from (top, L-R) Mighty Marvel Calendar 1978 and 1979 (Marvel, 1977-1978); Marvel Age #57 (Marvel, December 1987); text by Mike Carlin, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors Paul Becton;(bottom) Marvel Age #33 (Marvel, December 1985); text by Jim Salicrup, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Adam Philips
Not only was he the tallest, but also at one point, the youngest: Jim was fourteen when DC published his first script, and he even did the art layouts!
from "One of Us Is a Traitor!" in Adventure Comics #346 (DC, July 1966), script and layouts by Jim Shooter, pencils and inks by Sheldon Moldoff, letters by Milt Snapinn
Not only did he debut as a pro when a young teenager, he also co-created FOUR brand-new Legionnaires in this issue who mostly have had long-standing careers with the team (don't peek ahead, Nemesis Kid).
In fact, I'd go as far to say Jim Shooter created Legion tryouts in which would-be heroes DIDN'T go away crying and become villains or joined the Subs!
He also co-created Archer & Armstrong, The Beyonder, X-O Manowar, Boom-Boom, The Fatal Five, Graviton, Spider-Woman II, Faith, Rai, Henry Peter Gyrich, Star Brand, Titania, The Parasite, Harbinger, Jocasta and a whole lot more!
from Marvel Fanfare (1982 series) #5 (Marvel, November 1982)
Of course, you an' me (an' a dog named Bee) mostly know Shooter for his time as creator and editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics in the 1980s and founder, editor, and creator at Valiant, Defiant, Broadway in the 1990s.
from (top) Marvel Age #7 (10/83);
(bottom) "Bullpen Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated August 1987
cover of Marvel Age #20 (November 1984), pencils by Mike Zeck, inks by John Beatty
*and Secret Wars II, but I won't mention that on his birthday.
Can you find Jim Shooter in this view of the Marvel Bullpen circa 1983? (Hint: He's tall.)
from Marvel Age #7 (Marvel, October 1983), art by Bob Camp
(Click top picture to Bullpen-size)
If you solved that one, here's another: find Jim Shooter amongst the Marvel Bullpen on this cover.
If you can't, TURN IN YOUR MMMS BADGE.
cover of Marvel Age #35 (Marvel, February 1986) by James Fry and Tom Morgan
Here Shooter outlines some of his plans after recently being named Marvel EIC:
from FOOM #21 (Marvel, March 1978)
Just like Stan Lee in the 1960s, in the '80s you never knew where Shooter might pop up! Hey look, it's Jim and Roger Stern behind Matt Murdock and Heather "I Too Am Also Dead" Glenn!
from Iron Fist (1975 series) #11 (Marvel, February 1977), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Dan Adkins, colors by Don Warfield, letters by John Costanza
And in this last-minute final story page by Dave Cockrum hastily inserted into a George Tuska story! (Can you also spot Mary Jane Watson, Morgan Edge, Banshee, and Supergirl?)
from Captain Marvel (1968 series) #58 (Marvel, January 1978), pencils by Dave Cockrum, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Irene Vartanoff, letters by Karin Mantlo
Cartoon Jim Shooter was a frequent guest in Al Milgrom's "Editori-Al" pages in Marvel Fanfare...
from Marvel Fanfare (1982 series) #1 (top) (Marvel, March 1982), #3 (with Chris Claremont, middle) (July 1982), and #11 (bottom) (November 1983), all scripted and drawn by Al Milgrom
…as well as in Fred Hembeck's wonderful gag strips in Marvel Age! (I couldn't pick just one!)
2. #23 (February 1985, with "Steve Ditko"!);
3. #44 (November 1986); and
#50 (May 1987), all scripted and drawn by Fred Hembeck
(Click pictures to swirly knee-size)
In fact, Shooter was supposed to be the star of the original Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe...
house ad from Marvel Comics cover-dated July 1985
...but the one-shot special didn't come out until 1989 (four years later!), and by then Shooter was no longer EIC! He'd been fired in 1987. So he was deleted from the comic.
from Jim Shooter: Conversations (University Press of Mississippi, 2017), edited by Jason Sacks, Eric Hoffman, and Dominick Grace
Here's one of Hembeck's pages from his version of the original story. (More info and other unpublished pages at Fred's own website!)
