Jim Shooter: where is he now?

[botolo]

Hello,

 

I am a big fan of Jim Shooter. I respect the man for his passion of comics. I have been impressed by his super early adventure in the comics world (he started writing for DC when he was 13) and I have read with a lot of interest his blog at http://www.jimshooter.com. I have the feeling that he has been overly criticized for things he has done in the past and I believe he still has a lot to give to our beloved comics world.

 

I see that he stopped posting on his blog almost two years ago and I was wondering what is he doing now. I recently posted a similar message on Reddit and someone posted an answer that made me really really sad. Here is the answer.

 

I was at the SDCC three years ago, maybe. I'd gone a few times previously as an industry professional, -- this was maybe ten or twelve years prior -- but this was my first time going purely as a fan. Gift from my wife.

So the two of us have had a long day at the con, walking the floor, attending panels and so on. We go to have a drink at the hotel bar, and it turns out the Eisner Awards are being held in the ballroom right next door. I order myself a Green Lantern and get to talking to my wife about the road not traveled.

I'd been part of a team that had actually won an Eisner way back when. But after a couple bad experiences I turned my back on the comic book industry for mainstream magazine publishing. But what if I had stayed in comics? What if I'd tried moving to NYC or California to get a job with one of the Big Three? Would I be an Associate Producer credit on one of the Iron Man movies by now? Or would I be like... like..

... like that old guy at the end of the bar. He was the only other person besides the two of us and the bartender there. He looked like ten miles of bad road. Just a bent, broken man in a rumpled suit, hunched over his brown liquor like somebody might try to steal it from him any second. Every so often a cheer would come up from the ballroom and he'd wince like he was in physical pain.

That's what the comic book industry does to people, I thought. All the egos and preening of Hollywood, with all the pettiness, meanness, cheapness and spite of a bad divorce. It draws you in with your childhood dreams and then beats you half to death with all the worst aspects of adulthood.

This is better, I said to my wife. Better to just be a fan and leave the business side of the industry alone. Better not to chance it and end up that that husk of a man at the end of the bar.

Then I looked again and realized that man was Jim Shooter. True story.

 

Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/2j0a06/what_happened_to_jim_shooter/cl7di26?context=3

 

I hope to see him coming back soon. I would love to see a Kickstarter project to fund the creation of a new universe under his supervision!

[taro90]

Last I saw of him was last year. He was charging $25.00 per signature for CGC SS through a facilitator.

[telerites]

Wow - this is sad and I assume it is true. He was the wonder boy starting so young. I know he had some conflicts but you hate to see anyone let alone someone who has contributed as much as he, end up in a bad way.

[botolo]

Wow - this is sad and I assume it is true. He was the wonder boy starting so young. I know he had some conflicts but you hate to see anyone let alone someone who has contributed as much as he, end up in a bad way.

 

One of the funniest stories I read about him is when he started as EIC at Marvel. At that time he was in his mid 20s. One of the Marvel artists, I don't recall who, went to his office super mad for some comments or editing that Shooter did to his story. This guy said something like: "who the f***k do you think you are? I used to work with your father years ago at DC comics and he was much more professional than you". And Shooter replied: "This is impossible, my father never worked in comic books. The guy you are talking about was me! I have been in this business more than you have been!"

 

Ahahah, the wonder boy!

 

Edit: I found the interview: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=147

 

 

MDT: You took over in 78. That would have put you in your 30s?

 

JS: Mid-20s. So when I'm sitting there telling these guys who have been in the business for a while and they're ten years older than me and I'm telling them what to do, it didn't sit well. P.S., [compared to] most of these guys, I'd been in the business longer. I one time had a big argument with Sal Buscema, who's saying some nasty things to me. Y'know, sort of like, "Who are you to tell me anything?" Some time later, somebody told him I started working in the business in 1965, 2 years before he did. He came to me and apologized. He said, "I'm sorry, I thought you were some young punk telling me what to do."

 

MDT: He equated age with experience...

 

JS: One of the people at Marvel said I worked with your father when he was at DC. I said, "My father was a steelworker, baby." That couldn't have been, they said. You're in your mid-20s. I was 13, that was me, I said.

[ashrael]

Too bad. I loved his blog and went back and read the entire thing a couple years back. Terrific stories.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Wow - this is sad and I assume it is true. He was the wonder boy starting so young. I know he had some conflicts but you hate to see anyone let alone someone who has contributed as much as he, end up in a bad way.

I thought Marvel and Valiant both went way downhill after they fired him.

I liked him.It turns out a lot of those creators/editors he had conflicts with ended up being real spoons with just about anybody else they had contact with after Jim.

So really as it turns out Jim was the only one who could keep them in line and on a schedule.

