Forbes Shooter artical
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jedimarley
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Forbes Shooter artical
I missed this artical in Forbes, and from what I understand it goes into detail on how Shooter was forced out of Valiant.
Does anyone have a link to this , or any info?
Does anyone have a link to this , or any info?
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HOW NOT TO START A COMPANY
JAMES SHOOTER has some advice for people who need to raise money to
start a business: Make darned sure that you retain effective control.
Shooter started a successful business only to be thrown out. At 41, he's
both older and wiser and starting again. Here's his sad story, as
narrated by Shooter to FORBES in conversation and in court documents.
In 1989, then 37, Shooter, former editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics,
decided to go into business for himself. (He had just lost out to
billionaire Ronald Perelman in a bid to take over Marvel.) Shooter
hooked up with a publishing veteran, J. Winston Fowlkes, and an
entertainment lawyer, Steven Massarsky, to form a new comic book
company, Voyager Communications Inc.
Shooter knew the business inside out, having sold his first comic book
scripts when he was 13. He knew that existing comic books were written
largely for cultists, mostly men 18 to 35 who had been following the
characters and were hooked on them. Shooter's idea was to broaden the
market without turning off the cultists. So for Voyager he created such
characters as Magnus Robot Fighter, who lives in a world that Shooter
created for A.D. 4000; there he matches his cunning against the vicious
gophs of the lower level of North Am. Shooter's Voyager creations have
become among the hottest books trading hands among comic aficionados.
But if the products were a success, the partnership wasn't. Among other
things, sex reared its head. The deal was set up to give three seats and
control of the board to the partners. The venture capitalist that put up
$4 million in cash, Triumph Capital, would get two seats on the board.
What follows, remember, is Shooter's side of the story. Massarsky is not
willing to talk about the situation. He says only, ``Jim has been going
around lying about things, and I will bring legal action if the things
he says are not true.''
According to Shooter, two months after the firm was capitalized, he got
a shock. On a wintry evening he and Massarsky left the office together.
As they walked, Massarsky turned awkwardly to Shooter and blurted:
``There's something I've got to tell you. I've been seeing Melanie.''
Comic book had become soap opera. Massarsky's lover, Melanie Okun, was a
partner at Triumph Capital and a Voyager board member. ``I should have
walked away that moment, but I didn't,'' says Shooter now. It wasn't
that he was morally outraged. ``I had unknowingly become a minority
before the business had even started.'' The way he saw it, Massarsky
would now team up with Okun and the other board member from Triumph to
outvote him. ``My blood ran cold,'' says Shooter. ``I said `Steve, you
can't do this. This is a conflict.' ''
Fowlkes, the financial man in the group and a 30-year veteran of Time
Inc., thought so, too. He complained to Massarsky about potential
conflict of interest. Within months, Okun, Massarsky and the third
Triumph member fired Fowlkes, supposedly for incompetence.
Shooter soldiered on. But soon he and Massarsky had a falling-out over
strategy. Massarsky wanted to aim for the mass market without delay. He
negotiated with Nintendo to get the comic book rights for Super Mario
game characters. But the Super Mario book characters didn't sell, and
Voyager began bleeding, eventually losing $3.3 million in 2 1/2 years.
Finally, in mid-1991, Shooter convinced Massarsky to go back to their
original scheme of creating superheroes like Magnus and gradually making
them more friendly for the mass market. By February of 1992 the company
began to turn a profit, and soon prices for back issues began to surge,
which meant that current issues would sell as well -- collectors want to
assure they pick up every volume in a series.
Oh, yes, a note for $600,000 held by Triumph Capital was overdue, but
Shooter wasn't worried. Although Massarsky and Okun were married by
then, Shooter clung to the hope that ultimately he could regain control
by buying them out.
