Comics lost a legend in Jim Shooter. Shooter started his career in the comic industry as a teenager. He sent in a script to Adventure Comics, and it was so good, DC gave him a job without knowing that he was about 13 years old. Shooter eventually got a job at Marvel after graduating high school, and rose to the office of editor in chief. Jim Shooter is one of the most controversial editors in chief in the history of Marvel, for a variety of reasons that we’ll get into in a little bit. However, one merely needs to look at the work produced during Shooter’s tenure to see just how great an editor in chief he truly was. In fact, I’m going to make a statement that a lot of people aren’t going to agree with, despite how true it actually is — Jim Shooter is the greatest editor in chief in Marvel history, and is much better than Stan Lee.
Stan Lee is a legend in the comic industry, as much because Marvel Cinematic Universe fans grew up with him in their favorite movies as for his actual accomplishments as a writer and editor. Lee is definitely an important factor in the success of Marvel, but let’s be real — Stan Lee made sure he got more credit than he deserved. Lee’s use of the Marvel Method meant that the artists did way more work than him, and that his job was more about editing their ideas than actually writing stories. Lee was a great for Marvel, but Shooter gave readers the best Marvel comics of all time. Shooter is the greatest of all time, and I’m tired of everyone saying he isn’t.
Jim Shooter Took Marvel to New Places
Jim Shooter’s death was the end of a life in comics. Shooter took over as Marvel editor in chief in 1978 and held the post until he was fired in 1987. There are a lot of bad things that can be said about Shooter, and some of them — like his attitude towards gay characters — were indefensible. Shooter was known as a tyrant in the offices of Marvel. He demanded a certain level of craft from everyone who worked with him, and there are many horror stories about Shooter from Marvel creators of the ’80s. Shooter held everyone to a higher standard, and when people didn’t meet that standard, he would explode. However, we have to look at the work that Shooter’s Marvel was putting out at the time. Was Shooter terrible to the talent? Indubitably. However, that talent produced work that would change comics forever. Shooter’s Marvel helped move the industry in a more mature direction. I think the best way to illustrate why Shooter’s Marvel was great is to compare Uncanny X-Men under Shooter to Uncanny X-Men after Shooter. Uncanny put out some of the best stories of all time in the early to mid ’80s. After 1987, things were still good, but did we get another Dark Phoenix-like masterpiece? Or “Days of Future Past”? Or “The Brood Saga”? No, we got “Inferno”, a good story that couldn’t hold a candle to what came before. Shooter could be difficult, but the work that creators produced for Shooter made it all worth it.
Comparing Stan Lee to Jim Shooter might seem a bit unfair. Lee helped co-create all of the greatest Marvel characters of the ’60s, and quickly became editor in chief of Marvel. Under Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Roy Thomas, the Buscemas, and many more did some great work. But be real — is any of it actually as good as Frank Miller’s Daredevil? Or Claremont’s Uncanny? Byrne’s Fantastic Four? Stern’s Avengers? Simonson’s Thor? Those Silver Age comics were great, but they all copied the style of Lee, because that was what was popular at Marvel, and Lee had his fingers in the entire line because the Marvel Method made his job a snap. Lee helped define what Marvel could be (with the help of the artists, who did the majority of the work), and should get credit for that (I’ll go to my grave saying that we should call Lee a great editor and not a great writer — he was never a great writer; Jack Kirby was), but Shooter’s time as Marvel EIC was at another level. Shooter was rough to the talent, but that talent created some of the greatest comics of all time. Shooter understood something that Lee did as well — give the fans the best stories, and it will work out. That’s what Shooter did, and he did it better than anyone who came before or after him.
Shooter Has No Competition When It Comes to Being the Best Editor in Chief
Stan Lee changed Marvel forever, and his work at the publisher allowed them to wrest control of superhero comics from DC. Marvel became a force to be reckoned with throughout the ’60s and ’70s, and all of that was because of Lee’s work. Lee was a great editor in chief. However, Shooter was just plain better. Look at the work that came out during Shooter’s run. Sure, Lee’s time had its gems, but Shooter’s Marvel rarely missed. I’m not as enamored of Silver Age Marvel as many are — if I have to read Silver Age stuff, it’s always DC. Lee was never my cup of tea, but I can’t deny he was good at his job. However, Shooter was way better.
Maybe the fact that Shooter was complicated is why the work was so good. He was difficult to the creators, but in turn they produced work that would go down as the best Marvel stories ever. Make no bones about it — Shooter’s run did create the greatest Marvel stories of all time. Shooter made sure that the creators gave the fans the greatest comics they could every month; Shooter understood something that later editorial regimes (like Quesada, Alonzo, Cebulski, and Brevoort) didn’t — they work for us. Shooter made sure the creators knew this as well, and because of him, we got the best. Lee was good at his job, but he couldn’t hold a candle to Shooter.
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