 

 

[KingOfRulers]

I saw him in a diner in NYC a few days ago. He walked right by me as he was leaving. He's really tall.

 

He's one of my favorite writers. I know that he was disliked by many other creators that he oversaw though. His interview with Zurzolo on comiczone 7 or so years ago was great. Anyone who hasn't listened to it should!

[RCheli]

His blog was terrific.

 

I'm sure he can be a bit of an , but if you look at what Marvel did creatively under his regime -- Epic comics, consistent sales, mini-series, sales-based bonuses -- he was a fan of the creator.

 

Valiant wasn't my cup of tea, but I know many, many people who swear by it.

[Dr. Balls]

Eh. That Reddit entry reads like a 'Dear Penthouse' letter. I'm not buying it.

[botolo]

I am glad to read that many of you support his work. I wonder if he is aware of the many fans that enjoyed what he did and that would like to see him involved in comics today.

[botolo]

IHis interview with Zurzolo on comiczone 7 or so years ago was great. Anyone who hasn't listened to it should!

 

I would love to listen to this interview. I have searched for it online but it seems like the Comiczoneradio website is down.

 

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/http://www.comiczoneradio.com

 

Does anyone have a copy of the audio file to share?

[telerites]

IHis interview with Zurzolo on comiczone 7 or so years ago was great. Anyone who hasn't listened to it should!

 

I would love to listen to this interview. I have searched for it online but it seems like the Comiczoneradio website is down.

 

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/http://www.comiczoneradio.com

 

Does anyone have a copy of the audio file to share?

 

If this is the one, you can find it here - it is a German site (I believe) but the links work and I downloaded the first segment. It is broken into three segments.

 

Segment 1

Segment 2

Segment 3

[botolo]

If this is the one, you can find it here - it is a German site (I believe) but the links work and I downloaded the first segment. It is broken into three segments.

 

Segment 1

Segment 2

Segment 3

 

Thanks a lot!

[Bosco685]

Valiant wasn't my cup of tea, but I know many, many people who swear by it.

 

Fantastic and seasoned approach to building out an entire universe that over time had ties across the titles. Right from my first book I read (Archer & Armstrong 0) I was hooked. It started unraveling after he left where it didn't have that feeling of cohesion going forward. It was definitely one of my favorite periods in comic book history.

 

[Ken Aldred]

I've always liked the work he did on Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics, and later his pre-Unity Valiant universe. A great storyteller.

[MatterEaterLad]

Loved his work from Legion thru the mid-80s, especially his run on Avengers.

 

If you read about the history of Marvel, he was definitely one of the guys championing cross-marketing with the toy industry...Micronauts, Rom, GI Joe, etc. That chaffed a lot of people. He looked like a corporate shill to some of the writers and artists as well as pushing them to tell stories with set structures. It's understandable that people would resist.

 

But...then we got the polar opposite without him. A lot of creator-owned (Liefeld) dreck with no story structure at all, sometimes hardly a story. Artists aren't always the best editors of their own work.

 

He was good for Marvel. Did far more good than harm.

 

[Unca Ben]

Like Shooter.

I enjoyed his work at Marvel and loved Valiant while he was there.

 

His first story arc on Magnus is a good example of dense, compressed storytelling. I re-read Steel Nation a while ago, and I spent about 3 hours reading the four comic TPB.

 

Followed that up with a different TPB that I got through in about 45 minutes, and it was a 6 issue story arc.

[Bosco685]

Like Shooter.

I enjoyed his work at Marvel and loved Valiant while he was there.

 

His first story arc on Magnus is a good example of dense, compressed storytelling. I re-read Steel Nation a while ago, and I spent about 3 hours reading the four comic TPB.

 

Followed that up with a different TPB that I got through in about 45 minutes, and it was a 6 issue story arc.

 

[comicstock]

Anyone read Steve Ditko's Dark Dominion at Defiant?

It was a very good book.

 

The Shooter Magnus issues were excellent.

The artwork was meticulous and very detailed. Shooter demanded storytelling with his artists and he got it.

[Tony D]

I can't forgive him for what he did to Gene Colan.

 

"Jim Shooter was the worst. I knew the trouble was heading my way with Shooter. He overcorrected every single line I drew on every single panel. It was not uncommon for him to return every story submitted with corrections on each panel. What made it worse, his comments and critiques were incomprehensible. My last job for him before I quit was 32 pages long. He sent back the entire job, corrections on every page. I sent back the work exactly as is with no corrections, only told him "I've done all the corrections Jim! The work is in the mail". When he got the package, he told me "That's more like it". That's when I proved to myself he was about tyranny just for the sake of it." (Irving, 2010)

 

from:

http://www.panelology.info/GeneColan.html