Valiant vs. Shooter - COURT DOCUMENT

[Heath]

Supergraphics on the VCS board pointed out this article:

http://www.comicvine.com/dark-horse/57- ... /92-27607/

Journey Into Comics: Magnus, Solar to return at Dark Horse

Topic started by TheDrifter on July 31, 2008.

By Michael San Giacomo

Think you’ve heard all the news from San Diego? HAH! Here’s something everyone else missed. Magnus, Doctor Solar, Doctor Spektor and other Gold Key characters will return in new stories from Dark Horse comics.

[snip]

Posted 1 year, 2 months ago

Look at the date. 5 months before shooter was even hired at Valiant!

Right, but then you have things like Shooter saying in the CBR video interview at THIS year's SDCC that Dark Horse made the deal with Classic Media "just this week." And you've got Mike Richardson, in the announcement at this year's SDCC saying they had "just" made the deal with Classic Media. Sure, Mike's comment is very ambiguous, but when taken with Jim's comment, it does indeed look like the deal was just recently made.

We know that Dark Horse had the rights from Classic Media to print new material years ago,
but it appears that they didn't do so in the originally licensed timeframe.

In order to print new material, Dark Horse must have needed to re-acquire those new material rights from Classic Media.

I think that makes a lot of sense.

[leonmallett]

There seems to be some discrepancy regarding when Dark Horse acquired the rights. There are statements pointing to DH having the rights for quite some time. There are other statements pointing to DH acquiring the rights shortly before SDCC.

I don't think there's necessarily a discrepancy, rather it's unclear what rights people are talking about. I think there are different rights that are in play - (1) rights to reprint old Gold Key issues and (2) rights to create new comics based on the Gold Key characters.

Dark Horse released HCs of old Gold Key Doctor Solar and Magnus issues beginning in early 2005. So Dark Horse secured the reprinting rights awhile ago.

What is unclear are:
(1) When did Classic Media granted the GK new comics rights to Dark Horse?
(2) How close was VEI in securing the GK new comics rights?
(3) How involved was Shooter in helping Dark Horse in securing the GK new comics rights? If Shooter was involved, did this happen while Shooter was EIC at VEI?

If the copied statement is to be believed, then it seems DH were in position to produce new material before Jim Shooter was employed as EiC; it looks as though DH acquired those rights and then looked to secure the services oof Jim Shooter after that acquisition.

[Heath]

I went back and read the 20 Questions interview at Scoop and recent events shed new light on some of Jim's comments. Some seem to contradict the VEI lawsuit while some offer clues to his departure...

Mike Richardson and I first talked about my relaunching the Gold Key properties two and a half years ago. We spoke about it occasionally thereafter, but for one reason or another—rights issues, both of us busy with other things, whatever—nothing ever came of it. Recently, I opted out of another gig, and though I had some commercial work to fall back on through my company Illustrated Media, I figured it would be a good time to check in with Mike. And it was. The week of the San Diego Comic Con, we worked out an agreement and next thing I knew I was standing beside Mike onstage at the show as he announced the project.

This seems to contradict the VEI lawsuit. Jim says he "opted out" of VEI, THEN contacted Mike at Dark Horse and worked out a deal with them. Jim not writing an email to Classic Media saying he was Valiant's EIC could have been because he knew he was about to leave, not because he was secretly working with DH. But then, why would Classic Media say Dark Horse told them that Shooter worked for them before he left VEI?

...this project came into existence only ten days ago, as of this writing.

JCVaughn announced on Wed, August 4, that he had Jim's answers to the 20 questions. So I'm taking this date as the "as of this writing." It may be off by a day or two, but should be close enough.

10 days before August 4 was July 25 - the very day that Mike Richardson made the announcement at SDCC.

So what did he mean by "came into existence?" Did he mean "officially announced" but the deal was between them was already in place? Did he mean that was the day he and Mike actually made a deal with each other? Did Jim & Mike begin serious discussion, make a handshake deal (Jim said in the CBR video interview that a handshake with Mike was better than a contract with anybody else), and announce the project at SDCC all on the same day? Could mean any of that, but by use of the phrase "came into existence" it sounds like the project didn't exist before July 25 and there were no formal talks between DH and Jim before then.

