Meeting Jim Shooter on Free Comic Book Day

Jim Lawless

Shooter

I was a little surprised when I saw an announcement from Krypton Comics in Omaha ( http://www.kryptoncomicsomaha.com ) that comics legend Jim Shooter would be the guest of honor on Free Comic Book Day, this year. I was very happy to chat briefly with him.

I had wanted to bring something for Shooter to autograph, but I have had so many comic book purges throughout the years, that my original comics from his tenure at Marvel, Valiant, Defiant, or any other company are either long gone or packed away somewhere. I stopped at the shop last night to get something for him to sign. I was able to find a copy of Avengers #175 … something during the Korvac Saga.

My friends and I thought this was a great storyline back in the day. When Shooter got a look at the comic, he sort of groaned at the blurb “From whence came … The Enemy!” He then told us how he would’ve corrected that if he’d seen it before publication. He was very festive and very engaging to all who were there to see him.

While I was in line, I heard him tell another patron the story of the genesis of Epic magazine. After deciding that a publication like Metal Hurlant / Heavy Metal was not something that Marvel wanted to do back in the early 80’s, Jim said that he said “what if we do something similar and make it character driven?” He also said that he tried to get Frank Frazetta to do a cover for Epic. He said that when calling Frazetta, they kept hanging up on him. Then all-around good guy Archie Goodwin gave them a call. They ended up getting two Frazetta covers.

It was really great to meet him.

Free Comic Book Day 2023

The store was packed. The line going to the tables of free comics stretched through the store. It was great to see a number of young kids there to get their comics.

I picked up a couple of items. I got The Comic Art of Frank Frazetta …

…and an X-Men Epic Collection, It’s Always Darkest Before the Dawn:

I had a number of issues from the latter collection, but comics distribution back in the 70’s wasn’t stellar. I’m hoping to fill in some stories dating back to when I’d get the first part of a story, but not necessarily the ending, or vice-versa.

We drove past another shop on the way home. They looked to be pretty busy, too. I hope everyone had fun!