Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom

by Wayne Markley

Over the last forty plus years, one of the best writers of comics books (and one of the most controversial figures in comics) is Jim Shooter. From a teenage progeny to the Editor-in-Chief at Marvel to taking Valiant Comics to one of the most successful publishers of the 1990’s, Jim has done it all. And he has accomplished a lot outside of comics to boot. I decided to write about Jim this time out because I have been reading his current revivals of the Gold Key characters he had brought back to life almost 20 years ago once again, this time for Dark Horse, and he has once again found a new way to look at Magnus, Robot Fighter, Doctor Solar and Turok, Son of Stone.

Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes VOL. 04 SC

Jim started as a writer in the mid-1960s as a writer for DC Adventure Comics featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes. While Jim was just a teenager at the time, he wrote some of the most beloved stories by Legion fans ever done. These were fun stories that were extremely creative as well as very original. He wrote stories that were a reflection of the time, while creating a whole world around the Legion that made you feel like you knew all about this future. Plus, he was always mixing things up and adding new characters and even killing some characters, which at the time was almost unheard of. And true to form, the dead character, Lightning Lad, came back to life. Yet these were great stories that still hold up today. And luckily for fans all of his Legion work is available in DC Showcase: The Legion of Super-Heroes.

Secret Wars SC

As time went on, Jim landed at Marvel Comics as a writer and an editor. As with most editors at the time at Marvel, the chief editor would come and go on a regular basis. So it was no surprise that Jim landed in the job of Editor-in-Chief at Marvel. He remained there for almost 10 years as the top dog, and comic historians have a number of stories, both good and bad, about Jim’s run while in that position (let’s say it was not without controversy). He was able to get Marvel books to come out on time and seemingly eliminated the “dreaded deadline doom” which forced reprints in the monthly books. He was also the mastermind behind some of Marvel’s biggest successes stories of the time, such as Secret Wars, which introduced Spider-Man’s Black costume (which would later become the super villain, Venom). He also helped to develop the Direct Comics Market with the introduction of Dazzler as a direct only title. At the time this was a very gutsy move.

Once again over time, Jim left Marvel and landed up at a startup company called Valiant Comics. Valiant started out as a company doing licensee comics and magazines for the World Wrestling Federation and Nintendo. Unfortunately, neither of these properties caught on so Jim and his business partners were forced to look for a new way to make money. They came upon the idea of licencing the old Western/Gold Key characters of Magnus Robot Fighter, Doctor Solar and Turok. And around these characters they built a complex and whole universe. During the speculator boom of the 1990s, Valiant had some of the most popular titles being published. But, buried under all the hype, there actually were some excellent titles, mostly written by Shooter, along with Bob Layton and Bob Hall. Jim was able to take what were basically B-level characters and make them into fascinating reads with Grade A storytelling. But as the speculator boom busted, and the dynamics of management at Valiant changed, Jim was forced out on his own. Unfortunately, very few of the Valiant stories have ever been collected, but there are a number of single issues available at Westfield Comics.

Next, Jim went on to form a new group of investors and formed Defiant Comics. And then he went on to the short-lived Broadway Comics, (with the people behind Saturday Night Live) and then (stick with me here) back to Acclaim Comics, who had bought out what was Valiant. But none of these companies found any success and, to be honest, Jim’s storytelling was not at the level it once was. Perhaps the only thing that is really memorable from this whole period was the discovery of David Lapham at Defiant.

Legion of Super-Heroes #38

Over the next few years in the early 2000, Mr. Shooter worked on a number of different projects, both inside of comics and outside of comics. But his name once again become the talk of the industry in 2007 when it was announced he was returning to write the Legion of Super-Heroes, which he first wrote when he was 14. This is over 40 years later, and even someone as jaded as I was looking forward to his return as the Legion had been adrift for years with characters that had been changed, tweaked, mutated, and ruined to the point where they bore little resemblance to those in the classic stories from the 60’s and 70’s. But when the books were published, the great return of Jim Shooter was a bust. Not only was his return to the Legion not very good, barely better than the rubbish that came before it, it became so bad the Jim did not even write his last issue (or at least his name was not on the book). To his credit though, it was well know within the industry that Jim was having battles with DC about what he wanted to do with the Legion versus what DC wanted to do with the book. Granted, one would think that Jim and DC would had have a joint vision before he took over the book, but alas whatever that vision was it quickly fell apart.

Magnus, Robot Fighter #1

After his disastrous return to the Legion, I had little hope when it was announced that Jim would be writing Magnus, Turok and Dr. Solar for Dark Horse comics. But once again I was proven to be wrong as these books have turned out to be excellent. Granted there have only been three (or in the case of Turok, one) issue so far, what I have read so far is the best of what made Jim Shooter a legend. He has taken old characters and breathed new life into them for a second time, (after having resurrected these same three characters at Valiant) with new origins and new directions and compelling stories. As much as I poo-pooed the revival of these books, I was wrong. They are well worth your time and effort to check out and are a really good read.

I would also like to recommend (how is this for ironic?), both Adventure Comics and Legion of Super-Heroes. Both titles are currently being written by Paul Levitz and both titles have, for the first time in years, a sense of fun and adventure that has been missing for ages.  The stories in Adventure have featured the Legion in their early days when they first met Superboy, while the monthly title, the Legion of Super-Heroes, focuses on the modern tales of the Legion. I have long suspected that Paul was behind the crud that was passed off as the Legion over the last few decades, but now he has made his return to one of his favorite titles, I am glad to once again be a fan of the Legion. Now if only Paul would take over the JSA and make it a readable book once again.

As always, anything in this column is my personal opinion and does not reflect the thoughts or opinions of Westfield Comics or their employees. I welcome your comments, review copies or thoughts at MFBWAY@AOL.COM.