Former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, a Pittsburgh native, dies at 73

Former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, a native of Pittsburgh, died Monday at age 73.

Shooter died after battling esophageal cancer, according to several reports.

A 1969 graduate of Bethel Park High School, Shooter plotted stories for DC Comics as a teenager, created dozens of characters for several companies and served as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics in the late 1970s and ’80s.

As a child, Shooter spent a week in the hospital for a minor surgery. He had plenty of time there to read comic books, coming to appreciate the more modern approach taken by Marvel vs. the more old-fashioned DC.

“So, I mean, that’s at 12 years old, I decided I’m going to do this,” Shooter said in an interview with comicbookhistorians.com. “I’m going to write like this Stan Lee guy.”

Shooter sold his first stories to DC Comics as a 14-year-old. In his tenure there, he wrote Legion of Super-Heroes, scripted the first race between Superman and the Flash and more.

He joined Marvel in 1976, rising up to editor-in-chief in 1978. He oversaw critically acclaimed runs on “Uncanny X-Men” and “Daredevil,” helped Marvel enter the emerging direct comic market with “Dazzler” and supervised the company-wide crossover “Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars.” (Shooter also launched the New Universe, in which his hometown of Pittsburgh was destroyed.)

“He really polarized people, but it was because he had a passion for what he was doing,” artist Bill Sienkiewicz told forbes.com. “He went to bat for freelancers in a way you don’t see many people in editorial roles do today.”

Later, Shooter helped found Valiant Comics, Defiant Comics and Broadway Comics, and worked with DC and Dark Horse Comics.

Industry professionals who worked with Shooter offered their thoughts on social media in the wake of Shooter’s passing:

Jim Lee, the current president of DC Comics and a renowned artist himself, took inspiration from Shooter’s early entry into comics.

“A towering figure in comics — literally and creatively — who helped shape the modern Marvel Universe,” Lee said. “As Editor-in-Chief in the late ’70s and ’80s, he raised storytelling standards, instituted fill in issues to keep the books out on time, and oversaw iconic runs like Claremont & Byrne’s X-Men, Simonson’s Thor, Miller’s Daredevil, and events like Secret Wars (my understanding was that he was, in fact, the Beyonder). A pretty damn magical time if you were a fan like me.”

Comic book writer Mark Waid acknowledged Shooter’s controversial management style, but he didn’t experience that.

“My meals and conversations with Jim were always genial, and I never failed to remind him just how inspirational his work was to me; there are storytelling choices and stylistic influences I got from him in nearly all my work,” Waid said. “I regret that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, but I’m glad he’s finally at peace after years of suffering.”

Artist Walter Simonson, known for his work on “The Mighty Thor,” offered a pair of stories on his Facebook account.

“He was complex, as has also been said already, and there are a million stories,” Simonson said. “I’ll leave it for historians to sum up, but (my wife) Weezie and I always found a core within Jim that we liked.”

Artist Joe Rubinstein shared a humorous story about the height discrepancy between the pair.

“I think Jim was 6-foot-7 or -8 so of course he was in a looming presence,” Rubinstein said. “I’m 5-foot-5 on a good day. I did one of my first jobs for Marvel (and) Jim was Archie Goodwin’s assistant at the time. I said ‘Hey Jim, I brought in the pages, but you have to sit down before you looked at them.’ He asked ‘Why, are they that bad?’ I said, ‘No, you give me a stiff neck looking up at you.’ He laughed. That established our relationship.”

Other industry veterans like Kurt Busiek, Larry Hama, Erik Larsen, Kelley Jones, Paul Levitz and Ty Templeton also offered stories about Shooter.