Anyone read this in a recent Jim Shooter blog post?

[leonmallett]

From the post here, where he de-constructs the new Ultimate Spider-man #1 from an editorial perspective, yet finds time to talk about VEI:

For part of the time I worked (secretly, at their insistence) for the unlearned children who ran Valiant Entertainment, Inc., Bill Jemas, former Marvel publishing V.P., served as a consultant to VEI. I would often try to gently explain various publishing or comics 101 things to the children. Bill would flat out tell them they were idiots. He soon figured out that I knew what I was doing. More than once, he told the children “Just do what he says.”

They almost never did.

The one place Bill and I parted company biz philosophy-wise, however, was on the subject of covers. Bill thought they should all be pin-ups. Character glamour shots. Period. Generate iconic branding images and use them everywhere. Period. Who gives a damn what’s in the book?

Well, I do like the occasional pin-up, especially on a first issue. But there’s no reason a cover illustration can’t be a powerful, iconic image and relate to the content. Offer a “hook.”

I designed a slew of covers related to the stories I was working on to demonstrate the children and Bill what I meant. I’d show you some of those scribble sketches, but the children have already sued me once for absurd things like alleged violations of a contract that was never presented to me, much less signed, leaking their “trade secrets,” and leaving them to take a better job, which they claimed somehow foiled their plans to acquire a license that had already been acquired years earlier by Dark Horse.

Anyone can sue anyone for anything in these United States. Doesn’t matter how inane or insane the lawsuit is, it still costs money to fend it off. What a country.

That spurious suit, as it turned out, seemed to amount to a clumsy attempt to manipulate Mike Richardson into some deal they wished he would make with them. Mike is not easily manipulated. The ploy failed and the suit was eventually withdrawn.

So, no examples. But they’ll still probably sue me for calling them children.

Some interesting perspective. Apologies if this has already been posted or linked.

[FormerReader]

A great talent, but what a *SQUEE*.

[myron]

From the post here, where he de-constructs the new Ultimate Spider-man #1 from an editorial perspective, yet finds time to talk about VEI:

For part of the time I worked (secretly, at their insistence) for the unlearned children who ran Valiant Entertainment, Inc., Bill Jemas, former Marvel publishing V.P., served as a consultant to VEI. I would often try to gently explain various publishing or comics 101 things to the children. Bill would flat out tell them they were idiots. He soon figured out that I knew what I was doing. More than once, he told the children “Just do what he says.”

They almost never did.

The one place Bill and I parted company biz philosophy-wise, however, was on the subject of covers. Bill thought they should all be pin-ups. Character glamour shots. Period. Generate iconic branding images and use them everywhere. Period. Who gives a damn what’s in the book?

Well, I do like the occasional pin-up, especially on a first issue. But there’s no reason a cover illustration can’t be a powerful, iconic image and relate to the content. Offer a “hook.”

I designed a slew of covers related to the stories I was working on to demonstrate the children and Bill what I meant. I’d show you some of those scribble sketches, but the children have already sued me once for absurd things like alleged violations of a contract that was never presented to me, much less signed, leaking their “trade secrets,” and leaving them to take a better job, which they claimed somehow foiled their plans to acquire a license that had already been acquired years earlier by Dark Horse.

Anyone can sue anyone for anything in these United States. Doesn’t matter how inane or insane the lawsuit is, it still costs money to fend it off. What a country.

That spurious suit, as it turned out, seemed to amount to a clumsy attempt to manipulate Mike Richardson into some deal they wished he would make with them. Mike is not easily manipulated. The ploy failed and the suit was eventually withdrawn.

So, no examples. But they’ll still probably sue me for calling them children.

Some interesting perspective. Apologies if this has already been posted or linked.

<sigh>

[etos45]

Something I've noticed from Shooter's blog and twitter posts is that he vary rarely has anything nice to say about ex-employers. That's one of the reasons I'm so surprised that the DH breakup is going so well. Either way, it's interesting to finally hear his perspective from him directly, even if I'm not too fond of how he says it.

[Triumphant Serial Number]

He actually had a lot more to say about VEI before that in the comment section of one of his posts that might have been even more harsh.

http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/10/new-5 ... ecret.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RE: VEI: I will soon tell the whole story of my working at VEI (secretly, at their insistence!) on staff for seven and a half months. Briefly: I took the job (after turning them down several times) because at the time, I needed a gig, any gig, and at first I actually thought there might be a future at VEI.