These two quotes seem to indicate that Jim was NOT working with Dark Horse on the Classic Media characters until AFTER leaving VEI and AFTER Dark Horse acquired the rights to the characters. In fact, they weren't working together until the day (or a day or two before) Dark Horse made their announcement at SDCC.

Everyone at Dark Horse has been nothing but helpful. Mike Richardson has already contributed some great ideas and suggestions. He knows his stuff, he’s an outstanding idea man and a terrific sounding board. He’s the boss, but it seems clear that his intent—and therefore, Dark Horse’s intent—is to help me fulfill my vision for these properties.

Maybe Jim didn't feel that way at VEI and that's why he left. Maybe he didn't feel that he had the creative control to fulfill his vision at VEI for whatever reason.

And maybe he just didn't want to go through the struggles and burdens of a start-up company all over again.

VALIANT was a way undercapitalized start-up, so broke for much of the time that I actually had to draw several covers and a couple of stories because we couldn’t afford real artists! So many things were compromised by lack of time and money. However, working with Mike and Dark Horse, I think the rest of the creative process, beyond the script stage, will be vastly upgraded. They have all the apparatus already in place. They are totally professional and top drawer in every way. I guarantee, they wouldn’t let an “artist” as lame as me draw anything even if I wanted to. Hooray!

Maybe he saw history repeating itself and just didn't want to go through the headache and heartache again. He preferred a little more security with an established and experienced company, working for someone he respected, as he told CBR:

Shooter noted there is a sense of security in working with an established publisher like Dark Horse, as opposed to launching a new comics line and dealing with both the creative and business sides of a new company, as he had in the Valiant days. “Last time I worked on these characters, Valiant was a very fragile start-up, it was way under-capitalized. What that means is you are particularly on a dead run,” Shooter recalled. “But this time I have maybe a little more time to think about it. Not rely on a lucky accident that something works out well, but really sort of take the time to plan better. The nice thing about working with Dark Horse is we already have the publishing operation, where before we had to hire a designer, and an accountant, to keep the house in order. Dark Horse has the apparatus to put the books out more quickly."
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=22234

So, did Shooter violate his non-compete agreement with VEI by working for Dark Horse before 3 months were up? Maybe not. And here's a clue as to how:

My services to Dark Horse (and those of any other writers I bring in) are being provided by Illustrated Media.

I'm no legal contracts expert so I might have it completely wrong, but if it was Jim Shooter personally that worked for VEI, and (even as the lawsuit seems to imply) he was still allowed to do outside work through his company, Illustrated Media, and furthermore, it's not Jim Shooter personally being hired by Dark Horse, but Illustrated Media... Jim might have found a loophole to the non-compete agreement.

Mike never asked me to be exclusive. He didn’t have to.

That could be read like there was some resentment to being required to be exclusive and perhaps acknowledgment of the non-compete he signed with VEI. So the deal actually being between Dark Horse and Illustrated Media - not Dark Horse and Jim Shooter - could have been his way of getting around the non-compete.

Plenty of speculation and pure conjecture on my part, but maybe this sheds a little light on Jim's side of the story. Besides, we have more speculation and conjecture than hard facts right now, so...

[leonmallett]

I went back and read the 20 Questions interview at Scoop and recent events shed new light on some of Jim's comments. Some seem to contradict the VEI lawsuit while some offer clues to his departure...

Mike Richardson and I first talked about my relaunching the Gold Key properties two and a half years ago. We spoke about it occasionally thereafter, but for one reason or another—rights issues, both of us busy with other things, whatever—nothing ever came of it. Recently, I opted out of another gig, and though I had some commercial work to fall back on through my company Illustrated Media, I figured it would be a good time to check in with Mike. And it was. The week of the San Diego Comic Con, we worked out an agreement and next thing I knew I was standing beside Mike onstage at the show as he announced the project.

