Jim Shooter died on June 30, 2025, at the age of 73 from esophageal cancer. He was known as an American writer, editor, and publisher in the comics industry. He began his writing career at the age of 14. His most popular comics publishers were Valiant, Defiant, and Broadway.
He wrote and drew stories featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes at the age of 13. Then American magazine and comic book editor Mortimer Weisinger called him to purchase the stories. He sent the comic book editor the stories, who then commissioned Shooter to write Supergirl and Superman stories. His father was a steelworker who earned little money, so Shooter began writing for income. In a 2010 interview, he said,
“My family needed the money. I was doing this to save the house; my father had a beat-up old car and the engine died – this is before I started working for DC – and that first check bought a rebuilt engine for his car so he didn’t have to walk to work anymore. I was doing this because I had to, working my way through high school to help keep my family alive.”
He began selling his stories when he was a 14-year-old boy for both Action Comics and Adventure Comics. After completing his graduation, he applied for a job at Marvel Comics. He worked in advertising concepts, writing, and illustration after leaving Marvel.
On January 2, 1976, he joined the Marvel staff as an assistant editor and writer. He became Marvel’s ninth editor-in-chief in January 1978.
Roy Thomas said,
“When Jim Shooter took over, for better or worse he decided to rein things in – he wanted stories told the way he wanted them told. It’s not a matter of whether Jim Shooter was right or wrong; it’s a matter of a different approach. He was editor-in-chief and had a right to impose what he wanted to. I thought it was kind of dumb, but I don’t think Jim was dumb. I think the approach was wrong, and I don’t think it really helped anything.”
John Romita Sr. said,
“Shooter had been great for the first two or three years. He got the creative people treated with more respect, got us sent to conventions first-class with our ways paid, and we thought the world of him. Then his Secret Wars was a big hit, and after that he decided he knew everything and he started changing everybody’s stuff.”
On April 15, 1987, Shooter was fired from Marvel. Then he founded his own company named Voyager Communications, where he published comics under the Valiant Comics banner. In 1995, Shooter founded Broadway Comics. He joined as creative director and editor-in-chief in the custom comics company Illustrated Media. In 2005, ex-Marvel letterer Denise Wohl asked Jim Shooter to create Seven, a comic series inspired by Kabbalah that blended mysticism with superhero themes.
He received various awards including the 1979 Eagle Award, 1980 Inkpot Award, and others.
Mark Waid confirmed Shooter’s death from esophageal cancer and said,
“I’ve just received word that Jim Shooter passed away of oesophageal cancer, which he’s been battling for some time.”
DirtSheetRadio wrote,
“REST IN PEACE JIM SHOOTER — Architect of Modern Marvel, Uncompromising Visionary.”
Fans’ reaction, darthllama:
“Wow. One of the most important figures in the history of the medium. … Marvel reached a creative high point under his leadership…”
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