Gail Simone Tackles Dynamite Event Focused on Women

Gail Simone is without question one of the best writers in the industry. She's also something of a force when it comes to advocating for female characters; crafting stories with women the focus in very strong roles. She's really good at what she does and the female characters are equally respectable. Dynamite Entertainment likes both aspects of that equation, tapping Simone to write The Women of Dynamite, uniting and celebrating the strong female characters of Dynamite's publishing line, including Red Sonja, Vampirella, Dejah Thoris and more.

"When I first spoke with Nick about working at Dynamite, he graciously offered my choice of a huge list of great characters, and I immediately chose a favorite, Red Sonja," says writer Gail Simone. "But that meant leaving behind amazing characters I loved! So doing this big, fun, noisy event book, full of action and fun and drama and sex and villainy, featuring some of the wildest female characters out there, that's just awesome. Getting to work with some of the most talented female writers in the industry only makes it better!"

The heart of The Women of Dynamite is formed by the three bestselling heroines (or female triumvirate) of Dynamite's line as the central characters: Red Sonja, Vampirella and Dejah Thoris. The "She-Devil with a Sword" known as Red Sonja, is fantasy fiction's most prominent female character, formerly a swashbuckling ally of the Robert E. Howard character, Conan. Vampirella, originally a horror hostess in her self-titled magazine, evolved over her forty-five year history into a supernatural detective. Finally, Dejah Thoris is the eponymous heroine of Edgar Rice Burroughs' original story featuring John Carter, A Princess of Mars, and an adventurous mainstay at Dynamite with the publication of such series as Warlord of Mars and Dejah of Mars. Additional female characters from Dynamite's ten years of publishing will be included in the event.

"After working so closely with Gail on Legends of Red Sonja, I am excited to see where we'll be going next with this epic character crossover," says Molly Mahan, Associate Editor of Dynamite. "The concept of a Women of Dynamite series has been something we've been circling around for a while now, but had to wait for the right concept and creators to come together to make the story as worthwhile as the concept. We are lucky to have Gail as the cornerstone on this project and I know we'll craft something that the fans and comics community will enjoy across demographics."

"Gail has been an absolute pleasure to work with," says Nick Barrucci, CEO and Publisher of Dynamite Entertainment. "The thought of bringing together the strongest female characters that Dynamite publishes into an event has been discussed for years, and we could not be happier that Gail is the creator who will tell this tale. Her work on Red Sonja has been a delight, and as fans who read her work know, she has many tricks up her sleeve. Gail is going to make this event huge! Just wait until you see what she has in store for the rest of Dynamite's strong female characters."

The Women of Dynamite will be solicited in an upcoming Diamond Comic Distributors Previews catalog. Comic book fans are encouraged to reserve copies of The Women of Dynamite with their local comic book retailers. The Women of Dynamite will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, iVerse and Dark Horse Digital. Full press release below.

GAIL SIMONE TACKLES DYNAMITE'S FIRST-EVER

FEMALE-CENTRIC CROSSOVER EVENT,

FEATURING VAMPIRELLA, RED SONJA, DEJAH THORIS, AND MORE

July 21, 2014, Mt. Laurel, NJ:  Dynamite Entertainment is proud to announce an exciting new event series featuring the most iconic female characters published by Dynamite, as written by sensational comics scribe, Gail Simone.  Renowned for her deft handling of DC Comics' best-known and most powerful women (Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey), Simone will unite and celebrate the strong female characters of Dynamite's publishing line, including Red Sonja, Vampirella, Dejah Thoris, and more, in a series currently under a working title of The Women of Dynamite.

