate their time and effort to ensure a smooth, seriously rad celebration for all. Not only is their hands-on help hugely important, but their energy and unique insight into the Con makes for a dynamite time.
This fall, we have Agents joining us from nine different states across the USA, as well as Canada and even Australia! There are 183 Agents in our ranks, and four of them have written us to share their experiences and excitement for GeekGirlCon ‘13.
Returning Agent Laura Lucas learned about the very first GeekGirlCon in 2011 by seeing a flyer for it:
Why do you think GeekGirlCon is an important event?
Girls need to know that they can be geeks too, and that it’s okay to be a geek if they want to be.
What was your favorite volunteer activity at GeekGirlCon, and why?
Helping the vendors unload before the Con! They were thrilled that we were there, and happy to tell us about whatever cool stuff they were selling/had just done/had planned.
What are you hoping to gain from your time volunteering for GeekGirlCon?
Fun, a good experience, and some new skills are never a bad thing!
The very first GeekGirlCon logo!
Agent Alison Rapp will be bringing her enthusiasm back this year as well:
How did you hear about GeekGirlCon?
I can’t remember the first time I heard about GeekGirlCon, but I know it was a couple years ago, when the convention was just getting started. I was in grad school (feminist media scholarship represent!) in Minnesota at the time, and all I can remember thinking was, “Gosh, I’d really like to go there and meet some more geeky ladies interested in feminist stuff.” I moved out here to the Pacific Northwest in early August and am so psyched to not only be attending GeekGirlCon, but also helping out however I can.
Why do you think GeekGirlCon is an important event?
One of the reasons I think GeekGirlCon is important is because it’s a space where women—not to mention other marginalized folks—are visible and are able to freely share their love of geeky things, AND issues with being excluded from more traditional spaces and cultures. I think that’s awesome, and I’m so happy I can finally be a part of it.
Agent Lauren Smith will be joining us as a volunteer for the very first time this October:
How did you hear about GeekGirlCon?
I honestly don’t remember, but it would most likely have been through one of the geek feminist spaces I frequent on the web or follow on Twitter or Facebook.
What makes you proud to be a geek?
My geekdom generally revolves around television and movies I grew up watching that are deemed nerdy. I have always identified as a geek and consider it a very important piece of myself because those movies and television are foundational to who I am as a person. For example, on a rewatch of Star Trek: The Next Generation I discovered a small scene where Picard explains to Wesley Crusher about the importance of, essentially, a broad range of study in one’s education. I was stunned. This scene was immediately familiar, though until that moment forgotten, and basically sums up my entire approach to my formal and informal educations. This is something about myself that I value and take pride in, and it came directly out of my geekiness.
Why do you think GeekGirlCon is an important event?
I have too often felt uncomfortable and out of place, even in geek circles where I am familiar with the material, because of dynamics of misogyny and elitism that permeate geek culture. While those dynamics go in a number of directions (directions that reflect mainstream kyriarchal values, such as white supremacy, able-bodied supremacy, classism, etc.) their misogyny is particularly forthright and needs to be addressed. Having a space that centers women, and that I hope strives toward an intersectional understanding of what “centering women” looks like, is desperately needed while the things we want to talk about within our fandoms, genres and communities are sidelined and ignored. Frankly, the panels I’ve read about coming out of GeekGirlCon are ones that should exist at most Cons, that they don’t says a lot about where geek culture at large still is and why GeekGirlCon needs to exist.
What are you hoping to gain from your time volunteering for GeekGirlCon?
I have only recently moved back to the Seattle area and am hoping to connect with other feminist/womanist geeks, get more involved in fandom and geek culture in the physical world, and go to my very first Con!
Agent Lauren Hambacher also tells us about her excitement to volunteer for GeekGirlCon for the first time:
How did you hear about GeekGirlCon?
I ran into Terra Clarke Olsen. I learned about it from her after I moved to Seattle.
What makes you proud to be a geek?
Being a geek about something just means you are passionate about it. There’s pride in loving something that much and being excited about it.
Why do you think GeekGirlCon is an important event?
