By Jason Strong, co-owner Stronghold Collectibles.
Writer, former Marvel Editor and comic worlds creator Jim Shooter passed away recently (June 30, 2023). He was a controversial figure in some circles, mostly due to his very outspoken opinions and strong personality, but to me as a kid in love with comics none of that stuff ever mattered. What was important to me were the stories he weaved, the worlds he brought to life and the comic book companies he founded.
Jim actually started in comics when he was 14 years old! Not much older than I was when I bought my first comic off the rack. When I came to appreciate him was with his creation of Valiant Entertainment and the Valiant Universe. Stopping at a comic shop with my brother we find these brand new comics with characters we had never heard of before that we just had to try. They stood out from everything else being released at the time, being the early 90s, it was focused on strong story & storytelling rather than flashy in your face action and giant over the top splash pages of art. My brother and I would always pick different books so we could swap and read each others comics later so I ended up with Solar Man of the Atom and Chris got Magnus Robot Fighter. 12 year old me had never read anything with this level of sophistication in storytelling but able to be comprehended and understood by my young mind! To say it changed my view of comics would be an understatement. From that point on I really had a fascination and willingness to explore outside of the typical Marvel & DC super hero worlds.
That's not to say Jim Shooter couldn't write superheroes. That was really his specialty. After falling in love with Shooter's Valiant universe I read Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars that was released a few years before I first got into comics. Jim worked with Mattel toys to released a comic book series and a toy line that complimented each other and both were a huge success! The 12 issue Secret Wars comic book series was the most epic crossover of Superheroes I could have ever imagined at the time and it involved real stakes and changes for our heroes. Heck, Spider-Man got a symbiote costume change and Hulk held up a mountain!!! Issue 4 with Hulk keeping our heroes alive by bracing a mountain from crushing them remains one of my favorite single issues of all time.
I followed Jim Shooter's work and creations for the rest of his life. Finally meeting him in person and getting to hear his legendary stories was one of the highlights of my comic nerd life. His stories were bold, intense, fascinating and told strongly from one point of view... the Jim Shooter point of view. Love him or hate him, that's who he was and he did not apologize for it. I for one, loved him.