Fangirls Around the Web: January 8, 2013

The last edition of Fangirls Around the Web concluded with the disappointing news that Gail Simone had been removed as writer on DC’s Batgirl. Then, just a few days before Christmas, DC reversed course and reinstated her. Jill Pantozzi at TheMarySue reports on the news and the initial reaction.

Wonder Woman Fanart by Rahzzah (click to see full-size image)

Also at TheMarySue, Rebecca Pahle shared this video of Cameron Russell, a Victoria’s Secret model, discussing physical insecurity and privilege. And on Tumblr TheMarySue shares a fantastic new fanart of Wonder Woman by Rahzzah with short hair and interesting armor, which we just had to share.

In other comics news, Erica Heflin just announced the Kickstarter campaign for her upcoming comic Flesh of White, about the challenges facing a child born with albinism in Tanzania.

At Hispanic Executive, Julie Schaeffer profiles “Syfy’s Secret Weapon”: Erika Kennair, vice president of scripted development.

On the Star Wars front, Jennifer Landa writes at the official Star Wars Blog about how to make a Wampa cave shadow box, and executive editor J.W. Rinzler discusses the origin and content of the new book Star Wars and History. I also want to give a shout-out to Bethany for her strong defense of fanfiction and its writers on the recent Star Wars report podcast on the subject.

Heroines are making their stamp in movies. Kat Hill blogs about the breakout heroines (and heroes) in 2012 action movies. Following up on A.O. Scott’s commentary “Hollywood’s Year of Heroine Worship” in the New York Times Magazine, Melissa Silverstein’s blog at IndieWire “Why Having Only Strong Girl Heroines is Not Enough” is worth a read for every storyteller.

In a topic near and dear to my heart, Charlie Jane Anders at io9 profiles “10 Awesome Female Engineers from Science Fiction,” including Star Trek: Voyager‘s B’Elanna Torres and Firefly‘s Kaylee.

Alyssa Rosenberg at Slate predicts that “Women Will Rule Cable TV in 2013,” not just for characters but creators as well.

It’s no mistake that some of these roles were created by women. Michelle Ashford, who worked on the miniseries The Pacific and John Adams, is the creator of Masters of Sex. Meredith Stiehm, who created Cold Case and has been one of the lead writers on Homeland, is heading up The Bridge. And they’re not only giving good roles to women. It’s Ann Biderman, the creator of Southland, who cooked up Ray Donovan, the story of a Los Angeles fixer, that’s actually part of Showtime’s attempt to move away from a slate of shows dominated by female characters. (Imagine that!) Giving more women a chance to create their own shows isn’t just about getting parity in roles. It’s a chance to bring in new perspectives that can revitalize the tropes of the Golden Age of TV for men and women alike.

Fangirl

Fangirl

Tricia Barr took her understanding of brand management and marketing, mixed it with a love of genre storytelling, and added a dash of social media flare to create FANgirl Blog, where she discusses Star Wars, fandom, and the intersection of women within Star Wars fandom. She is co-author of Ultimate Star Wars and Star Wars Visual Encyclopedia from DK Publishing, a featured writer for Star Wars Insider magazine with numerous articles on the Hero's Journey. Her FANgirl opinions can be heard on the podcasts Hyperspace Theories and Fangirls Going Rogue. Tricia Barr's novel, Wynde, won the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Ebook. She was also part of Silence in the Library's successful all-female creator science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena's Daughters, which is available now. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.