This will be my first year, but I’m so excited about it that I wanted to volunteer and help out too! I’m proud to be a girl geek, and it’s really nice to see a con with that specification. (Without excluding the men-folk as well!)
What are you hoping to gain from your time volunteering for GeekGirlCon?
New experiences, new friends, and a fun time!
A thousand thanks go out to these vital volunteers, and all who celebrate women and girls in geek culture. Come meet all our awesome Agents at GeekGirlCon ‘13! Pick up your passes today to be part of the geeky goodness! Want to be notified when the Agent application for 2014 goes live? Sign up for this list today!
I will take any opportunity to wear a costume. According to my family, strutting around in outlandish garb has been a hobby of mine since before I can remember. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, from dressing up as a flower child in fifth grade to pulling off a group Cat in the Hat costume during college.
Costumed as Thing 1 for Halloween with my friends Thing 2 and the Cat in the Hat. Photo credit: AJ Dent
It’s not just the wearing of a costume that’s fun, either. Finding just the right articles of clothing to resemble a fictional character feels like a scavenger hunt to me. At a garage sale one summer, I was thrilled to come across the perfect neon-colored moon boots to pull together a Rainbow Brite costume I’d been constructing. Another year, an old white button-down shirt at Goodwill became the perfect top for my transformation into Pulp Fiction’s Mia Wallace.
My friend Heather at Sakura-Con ‘13 cosplaying the character Paine from Final Fantasy 10-2. Photo credit: AJ Dent
Many people I know take cosplaying up a notch by sewing and even building their own items. While attending Sakura Con earlier this year, I got to admire my friend Heather’s Final Fantasy 10-2 uniform, which was entirely handcrafted from her gun to her wig. She and others spend countless hours preparing outfits like these for big events, and that’s just half the fun. The elements of art and make-believe they bring to conventions foster an incredibly jovial atmosphere by bringing to life a variety of characters we know and love.
It’s no surprise, then, that I’m extra-excited about GeekGirlCon ’13! With panels dishing out advice on wig-wearing, Victorian fashion, and building cosplay subcultures, there’ll be plenty of food for thought. Professional cosplayer Chaka Cumberbatch will be appearing to speak on social, race, gender, and sexuality issues with geek and cosplay communities. Forums will also take place to discuss the difference between cosplay and costuming, cultural appropriation versus appreciation in cosplay, the psychology of cosplay, and the great bonds between people who engage in it together.
Whether you attend one or all of these panels, your knowledge of cosplay will definitely expand as hundreds of attendees show off a rainbow of styles at the convention. Join the fun and dress as your favorite character as well! It’s a great chance to meet, share tips, and geek out with fellow costume lovers from around the country!
While you’re busy stitching up the perfect Doctor Who duds or a grandiose Game of Thrones gown for GeekGirlCon ‘13, don’t forget the most important part—your passes! Pick up yours today and get ready to show off your cosplay creativity!
A cosplaying attendee goes all out at GeekGirlCon ’12.
Gender-bending Avengers cosplayers at GeekGirlCon ’12! Photo credit: Adrienne Roehrich
Do you plan to cosplay at GeekGirlCon ‘13? Who do you want to dress as this year?
My little brother representing the Minnesota Twins while I geek out as Raphael the Turtle.
One of my clearest childhood memories says so much about me as a person, it boggles my mind to this day. My cousin Nick and I were playing at our grandmother’s house and discussing kindergarten, which we had both recently started attending. He boasted, “You know, I have a girlfriend now. Her name’s Sarah.”
Ever overly competitive, I shrugged. “Yeah? Well, I have a boyfriend.”
Nick was instantly skeptical, seeing right through the lie. “Yeah, right!”
“I do!”
“Really, then what’s his name?” he snapped.
I hesitated for a split second, then practically yelled the name of my very first crush of all time. “Raphael!”
Needless to say, Nick was soon telling all of our relatives about my belief that I was dating a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
Through the rest of my childhood, my geeky interests (and lack of a real, live boyfriend) continued. I loved playing The Pagemaster on my Gameboy, built entire Lego towns with my brother, and totally wanted to be Demona from the cartoon show Gargoyles.