But his worst fears were about to come true. Secretly, Melanie Okun had
contacted her brother, Glen, a vice president at Allen & Co. He came up
with a plan to have Triumph Capital sell some of its interest in Voyager
to investors such as Charles Lazarus of Toys ``R'' Us, Hollywood agent
Michael Ovitz and Wayne Huizenga from Blockbuster Video. When he first
learned of this, Shooter says, he was delighted. ``I thought, `Oh, good,
with partners like this we'll have comic racks in Blockbuster stores.
And with this kind of muscle there could easily be Voyager toys or
movies.''
It was only later that Shooter learned there was more to the deal. He
was to be offered an employment contract that bound him for ten years
but allowed him to be fired at the whim of Glen Okun. Shooter said no to
the contract and was fired. ``They told me not to go back to my office
because two armed security guards were on duty there,'' says Shooter.
Triumph accelerated payment on the note and declared Voyager in default.
The newlyweds then told Shooter that because he had left the company,
Voyager had a right to repurchase 25% of his stock at face value, for
$16,000, at a time when the company was routinely throwing off $500,000
a month. The price of the rest of his shares? To be determined.
After a long arbitration, Shooter says he walked away with $500,000 for
his 20% of the company, payable over three years. Shooter's investment
bankers from McFarland Dewey & Co. estimated that Voyager was worth
$15.5 million at that time. Today the company could be worth as much as
$30 million.
Jim Shooter has made a comeback. He started a new company, this time
with investors who guaranteed him control. ``I wanted investors who
didn't vote,'' he says. He had little trouble lining them up because of
his reputation as one of the most creative types in the comic book
business. ``In a lot of ways I feel like I'm the last guy in the
buttonhook business,'' he says, ``and I really know how to bend those
buttons. By the end of the Sixties most of the older guys [in the comic
book business] were dead or retired, and very few came into this
business in the Fifties and Sixties. Until the cult market developed,
unemployed cartoonists were walking the streets. But I stuck with it.''
Shooter is hard at work on an entirely new organic universe of superhero
characters who inhabit a world where murder is a misdemeanor but failure
to recycle is a capital offense.
His new series is appropriately named Defiant. Says Shooter, ``I named
it for the attitude I bring to this operation. I will never be fired
again. I will never have my creations wrested from my control.''
Shooter insists his story is true and adds sex and business don't mix.
PHOTO: James Shooter: Where were the superheroes when he needed them?
(Charlie Samuels)
~~~~~~~~
By Phyllis Berman
_____
Copyright of Forbes is the property of Forbes Inc. and its content may
not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv
without the copyright holder's express written permission. However,
users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Source: Forbes, 6/21/93, Vol. 151 Issue 13, p54, 2p
Item: 9306090081
_____
JAMES SHOOTER has some advice for people who need to raise money to
start a business: Make darned sure that you retain effective control.
Shooter started a successful business only to be thrown out. At 41, he's
both older and wiser and starting again. Here's his sad story, as
narrated by Shooter to FORBES in conversation and in court documents.
In 1989, then 37, Shooter, former editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics,
decided to go into business for himself. (He had just lost out to
billionaire Ronald Perelman in a bid to take over Marvel.) Shooter
hooked up with a publishing veteran, J. Winston Fowlkes, and an
entertainment lawyer, Steven Massarsky, to form a new comic book
company, Voyager Communications Inc.
Shooter knew the business inside out, having sold his first comic book
scripts when he was 13. He knew that existing comic books were written
largely for cultists, mostly men 18 to 35 who had been following the
characters and were hooked on them. Shooter's idea was to broaden the
market without turning off the cultists. So for Voyager he created such
characters as Magnus Robot Fighter, who lives in a world that Shooter
created for A.D. 4000; there he matches his cunning against the vicious
gophs of the lower level of North Am. Shooter's Voyager creations have
become among the hottest books trading hands among comic aficionados.
But if the products were a success, the partnership wasn't. Among other
things, sex reared its head. The deal was set up to give three seats and
control of the board to the partners. The venture capitalist that put up
$4 million in cash, Triumph Capital, would get two seats on the board.