This seems to contradict the VEI lawsuit. Jim says he "opted out" of VEI, THEN contacted Mike at Dark Horse and worked out a deal with them. Jim not writing an email to Classic Media saying he was Valiant's EIC could have been because he knew he was about to leave, not because he was secretly working with DH. But then, why would Classic Media say Dark Horse told them that Shooter worked for them before he left VEI?

...this project came into existence only ten days ago, as of this writing.

JCVaughn announced on Wed, August 4, that he had Jim's answers to the 20 questions. So I'm taking this date as the "as of this writing." It may be off by a day or two, but should be close enough.

10 days before August 4 was July 25 - the very day that Mike Richardson made the announcement at SDCC.

So what did he mean by "came into existence?" Did he mean "officially announced" but the deal was between them was already in place? Did he mean that was the day he and Mike actually made a deal with each other? Did Jim & Mike begin serious discussion, make a handshake deal (Jim said in the CBR video interview that a handshake with Mike was better than a contract with anybody else), and announce the project at SDCC all on the same day? Could mean any of that, but by use of the phrase "came into existence" it sounds like the project didn't exist before July 25 and there were no formal talks between DH and Jim before then.

These two quotes seem to indicate that Jim was NOT working with Dark Horse on the Classic Media characters until AFTER leaving VEI and AFTER Dark Horse acquired the rights to the characters. In fact, they weren't working together until the day (or a day or two before) Dark Horse made their announcement at SDCC.

Everyone at Dark Horse has been nothing but helpful. Mike Richardson has already contributed some great ideas and suggestions. He knows his stuff, he’s an outstanding idea man and a terrific sounding board. He’s the boss, but it seems clear that his intent—and therefore, Dark Horse’s intent—is to help me fulfill my vision for these properties.

Maybe Jim didn't feel that way at VEI and that's why he left. Maybe he didn't feel that he had the creative control to fulfill his vision at VEI for whatever reason.

And maybe he just didn't want to go through the struggles and burdens of a start-up company all over again.

VALIANT was a way undercapitalized start-up, so broke for much of the time that I actually had to draw several covers and a couple of stories because we couldn’t afford real artists! So many things were compromised by lack of time and money. However, working with Mike and Dark Horse, I think the rest of the creative process, beyond the script stage, will be vastly upgraded. They have all the apparatus already in place. They are totally professional and top drawer in every way. I guarantee, they wouldn’t let an “artist” as lame as me draw anything even if I wanted to. Hooray!

Maybe he saw history repeating itself and just didn't want to go through the headache and heartache again. He preferred a little more security with an established and experienced company, working for someone he respected, as he told CBR:

Shooter noted there is a sense of security in working with an established publisher like Dark Horse, as opposed to launching a new comics line and dealing with both the creative and business sides of a new company, as he had in the Valiant days. “Last time I worked on these characters, Valiant was a very fragile start-up, it was way under-capitalized. What that means is you are particularly on a dead run,” Shooter recalled. “But this time I have maybe a little more time to think about it. Not rely on a lucky accident that something works out well, but really sort of take the time to plan better. The nice thing about working with Dark Horse is we already have the publishing operation, where before we had to hire a designer, and an accountant, to keep the house in order. Dark Horse has the apparatus to put the books out more quickly."
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=22234

So, did Shooter violate his non-compete agreement with VEI by working for Dark Horse before 3 months were up? Maybe not. And here's a clue as to how:

My services to Dark Horse (and those of any other writers I bring in) are being provided by Illustrated Media.

I'm no legal contracts expert so I might have it completely wrong, but if it was Jim Shooter personally that worked for VEI, and (even as the lawsuit seems to imply) he was still allowed to do outside work through his company, Illustrated Media, and furthermore, it's not Jim Shooter personally being hired by Dark Horse, but Illustrated Media... Jim might have found a loophole to the non-compete agreement.

Mike never asked me to be exclusive. He didn’t have to.

