This evening, it was reported that Jim Shooter, the former Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, passed away at the age of 73. Shooter, who began his career at the age of 14 writing comics for DC Comics, held the position of Marvel EIC from 1978 to 1987.
I was an ’80s comic book kid, an adolescent picking up whatever I could get my hands on. Between the ages of 6 and 9, each week, I’d go to the local 7-11 near my house and wait for the cashiers to open up the boxes of comics that came in and put them on the rack. Sometimes they’d even let me open them myself and pull out the comics I wanted.
Nine times out of ten, I’d be grabbing Marvel books, and the one name I remember from all of them was Jim Shooter.
Shooter was the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel during the era that I fell in love with comics. During those formative years, I didn’t have a favourite writer or artist (though it’s safe to say that I was slowly discovering how much I loved the work of Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr.); what I did know is that Jim Shooter was a big deal, his name in every single issue in my collection, even though I didn’t know exactly what an Editor-In-Chief was.
The biggest impact Jim Shooter had on me during that time was as the writer of Secret Wars II, the sequel to the massively successful Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars mini-series, which I had actually not read. I wasn’t going to miss out on the sequel, though, or the many, many crossover issues that tied into the main series for nine months. Shooter’s Secret Wars II was the tale of the god-like Beyonder coming to Earth to discover what it means to be human. Some of it was great, some of it not so much, but I read and collected it all. That mini paved the way for event comics and crossovers for Marvel, and in so many ways changed the industry, for better and worse.
Jim Shooter came to Fan Expo Canada here in Toronto in August 2023. He signed my Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars hardcover omnibus (yes, I finally did read it), and I had the chance to thank him for his work and for making me the comic fan I am today.
Rest in peace, Jim Shooter.