What follows, remember, is Shooter's side of the story. Massarsky is not
willing to talk about the situation. He says only, ``Jim has been going
around lying about things, and I will bring legal action if the things
he says are not true.''
According to Shooter, two months after the firm was capitalized, he got
a shock. On a wintry evening he and Massarsky left the office together.
As they walked, Massarsky turned awkwardly to Shooter and blurted:
``There's something I've got to tell you. I've been seeing Melanie.''
Comic book had become soap opera. Massarsky's lover, Melanie Okun, was a
partner at Triumph Capital and a Voyager board member. ``I should have
walked away that moment, but I didn't,'' says Shooter now. It wasn't
that he was morally outraged. ``I had unknowingly become a minority
before the business had even started.'' The way he saw it, Massarsky
would now team up with Okun and the other board member from Triumph to
outvote him. ``My blood ran cold,'' says Shooter. ``I said `Steve, you
can't do this. This is a conflict.' ''
Fowlkes, the financial man in the group and a 30-year veteran of Time
Inc., thought so, too. He complained to Massarsky about potential
conflict of interest. Within months, Okun, Massarsky and the third
Triumph member fired Fowlkes, supposedly for incompetence.
Shooter soldiered on. But soon he and Massarsky had a falling-out over
strategy. Massarsky wanted to aim for the mass market without delay. He
negotiated with Nintendo to get the comic book rights for Super Mario
game characters. But the Super Mario book characters didn't sell, and
Voyager began bleeding, eventually losing $3.3 million in 2 1/2 years.
Finally, in mid-1991, Shooter convinced Massarsky to go back to their
original scheme of creating superheroes like Magnus and gradually making
them more friendly for the mass market. By February of 1992 the company
began to turn a profit, and soon prices for back issues began to surge,
which meant that current issues would sell as well -- collectors want to
assure they pick up every volume in a series.
Oh, yes, a note for $600,000 held by Triumph Capital was overdue, but
Shooter wasn't worried. Although Massarsky and Okun were married by
then, Shooter clung to the hope that ultimately he could regain control
by buying them out.
But his worst fears were about to come true. Secretly, Melanie Okun had
contacted her brother, Glen, a vice president at Allen & Co. He came up
with a plan to have Triumph Capital sell some of its interest in Voyager
to investors such as Charles Lazarus of Toys ``R'' Us, Hollywood agent
Michael Ovitz and Wayne Huizenga from Blockbuster Video. When he first
learned of this, Shooter says, he was delighted. ``I thought, `Oh, good,
with partners like this we'll have comic racks in Blockbuster stores.
And with this kind of muscle there could easily be Voyager toys or
movies.''
It was only later that Shooter learned there was more to the deal. He
was to be offered an employment contract that bound him for ten years
but allowed him to be fired at the whim of Glen Okun. Shooter said no to
the contract and was fired. ``They told me not to go back to my office
because two armed security guards were on duty there,'' says Shooter.
Triumph accelerated payment on the note and declared Voyager in default.
The newlyweds then told Shooter that because he had left the company,
Voyager had a right to repurchase 25% of his stock at face value, for
$16,000, at a time when the company was routinely throwing off $500,000
a month. The price of the rest of his shares? To be determined.
After a long arbitration, Shooter says he walked away with $500,000 for
his 20% of the company, payable over three years. Shooter's investment
bankers from McFarland Dewey & Co. estimated that Voyager was worth
$15.5 million at that time. Today the company could be worth as much as
$30 million.
Jim Shooter has made a comeback. He started a new company, this time
with investors who guaranteed him control. ``I wanted investors who
didn't vote,'' he says. He had little trouble lining them up because of
his reputation as one of the most creative types in the comic book
business. ``In a lot of ways I feel like I'm the last guy in the
buttonhook business,'' he says, ``and I really know how to bend those
buttons. By the end of the Sixties most of the older guys [in the comic
book business] were dead or retired, and very few came into this
business in the Fifties and Sixties. Until the cult market developed,
unemployed cartoonists were walking the streets. But I stuck with it.''
