moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (11/12/85)
A very well-stated article by John Riviere about Shooter -- it brought up
some excellent points that I'd like to discuss. John is quite right in not
playing Shooter up as an ogre -- he has done some good things at Marvel, and
I can't argue that Epic Comics has some of the best comics on the market (at
least those that haven't been cancelled yet :-) ). However, a few bones of
contentions with your arguments:
1) It strikes me that while Shooter has brought Marvel under control
financially, it is still much of his editorial policy that strike me
as poorly-executed. We've gone off ad infinitum on the whole X-Men
thing, so I'll stay off of that, but I think his intrusion of his own
Secret Wars II storyline into titles was (as a reader) a poor move and a
rather egotistical one at that. Certainly mercantile, one way or
another. As John correctly points out at the end, you have to vote with
your dollars, which is why I'm not buying any "Secret Wars II" tie-ins,
unless I normally buy the title (and sometimes not even then).
2) Yes, editorial policy was lax during the late 70's at Marvel; things
weren't coming out on time and reprints often occured. However, until
two years ago I was still able to finding reprint issues in
currently-active titles, so I don't think Shooter is quite on-the-mark
there. At least, I've found current plotlines interrupted while a story
is "edited into" an issue. I don't think Marvel editorial policy before
Shooter was particularly good; it just wasn't malignant (and even
Shooter isn't *malignant* -- just self-indulgent, boorish and too
"Rah-rah Marvel!" for my tastes. I don't think I've seen any statement
from Marvel in the last two years complimenting another company on a
good piece of work, while I have seen DC, First, Eclipse and the late
Pacific compliment each other (and Marvel) on numerous occasions).
3) Yes, I do buy more comics now than ever before. But the number of
Marvels I buy is much, much lower than ever before. I don't think you
can lay the health of comics at Shooter's feet -- it seems to be more a
function of the independents and direct outlet specialty stores that
have brought things to their current state. Since comics don't have to
be sold via newstands, smaller runs of comics can be done, thus allowing
more specialized audiences to take part. Eclipse, First, the new DC --
these are the persons getting the majority of my moola (a quite
considerable chunk, too).
4) As to Epic, no arguments, good job there -- but two things: its success
is almost certainly due to having Archie Goodwin as the editor for Epic,
a man who is almost universally respected in the comics industry for his
talent, good taste, and professionalism. Also, Epic comics seemed to be
an answer to the independents popping up who were grabbing much of the
talent by allowing creators to keep copyrights for the characters they
created.
5) Can't say I think he's improved the way comics are seen. I admit that
there are some very high-quality Marvel comics out there (Power Pack,
Thor, etc.), but MOST comics in the last four years (except the majority
of the AmeriComics line :-) ) have had a higher quality in their writing
and art. Readers, in general, have a higher set of standards, and the
industry has to meet these to keep their market share.
In summary, I think the best way to summarize things is this: if I were a
Marvel stockholder, I would be very pleased with the way Shooter is doing
things. As a Marvel Reader, I am not pleased with his editorial or
(especially) his writing.
Leaving off, I again have to agree with John -- if you don't like a comic,
don't buy it. I'll at least get the first issue of X-Factor, but beyond
that, it'll depend on the quality. Anyone who hacks up my favorite
characters is not going to get my added support, critically or monetarilly.
"Try it NOW, you murderous poopheads!!"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>