The heart of The Women of Dynamite is formed by the three bestselling heroines (or female triumvirate) of Dynamite's line as the central characters:  Red Sonja, Vampirella, and Dejah Thoris.  The "She-Devil with a Sword" known as Red Sonja, is fantasy fiction's most prominent female character, formerly a swashbuckling ally of the Robert E. Howard character, Conan.  Vampirella, originally a horror hostess in her self-titled magazine, evolved over her forty-five year history into a supernatural detective.  Finally, Dejah Thoris is the eponymous heroine of Edgar Rice Burroughs' original story featuring John Carter, A Princess of Mars, and an adventurous mainstay at Dynamite with the publication of such series as Warlord of Mars and Dejah of Mars.  Additional female characters from Dynamite's ten years of publishing will be included in the event.

"When I first spoke with Nick about working at Dynamite, he graciously offered my choice of a huge list of great characters, and I immediately chose a favorite, Red Sonja," says writer Gail Simone.  "But that meant leaving behind amazing characters I loved!  So doing this big, fun, noisy event book, full of action and fun and drama and sex and villainy, featuring some of the wildest female characters out there, that's just awesome.  Getting to work with some of the most talented female writers in the industry only makes it better!"

"After working so closely with Gail on Legends of Red Sonja, I am excited to see where we'll be going next with this epic character crossover," says Molly Mahan, Associate Editor of Dynamite. "The concept of a Women of Dynamite series has been something we've been circling around for a while now, but had to wait for the right concept and creators to come together to make the story as worthwhile as the concept. We are lucky to have Gail as the cornerstone on this project and I know we'll craft something that the fans and comics community will enjoy across demographics."

"Gail has been an absolute pleasure to work with," says Nick Barrucci, CEO and Publisher of Dynamite Entertainment. "The thought of bringing together the strongest female characters that Dynamite publishes into an event has been discussed for years, and we could not be happier that Gail is the creator who will tell this tale.  Her work on Red Sonja has been a delight, and as fans who read her work know, she has many tricks up her sleeve.  Gail is going to make this event huge!  Just wait until you see what she has in store for the rest of Dynamite's strong female characters."

Gail Simone first debuted on a Dynamite series with the 2013 launch of Red Sonja, an ongoing series which was met with immediate critical acclaim and an impressive sell-out of its 35,000-unit first printing.  She has committed to writing chores for Red Sonja through its eighteenth issue.  She also assembled a team of fiction's top female writers, well-respected professionals from the prose, fantasy gaming, and comic book worlds, for a collaborative project called Legends of Red Sonja, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the titular character.  She additionally will contribute a story to the upcoming Vampirella: Feary Tales miniseries.

Simone got her start in comics writing for Bongo Comics, home of The Simpsons. Soon after, she entered the traditional superhero comics genre with a run on Marvel Comics' Deadpool (later called Agent X). In recent years, Simone is best known for known for fan-favorite story arcs on DC Comics' Birds of Prey, Secret Six, Wonder Woman, and Batgirl.

The Women of Dynamite will be solicited in an upcoming Diamond Comic Distributors Previews catalog, the premiere source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market.  Comic book fans are encouraged to reserve copies of The Women of Dynamite with their local comic book retailers.  The Women of Dynamite will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital.




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About Dynamite Entertainment:

Dynamite was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including The Boys, The Shadow, Red Sonja, Warlord of Mars, Bionic Man, A Game of Thrones, and more.  Dynamite owns and controls an extensive library with over 3,000 characters (which includes the Harris Comics and Chaos Comics properties), such as Vampirella, Pantha, Evil Ernie, Smiley the Psychotic Button, Chastity, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt.  In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and bestselling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Kevin Smith, Alex Ross, Neil Gaiman, Andy Diggle, John Cassaday, Garth Ennis, Jae Lee, Marc Guggenheim, Mike Carey, Jim Krueger, Greg Pak, Brett Matthews, Matt Wagner, Gail Simone, Steve Niles, James Robinson, and a host of up-and-coming new talent.  Dynamite is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their titles - including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's Project Superpowers - have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors.  In 2005, Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%) and again in 2011.  The company has also been nominated for and won several industry awards, including the prestigious Harvey and Eisner Awards.

All characters, names, logos, etc. are ™ and © their respective owners.  Press release written by Kevin Pearl.