Wednesday, May 22, 2013

1982 - SDCC - Jim Shooter and Steve Englehart


6 comments:

  1. Back when Comicon was about comic books! Bygone days!

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  2. Doesn't look like there was much small talk, both looking off in different directions

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  3. You realize a snapshot captures not even a second, right? What an assumption to make.

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  4. Actually, I thought the same thing, there's not much love in the picture...you can't be blamed for getting an impression from a striking image like that.

    Especially when you've read Marvel: The Untold Story and read how disliked Jim Shooter was and how frustrated Steve Englehart could get with editorial interference.

    It could just be a random snapshot but it's not crazy to imagine some coldness or discomfort there.
    david p.

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  5. Actually, if you're gonna cite Marvel: The Untold Story as a source to fuel the rumors Englehart might be pissed off at Shooter... Consider this is a shot from 1982, early during Shooter's reign (1978 - 1987). In the early years, he had actually improved working conditions for freelancers, giving them a decent cut of the profits even. He also didn't actively micromanage every single detail of the art and the stories... And erm, Englehart wasn't even writing (anything of significance) for Marvel at that point. So...?

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  6. It's true that 82 is before Engelhart's return to Marvel but it's entirely possible that there was tension between the two that predated Shooter's run as EIC. Shooter has singled out Engelhart as the face of Marvel's problems meeting deadlines in the days prior to Shooter's becoming EIC. Add to that the whole Shooter acting as a fill-in on Avengers 150 and tension between them even at this date seems a lot less unlikely.

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