That could be read like there was some resentment to being required to be exclusive and perhaps acknowledgment of the non-compete he signed with VEI. So the deal actually being between Dark Horse and Illustrated Media - not Dark Horse and Jim Shooter - could have been his way of getting around the non-compete.

Plenty of speculation and pure conjecture on my part, but maybe this sheds a little light on Jim's side of the story. Besides, we have more speculation and conjecture than hard facts right now, so...

Crikey. Interesting sifting and detective work there. Thanks for sharing those thoughts and possible insights.

[ian_house]

I went back and read the 20 Questions interview at Scoop and recent events shed new light on some of Jim's comments. Some seem to contradict the VEI lawsuit while some offer clues to his departure...

Mike Richardson and I first talked about my relaunching the Gold Key properties two and a half years ago. We spoke about it occasionally thereafter, but for one reason or another—rights issues, both of us busy with other things, whatever—nothing ever came of it. Recently, I opted out of another gig, and though I had some commercial work to fall back on through my company Illustrated Media, I figured it would be a good time to check in with Mike. And it was. The week of the San Diego Comic Con, we worked out an agreement and next thing I knew I was standing beside Mike onstage at the show as he announced the project.

This seems to contradict the VEI lawsuit. Jim says he "opted out" of VEI, THEN contacted Mike at Dark Horse and worked out a deal with them. Jim not writing an email to Classic Media saying he was Valiant's EIC could have been because he knew he was about to leave, not because he was secretly working with DH. But then, why would Classic Media say Dark Horse told them that Shooter worked for them before he left VEI?

...this project came into existence only ten days ago, as of this writing.

JCVaughn announced on Wed, August 4, that he had Jim's answers to the 20 questions. So I'm taking this date as the "as of this writing." It may be off by a day or two, but should be close enough.

10 days before August 4 was July 25 - the very day that Mike Richardson made the announcement at SDCC.

So what did he mean by "came into existence?" Did he mean "officially announced" but the deal was between them was already in place? Did he mean that was the day he and Mike actually made a deal with each other? Did Jim & Mike begin serious discussion, make a handshake deal (Jim said in the CBR video interview that a handshake with Mike was better than a contract with anybody else), and announce the project at SDCC all on the same day? Could mean any of that, but by use of the phrase "came into existence" it sounds like the project didn't exist before July 25 and there were no formal talks between DH and Jim before then.

These two quotes seem to indicate that Jim was NOT working with Dark Horse on the Classic Media characters until AFTER leaving VEI and AFTER Dark Horse acquired the rights to the characters. In fact, they weren't working together until the day (or a day or two before) Dark Horse made their announcement at SDCC.

Everyone at Dark Horse has been nothing but helpful. Mike Richardson has already contributed some great ideas and suggestions. He knows his stuff, he’s an outstanding idea man and a terrific sounding board. He’s the boss, but it seems clear that his intent—and therefore, Dark Horse’s intent—is to help me fulfill my vision for these properties.

Maybe Jim didn't feel that way at VEI and that's why he left. Maybe he didn't feel that he had the creative control to fulfill his vision at VEI for whatever reason.

And maybe he just didn't want to go through the struggles and burdens of a start-up company all over again.

VALIANT was a way undercapitalized start-up, so broke for much of the time that I actually had to draw several covers and a couple of stories because we couldn’t afford real artists! So many things were compromised by lack of time and money. However, working with Mike and Dark Horse, I think the rest of the creative process, beyond the script stage, will be vastly upgraded. They have all the apparatus already in place. They are totally professional and top drawer in every way. I guarantee, they wouldn’t let an “artist” as lame as me draw anything even if I wanted to. Hooray!

