I flippin LOVE interviews like these! I was a kid when all this was going on and its awesome to hear about what went on during that time frame. 77 to 85 is when I bought the most of my collection.
Its not Stan Lee but Jim Shooter is the GOAT of comics. Jim is the reason I got into comics due to his story telling and approaches to comics. His best was the Valiant series with Harbinger being the best comic series period...
My Wife and I owned a comic Shop in Australia for 30 Years. We are retired now however our Business existed because of pioneers like these two. Great Video. Do yourself a favour and read the Early issues of Jim Shooter's company Valiant comics.
Dude @10 minutes! That is what I've been saying... as a kid the ONLY reason I started buying comics is they were at my local drugstore and Walmart. That was my first year of collecting at 10-11 years old is I picked up Spider-Man at my store going shopping with my mom. Well guess what? Now I go to comic stores and buy there. Would have NEVER happened otherwise. Even if the secondary / Newsstand market is break even or slightly loses money, you are building lifelong collectors and direct market with it who otherwise will never buy comics because most people don't go out of their way to look for them.
Hey Chuck / Jim, Awesome Part 2 I am so enjoying this series. Jim is so on point on newstands about opening up the market to people who might not walk into a comic store and spot something they like on the stand. I would have never probably discovered comics until the late 80's if it were not for the distribution to newagents in the UK, probably via Menzies distributers or the likes. Our first direct store in town was in 1989 in Aberdeen Scotland, and around then 2 others opened up within 3 years. Awesome Interview / Chats Greetings from Scotland :)
I'd watch Chuck reminiscing with comic industry types every week. That's a cool and significant series of vids. Thanks for this (and all you do for folks in the Denver area)!
For me, G.I. Joe was the greatest comic book I ever read! I was never into the super-hero ones, but when the ARAH toy line came out 40 years ago this year I was hooked~ still collecting the IDW continuation to this day in fact!
I'm living proof of what Jim is talking about around 10:34. G.I. Joe and Transformers were the gateway comics that led to my entry into true comic book collecting and comic fandom. As a younger child, I had read comics but it was usually because it was about something I was super obsessed with like Star Wars, or something that was around the house when my older brother would go with his artist friend to the comic shops and bring home random books like Micronauts. My interest early on was usually based around toy lines. That's how it started with G.I. Joe and Transformers a few years later in my pre-teen years. The TV shows never really captured my imagination. All of my youthful energy and interest was invested in the toys. After Star Wars, I was hooked on G.I. Joe and Transformers toys. Because I loved the toy lines so much I eventually started picking up the counterpart comic books associated with those toy lines off the newsstand racks when I went to the grocery store with my mom, or if I wandered into a convenience store near home for something else. That was the point when I began to seriously start trying to get each new issue as it was released each month. I was too young yet to understand that new issues would be released on a specific monthly (sometimes bi-monthly) schedule. I just knew when I saw a new issue, I had to get it and I didn't want to miss an issue. So I began reading G.I. Joe, Transformers and Groo The Wanderer regularly and bought all three off the newsstand as they were released. Just as Jim mentioned, I started reading after the G.I. Joe comic had already been established and didn't pick it up until somewhere in the teens, early into its run. I realized there were all of those issues that I had missed prior to the first issue I originally started with. I knew some kids at school that had the whole run and was able to read most of the issues I had missed by borrowing theirs but I wanted my own copies. Somewhere around that time, my mom's friend, whose oldest kid was in the same grade as me at school, took his younger brothers to the only local direct market comic shop within a decent radius of our town, and I got to tag along. That is when I discovered the secret: that there were specialty shops that catered exclusively to comic book collectors. I never knew they even existed. This would've been in early to mid 1980s circa 1984/85. It was a heady, eye-opening experience. As Jim describes, once I was in and aware of the direct market shops, my collecting passion was ignited. I discovered many more comics were available, based on things that I loved, or was interested in, then I ever could have guessed had existed. And there were many more to take a chance on because they looked intriguing enough. All those tantalizing covers! I've slipped in and out of comic collecting and fandom a few times as I got older and life took me places but I always eventually returned to the fold one way or another. Though I may not frequent the local comics shop like I did in those heady days of discovery back in the '80s, experiencing the thrill of sights and smells as you walked into your favorite shop and grabbed the latest issues off the rack, it all has stayed with and still gives me great pleasure. I'm mostly a digital comics consumer these days but I still love comics and fandom the way I did back when it counted. And I owe it all to those G.I. Joe comics I used to get at the newsstand at the local grocery stores. Great interview. Thanks for posting this.