Shooter is hard at work on an entirely new organic universe of superhero
characters who inhabit a world where murder is a misdemeanor but failure
to recycle is a capital offense.
His new series is appropriately named Defiant. Says Shooter, ``I named
it for the attitude I bring to this operation. I will never be fired
again. I will never have my creations wrested from my control.''
Shooter insists his story is true and adds sex and business don't mix.
PHOTO: James Shooter: Where were the superheroes when he needed them?
(Charlie Samuels)
~~~~~~~~
By Phyllis Berman
_____
Copyright of Forbes is the property of Forbes Inc. and its content may
not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv
without the copyright holder's express written permission. However,
users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Source: Forbes, 6/21/93, Vol. 151 Issue 13, p54, 2p
Item: 9306090081
_____
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jedimarley
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jedimarley
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ManofTheAtom
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Good point. Sorry if I sounded like I bit your head off, it's just the way I write.. 
I am very passionate about the whole Shooter thing because I get sad sometimes. Sad when I see the quality of the Stories GREATLY diminish upon his departure. Sad when I see the potential of the Valiant universe when Shooter was at the helm. I'm sure this has been lamented upon MANY times on this site but it still sucks. Every time I hear about this it makes me mad. I know that Jim wasn't 100% of what made Valiant but judgeing by the gradual degredation in quality subsequent to his departure, he was probably 90% of that magic.
At least this way, we can acutally AFFORD to buy the Valiant back issues...
I am very passionate about the whole Shooter thing because I get sad sometimes. Sad when I see the quality of the Stories GREATLY diminish upon his departure. Sad when I see the potential of the Valiant universe when Shooter was at the helm. I'm sure this has been lamented upon MANY times on this site but it still sucks. Every time I hear about this it makes me mad. I know that Jim wasn't 100% of what made Valiant but judgeing by the gradual degredation in quality subsequent to his departure, he was probably 90% of that magic.
At least this way, we can acutally AFFORD to buy the Valiant back issues...
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jedimarley
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graybola
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Very cool and informative, though I had heard most of it before. Also, I would say that it is probably true. The one section says
You would think that if Massarsky could have taken any sort of legal action he would have. But, I am not a lawyer and do not know the law...Where's Peter Parker ???What follows, remember, is Shooter's side of the story. Massarsky is not
willing to talk about the situation. He says only, ``Jim has been going
around lying about things, and I will bring legal action if the things
he says are not true.''
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jedimarley
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jedimarley
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I know Bob Layton used to post here until some people *SQUEE* him off. And, if I remember a recent post about this, it was over this very issue. I guess its like the Arab/Israli confilict, everyone blames everyone else, and depending on who you talk to, it's a different story each time.
...But I still believe Shooter.
...But I still believe Shooter.
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x-omatic
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According to Shooter, two months after the firm was capitalized, he got
a shock. On a wintry evening he and Massarsky left the office together.
As they walked, Massarsky turned awkwardly to Shooter and blurted:
``There's something I've got to tell you. I've been seeing Melanie.''
Comic book had become soap opera. Massarsky's lover, Melanie Okun, was a
partner at Triumph Capital and a Voyager board member. ``I should have
walked away that moment, but I didn't,'' says Shooter now. It wasn't
that he was morally outraged. ``I had unknowingly become a minority
before the business had even started.'' The way he saw it, Massarsky
would now team up with Okun and the other board member from Triumph to
outvote him. ``My blood ran cold,'' says Shooter. ``I said `Steve, you
can't do this. This is a conflict.' ''
I know that this is fact as Massarsky did in fact marry her and was involved with her when the caompany started. Massarsky has said this himself. It was a conflict of interest and it is clear how it turned out. I know some want to blame Bob Layton but he was not the driving force that pushed Jim out. Bob was in a tight spot himself. It would be a hard choice for many to make. Stay loyal to someone and loss your job or work and feed your family. Bob was also a big part of what made Valiant so sucessful.
a shock. On a wintry evening he and Massarsky left the office together.
