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! <*>