I met Jim Shooter at a comic con in Westwego, La. (about 10 miles outside of new orleans) around 4 years ago and we had a 45 minute convo on everything comic related during his tenure and he told me in the mid 80's DC approached Marvel to buy them out and Marvel agreed and Jim was spear heading the deal..and the way they were going phase the DC characters in was they would interview people on the street and ask them "What do you know about Superman?"..and the person would list off everything they know about Superman.....and after the process was done, they would collect all the interview data and keep the the top 10 main answers amongst all the answers and that cannon would remain and all else would be wiped out entirely....they would do this with all the flagship DC characters. In the 11th hour of the deal fell through. Can you image how the world would be today if ALL DC characters were now Marvel characters?!?!?!
I can't stress this enough. They HAVE to put comics back in convenience stores. It's where kids and teenagers actually go and spend their own money. Kids don't go to bookstores. They don't go to supermarkets. They go to convenience stores. And people are always shocked when I tell them that convenience stores are the only brick and mortar stores that have proven to be completely immune to the digital economy. They're one of the only type of brick and mortar stores whose revenue has GROWN over the past 30 years. Eventually manga companies are going to figure out that they can put their comics in American convenience stores, and American comic book companies are going to have the biggest "HUH?!" moment ever.
If there was still "spinner racks" in drug stores, I would still be collecting. Miss the late 60's/early 70's for sure. Now you have to hunt out a comic store that more than likely marks up the price on a book only a couple of months old.
I love Jim Shooter. He gets a lot of crap from people. But i think its from ignorant people that don't really know about Shooters contribution or impact on the comic book industry for the postive. When I met Shooter at TX Elpaso comic con, he was the coolest dude. Spent hella tons of time with people . (not just me). And as I told him then...if he was still helming Marvel...marvel would STILL BE "marvel". Not this bullshit shit show that they've been for the last 10 + years. Look forward to seeing him again this year.
Jim is certainly in the top ten most important people in comics history for multiple reasons both creatively and in terms of the whole industry. Maybe top five. Wheels fell off Marvel's bus for years, creatively, after they axed him as they did.
Hey again Chuck/Jim, The Whole UK Pence Variants % thing I also found fascinating, as it is really hard to find information on print run numbers and has been debated on quite a few forums and some you tube channels. If would be a really awesome chat discussion to have, and is there anyone that you know in the industry that is still working who has the greatest knowledge on this. It would be great historical / topical discussion. I.E. Did the Plates for the covers get used for the UK market first due to shipping times (for the 'MARVEL ALL-COLOR COMICS' banner plate and the 'PRICE' Plate), and then the main print run get done secondary. The internals are the same for both with indicia etc, but something I am unsure on is how the final books were put together, were the internals married with say 1kcovers, then 90k covers in the same run of 100k for example. I would really love to know these sorts of stats :) Quite a wide topic really as there is quite a history on how older books were imported, some getting Thorpe and Porter (T&S) import stamps with pence value so people did not have to convert from dollars price to pence variants and the banner swap etc. oops bit of a novel I am typing! Cheers again for the great content. Greetings from Scotland :)
I flippin LOVE interviews like these! I was a kid when all this was going on and its awesome to hear about what went on during that time frame. 77 to 85 is when I bought the most of my collection.
Disney plus or Netflix needs to do a mini series on Jim Shooter's career.
These are the best! Thanks Chuck!!!
Great stuff Chuck, thanks for putting this out
This is really great insider history. Love it!