As they walked, Massarsky turned awkwardly to Shooter and blurted:
``There's something I've got to tell you. I've been seeing Melanie.''
Comic book had become soap opera. Massarsky's lover, Melanie Okun, was a
partner at Triumph Capital and a Voyager board member. ``I should have
walked away that moment, but I didn't,'' says Shooter now. It wasn't
that he was morally outraged. ``I had unknowingly become a minority
before the business had even started.'' The way he saw it, Massarsky
would now team up with Okun and the other board member from Triumph to
outvote him. ``My blood ran cold,'' says Shooter. ``I said `Steve, you
can't do this. This is a conflict.' ''
I know that this is fact as Massarsky did in fact marry her and was involved with her when the caompany started. Massarsky has said this himself. It was a conflict of interest and it is clear how it turned out. I know some want to blame Bob Layton but he was not the driving force that pushed Jim out. Bob was in a tight spot himself. It would be a hard choice for many to make. Stay loyal to someone and loss your job or work and feed your family. Bob was also a big part of what made Valiant so sucessful.
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jedimarley
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cinlach@aol.com
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i agree...i don't blame bob for any of the crap that went down.
bob didn't do the unethical thing of getting involved with a business partner. bob was just like jim...ultimately he was contract labor, that situation played itself out in time.
i also would not have wanted to be in the spot bob layton was. we have no idea what was going on at that time in his life. we also know that the majority of the "old" marvel creators weren't exactly rolling in money. i'm sure bob had a fair sized personal, and financial, stake in the success of valiant.
sometimes, you make a choice and it turns out to be the wrong one. i feel sorry that bob is treated like the bill buckner of comics...you make one mistake during an otherwise stellar career and you get labeled as a screw-up.
bob didn't do the unethical thing of getting involved with a business partner. bob was just like jim...ultimately he was contract labor, that situation played itself out in time.
i also would not have wanted to be in the spot bob layton was. we have no idea what was going on at that time in his life. we also know that the majority of the "old" marvel creators weren't exactly rolling in money. i'm sure bob had a fair sized personal, and financial, stake in the success of valiant.
sometimes, you make a choice and it turns out to be the wrong one. i feel sorry that bob is treated like the bill buckner of comics...you make one mistake during an otherwise stellar career and you get labeled as a screw-up.
WWSLJD, MF?
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cinlach@aol.com wrote:i agree...i don't blame bob for any of the crap that went down.
bob didn't do the unethical thing of getting involved with a business partner. bob was just like jim...ultimately he was contract labor, that situation played itself out in time.
i also would not have wanted to be in the spot bob layton was. we have no idea what was going on at that time in his life. we also know that the majority of the "old" marvel creators weren't exactly rolling in money. i'm sure bob had a fair sized personal, and financial, stake in the success of valiant.
sometimes, you make a choice and it turns out to be the wrong one. i feel sorry that bob is treated like the bill buckner of comics...you make one mistake during an otherwise stellar career and you get labeled as a screw-up.
I realize this may read like a "holier than thou" statement..but
If Layton was such a boy scout, he should have left WITH Shooter :x It's MY opinion than Layton had no balls, and did indeed betray the business partnership he had with Shooter.
