Greetings,
Since my last Cosmic Update, the Kickstarter for Arthur: The Legend Continues has successfully funded, something to celebrate … but also something tragic happened - my comic book inspiration Jim Shooter has passed away. Anyone who knows me knows that his passing hits me hard … very hard.
Let’s get into that …
As a kid growing up I always wanted to make comic books, I have a stack of hand drawn comics I used to sell to my grandparents for a quarter (lucky for me they saved them). Even looking at those crude comics … one could see that I wanted to do more than just make them - I wanted to create a comic book company.
It’s weird to say … most kids wanted to be Spider-Man or Batman … I wanted to publish them. As I began to understand the world of comics - I gravitated to the tightly connected Marvel Universe, at the time I couldn’t tell you why - it was just appealing. I was obsessed with John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, I was buying the Micronauts, Marvel Team-up, Dazzler (with those crazy Sienkiewicz covers), Rom, Cloak and Dagger, and of course Star Wars (that Marvel run is insanely fun). The one name I saw across all of the comics was Jim Shooter (including the name drop in GI Joe issue one). Naturally everyone knew about Stan Lee, but I was interested in who the heck Jim Shooter was and what his job was.
Soon in 1984, I began to figure it out, when Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars dropped … here were ALL of Marvel’s top characters in one story written by Shooter himself. The series was epic - I think I re-read issue four (the one where the Hulk was holding up the mountain) a dozen times back in 84. As the Marvel Universe expanded from there - I began to understand that this Shooter fellow was the pin that held it all together, from the back matter that was included in the comics (Bullpen Bulletins and the like) I sort of figured out how important an EIC was to comic publishing … that’s when I decided I wanted THAT job.
I was getting older as the 80s rolled into the 90s … I moved from wanting to work in comics to wanting to work in film and television (with a brief period of wanting to be a Disney animator). I had my career in the entertainment industry, earned some credits but the call of family responsibility pulled me away from that. I found myself working in a non-creative industry … that’s when I came back to comics and launched Cosmic Times as a comic book publisher in 2009.
I approached the overall mission of Cosmic Times by looking to my three inspirations in entertainment … my Mount Rushmore if you will … Walt Disney (with Michael Eisner in his shadow), Jim Henson, and Jim Shooter. Each man brought something to my mental table of inspiration. Now I know over the years Jim Shooter has become a polarizing figure in the industry, some people just loved to hate him (looking at you John Byrne) but no one really could deny that his impact as Marvel EIC in the 1980s helped redefine the company and industry for years to come. I argue that his work still resonates in comics being published today (I know it does in mine).
Publishing the best comics possible is all Shooter wanted to do and he (along with a bullpen of talent) did just that. I could regale you with some amazing stories from Jim Shooter’s career, talk about how he brought together a room of inkers to make sure the final issue of Secret Wars shipped on time, how he heavy handedly guided the Dark Phoenix saga to a better conclusion, how he was writing the Legion of Super-Heroes at age 14 … but al that is well documented across the internet. I encourage everyone to check out Jim Shooter’s old blog … the stories there are incredible.
What I WILL do is talk about how Jim Shooter impacted me, beyond his work in comics but in a very personal way.
I had seen Jim Shooter at a few conventions that we both had been guested at over the years … but outside of a friendly “hello” I was always very intimidated by him, not only is he a legend in the industry, but the dude was six foot eight, a literal giant in this business. A few years ago I was struggling with a deal I was working on and (as I often do) I asked myself … “what would Jim Shooter do” - seeing as his table was about five tables down from mine at this show in Cleveland … I got up the nerve to ask him.
The show was slow at that time, so I approached his table and nervously introduced myself, he welcomed me to sit down and chat with him. I immediately told him that he was on the same level with Disney and Henson to me, he smiled and brushed off the compliment, saying “I never met Walt Disney, but I did get to know Jim Henson” - he then told a 10 minute story about meeting Henson (back when Marvel was making Muppet comics) and getting a personal tour of the Muppet Studios. Like a kindergartener at story time I was enthralled.
He asked what I was struggling with (I won’t get into that now) and listen to my dilemma, giving it much thought. When I finished he related what I was dealing with to an issue he had at Marvel back in the early 80s and gave me some seriously great advice. I was floored - here was my idol sharing with little ole me a nugget of wisdom that I could take and apply to Cosmic Times. I would see Jim a few more times over the next few years, he was always super friendly and would say hello, they were just passing moments to him - but each time was a thrill to me.
I was working in the kitchen at a fast food restaurant when the news came over the radio (it’s all we had in 1990) of Jim Henson’s passing and I remember thinking the world just got a little darker without Kermit. When I saw the news on Facebook a few days ago about Jim Shooter’s passing … I realized that MY personal world was now going to be a little darker without Shooter in it. There has been a touch of depression eating away at the back of my mind, realizing that I would never see him again … the ability to ask him for advice is now forever gone. It’s not just me it’s an entire universe of comic creators that will miss out on the experience that I had for about 45 minutes in Cleveland.
All of us who work in this space, or read comics or enjoy the Marvel movies, should step back for a few minutes and get to know Jim Shooter (the good and bad) through his massive body of work, through what others say about him, and through his own words on his blog. On October 18th, 1984 as EIC of Marvel Comics Jim sent out a memo that read …
Effective immediately start doing good comics. I realize that this directive reflects a substantial departure from previous company policy, but please try to comply.
At the core of everything - THAT is the lesson to take away from Jim Shooter’s career … simply - make good comics.
I know this was long, rambling and self indulgent … but I just wanted to get it off my chest. It’s just my point of view on Jim Shooter but it was cathartic to write. Going forward I hope to honor his memory in some small way with what I do with Cosmic Times and PalmCon.
Stay Cosmic,
Martin
