Live Chat With Jim Shooter - Monday August 15th - 8:30PM EST

[mramsterdam]

Last five minutes.

Are you going to let Jim go into 'overtime' to answer anything he hasn't yet?

Please

[Ladakh]

Many thanks to Jim Shooter for dedicating his time to this forum.

[Ladakh]

Overtime is up to Jim.

[jmatt]

Last five minutes.

Are you going to let Jim go into 'overtime' to answer anything he hasn't yet?

Please

[Jim_Shooter]

grendeljd: I like writing and creating.

Solar is unbeatable if he doesn't beat himself, that is, if his human failings don't undo him.

I drink wine sometimes. Beer occasionally. Once in a while a greyhound. Usually seltzer and grapefruit juice.

Fatale? I don't know current actors well. Maybe Jennifer Tilly at her very best, in her prime?

I've written (and got paid for) two screenplays, neither produced. I've done development for Fox Films, Paramount, Columbia and others. Lots of others, actually. Only Transformers made the screen.

[mramsterdam]

Many thanks to Jim Shooter for dedicating his time to this forum.

Yes,he deserves it.And good to hear from him answering a lot of questions.

[Jim_Shooter]

Thanks for listening to me rant.

Good night.

[grendeljd]

Now that you have an account here, I'm sure everyone would love it if you stop by & update us with anything new you are working on that you want to promote.

Thanks so much for talking with us!

[Ladakh]

The floor is open as long as Jim allows it...

[Ladakh]

What do you think about me ripping up a dozen+ of your autos to keep the integrity of the project solid?

[jmatt]

Thanks for everything, Jim!

[Ladakh]

Just got off the phone with Jim. A lot of talk about Layton and BWS.

[iggy101us]

Just got off the phone with Jim. A lot of talk about Layton and BWS.

Any of it shareable?

Thanks again for setting up the chat.

[magnusr]

Just got off the phone with Jim. A lot of talk about Layton and BWS.

Any of it shareable?

Thanks again for setting up the chat.

+1, good read

/Magnus

[Ladakh]

Just got off the phone with Jim. A lot of talk about Layton and BWS.

Any of it shareable?

Thanks again for setting up the chat.

Jim is someone you gotta either believe fully or he is full of squee. I called him to task a few times, quoting past interviews he gave me 20 years ago and it's all one consistent story... you either have to believe Jim's words or ignore what he's been saying for decades... I choose to believe Jim.

[Ladakh]

He had a rather unflattering opinion of Layton and BWS. I asked him how he could not like Layton seeing as he was the head house inker (and would fix pages to make them look like Valiant), Jim replied that Layton was not as talented as you would think. He also spoke about Layton's drinking/drugs/women problem he had during the VALIANT days in detail. As far as BWS- he was an outcast that Jim took in and ultimately asked very high page rates for his work. IMO BWS was worth it but Jim said it was at a time VALIANT was struggling and a lot of the money was going into BWS' pocket. It was a lot of dirt. I wonder what Layton and BWS think about this- I don't know- I tried many times to contact both of them and mum's the word.

[Ladakh]

Spoke to JayJay and she confirms this information in detail- the Layton stuff.

This kinda changes my opinion of Layton... after all, he drew my favorite VALIANT cover: Rai #0... but then again he just traced it from a Marvel comic...

As far as BWS- he might need to get off his high horse a little.

Reminds me of when I paid Jeff Jones $1800 for a piece then he eventually sent "you're not getting your art" emails to everyone then died a year later. But I digress...

[ErikG]

I'm with Knob Row Joe on this. I believe Jim Shooter.

Some history...