It wasn’t until high school, though, that I realized what I was and am: a big ol’ geek girl. Rather than picking up romance novels like my older sisters did, I was content to curl up with Archie comics. Each year I took as many writing classes as possible, and wrote papers on things like lava lamps and the history of Goosebumps books. To top things off, every summer my friend Amanda and I would dress up like pirates and bury toy-filled treasure chests around town for children to find. No joke. We were cosplaying it up without even knowing the term.
From “dork” and “nerd” to “weirdo” and “geek,” I was called ‘em all by both my classmates and my closest friends. And I accepted them with smiles! Even if I’d denied my geekiness, my Batman shirts and wire-framed glasses showed the truth.
I was just always trying to have fun, and this often led to activities that are now considered hipster and cool: thrift store shopping, crocheting, rollerblading, being obsessed with my family’s cats. Nerd is the new black these days, of course, but living without at-home internet access in a town of three thousand people, I had no inkling of the impending geek-chic explosion.
Lifelong crush: Even as an adult, Raphael’s my dream “man.”
Since moving to Seattle a couple years ago, I’ve made a home-away-from-home at Shorty’s, a local pinball bar. Its circus theme, retro arcade games, and spicy nachos are always rad, but that’s not what draws me there every week. The regulars are a variety of tattoo-showing, superhero shirt-wearing, art-creating, punk music-listening geeks, much like me. I feel as if Shorty’s—and even Seattle at large—is the place where formerly outcast nerds congregate for fun and to feed off each other. If I could go back in time, I’d tell my adolescent self to hang in there because there’s a place out there that’s awkward and poetry-filled and amped up about dorky things, too.
Between the wonderful dweebs in my life, the adulthood acceptance I’ve found, and GeekGirlCon’s encouragement, I have never been happier to be a geek!
“This is great! I must really be onto something hot if they’re trying to kill me!”
In the very first 1987 episode of the cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, these are the words April O’Neil utters to herself while being chased by a gang through the sewers. Before we ever even see the Turtles, we’re introduced to April via her Channel 6 news report detailing a recent crime outbreak in New York City. April’s not just sitting at a desk behind the camera for the story, though. She’s in a science lab investigating a recent robbery of powerful equipment. This leads to the run-in with the gang, and her fateful initial encounter with the Turtles.
When I think of strong, fictional female characters, April O’Neil is the first one that comes to mind. Within minutes of this episode alone, she shows her priorities and grit: get in the thick of it and get the scoop. Not only does she not shy from danger, she welcomes it, at one point encouraging her nervous camera crew with a hearty, “Come on, this’ll be fun!”
April’s lifestyle and activities vary slightly in each incarnation of her—from the original comics all the way to the current cartoon reboot—but I’m most familiar with and fond of the Saturday morning cartoon show of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Unlike many leading ladies in superhero worlds, she is no mere damsel in distress. At the age of twenty-eight, she has an apartment of her own and an admirable career as an action news reporter. Always witty, curious, and bold, she frequently goes against the demands of her bumbling news station boss in order to do what’s best for herself and the city depending on her journalistic prowess.
April’s fashion style is nothing to mess with, either. Anyone who can pull off a bright yellow jumpsuit, white boots, and a mop of red hair must have some killer confidence! While she’s obviously physically gorgeous, her appearance isn’t a fallback plot device, nor the most noticeable quality to those around her. She assists the Turtles as the main link to the world outside their lair, gathering and sharing information on Shredder, the Foot Clan, and evil-doers in general so they can collectively stop their nefarious plans. With her drive, intelligence, and unique skills, she is a force for good in her own right.
Let’s recap April’s stand-out characteristics: She is a woman in her late twenties who wears bright colors, lives downtown in her own apartment, drops both knowledge and puns on people left and right, works as a reporter, never goes anywhere without her camera, hangs out with wise-cracking vigilantes, and uses her passions and profession to help others.
GeekGirlCon proudly announces the Ready-To-Wear Superhero panel by Anika Dane at GeekGirlCon ‘13 on October 19 and 20, 2013!
Anika Dane in an outfit inspired by Thor! (photo courtesy Anika Dane)
Ever wanted to dress as sassy and strong as your favorite fictional character? Anika the Fashionista will show us how we can all tap into our inner superheroes via everyday clothing.
