WGBGB: Running From The Truth

(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.

For the record, this exchange makes me look worse than it does Val, because I was thoughtless in how I initially expressed my point.)

Originally ran on 2/25/2008.

I was going to blog about how Valerie was being so selective about her approach to minority characters (black characters that are, in some ways, copies of white characters is bad, but Batwoman being a copy of a straight character with no defining characteristics but rich and gay is great) or the flaw in her assuming that Devin Grayson's aborted Batwoman series got killed because it was just too edgy and scared DC rather than any more realistic option (including the possibility that it just wasn't good).

But then I said the following on her blog (since deleted):

"I don't think it was because Grayson was a poor writer. If I had to take a guess, it was probably too real, too powerful, too original, too controversial, too sensual, and it scared the shit out of DC."

Ugh. Really. Ugh. All this unfounded crap about a writer that the best you could say earlier was "dependable mainstay" and included her in a group of writers with "a varying degree of talent". Talk about damning with faint praise.

Was there a switch in editorial? Could it have something to do with the timing with the movie? Was there possibly a plan to launch her with a Rucka/Williams mini or start off arc and that crumbled?

Fan reaction to Devin on Nightwing was terrible. If I remember correctly, she was losing paid readers, too. The "too sensual" comment? I don't know that sensual is what DC'd want to go for consistently in any DC Universe book. So, if Devin forgot her market, that'd be a valid reason for jettisoning her work.

For all the cries of inequality in the industry, aspiring female creators have the option of sleeping with ex-editors/current hot writers, assuring their pitches get read by someone. What? Someone acknowledge it. If we're going to boo-hoo her losing a gig, her beginnings put it in perspective.

Valerie's responses?

"For all the cries of inequality in the industry, aspiring female creators have the option of sleeping with ex-editors/current hot writers, assuring their pitches get read by someone. What? Someone acknowledge it. If we're going to boo-hoo her losing a gig, her beginnings put it in perspective."

you are an asshole.

and

Further, I don't tolerate such personal accusations like that against other freelancers, or posters, or anyone, on this blog. That sort of misogynistic tripe has no place here. Kevin, go take your readership elsewhere.

It is a fact that Devin was involved with Waid when she broke in. I'm not saying that she got involved with him IN ORDER TO BREAK IN...but that such a relationship certainly helps her pitches get read and her phone calls taken. To suggest it doesn't is stupid.

I do acknowledge, though, that my initial statement could be misconstrued as to suggest that she was using a writer to break in. So I tried to clarify with the following:

Accusation? I'm not saying she got involved with the person BECAUSE she wanted her pitches seen...but who she was dating certainly helped her get looked at by editorial. As does any kind of networking. New writers don't break in cold to DC or Marvel without knowing someone personally. That just happens to be the person she knew...and it just so happened to be in the Biblical sense.

and

By the way, it isn't misogynistic to point out that having a relationship with an ex-editor and current hot writer at DC certainly helped Devin break in.

Her response?

we don't discuss the private lives of freelancers here.

Which is hilarious given:

You're kidding, right? The blog site where you talked about your ripped vagina can't allow a comment that acknowledges a contention that has dogged Devin around since she broke in?

And then I say:

You know what, Val? If you're going to delete my comments that clarify my original statement, you should just go and delete the original statement...instead of trying to leave it up to contend that it is something other than it really was.

Val:

Kevin, please stay off this blog. You're saying things that can eventually get you sued for libel. Stop.

Me, again:

Val, I'm not saying anything libelous. It is ridiculous that you delete my comments and then post things to make it appear that I'm saying things I'm not.

As I said, I make no suggestion that she got involved with someone IN ORDER TO BREAK IN, but that it benefited her. I'd like to live in your world where having such close relationships with popular creators DOESN'T assure that your pitch gets read, but I'm stuck here in the real world.

Further ridiculous comments:

Kevin, trust me, you do not want a legal notice from Grayson. Drop it.

And the end from me:

Yeah, Val...you have my greater good at the top of your thoughts. That's why you're allowing the original post (which can be misunderstood) to stay up but not the follow-up posts that clarify that I'm not saying her boyfriend was a means to an end but that a relationship like that just happens to be a networking godsend.

and

Deleting my original comment, since you're obviously just trying to spin this into something it wasn't. You're just so professional. :)

That was, unfortunately, followed up with Val, again, trying to spin it into something else:

who Devin Grayson dates is of no concern to this discussion. I find your persistence in this extremely disturbing. please go find another blog or forum.

Yeah...ignore that most arguments involve persistence, regardless of subject matter. Never mind that, when someone tries to paint you as being misogynist for something that is simply a misunderstanding, you'll generally try to persist to set the record straight. I'm just disturbing. :)