Maybe he saw history repeating itself and just didn't want to go through the headache and heartache again. He preferred a little more security with an established and experienced company, working for someone he respected, as he told CBR:

Shooter noted there is a sense of security in working with an established publisher like Dark Horse, as opposed to launching a new comics line and dealing with both the creative and business sides of a new company, as he had in the Valiant days. “Last time I worked on these characters, Valiant was a very fragile start-up, it was way under-capitalized. What that means is you are particularly on a dead run,” Shooter recalled. “But this time I have maybe a little more time to think about it. Not rely on a lucky accident that something works out well, but really sort of take the time to plan better. The nice thing about working with Dark Horse is we already have the publishing operation, where before we had to hire a designer, and an accountant, to keep the house in order. Dark Horse has the apparatus to put the books out more quickly."
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=22234

So, did Shooter violate his non-compete agreement with VEI by working for Dark Horse before 3 months were up? Maybe not. And here's a clue as to how:

My services to Dark Horse (and those of any other writers I bring in) are being provided by Illustrated Media.

I'm no legal contracts expert so I might have it completely wrong, but if it was Jim Shooter personally that worked for VEI, and (even as the lawsuit seems to imply) he was still allowed to do outside work through his company, Illustrated Media, and furthermore, it's not Jim Shooter personally being hired by Dark Horse, but Illustrated Media... Jim might have found a loophole to the non-compete agreement.

Mike never asked me to be exclusive. He didn’t have to.

That could be read like there was some resentment to being required to be exclusive and perhaps acknowledgment of the non-compete he signed with VEI. So the deal actually being between Dark Horse and Illustrated Media - not Dark Horse and Jim Shooter - could have been his way of getting around the non-compete.

Plenty of speculation and pure conjecture on my part, but maybe this sheds a little light on Jim's side of the story. Besides, we have more speculation and conjecture than hard facts right now, so...

Batman, Sherlock Holmes.... Heath! Prodigal Detectives past, present and future!

[SolarGod]

I went back and read the 20 Questions interview at Scoop and recent events shed new light on some of Jim's comments. Some seem to contradict the VEI lawsuit while some offer clues to his departure...

Mike Richardson and I first talked about my relaunching the Gold Key properties two and a half years ago. We spoke about it occasionally thereafter, but for one reason or another—rights issues, both of us busy with other things, whatever—nothing ever came of it. Recently, I opted out of another gig, and though I had some commercial work to fall back on through my company Illustrated Media, I figured it would be a good time to check in with Mike. And it was. The week of the San Diego Comic Con, we worked out an agreement and next thing I knew I was standing beside Mike onstage at the show as he announced the project.

This seems to contradict the VEI lawsuit. Jim says he "opted out" of VEI, THEN contacted Mike at Dark Horse and worked out a deal with them. Jim not writing an email to Classic Media saying he was Valiant's EIC could have been because he knew he was about to leave, not because he was secretly working with DH. But then, why would Classic Media say Dark Horse told them that Shooter worked for them before he left VEI?

...this project came into existence only ten days ago, as of this writing.

JCVaughn announced on Wed, August 4, that he had Jim's answers to the 20 questions. So I'm taking this date as the "as of this writing." It may be off by a day or two, but should be close enough.

10 days before August 4 was July 25 - the very day that Mike Richardson made the announcement at SDCC.

So what did he mean by "came into existence?" Did he mean "officially announced" but the deal was between them was already in place? Did he mean that was the day he and Mike actually made a deal with each other? Did Jim & Mike begin serious discussion, make a handshake deal (Jim said in the CBR video interview that a handshake with Mike was better than a contract with anybody else), and announce the project at SDCC all on the same day? Could mean any of that, but by use of the phrase "came into existence" it sounds like the project didn't exist before July 25 and there were no formal talks between DH and Jim before then.

These two quotes seem to indicate that Jim was NOT working with Dark Horse on the Classic Media characters until AFTER leaving VEI and AFTER Dark Horse acquired the rights to the characters. In fact, they weren't working together until the day (or a day or two before) Dark Horse made their announcement at SDCC.

Everyone at Dark Horse has been nothing but helpful. Mike Richardson has already contributed some great ideas and suggestions. He knows his stuff, he’s an outstanding idea man and a terrific sounding board. He’s the boss, but it seems clear that his intent—and therefore, Dark Horse’s intent—is to help me fulfill my vision for these properties.