In life, ultimately, you are the company you keep...and Layton kept with the losers in the end
"Leisure, is the mother of philosophy"
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes
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cinlach@aol.com
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again, i agree.
but some people have the balls and some don't...apparantly, bob didn't.
i consider myself to be an honorable guy. i always try my best to the right thing...maybe not what's right for others but what i feel is right. sometimes that means backing someone with no chance of winning and sometimes it means leaving someone to their own downfall.
all i can do is look myself in the mirror every morning and know i did the best i could do and that i did what i felt was right at the time.
now, i'm not a charter member of bob's fanclub. i find him to be arrogant and self-absorbed. so i'm not going to automatically take bob's side of the situation. however, i don't know what, if anything, shooter did during this whole deal. did he make it worse on himself at some point? i don't know.
the only people who REALLY know what was involved in the mongolian cluster f--- that became my beloved valiant are the ones who were involved.
i stopped casting blame a long time ago...i'm simply sad that men of such vision and talent couldn't find a way, anyway at all, to work together. but on the other side of that argument, tension and discord brings artistic achievement...look at the music industry for examples of that.
so maybe if everything was absolutely fine between all the parties involved we wouldn't have had the artistic fire that produced the stories we all love.
it's certainly something to think about.
but some people have the balls and some don't...apparantly, bob didn't.
i consider myself to be an honorable guy. i always try my best to the right thing...maybe not what's right for others but what i feel is right. sometimes that means backing someone with no chance of winning and sometimes it means leaving someone to their own downfall.
all i can do is look myself in the mirror every morning and know i did the best i could do and that i did what i felt was right at the time.
now, i'm not a charter member of bob's fanclub. i find him to be arrogant and self-absorbed. so i'm not going to automatically take bob's side of the situation. however, i don't know what, if anything, shooter did during this whole deal. did he make it worse on himself at some point? i don't know.
the only people who REALLY know what was involved in the mongolian cluster f--- that became my beloved valiant are the ones who were involved.
i stopped casting blame a long time ago...i'm simply sad that men of such vision and talent couldn't find a way, anyway at all, to work together. but on the other side of that argument, tension and discord brings artistic achievement...look at the music industry for examples of that.
so maybe if everything was absolutely fine between all the parties involved we wouldn't have had the artistic fire that produced the stories we all love.
it's certainly something to think about.
WWSLJD, MF?
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jedimarley
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It seems that everyone who turned there back on Jim at that time got what they deserved in the end. Some are not in the comic industry anymore.
I don't blame Layton for staying with Valiant, at the time the possibilitys were still endless.
But in the end, he too saw everything he created destroyed.
I hope everyone involved, including Shooter, is happy destroying probably one of the greatest independent comic book company of are generation.
Nice going guys :x
I don't blame Layton for staying with Valiant, at the time the possibilitys were still endless.
But in the end, he too saw everything he created destroyed.
I hope everyone involved, including Shooter, is happy destroying probably one of the greatest independent comic book company of are generation.
Nice going guys :x
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Check this out:jedimarley wrote:The article is from '93.
What's Daring?
July 8, 1998
PRESS RELEASE FROM JIM SHOOTERJIM SHOOTER'S ANOMALIES #1 (TM)
Big news this month! I think I may have convinced my good friend Jim Shooter to give self-publishing a try. Jim has been busy since his investors unexpectedly pulled the plug on Broadway Comics working on book and film projects. At the same time, however, he's continued to keep an eye on his first love, the world of comics. Recently he mentioned to me that he has an idea for a super-hero team book set in the not-so-distant future, based around a group of dynamic teens.
The story, as he described it to me, sounds like a cross between HARBINGER and THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES, with elements from quite a few other teen books thrown in for fun. His description sounded so cool that I wished out loud that he could get it drawn, and into print. I'd certainly like to read it.
But how to get a new comics title published in the current difficult environment? Investors were certainly out of the question. No outside money is available these days for a comics publishing start-up. Besides, Jim's track record with investors was filled with constant conflict. Who wants to be beholden to yet another group of folks who can pull the plug on you just as you're starting to get ahead?
It was at that point that I asked Jim why he didn't just publish the book himself. Given the current sad state of the comics market the financial rewards would be limited, but wouldn't getting a fun title into print be worth the hassles? We discussed the pros and cons, and I suggested that he produce the comic as a two limited editions. The primary print run would be limited to 5,000 copies of a 32-page comic at $2.95. In addition to the regular edition, there would be 500 copies of a signed and numbered edition at $14.95. Jim ran the numbers, and found that this was just about breakeven. While that certainly isn't very rewarding, I pointed out to him that if the first issue proved popular, that the print run on the second issue could be increased. It would also be conceivable to lower the price, add color, etc. But without ever printing the first issue, nothing would ever happen.
