Farewell Jim Shooter

I was sorry to hear yesterday of the passing of Jim Shooter, Marvel Comics’ Editor-in-Chief during a pivotal time in the company’s history (1978–87).

This was “my” period of reading Marvel Comics as a kid and wow, along with Star Wars and Star Trek, they were my world. So of course I remember his name and credit and monthly messages in all the books. And like all comics fans I knew that he was a towering figure, literally (6'7''), who broke into comics as a 14-year-old writer.

I also learned that he was a controversial figure, with many creators speaking out against his editorial control. As with many things in life, it ended up being way more complicated than that: was he stifling creativity, or just enforcing quality control? In hindsight, I tend to think a lot of the complaints about him were just sour grapes from writers angry that he nixed their lazy and bonkers ideas.

One of his editorial decrees drove the creators crazy, but even they admitted years later that he was right: that Phoenix/Jean Gray had to die for the sin of blowing up a star system. It made the X-Men/Dark Phoenix saga one of the absolute masterpieces of storylines. (Of course they brought her back to life six years later, which they shouldn’t have.)

The number of influential characters, storylines and business development created during his time is impossible to deny. The New Universe in 1986, which he devised, was a dud, but a lot of that was from the budget being cut.

Around 10–15 years ago he posted what was in effect his memoirs at www.jimshooter.com, which I strongly recommend reading.

He always seemed like something of a tragic figure to me, somebody who truly loved comics and tried to please the fans, creators and the business executives—all at the same time—and ended up being fired and appreciated by no one, instead.

As far as I am concerned, while you would think a Marvel Comics biopic should be made about Stan Lee, I think it should be made about Shooter. In the mid-’80s he was on the one hand fighting to get comic creators royalties and proper job benefits. He was also trying to save Marvel for the bean counters and turn it into a financial juggernaut (which ended up happening). And in the end, he was the one sent packing, with scorn and ridicule.

I actually emailed him through his blog and asked his advice about adapting a screenplay into a comic book and he took the time to give a thoughtful answer (a version of “it’s nearly impossible”).

I also asked him if he’d be interested in a biopic about his Marvel years and he replied, “I'm not interested in a bio-pic, Marvel years or otherwise.”

I wrote back but he didn’t respond after that.

Farewell and thanks for a childhood that was made so much richer and better due to comic books that he might not have written and illustrated, but they definitely had his name—and his guidance—all over them.

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