A few weeks after Jim's departure from Valiant Voyager, Paul Suntup, the owner of Fantamania, South Africa's first comic shop, and a strong Valiant fan, interviewed Jim telephonically from South Africa for the shop's newsletter. I suspect it was one of the first interviews Jim gave about those unfortunate events. Perhaps because of the distance between the USA and South Africa, Jim felt free to say exactly what had happened. And he was pretty scathing about Massarsky and Layton, so much so, in fact, that Paul suspected publication of the interview might attract legal action against Fantamania (or some form of retribution). In those days, I did freelance writing and editing part-time, and as I had written short stories and reviews for the shop's magazine, Paul sent me the transcript of the interview for an opinion and edit. In the end we had to cut out a lot of what Jim said, because as I recall there were several litiginous statements about Massarsky and Layton and others. Both Paul and I were sorry to do this. As it was, the interview would have been too long to run uncut anyway. Furthermore, we didn't know if Jim was playing with the truth. How could we? And then in 1994 Paul sent me a copy of an article/interview in Forbes Magazine (June 21, 1993), about what had happened at Valiant Voyager, and it was what Paul and I knew already -- fewer details but the same story.

Several years later, probably around 1998, I stumbled on "THE Jim Shooter Interview" by Joe Petrilak on Valiant Era Online -- and discovered that Jim's tale was still unchanged. There were some extra details, and perhaps a little less anger, but it was the same story. It's important to note that this story has NEVER changed.

Then one looks at what Barry Windsor-Smith had to say about his own treatment at Valiant Voyager. He gave an interview to Wizard Magazine (#28, December 1993) back when it was still a credible publication, and because that issue is unlikely to be at hand for most of you, I hope you'll allow me to quote from the interview...

"..(Jim) was starting this new company and he had Bob Layton on his side, and Bob was a friend of mine. And because of Jim's less-than-endearing past with most all of the professionals in the field, he simply couldn't get any top names to come in with him... and Bob pretty much 'inveigled' me into doing it. There were plenty of times in the first year of my doing the Solar story that Bob took me aside and said, 'I apologise deeply for getting you into this, Barry.'"

BWS then tells of how, after Jim was fired, he was offered the presidency of Valiant by Massarsky, Jon Hartz, and Bob Layton. "I spent a year trying to negotiate my contract with Massarsky... I put an enormous amount of work and investment into that company, and yet it took a year for me to finally throw up my hands and say, 'This guy doesn't want to negotiate.'... I felt in the end that my integrity was [put in] jeopardy by associating with these people. They were using my good name to buffer the firing of Jim and to give credibility to the company."

BWS then talks of the run-around he was given -- no figures that made sense. When asked by the interviewer if he came out of this with more sympathy for Shooter, BWS replied:

"Yes. I always did have sympathy for Shooter, and I gained some perspective myself. I always regretted that I went for the whole thing hook, line, and sinker. When Shooter was fired, Massarsky and Layton...were all so dead set against him, saying he was ruining the company, and I just kind of went along with it. I never even gave Jim the courtesy of a phone call. I just perceived him as the enemy, suddenly. There had been two camps created overnight, and I was in this sort of chummy camp with Massarsky and Layton, and there was this guy left out in the middle of a field somewhere with no bullets in his gun. I should have called Jim, to get the other side of the coin, but I just fell for the whole damn thing... Not that I hold a halo over Shooter's head--I'd been told on more than one occasion...that Shooter wanted to fire me...this is what I was told ... I don't know what's true and what isn't true..."

BWS said he hadn't spoken to Jim since, not even when he was negotiating with Massarsky. "I felt wholly uncomfortable calling Jim on my own behalf when I had ignored him at the time that he was fired. It seemed improper... I haven't spoken to him since. I don't know if Jim bears a grudge against me. I wouldn't be surprised if he does. I bear him no ill will. I don't want to work with him again. I wish him good luck and all that sort of stuff..."

Steve Massarsky wrote a letter of rebuttal in Wizard #30, pointing out the wonderful offer they'd made BWS and how intransigent BWS had been; but in Wizard #31, Harris M. Miller II, Barry's attorney, addressed the "distortions" in Massarsky's letter, and described what had actually happened -- which does not make for pleasant reading. There were no further communications to Wizard.