Mo' Shooter, mo' stories: here he arrives to give a hug to the sad, sad Chris Claremont (accompanied by Danny Fingeroth and Louise Simonson):
from Man-Thing (1979 series) #11 (July 1981), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Val Mayerik, inks by Bob Wiacek, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Janice Chiang
Jim Shooter cannot handle the Impossible Man rampaging through the Marvel offices! Guest-starring Cadence president Michael Hobson and Jim's assistant Lynn Cohen.
from [Uncanny] X-Men Annual (1970 series) #7 (Marvel, January 1984), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Bret Blevins, inks by Steve Leialoha, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Michael Higgins
"Oh, that won't be good for sales of Secret Wars Meets the Transformers."
from What If...? (1977 series) #40 (Marvel, August 1983), script by Peter Gillis, pencils by Butch Guice, inks by Sam Grainger and Butch Guice, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Diana Albers
But he's still a manly man, who doesn't care if anybody knows he sleeps with Garf.
from Marvel Team-Up (1972 series) #137 (January 1984), script by Mike Carlin, pencils by Greg LaRocque, inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Joe Rosen
Jim Shooter will not let a clown slow him down!
from Obnoxio the Clown [vs. the X-Men] #1 one-shot (Marvel, April 1983); script, pencils, inks, colors and letters by Alan Kupperberg
Naturally, being Marvel's EIC meant lots of appearances for the Jimster in the Bullpen Bulletins or in MARVEL AGE. Here he is wearing his J.R. Ewing hat, which he promises to let Louise Jones [Simonson] wear the very next month!
from "Bullpen Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated February 1982
And as we saw yesterday...HE DID!
from "Bullpen Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated March 1982 (top) and June 1984 (bottom)
from "Bullpen Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated January 1983, art by Ken Feduniewicz
Oh no! Shooter has enslaved Tom Servo! RELEASE HIM, YOU CAD
house ad for The Official Marvel Try-Out Book, in Marvel Comics cover-dated January 1985
Bob Layton and Jim Shooter. (Actual comparative size.)
from "Bullpen Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated November 1985, art by Bob Layton
Shooter showed up frequently in the fumetti strips that ran in the mid-eighties Ka-Zar book:
from (top) Ka-Zar the Savage #18 (Marvel, September 1982), concept by Bruce Jones, Louise Simonson, and Brent Anderson, script by Bruce Jones, photographs by Danny Fingeroth, letters by Rick Parker (?);
(bottom) #29 (Marvel, December 1983), script by Danny Fingeroth, photographs by Mark Gruenwald, letters by Rick Parker
Despite Jim being controversial, obviously most of the caricatures of Shooter were affectionate enough during his tenure.
"Two-Gun Hulk" in Marvel Super-Heroes #104 (Marvel, December 1981); script by Roger Stern; pencils, inks (and letters?) by Terry Austin; colors by Michele Wolfman (?)
After he was booted from Marvel...not quite so much.
This is really kinda sleazy, John Byrne. Eh, look at who I'm talkin' to.
from "Superbman vs. the Fantastical Four: My Badguy... My Enemy! " in What The--?! #2 (Marvel, September 1988), script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Petra Scotese, letters by Jim Novak
Geez, John Byrne (and company) really loves kickin' a man when he's down.
from Legends #5 (DC, March 1987), plot by John Ostrander, script by Len Wein, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by Steve Haynie
There's worse, of course — they blew up his home town! — but I'm gonna skip most of the anti-Shooter portrayals in comics over the years, tho' there's plenty of 'em. On the other hand, this spoof from the Al Bundy Cinematic Universe isn't too savage!
from Married...With Children: Bud Bundy, Fanboy in Paradise #1 one-shot (Now, July 1994), script by Todd S. Tuttle and Geoff White, pencils by Tom Richmond, inks by David Mowry; colors by Holly Sanfelippo, Christine Caplinger, and Todd S. Tuttle; letters by Todd S. Tuttle
And Tom Scioli's Shooter meets Kirby sequence at least plays it pretty fair.
from Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics (Ten Speed, July 2020), script and art by Tom Scioli
Love him or hate him, though, you've got to give Jim Shooter this: he was really tall. And, a copyrighted character owned by Marvel Comics Group!
from Marvel Age #24 (Marvel, March 1985), art by Jack Abel
from Marvel Age #40 (Marvel, July 1986)
A very happy birthday to you, Jim!
cover of Marvel Age #8 (Marvel, November 1983), art by Ron Zalme
I know that Jim Shooter has faults, but there’s also this: At eight years old I brought some of my homemade comics to a convention in Philadelphia, stood in line with my amazing mother to meet Shooter, and handed him the goods. He told me he wanted to give them the attention they deserved and if I let him hold onto them he'd mail them back to me. Weeks later I got the package with a thoughtful letter from him on Marvel Comics Group stationery encouraging me to keep making comics. Of course it remained on my wall for years and I think of it often.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really great story, Blam! Thanks so much for sharing it.
ReplyDelete