WGBGB: Support for my "Valerie Situation"

(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."

"I don't hate female creators; I just hate Valerie."

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'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?