I was ordered to stay out of sight when visitors came to the office. I even had to hide in the men's room on one occasion. They said they wanted to save the revelation of my involvement for the launch.

I wrote some good stuff for them under difficult working conditions -- working in a small room with as many as four other people who were talking all the time. P.S. the job I accepted wasn't supposed to involve writing. I was supposed to be Editor in Chief, directing writers, not writing the material myself. But from day one, I was ordered to write -- film presentations, character developments, scripts....

Eventually, too much was too much. I quit because of the crap involved in that situation, called Mike Richardson and worked out a gig at Dark Horse.

Then came their spurious, meritless lawsuit -- withdrawn, by the way, when it failed to compel Mike Richardson into making movie deals with them. Mike is not easily manipulated. Nice try, Fred Pierce, Jason and Dinesh.

Those weasels may sue me again after I tell the tale, but let them. I have documents and witnesses. Mike, for instance. They owe me accrued vacation pay, $4,000+, and reimbursement of the approximately $11,000 it cost to defend myself. They are scum.

[400yrs]

I'd like to hear the story. I'm sure it has some merit to it. Regardless though, whatever Jim says, it's always negative unless it's something that's stroking his cack. It's old and at some point, you've got to realize the problem is him and take his side of things with a grain of salt.

If by good stuff, he means the type of stuff he wrote for Dark Horse (yes, he wrote there), he doesn't know what good stuff is.


The accrued vacation comment is a bit weird. Wondering if the accrued vacation is the $4K or if the $4K is on top of that. $4K for accrued vacation would be alot for 7.5 months of service. I'm sure an employer could argue that the vacation time was applied at the end as salary if no notice was actually given.

[Chiclo]

If by good stuff, he means the type of stuff he wrote for Dark Horse (yes, he wrote there), he doesn't know what good stuff is.

I have heard about some of the stuff he wrote and at least in the broad strokes it sounds better than his Dark Horse writing.

[xodacia81]

If by good stuff, he means the type of stuff he wrote for Dark Horse (yes, he wrote there), he doesn't know what good stuff is.

I have heard about some of the stuff he wrote and at least in the broad strokes it sounds better than his Dark Horse writing.

I think "Big Jim" went and "shot" his wad with VEI, so that by the time he got to DH, he was out of ammo. Not much of a shooter.

[Chiclo]

If by good stuff, he means the type of stuff he wrote for Dark Horse (yes, he wrote there), he doesn't know what good stuff is.

I have heard about some of the stuff he wrote and at least in the broad strokes it sounds better than his Dark Horse writing.

I think "Big Jim" went and "shot" his wad with VEI, so that by the time he got to DH, he was out of ammo. Not much of a shooter.

I am left with the impression that the editorial staff at DH didn't push him to do better.

[xodacia81]

If by good stuff, he means the type of stuff he wrote for Dark Horse (yes, he wrote there), he doesn't know what good stuff is.

I have heard about some of the stuff he wrote and at least in the broad strokes it sounds better than his Dark Horse writing.

I think "Big Jim" went and "shot" his wad with VEI, so that by the time he got to DH, he was out of ammo. Not much of a shooter.

I am left with the impression that the editorial staff at DH didn't push him to do better.

My impression is they didn't give him much of a staff and my further impression is he doesn't think he should have any oversight whatsoever.

[SJS4]

The accrued vacation comment is a bit weird. Wondering if the accrued vacation is the $4K or if the $4K is on top of that. $4K for accrued vacation would be alot for 7.5 months of service. I'm sure an employer could argue that the vacation time was applied at the end as salary if no notice was actually given.

Is Shooter American?

FWIW, in America, everyone is an at will employee unless they have a specific employment contract (either as an individual oir as a union). Shooter seems to note (in a sarcastic way) that he never saw a final, signed employment contract so I am assuming he was an at will employee.

Being "at will" essentially means the terms of your employment can change at any time, for any reason. he would never be "owed" anything at any time (other than his standard pay).

