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Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

4 Comments

  1. Carey
    December 11, 2014 @ 12:24 am

    To be fair to Batgirl, I think the transphobia is accidental and not deliberate: in a story about appropriation of images (especially appropriate with the story of Russ Heath and Lichtenstein: http://comicsalliance.com/russ-heaths-comic-about-being-ripped-off-by-roy-lichtenstein-will-give-you-a-new-appreciation-for-the-hero-initiative/ ) it is understandable that the artist is revealed as a fraud. Unfortunately, the decision to make the unmasking a shock by changing gender has unfortunate repercussions, and really they should have unmasked the artist as a female. I know this doesn't excuse the nasty taste left in the mouth but does at least put it in context: a misstep from a neophyte writing team.

    Reply

  2. C.
    December 11, 2014 @ 5:40 am

    Has there ever been anything in comics like Fraction and De Connick right now: a married pair of writers, both at the top of their game, & basically trying to top each other with each new project? It's wonderful. .

    Reply

  3. Daibhid C
    December 14, 2014 @ 3:27 am

    The creative team of Batgirl have issued an apology. Unlike the usual "We're sorry of people found that offensive" garbage, this one actually says "Yeah, we screwed that up and we're genuinely sorry about it".

    https://twitter.com/saladinahmed/status/543949215802884096

    Reply

  4. Carey
    December 14, 2014 @ 10:54 am

    More on the story can be found at Bleeding Cool: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/12/cameron-stewart-brenden-fletcher-and-babs-tarr-apologise-over-batgirl-transgender-storyline/

    The full text reads:
    We have heard the complaints about this issue and are listening carefully to the reactions with grave concern.

    We could go on all day about our intentions for the issue and the character of Dagger Type, and what our goals were and weren’t. But, our intentions do not invalidate the legitimate reactions that some have had to this story. Those reactions are honest and heartfelt, and exist regardless of our creative intentions, and we don’t wish to dismiss them.

    Instead, we want to acknowledge the hurt and offense that we’ve caused, and express our sincerest apologies. We’re all deeply troubled by the reaction to this issue and have made it a point of serious discussion amongst ourselves. While we expected a degree of controversy in regard to the issues of identity and the artistic process that this story was meant to evoke, we do now realize that our presentation of this character was flaw., for any elements whatsoever of the story to have reminded readers of the sordid and misguided tropes that associate both drag and gender expression with duplicity.

    We deeply regret upsetting readers who placed their trust in us. But were indebted to those who stand up to speak out about their perspective on stories like this their commentary leads to universally better storytelling, from both ourselves and others, and we hope to live up to that standard in the future.

    Regards,

    Cameron Stewart Brenden Fletcher Babs Tarr

    As Daibhid C says above, respect due for such an out and out apology, which seems to reinforce my original post that the story was one by a couple of relatively new writers who failed to see the wood for the trees when it comes to transgender issues.

    Reply

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