Anika has a background in both dance and women’s studies and currently works at Wesleyan University. She is Managing Editor of the weblog Fantastic Fangirls and was a contributor to the nonfiction anthology Chicks Dig Comics. She has a lifelong interest in both fashion and superheroes.
“Ready-to-wear is not cosplay,” explains Anika, “We don’t recreate the costumes, but instead use regular clothing to create heroine-inspired outfits. There are Tumblrs dedicated to dressing in the style of almost every fandom you can imagine—and not just for conventions! I try to do it every day.”
From Tony Stark to Gwen Stacy, there are countless ideas for your next outfit on Anika’s Pinterest page. Now she’s ready to transfer such looks onto the stage to help you transform your attire. No need to don a cosplay cape or recreate an entire costume—statement pieces, geeky t-shirts, cartoony dresses, and more will fill the catwalk of your imagination at this panel. A lively discussion will follow the show so attendees can share tips and tricks. After all, clothing is a major part of every superhero’s character!
“We’re excited to have Anika give us tips and tricks on creating original and innovative ready-to-wear superhero fashions as part of our engaging and celebratory programming at GeekGirlCon ’13,” said Jennifer K. Stuller, Director of Programming and Events.
Need a splash of superheroic inspiration for an ensemble that can’t wait until GeekGirlCon? Connect with Anika through her dynamic blog, Tumblr, and Twitter account for more stylish spark. If you’re interested in working it on the runway or joining her lookbook, be sure to check out her call for models! Rather than physically resembling specific characters, this project is all about gleaning fashion statements from them, and making it work in your own wardrobe, with your own body. Creativity is key, and all fandoms, characters, and body types are encouraged to participate.
Outfit inspired by Carol Danvers (photo courtesy Anika Dane)
Stay tuned for more upcoming GeekGirlCon programming announcements, and don’t miss out on any of the fashionable fun—pick up your GeekGirlCon passes today!
Recognizing this issue, she set out to invent a fun system for expanding engineering excitement. To do so, she dug into the source of the problem and learned it starts early in our society and individual psyches—as children.
Kids are constantly asked what they want to be when they grow up, and the games they play often influence their answer. I know my comic book collection inspired me to be a writer, and my first one-time-use camera gave me dreams of becoming a photographer. I also loved Legos (and still have boxes full of them!), but in retrospect, I can definitely see how much they were marketed towards boys in the 90s. So what about the girls who never received engineering-based toys like these?
It’s easy to see that most toys geared towards little gals involve make-believe. While both genders enjoy playing dress-up, acting out scenes with figurines, and reading stories, these playtime activities have come to dominate the market for girls.
According to Debbie, research shows that young girls frequently engage the most in games when reading or storytelling is involved. This helps explain the general absence of construction sets for girls. Yes, pink Tinkertoys and Lego sets exist, but overall, these types of playthings are disproportionately advertised for boys. (Plus, why is pink a requirement for girls’ toys? When I was little, I didn’t even like that color!)
Debbie set out to combine both these factors—girls’ aptitude for reading and the lack of engineering games for them—in order to get more little ladies pumped up about mathematics and the sciences. Through this goal, GoldieBlox was born! With her blue jean overalls and trusty tools, Goldie’s out to solve problems by actively building their solutions. Not only do we get to read about her adventures, we can construct her machines right along with her.
This development is not only thrilling for society today, but for the future world we will live in. Personally, my childhood hobbies of playing with My Little Ponies and filling in Mad Libs have been a great source of bonding with other women my age. It’s always fun meeting someone new and finding out they used to pretend to be the same Disney Princess as you.
Now imagine today’s little girls talking twenty years down the road. They could analyze their favorite GoldieBlox book, and chat about the first time they made one of her machines work all by themselves. They may discuss the moments they knew they wanted to become engineers, and encourage one another in their current careers.
This is just the beginning. Not only are more GoldieBlox sets underway, but the entire country is taking notice. With this great project’s growth comes an incredible amount of attention from other game and toy companies. Let’s hope they follow Debbie Sterling’s lead and help inspire more girls to get excited about math and science!