My limited understanding of the situation was that he resigned, so even if he was under contract during his employment anything he would have potentially been owed under the terms of the contract would have been forfeit once he broke the contract by resigning.

Note the above is just a generalization, there are always little quirks for each individual state...and a lot of companies go well above the legal minimums when paying out severance, vacations, etc... for employees wether they are fired or quit.

[Draco]

I like the Valiant books he put out and im sure he is a cool guy to some degree, but it would be foolish of me to try to any sense out of what happened, just a lot of he said she said.

[FormerReader]

I like the Valiant books he put out and im sure he is a cool guy to some degree, but it would be foolish of me to try to any sense out of what happened, just a lot of he said she said.

I agree. It just seems like such a waste. He is obviously very talented, but you think after getting the chance of a life time to get back involved with the characters he co-created he would have made more of an effort. It appears he wants to burn as many bridges as possible, but what do I know? I've never met anyone involved.

[Draco]

I like the Valiant books he put out and im sure he is a cool guy to some degree, but it would be foolish of me to try to any sense out of what happened, just a lot of he said she said.

I agree. It just seems like such a waste. He is obviously very talented, but you think after getting the chance of a life time to get back involved with the characters he co-created he would have made more of an effort. It appears he wants to burn as many bridges as possible, but what do I know? I've never met anyone involved.

I dont think we will ever know as both sides quite clearly have a different tale to tell.

[jedimarley]

Reading Jim's blog, he comes off as a bitter old man.

[myron]

Reading Jim's blog, he comes off as a bitter old man.

thought so too...hence my <sigh> up above...too bad really.

[TheVisitor]

I like the Valiant books he put out and im sure he is a cool guy to some degree, but it would be foolish of me to try to any sense out of what happened, just a lot of he said she said.

I agree. It just seems like such a waste. He is obviously very talented, but you think after getting the chance of a life time to get back involved with the characters he co-created he would have made more of an effort. It appears he wants to burn as many bridges as possible, but what do I know? I've never met anyone involved.

I dont think we will ever know as both sides quite clearly have a different tale to tell.

Can you point me to where VEI shares their side of the story ?

[BruceReville]

I like the Valiant books he put out and im sure he is a cool guy to some degree, but it would be foolish of me to try to any sense out of what happened, just a lot of he said she said.

I agree. It just seems like such a waste. He is obviously very talented, but you think after getting the chance of a life time to get back involved with the characters he co-created he would have made more of an effort. It appears he wants to burn as many bridges as possible, but what do I know? I've never met anyone involved.

I dont think we will ever know as both sides quite clearly have a different tale to tell.

Can you point me to where VEI shares their side of the story ?

She tells us that Walter Black, Senior Vice President of VEI, has signed a lawsuit against Jim Shooter, currently on file in New York. That Jim Shooter worked for VEI from the end of 2008 into the summer of 2009 – which is of course when Dark Horse announced that Jim Shooter working on their titles.

And that the suit alleges that Jim ruined VEI’s chances at licensing the Magnus and Solar characters from Random House/Classic Media in favour of Dark Horse, though JayJay points out that Dark Horse has had the rights well before Jim went to work for VEI, and had already spoken to Mike Richardson about the possibility of working on the characters for Dark Horse previously as this piece seems to attest.

The suit alleges that Shooter broke a three month non-compete clause in his contract, based on e-mails and conversations, but not on a signed document. And that Shooter took home a laptop from VEI that was part of his signing bonus, and that on returning it, Shooter had deleted certain files that he may have considered personal, but VEI didn’t.



http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/10/06/ ... m-shooter/

[TheVisitor]

I like the Valiant books he put out and im sure he is a cool guy to some degree, but it would be foolish of me to try to any sense out of what happened, just a lot of he said she said.

I agree. It just seems like such a waste. He is obviously very talented, but you think after getting the chance of a life time to get back involved with the characters he co-created he would have made more of an effort. It appears he wants to burn as many bridges as possible, but what do I know? I've never met anyone involved.

I dont think we will ever know as both sides quite clearly have a different tale to tell.

Can you point me to where VEI shares their side of the story ?

She tells us that Walter Black, Senior Vice President of VEI, has signed a lawsuit against Jim Shooter, currently on file in New York. That Jim Shooter worked for VEI from the end of 2008 into the summer of 2009 – which is of course when Dark Horse announced that Jim Shooter working on their titles.

