Jim Shooter passes away at age 73:
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/jim-shooter-marvel-eic-founder-of-valiant-has-died-aged-73-rip/ (https://bleedingcool.com/comics/jim-shooter-marvel-eic-founder-of-valiant-has-died-aged-73-rip/)
I just saw this. For all the mixed opinions about his time as editor-in-chief at Marvel, there's no doubting that he was a titan of the industry, and helped to strengthen the medium.
Another of the old guard gone. R.I.P. Mr. Shooter.
Truly a key figure in US comics. As Marvel's editor-in-chief, he both brought rigour in what was apparently at the time a complete mess, but also strife and rigidity. As a writer, from what I've read, his first run on Avengers was top notch, though his latter efforts were more hit and miss. However, he certainly started with a bang, making the Legion of Super Heroes relevant at thirteen... thirteen!
Yeah! Man, I will forever feel like a slacker given what he accomplished (his run STILL holds up) on LSH when he was a freaking kid!
My wife recently got me a gift certificate to our local comic book store. I am thinking some Shooter-era LSH stories would put it to pretty good use.
This one has hit me in a very weird place. On the one hand, I have a *lot* of respect for Jim Shooter, possibly more than for many other bigger "stars" in the industry (maybe even more than Stan Lee, at least in some ways). He was a great creative, and even his biggest detractors cannot deny the love that man put into the comic industry. There's no question in my mind that he led Marvel during one of the best creative eras in its history, and I do sometimes wonder how things would be different today if Shooter had been able to buy Marvel instead of New World.
Buuuut... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't conflicted about his tenure. I understand some of his policies from a historical standpoint (the "gay ban" is pointed to a lot, but given the era? I'm more forgiving on that front), but I still feel even for the time he was sometimes problematic. His refusal to allow Phoenix to fight Thor or Silver Surfer because he felt a mere woman couldn't stand up to them, the infamous YMCA Hulk issue he wrote... And that's not even going into his straight up poor treatment of some of the Marvel staff.
He was pretty transparent about a lot of that stuff in the years leading up to his death (even outright apologizing for books like Avengers #200), but there are some areas people are (imho) rightfully still critical of him for.
I dunno. I've gone back and forth a bunch this week. And to be clear, regardless of all that his loss sucks. I honestly think part of why the negative things about him and his legacy have been bubbling up this week for me is BECAUSE I am so genuinely sad to see him go. Like my brain is trying to defend me in some weirdo, twitter-y way. But... no, this just really sucks.