Shooter became the editor-in-chief of Marvel the same year I was born; consequently, all of my early brushes with Marvel were based on the line the way it was when he held oversight of the company. His name was certainly one that I knew, as he would appear or be referenced in the Bullpen Bulletin pages and in letter pages. Frequently there were jokes about his 6'7" stature. And then, with zero ceremony, he was gone from that post in 1987.
I don't think I really began to grasp who Jim Shooter was when I started using the internet, and not just from the image Shooter himself cultivated in online interviews or on his personal website. I started to learn then that Shooter was an extremely controversial figure, having been responsible for driving a mulititude of great creators from Marvel during his tenure (Gerber, McGregor, Colan, Moench, Thomas, Wolfman). He also tarnished his image in fandom by taking the wrong side in prominent comics court cases in the 80s, notably taking sides against Harlan Ellison and the Comics Journal in the lawsuit Michael Fleisher took against them, and taking Marvel's side against Jack Kirby.
It's easy to paint him a villain; heck, he seemed to relish the role. In many of his online interactions he was not above taking quippy, petty potshots at former colleagues (tastelessly including Bill Mantlo, who can't exactly fight back). At the same time, he's held up by many fans as the ideal editor-in-chief (that is, fans who are roughly around my age). He's seen as the one who brought professionalism to Marvel at a time when the company needed it; if he was a jerk, well, those fans think someone had to step and be the jerk. He rebuilt the structure of Marvel editorial into a form it still more-or-less follows today. And while many famous names left the company, his tenure as editor-in-chief featured the likes of Walter Simonson's Thor, Frank Miller's Daredevil, Chris Claremont and John Byrne's X-Men, John Byrne's Fantastic Four, Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz's Moon Knight, etc. He's basically a co-creator of the Transformers, who were just a bunch of toys until Shooter and others developed a backstory (and names).
It's easier to talk about Shooter the writer; he started writing at age 13, penning Legion of Super-Heroes stories for DC because, even at 13, he thought he could write better stories than the ones DC had been publishing. I'm not a big enough Legion fan to know-- I've never read his stories-- but Legion fandom agrees, Shooter was a huge breath of fresh air to that series. For me, I enjoyed him most when he was writing the Avengers, particulary his "Korvac Saga." Less so the Avengers stories with the domestic violence against the Wasp.
I've also been very vocal on the internet in my defense of the New Universe, a publishing initiative Shooter conceived of. Although my favourite of the titles was D.P.7 by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Ryan, I did enjoy how off-beat Shooter and John Romita Jr's Star Brand was. It featured a recurring idea in Shooter's fiction about men struggling to understand how best to wield the power they've received (as Sean Howe noted in his book Marvel Comics: the Untold Story, usually Shooter's powerful men were positioned as villains but were misunderstood, something Howe saw as autobiographical, given Shooter's status as an industry scapegoat).
Shooter's work at Valiant is seldom given it's due; his Magnus Robot Fighter comics - especially the opening "Steel Nation" arc - are some mighty good comics. I haven't sampled his later work in his companies Defiant or Broadway.
It's difficult to not form an opinion of Shooter, given how (ahem) large he loomed in the industry. I suppose deep down, I do feel like many of my fellow Gen Xers that Marvel's standard of quality was never better than during his term as editor-in-chief. Overall, I feel kindly towards him and his legacy.
Rest in peace, Mr. Shooter.
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