Maybe Jim didn't feel that way at VEI and that's why he left. Maybe he didn't feel that he had the creative control to fulfill his vision at VEI for whatever reason.

And maybe he just didn't want to go through the struggles and burdens of a start-up company all over again.

VALIANT was a way undercapitalized start-up, so broke for much of the time that I actually had to draw several covers and a couple of stories because we couldn’t afford real artists! So many things were compromised by lack of time and money. However, working with Mike and Dark Horse, I think the rest of the creative process, beyond the script stage, will be vastly upgraded. They have all the apparatus already in place. They are totally professional and top drawer in every way. I guarantee, they wouldn’t let an “artist” as lame as me draw anything even if I wanted to. Hooray!

Maybe he saw history repeating itself and just didn't want to go through the headache and heartache again. He preferred a little more security with an established and experienced company, working for someone he respected, as he told CBR:

Shooter noted there is a sense of security in working with an established publisher like Dark Horse, as opposed to launching a new comics line and dealing with both the creative and business sides of a new company, as he had in the Valiant days. “Last time I worked on these characters, Valiant was a very fragile start-up, it was way under-capitalized. What that means is you are particularly on a dead run,” Shooter recalled. “But this time I have maybe a little more time to think about it. Not rely on a lucky accident that something works out well, but really sort of take the time to plan better. The nice thing about working with Dark Horse is we already have the publishing operation, where before we had to hire a designer, and an accountant, to keep the house in order. Dark Horse has the apparatus to put the books out more quickly."
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=22234

So, did Shooter violate his non-compete agreement with VEI by working for Dark Horse before 3 months were up? Maybe not. And here's a clue as to how:

My services to Dark Horse (and those of any other writers I bring in) are being provided by Illustrated Media.

I'm no legal contracts expert so I might have it completely wrong, but if it was Jim Shooter personally that worked for VEI, and (even as the lawsuit seems to imply) he was still allowed to do outside work through his company, Illustrated Media, and furthermore, it's not Jim Shooter personally being hired by Dark Horse, but Illustrated Media... Jim might have found a loophole to the non-compete agreement.

Mike never asked me to be exclusive. He didn’t have to.

That could be read like there was some resentment to being required to be exclusive and perhaps acknowledgment of the non-compete he signed with VEI. So the deal actually being between Dark Horse and Illustrated Media - not Dark Horse and Jim Shooter - could have been his way of getting around the non-compete.

Plenty of speculation and pure conjecture on my part, but maybe this sheds a little light on Jim's side of the story. Besides, we have more speculation and conjecture than hard facts right now, so...

Top Notch !!!!!!! Excellent digging on your part , thanks for sharing some different insight into this.

[MoonChild]

Great Post Heath, I remember thinking Shooter was talking about VEI when He said he had recently turned down that gig. You brought up some good points that I forgot about too.

[Brother J]

just to echo everyone else, nice work of laying out the facts, Heath!

I had already figured that since the Dark Horse/Gold Key stuff from Jim was going to be through Illustrated Media that he would probably be ok since early into the complaint it says that Jim, while working with VEI, was still able to do work through Illustrated Media.

This might also explain a question I had a few weeks back, which was why was his Legion of Superheroes stuff not through Illustrated Media, but the Dark Horse agreement was.

[xodacia81]

That was a hell of a post, Heath. Outstanding work, man

[Heath]

Thanks for the kind words, but remember this is all just conjecture and assumptions. I could very well have it all wrong.

[Draco]

Good work Batman !!

[geocarr]

Look guys, if you think we're disappointed and upset, just think how the guys over at www.mightysamsonfans.com feel right now in fear of the DH line being cancelled or delayed.

[greg]

just to echo everyone else, nice work of laying out the facts, Heath!

I had already figured that since the Dark Horse/Gold Key stuff from Jim was going to be through Illustrated Media that he would probably be ok since early into the complaint it says that Jim, while working with VEI, was still able to do work through Illustrated Media.

The complaint says (point #6 on PDF page 4, numbered page 2)
that Jim was able to continue to work through Illustrated Media...