I then offered Jim a deal. I told him I would solicit his new title, appropriately named ANOMALIES #1 through the N.I.C.E. subscription club, and through an Internet mailing. If we received enough response to make it look like a sellout was probable in the general comics marketplace, he'd immediately finish the project. He has already spoken to artist Joe James (DARK DOMINION and KNIGHTS ON BROADWAY), and Joe is ready at any time to roll on converting Jim's story into a complete comic. He's just waiting for the OK from Jim to start.
Now we're at the point where I stick my neck out. I really would like to see this project happen, so I'm going to make a special offer to those of you in N.I.C.E. and on our e-mailing list. Order a copy of the limited edition (only 500 copies, signed and numbered) of ANOMALIES #1 from us for $14.95, and I'll guarantee that we'll send 80% of that amount directly to Jim Shooter at the point that he's ready to go to press. If he decides not to go to press, we'll never deduct the amount from your N.I.C.E. balance, or send you a full refund if you're from our e-mailing list. There's no risk for you in this process, but you could be pre-ordering the scarcest issue from an entirely new comics universe well before any other fans even hear about it. There's even a possibility that we might sell the entire limited edition in advance. In that case your association with Mile High Comics will have earned you an opportunity that other fans just won't get. I hope you join me in helping bring ANOMALIES #1 into print. By the way, if you'd like to get on Jim Shooter's mailing list, you can e-mail him at JCShooter7@aol.com. He's got another project (about an Interplanetary traveling executioner) that would also make a great comic.
Here's more info:Jim Shooter, former Marvel Comics editor in chief, and founder of Valiant/Acclaim, Defiant, and Broadway Comics, has announced the formation of his newest entry into the worldwide comics and entertainment market, DARING COMICS (TM)..
DARING COMICS' first release will be ANOMALIES (TM) #1, the first issue of an ongoing science fiction/super hero series set to launch early next year.
ANOMALIES is set in a not-too-distant future, in which humankind has spread throughout the Solar System, and everyone is genetically engineered to suit his or her environment. The title characters, the Anomalies, are mistakes – engineering disasters, who emerge as potential saviors of their civilization.
"This series brings into play a lot of the things I'm best known for," Shooter said. "Most of the characters are teen-agers or young adults, it's hard-science based super hero adventures, and one more time, it's back to the future for me."
ANOMALIES will be written by Shooter and drawn by the talented Joe James, best known for his work on Shooter's Dark Dominion.
The print run of ANOMALIES #1 will be limited to only 5,500 copies. The standard edition will have a $2.95 cover price, and will be a limited edition of 5,000 copies. The remaining 500 copies will be numbered and enhanced with the signatures of Jim Shooter and Joe James. Copies of the signed and numbered edition will retail for $14.95.
Why such a low print run? "Because DARING COMICS is mine and mine alone," Shooter explained. "My previous ventures were all launched on a much grander scale – with substantial financial backing. But, while more money enabled me to enter the market more aggressively, no matter what my deal with them was, investors always managed to force compromises in the quality of the work, in the integrity of the product and, in many ways, to impose serious constraints. By financing DARING COMICS myself, I may be limited to low print runs at first, but nothing can stop me from making our books truly excellent, and therefore, I believe we'll grow quickly."
DARING COMICS has already completed development on its second title, scheduled for release in early 1999, RATHH OF GOD (TM). RATHH OF GOD, also an ongoing title, set in the same future as ANOMALIES, unfolds the adventures of a professional executioner who lives in a time where life is revered above all and sacred beyond imagining. No one is more despised or more badly needed. "This one, RATHH, is unusual," said Shooter. "People will be pleasantly surprised by its insight and originality, unless they love clichés. RATHH OF GOD is powerful, exciting stuff. It's unique."