Its not Stan Lee but Jim Shooter is the GOAT of comics. Jim is the reason I got into comics due to his story telling and approaches to comics. His best was the Valiant series with Harbinger being the best comic series period...
My Wife and I owned a comic Shop in Australia for 30 Years. We are retired now however our Business existed because of pioneers like these two. Great Video. Do yourself a favour and read the Early issues of Jim Shooter's company Valiant comics.
The part 2 interview is fantastic. 😀👍
Dude @10 minutes! That is what I've been saying... as a kid the ONLY reason I started buying comics is they were at my local drugstore and Walmart. That was my first year of collecting at 10-11 years old is I picked up Spider-Man at my store going shopping with my mom. Well guess what? Now I go to comic stores and buy there. Would have NEVER happened otherwise. Even if the secondary / Newsstand market is break even or slightly loses money, you are building lifelong collectors and direct market with it who otherwise will never buy comics because most people don't go out of their way to look for them.
Legend
Great to listen to as I sit here drawing comics 🤣
Hey Chuck / Jim, Awesome Part 2 I am so enjoying this series. Jim is so on point on newstands about opening up the market to people who might not walk into a comic store and spot something they like on the stand. I would have never probably discovered comics until the late 80's if it were not for the distribution to newagents in the UK, probably via Menzies distributers or the likes. Our first direct store in town was in 1989 in Aberdeen Scotland, and around then 2 others opened up within 3 years. Awesome Interview / Chats Greetings from Scotland :)
I'd watch Chuck reminiscing with comic industry types every week. That's a cool and significant series of vids. Thanks for this (and all you do for folks in the Denver area)!
Chuck has a whole level of sass I never knew
For me, G.I. Joe was the greatest comic book I ever read! I was never into the super-hero ones, but when the ARAH toy line came out 40 years ago this year I was hooked~ still collecting the IDW continuation to this day in fact!
I'm living proof of what Jim is talking about around 10:34. G.I. Joe and Transformers were the gateway comics that led to my entry into true comic book collecting and comic fandom. As a younger child, I had read comics but it was usually because it was about something I was super obsessed with like Star Wars, or something that was around the house when my older brother would go with his artist friend to the comic shops and bring home random books like Micronauts. My interest early on was usually based around toy lines. That's how it started with G.I. Joe and Transformers a few years later in my pre-teen years. The TV shows never really captured my imagination. All of my youthful energy and interest was invested in the toys. After Star Wars, I was hooked on G.I. Joe and Transformers toys. Because I loved the toy lines so much I eventually started picking up the counterpart comic books associated with those toy lines off the newsstand racks when I went to the grocery store with my mom, or if I wandered into a convenience store near home for something else. That was the point when I began to seriously start trying to get each new issue as it was released each month. I was too young yet to understand that new issues would be released on a specific monthly (sometimes bi-monthly) schedule. I just knew when I saw a new issue, I had to get it and I didn't want to miss an issue. So I began reading G.I. Joe, Transformers and Groo The Wanderer regularly and bought all three off the newsstand as they were released.
Just as Jim mentioned, I started reading after the G.I. Joe comic had already been established and didn't pick it up until somewhere in the teens, early into its run. I realized there were all of those issues that I had missed prior to the first issue I originally started with. I knew some kids at school that had the whole run and was able to read most of the issues I had missed by borrowing theirs but I wanted my own copies. Somewhere around that time, my mom's friend, whose oldest kid was in the same grade as me at school, took his younger brothers to the only local direct market comic shop within a decent radius of our town, and I got to tag along. That is when I discovered the secret: that there were specialty shops that catered exclusively to comic book collectors. I never knew they even existed. This would've been in early to mid 1980s circa 1984/85. It was a heady, eye-opening experience. As Jim describes, once I was in and aware of the direct market shops, my collecting passion was ignited. I discovered many more comics were available, based on things that I loved, or was interested in, then I ever could have guessed had existed. And there were many more to take a chance on because they looked intriguing enough. All those tantalizing covers!