"... Illustrated Media, provided further that such work did not materially interfere with the performance
of Shooter's duties for Valiant, or in any way harm Valiant or Valiant's reputation,
compete with Valiant, or usurp Valiant's business opportunities"

[ckb]

Look guys, if you think we're disappointed and upset, just think how the guys over at www.mightysamsonfans.com feel right now in fear of the DH line being cancelled or delayed.

Yeah, both of 'em...

[Daniel Jackson]

Look guys, if you think we're disappointed and upset, just think how the guys over at www.mightysamsonfans.com feel right now in fear of the DH line being cancelled or delayed.

Yeah, both of 'em...

Hahaha....that many?

[superman-prime]

ouch when was his last comic published

[terreth]

Wow!

Gone for a week and look what happens!!

[ian_house]

I just listened to the Only the Valiant podcast (18 I think) with the JayJay Jackson interview. Its sad to hear her talk about Jim Shooter losing all of his money fighting legal battles against Valiant back in the day and now its all going to happen again.

Poor guy!

Great podcast by the way!

[myron]

I just listened to the Only the Valiant podcast (18 I think) with the JayJay Jackson interview. Its sad to hear her talk about Jim Shooter losing all of his money fighting legal battles against Valiant back in the day and now its all going to happen again.

Poor guy!

Great podcast by the way!

so you believe he is going to loose this battle also?

[leonmallett]

I just listened to the Only the Valiant podcast (18 I think) with the JayJay Jackson interview. Its sad to hear her talk about Jim Shooter losing all of his money fighting legal battles against Valiant back in the day and now its all going to happen again.

Poor guy!

Great podcast by the way!

so you believe he is going to loose this battle also?

Even if he doesn't, the legal costs could be pretty significant.

[myron]

I just listened to the Only the Valiant podcast (18 I think) with the JayJay Jackson interview. Its sad to hear her talk about Jim Shooter losing all of his money fighting legal battles against Valiant back in the day and now its all going to happen again.

Poor guy!

Great podcast by the way!

so you believe he is going to loose this battle also?

Even if he doesn't, the legal costs could be pretty significant.

he could counter for the fees

[Daniel Jackson]

Wow!

Gone for a week and look what happens!!

Welcome back, wish there was better news, but unfortunately it's pretty bad.

[Dr. Solar]

Great podcast by the way!

Thanks! It's always a pleasure to talk to JayJay. I emailed back and forth with her a bit a few days ago, and I know she is angry and frustrated about all of this.

[ian_house]

I just listened to the Only the Valiant podcast (18 I think) with the JayJay Jackson interview. Its sad to hear her talk about Jim Shooter losing all of his money fighting legal battles against Valiant back in the day and now its all going to happen again.

Poor guy!

Great podcast by the way!

so you believe he is going to loose this battle also?

Even if he doesn't, the legal costs could be pretty significant.

Exactly. Thats what happened with Defiant when Marvel sued. Defiant won but it still cost them bad.

[dave]

I went back and read the 20 Questions interview at Scoop and recent events shed new light on some of Jim's comments. Some seem to contradict the VEI lawsuit while some offer clues to his departure...

Mike Richardson and I first talked about my relaunching the Gold Key properties two and a half years ago. We spoke about it occasionally thereafter, but for one reason or another—rights issues, both of us busy with other things, whatever—nothing ever came of it. Recently, I opted out of another gig, and though I had some commercial work to fall back on through my company Illustrated Media, I figured it would be a good time to check in with Mike. And it was. The week of the San Diego Comic Con, we worked out an agreement and next thing I knew I was standing beside Mike onstage at the show as he announced the project.

This seems to contradict the VEI lawsuit. Jim says he "opted out" of VEI, THEN contacted Mike at Dark Horse and worked out a deal with them. Jim not writing an email to Classic Media saying he was Valiant's EIC could have been because he knew he was about to leave, not because he was secretly working with DH. But then, why would Classic Media say Dark Horse told them that Shooter worked for them before he left VEI?

