(Editor's note: this is republished from 2008. I had taken it offline as a draft, but put it live again because I think there's some revisionist history going on with the D'Orazio/Sims thing. I might try to restore the proper date if I can track it down.)
Originally posted on 2/26/2008.
It started out as just one Occasional Superheroine reader who came to my blog to find out that the way Valerie was spinning things made me look much worse than my actual deeds would merit.
Andy: Well I'm glad I got to read the posts here, thanks for posting them. I did assume they were much worse seeing the deleted posts, so I can validate your argument there.Then came a completely unexpected correspondence from a comic professional. He didn't want to be named, but allowed me to share his words under a pen name. Let's call him Richard Alpert.
Richard: "The inherent contradiction in Valerie's posting is that she simultaneously wants to be the victim and the champion. She wants your sympathy for her trials at DC, but she also wants you to agree with only her. It's an inherent contradiction that makes it seem like she was less angry about her treatment as a woman, and more angry that she wasn't put on a pedestal for being so obviously right. Then again, she edited books with Black Lightning and can't recognize him. Yeah . . . I'm sure DC is crushed they let her get away."He manages to hit a point that I wanted to draw attention to when she made the Jefferson Pierce/John Henry Irons mistake, but was trying to stay reasonably cordial at the time. She certainly doesn't seem to employ the keen powers of observation in her current work that she'd have obviously needed to perform adequately as an editor.
"I don't hate female creators; I just hate Valerie."
I'm wondering if she didn't spend more time fretting over "causes" during her work rather than doing what was asked of her. I remember doing the same when I was interning at a music promotion company and incessantly pitched that Half Pint needed to try to work something out to pimp KMD because they had a completed record with no one willing to press it. Even called Bobbito (from the Stretch & Bobbito show on Columbia University radio at the time). Really didn't endear me to my direct supervisor.
Maybe I'll hear from others who have similar opinions they're afraid to express for fear of being unjustly labeled as misogynist?
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Well who was this mystery professional. shouldnt he have to 'stand by his words' instead of commenting anonymously? or do you just enjoy trolling blogs and then telling people about it afterwards. cuase if thats the case I have to admit youre on to something.
ReplyDelete<3 your biggest fan
Troll blogs? No. That's not me.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I am an anonymous coward to pop up, but I don't care about taking sides so much as to say that Devin Grayson was already doing work at DC for Denny O'Neil by the time she met Mark Waid.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, it's inaccurate to suggest otherwise. She made it on her own merits, not on Mark Waid's introduction. As they've both said in various interviews in the past, and as Denny O'Neil has also said.
Damn, man. Do some research.
-- Anun
How much work did she have pre-Waid? How much during Waid?
ReplyDeleteAgain, I've never contended that her work wasn't judged on its own merits, but that it had an easier time of getting in front of a set of eyes to judge it once she got involved with Waid. And she didn't have distinctly high profile work published at DC until Waid.
Most writers start out small and move on up slowly. Since O'Neil was her editor for a long time, I'd say Grayson didn't need Waid's networking. The clout of a longtime well-respected editor like O'Neil would probably far outweigh Waid's connections.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I believe she had been the regular writer on Catwoman for a while by the time she and Waid starting dating. Before that, she'd done the Arsenal miniseries and some Batman Chronicles work. She was dating Waid by the time she was writing Titans, but she'd been on Catwoman for quite a while by the time she was writing Titans as well. It's pretty fair to assume that other editors were reading her work on Catwoman and liking what they were seeing.
Seriously. No one ever accused Larry Hama of sleeping his way to his reviled Batman gig or played it off "he was dating someone that made it easier for him". Same with Winick, same with Rucka, same with a lot of guys. "She was dating someone who made it easier for her work to land on their desks" is a round-about way of saying she slept her way in. If you don't like her work, there's no reason to assume that editors would throw her some regular series gigs just to appease the mighty Mark Waid (and I use that term loosely). That would be ridiculous.
-- Anun
-- Anun
So mysterious, I had to sign it twice!
ReplyDelete-- Anun
No, saying she had an easier time getting her pitches in front of editors through her relationship with Waid is no more suggesting she slept her way to the top than saying Casey got a leg up by striking up a friendship with Robinson is suggesting he took one in the ass to get ahead.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Johanna's Comics Worth Reading seems to indicate that Waid and Grayson were an item in 1996. Catwoman hit in 1998.
Funny what Google turned up, too: they were living together by December 1998. Sure...she had a 10 page story in Batman Chronicles, Catwoman annual and Batman Plus Arsenal in 1997, but that's small stuff. Which happened after some believe Waid and Grayson were already an item. I mean...what aspiring writer working at an HMO can e-mail and fax four editors at DC for help (all in her own bio on her site)?
Research? Yeah...I do that sometimes.
Meanwhile, you're a bit of an anonymous stalker. Well...I think I have a good idea of who you are. But you don't have the guts to let anyone know, eh? My e-mail address is listed on the front page. If you care to reveal yourself, in the name of Allah, I won't divulge it to the masses. :)
Until then...no anonymous comments are allowed. At least one party on this blog has to have some idea of who you are. :)
Sorry, Duckula...you'll be missed during this time. ;)
Also, Scott McCullar shows that he was an uncredited "creative consultant" on the Arsenal mini. Which might argue that, if one wanted to suggest she didn't do it all on her own in, there are other avenues to hit up besides having help getting her pitches seen.
Oh...in her biography, it indicates she met Waid in April of 1997, which is before some of her more sizable work (i.e. more than 10 pages) saw the light of day.
ReplyDeleteHuxford, man, you got to chill the fuck out. This is making you look terrible.
ReplyDeleteIt's making me look terrible?
ReplyDeleteWhich part? Calling Valerie on her shit or pointing out that actual history suggests that Devin's career could very well have benefited from her involvement with Mark Waid?
I've met Rich Johnston. And you, sir, are no Rich Johnston.
ReplyDelete-Ducky
I'm not trying to be Rich.
ReplyDeleteAnd what happened, Duckula? Too lazy to type your name in rather than anonymous? :)