DARING COMICS will expand slowly to a full line of eight super hero comic book titles. Each issue of each title will be designed to be read individually, but will be set in the same universe. Strict integrity of the universe and tight continuity between stories, both Shooter trademarks, will be carefully preserved.
"I see the comics world poised for a turnaround, and I want to be part of making that bright future come to pass." Shooter said. "I hope that people who have read and enjoyed my work in the past will join me in this new venture."
Jim Shooter can be reached at JCShooter7@aol.com or at Daring Comics * 244 Madison Ave. * Suite #385 * NY, NY 10016
Few more details here:Coville:
About your titles, you have a new company called Daring Comics and eventually 8 ongoing titles coming out. Can you give us a brief description of what the titles are called, what they're about and who is doing them?
Shooter:
The only titles set so far are ANOMALIES and RATHH OF GOD. I’m writing them and the brilliant Joe James is drawing at least one of them.
Coville:
Do you plan on having company wide crossovers in the future?
Shooter:
Company wide crossovers? Maybe. The books will all be set in the same universe.
Coville:
What will be different and interesting about these characters that you won't find in other superhero comics?
Shooter:
They’ll be different and interesting. Seriously, I’ll bring to these series all my best. Is there any comparison between, say, Harbinger when I wrote it and the average super-hero strip? I think I had something going there, but people who like my kind of comics will like these, I think. People who think I’m a jerk won’t. I’ll give it my best, as always.
Coville:
I understand the first issue of Anomalies will have a limited print run of 5,500. Is this do to financial constraints or an attempt to increase the value of the books?
Shooter:
Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics suggested this limited print run thing. I don’t know much about small press (though I can run a major blindfolded). I’ve spoken to the only printer I’d ever consider using, Quebecor, and that’s about the limit they’ll do for such a speculative venture, even for me, someone they know well.. Fine. So be it.
Coville:
Why did you decide to self finance Daring Comics?
Shooter:
Again, Chuck talked me into this whole self-publishing thing. Maybe I could raise money for another comics publishing venture, but after the bad experiences I’ve had starting on a grander scale with other peoples’ money, I wasn’t willing to go that route again. At least with self-publishing, I don’t have other peoples’ balance sheets dictating my creative decisions.
Coville:
What format will the Daring Comic books be in? How many story pages? What kind of paper stock? Will there be outside advertising?
Shooter:
Normal format, 32 pages. Advertising? maybe someday.
Coville:
Will there be room for creator-owned work in Daring Comics?
Shooter:
Creator-owned work? I’m the creator, I own it.
Coville:
Given the bleak sales right now, do you think it is wise to start another comic company?
Shooter:
Again, Chuck talked me into this. We both think that somebody has to step up to the plate and do something that gets people excited again. Can I? I don’t know, but I can give it a try.
When I emailed Shooter back in 99 to ask him about Unity 2000, he said that part of the reason he took that job was to help finance Daring, but in the six years since then, nothing's happened.Incidentally, speaking of Shooter, when we contacted him recently for a progress report on his new company – Daring Comics – he told us that it is coming along slowly but surely, with no date yet been set for its launch.
The new super hero publishing company's comics will be set in the same universe but stand alone, while adhering closely to "integrity of the universe and tight continuity between stories."
Daring's first series will be Anom-alies. Originally planned to debut in early 1999, the SF superhero book is being written by Shooter with Dark Dominion's Joe James pencilling.
The second series – of a planned eight – is to be Rathh of God.
Personally, I think that if everyone on this board got together, we could help Shooter finance Daring and then worry about bringing back VALIANT, but that's just an op.
The two concepts do sound really interesting, kindda like Magnus and Harbinger, but different enough.
Comics are like a Rorschach test, everyone has a different opinion on what they are and can be... 
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jedimarley
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