...this project came into existence only ten days ago, as of this writing.

JCVaughn announced on Wed, August 4, that he had Jim's answers to the 20 questions. So I'm taking this date as the "as of this writing." It may be off by a day or two, but should be close enough.

10 days before August 4 was July 25 - the very day that Mike Richardson made the announcement at SDCC.

So what did he mean by "came into existence?" Did he mean "officially announced" but the deal was between them was already in place? Did he mean that was the day he and Mike actually made a deal with each other? Did Jim & Mike begin serious discussion, make a handshake deal (Jim said in the CBR video interview that a handshake with Mike was better than a contract with anybody else), and announce the project at SDCC all on the same day? Could mean any of that, but by use of the phrase "came into existence" it sounds like the project didn't exist before July 25 and there were no formal talks between DH and Jim before then.

These two quotes seem to indicate that Jim was NOT working with Dark Horse on the Classic Media characters until AFTER leaving VEI and AFTER Dark Horse acquired the rights to the characters. In fact, they weren't working together until the day (or a day or two before) Dark Horse made their announcement at SDCC.

Everyone at Dark Horse has been nothing but helpful. Mike Richardson has already contributed some great ideas and suggestions. He knows his stuff, he’s an outstanding idea man and a terrific sounding board. He’s the boss, but it seems clear that his intent—and therefore, Dark Horse’s intent—is to help me fulfill my vision for these properties.

Maybe Jim didn't feel that way at VEI and that's why he left. Maybe he didn't feel that he had the creative control to fulfill his vision at VEI for whatever reason.

And maybe he just didn't want to go through the struggles and burdens of a start-up company all over again.

VALIANT was a way undercapitalized start-up, so broke for much of the time that I actually had to draw several covers and a couple of stories because we couldn’t afford real artists! So many things were compromised by lack of time and money. However, working with Mike and Dark Horse, I think the rest of the creative process, beyond the script stage, will be vastly upgraded. They have all the apparatus already in place. They are totally professional and top drawer in every way. I guarantee, they wouldn’t let an “artist” as lame as me draw anything even if I wanted to. Hooray!

Maybe he saw history repeating itself and just didn't want to go through the headache and heartache again. He preferred a little more security with an established and experienced company, working for someone he respected, as he told CBR:

Shooter noted there is a sense of security in working with an established publisher like Dark Horse, as opposed to launching a new comics line and dealing with both the creative and business sides of a new company, as he had in the Valiant days. “Last time I worked on these characters, Valiant was a very fragile start-up, it was way under-capitalized. What that means is you are particularly on a dead run,” Shooter recalled. “But this time I have maybe a little more time to think about it. Not rely on a lucky accident that something works out well, but really sort of take the time to plan better. The nice thing about working with Dark Horse is we already have the publishing operation, where before we had to hire a designer, and an accountant, to keep the house in order. Dark Horse has the apparatus to put the books out more quickly."
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=22234

So, did Shooter violate his non-compete agreement with VEI by working for Dark Horse before 3 months were up? Maybe not. And here's a clue as to how:

My services to Dark Horse (and those of any other writers I bring in) are being provided by Illustrated Media.

I'm no legal contracts expert so I might have it completely wrong, but if it was Jim Shooter personally that worked for VEI, and (even as the lawsuit seems to imply) he was still allowed to do outside work through his company, Illustrated Media, and furthermore, it's not Jim Shooter personally being hired by Dark Horse, but Illustrated Media... Jim might have found a loophole to the non-compete agreement.

Mike never asked me to be exclusive. He didn’t have to.

That could be read like there was some resentment to being required to be exclusive and perhaps acknowledgment of the non-compete he signed with VEI. So the deal actually being between Dark Horse and Illustrated Media - not Dark Horse and Jim Shooter - could have been his way of getting around the non-compete.

Plenty of speculation and pure conjecture on my part, but maybe this sheds a little light on Jim's side of the story. Besides, we have more speculation and conjecture than hard facts right now, so...

Who are you? Matlock???