And that the suit alleges that Jim ruined VEI’s chances at licensing the Magnus and Solar characters from Random House/Classic Media in favour of Dark Horse, though JayJay points out that Dark Horse has had the rights well before Jim went to work for VEI, and had already spoken to Mike Richardson about the possibility of working on the characters for Dark Horse previously as this piece seems to attest.

The suit alleges that Shooter broke a three month non-compete clause in his contract, based on e-mails and conversations, but not on a signed document. And that Shooter took home a laptop from VEI that was part of his signing bonus, and that on returning it, Shooter had deleted certain files that he may have considered personal, but VEI didn’t.



http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/10/06/ ... m-shooter/

Thanks!

[Heath]

[Elveen]

I'm embarrassed to say that for most of my childhood I would watch a taped Days of Our Lives with my Mom and brothers after school.

[xodacia81]

I'm embarrassed to say that for most of my childhood I would watch a taped Days of Our Lives with my Mom and brothers after school.

E-don't feel too bad. When I was a kid, I would end up stuck watching One Life To Live with my mother every so often.

[StarBrand]

I'm embarrassed to say that for most of my childhood I would watch a taped Days of Our Lives with my Mom and brothers after school.

E-don't feel too bad. When I was a kid, I would end up stuck watching One Life To Live with my mother every so often.

No comment as to whether I've ever watched soap operas.

[myron]

I'm embarrassed to say that for most of my childhood I would watch a taped Days of Our Lives with my Mom and brothers after school.

E-don't feel too bad. When I was a kid, I would end up stuck watching One Life To Live with my mother every so often.

No comment as to whether I've ever watched soap operas.

All My Children and General Hospital...

especially during college

[Second_Death]

For part of the time I worked (secretly, at their insistence) for the unlearned children who ran Valiant Entertainment, Inc., Bill Jemas, former Marvel publishing V.P., served as a consultant to VEI. I would often try to gently explain various publishing or comics 101 things to the children. Bill would flat out tell them they were idiots. He soon figured out that I knew what I was doing. More than once, he told the children “Just do what he says.”

They almost never did.

The one place Bill and I parted company biz philosophy-wise, however, was on the subject of covers. Bill thought they should all be pin-ups. Character glamour shots. Period. Generate iconic branding images and use them everywhere. Period. Who gives a damn what’s in the book?

Well, I do like the occasional pin-up, especially on a first issue. But there’s no reason a cover illustration can’t be a powerful, iconic image and relate to the content. Offer a “hook.”

I designed a slew of covers related to the stories I was working on to demonstrate the children and Bill what I meant. I’d show you some of those scribble sketches, but the children have already sued me once for absurd things like alleged violations of a contract that was never presented to me, much less signed, leaking their “trade secrets,” and leaving them to take a better job, which they claimed somehow foiled their plans to acquire a license that had already been acquired years earlier by Dark Horse.

Anyone can sue anyone for anything in these United States. Doesn’t matter how inane or insane the lawsuit is, it still costs money to fend it off. What a country.

That spurious suit, as it turned out, seemed to amount to a clumsy attempt to manipulate Mike Richardson into some deal they wished he would make with them. Mike is not easily manipulated. The ploy failed and the suit was eventually withdrawn.

So, no examples. But they’ll still probably sue me for calling them children.

Very interesting comments. He seemed to be on a role considering the blog subject he was discussing.

Sure Jim could have taken a more politically correct tone but he is certainly looking at this from a unique perspective. Considering the legal issues surrounding his separation from Valiant in the 90's, the ridiculous Marvel lawsuit against Defiant, and now this, does anyone really expect him to not have an opinion about it?

I certainly don't blame our boys at VEI for being upset that Jim left them. VEI probably realized how important his contribution was to their legitimacy and success. It is no accident, although on a much larger scale, that by comparison Marvel and Stan Lee are perceived to be on the same team. Seems that it was equally important at the time for VEI to appear to be on the same page with Jim as well. There seemed to be little merit to their attempted legal action against him and DH except, as was suggested, to manipulate DH into a deal. Choosing to sue because you can rather than because you should is......(preparing to insert politically correct observation).........unfortunate.