I've slipped in and out of comic collecting and fandom a few times as I got older and life took me places but I always eventually returned to the fold one way or another. Though I may not frequent the local comics shop like I did in those heady days of discovery back in the '80s, experiencing the thrill of sights and smells as you walked into your favorite shop and grabbed the latest issues off the rack, it all has stayed with and still gives me great pleasure. I'm mostly a digital comics consumer these days but I still love comics and fandom the way I did back when it counted. And I owe it all to those G.I. Joe comics I used to get at the newsstand at the local grocery stores.
Great interview. Thanks for posting this.
I met Jim Shooter at a comic con in Westwego, La. (about 10 miles outside of new orleans) around 4 years ago and we had a 45 minute convo on everything comic related during his tenure and he told me in the mid 80's DC approached Marvel to buy them out and Marvel agreed and Jim was spear heading the deal..and the way they were going phase the DC characters in was they would interview people on the street and ask them "What do you know about Superman?"..and the person would list off everything they know about Superman.....and after the process was done, they would collect all the interview data and keep the the top 10 main answers amongst all the answers and that cannon would remain and all else would be wiped out entirely....they would do this with all the flagship DC characters. In the 11th hour of the deal fell through. Can you image how the world would be today if ALL DC characters were now Marvel characters?!?!?!
I can't stress this enough. They HAVE to put comics back in convenience stores. It's where kids and teenagers actually go and spend their own money. Kids don't go to bookstores. They don't go to supermarkets. They go to convenience stores. And people are always shocked when I tell them that convenience stores are the only brick and mortar stores that have proven to be completely immune to the digital economy. They're one of the only type of brick and mortar stores whose revenue has GROWN over the past 30 years. Eventually manga companies are going to figure out that they can put their comics in American convenience stores, and American comic book companies are going to have the biggest "HUH?!" moment ever.
If there was still "spinner racks" in drug stores, I would still be collecting. Miss the late 60's/early 70's for sure. Now you have to hunt out a comic store that more than likely marks up the price on a book only a couple of months old.
If not for newsstand editions being available at a local store in 1988, I would have never stated reading and collecting comics.
I'd buy a 3 Omnibus set of those original Gi Joe comics :)
I love Jim Shooter.
He gets a lot of crap from people. But i think its from ignorant people that don't really know about Shooters contribution or impact on the comic book industry for the postive.
When I met Shooter at TX Elpaso comic con, he was the coolest dude. Spent hella tons of time with people . (not just me).
And as I told him then...if he was still helming Marvel...marvel would STILL BE "marvel". Not this bullshit shit show that they've been for the last 10 + years.
Look forward to seeing him again this year.
Jim is certainly in the top ten most important people in comics history for multiple reasons both creatively and in terms of the whole industry. Maybe top five. Wheels fell off Marvel's bus for years, creatively, after they axed him as they did.
Hey again Chuck/Jim, The Whole UK Pence Variants % thing I also found fascinating, as it is really hard to find information on print run numbers and has been debated on quite a few forums and some you tube channels. If would be a really awesome chat discussion to have, and is there anyone that you know in the industry that is still working who has the greatest knowledge on this. It would be great historical / topical discussion. I.E. Did the Plates for the covers get used for the UK market first due to shipping times (for the 'MARVEL ALL-COLOR COMICS' banner plate and the 'PRICE' Plate), and then the main print run get done secondary. The internals are the same for both with indicia etc, but something I am unsure on is how the final books were put together, were the internals married with say 1kcovers, then 90k covers in the same run of 100k for example. I would really love to know these sorts of stats :) Quite a wide topic really as there is quite a history on how older books were imported, some getting Thorpe and Porter (T&S) import stamps with pence value so people did not have to convert from dollars price to pence variants and the banner swap etc. oops bit of a novel I am typing! Cheers again for the great content. Greetings from Scotland :)
Where is part 3????
Noice
I pretty much stopped buying comic books when they did away with newsstand.
The Newstands get you mass NEW young fans - not anymore.