In his interviews and recollections, Jim has never -- to the best of my knowledge -- slagged off BWS. Hehas criticized him and mentioned how expensive he was, and eccentric (the black fax for the Solar #10 cover, for example), but never berated him. I think he has always credited BWS for his role in making Valiant (sorry: VALIANT) what it became. As the above excerpts show, BWS has more or less acknowledged that Jim was badly treated, even though he is not necessarily fond of him.

What all of this tells me is that Jim has been telling the truth all along, just as he has about his days at Marvel. That he has a skewed version of reality is something punted by those who have an axe to grind. To my mind, the person (other than Massarsky) who comes out of this the worst is Bob Layton, who seems to have played everyone for his own advantage, a friend to all and a friend to none. So I hope you'll understand when I say I'm not particularly enthused about him doing work for VEI...

Okay. This has been a long one. But Jim is telling the truth. He may not be an easy person to deal with; he may be a hard taskmaster; but he seems to inspire a great deal of loyalty in many people. Most of all, he created the Valiant Universe. Without him VEI wouldn't exist, and neither would this site. We'd all be reading Spider-Gwen instead. Or Gwenpool. So yes, if nothing else, we owe Jim Shooter big-time.

In passing: I believe I may still have a copy of the transcript of Paul Suntup's interview with Jim. But even if I do, I can't make it available to anyone without Paul's permission -- and I lost touch with Paul a long time ago. If you happen to read this, Paul..?

[Ladakh]

I first met Jim at a pre-arranged spot in Times Square. I had my tape recorder. He went on to give me "THE Jim Shooter Interview" and on my way back and that night I thought to myself that either Jim is the best liar in the world or what he told me was the truth. And it cost me friendships with certain VALIANT people but dammit- I knew in my gut Shooter was telling the truth.

This was in 1998 or so, when Shooter was "in the dark", or "a pariah" or whatever nasty words they throw at him... but having heard it firsthand, I believe it all.

Jim is not only my childhood hero but my modern-day hero for all he has done for comics through the years... to seek higher standards and ask for tougher challenges... Jim pushed the envelope of what a comic book could be and that's why we all love him!

[FormerReader]

Jim pushed the envelope of what a comic book could be and that's why we all love him!

[valiantdude]

Well *SQUEE*...looks like I missed it...

[eschnit]

Sounds to me like the primary issue among the 3 was ego. I experienced something similar with two roommates in college. Both turned out uber successful. One flips hotels, likely net worth $100 million, the other Wharton MBA principal at top consulting firm, and there was me. We owned vending machines in college and tried as I might, I couldn't be the go between to manage the egos. Success wasn't in question. Who had the power was the problem. In the end, the two couldn't work together, so the whole thing fell apart.

I watched the two hour interview done recently by one of you. It's impressive. I came away impressed with Shooter big time, appreciative, and yet very aware that the man has an ego. Often times that comes with the territory of that kind of success.

Anyway, thank you, and thank you Jim. You're without question the reason I enjoy comics.

Julie Newmar, Jim Shooter.

Dinesh is a fanboy. I'm happy he's brought some premium talents together to do special things, particularly Lemire and Kindt. If he's to make a meaningful contribution, it will likely be finding a way to get Bloodshot and/or Harbinger to the big screen. I'll believe it when I see it, hopeful.

[jmatt]

Well *SQUEE*...looks like I missed it...

I was here and forgot to ask my question again: How does Jim pronounce "Gilad"?

There are differing opinions on the forum.

[valiantdude]

im devastated man...i waited a long long time, and i thought it was the 18th or 21st..
no one asked the questions i was going to, and i prepared questions for weeks..
im still in the grieving stage...

[mramsterdam]

Can you briefly tell the story of how, after Acclaim recieved my "VALIANT: 1999" book that they decided totally out of the blue to make Unity 2000?

What is Valiant:1999?