And then there was the time that Jim Shooter reviewed Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1:
So what do we have here? A bushel of coincidences that would make Thomas Hardy blush. A series of unlikely events, many related to the movements of spider 42. A pile of people and things introduced or mentioned that are irrelevant to the issue in hand. More items devoid of meaning and questions unanswered in the episode in question than one would ever encounter in any professionally written TV show. Even the worst.
A bunch of Lego blocks—not a very big bunch—spilled out onto a table that, with the addition of many, many more blocks might someday become a cute little choo-choo or something. Not enough blocks here even for the cow catcher, though. It’s going to take a lot more blocks. This thing is the decompression gold medal winner. Three pages to get the kid accepted at a high school by random drawing? Which has precious little bearing on whatever the Hell is going on? Three? Of 21? Really?
Brian Michael Bendis is the writer, so savvy-me knows that there will be more Lego blocks, and that a choo-choo is in the offing. Eventually.
New Reader me couldn’t care less. I quit reading somewhere on page ten.
Harsh but fair? Or the Ghost of Marvel Comics Past fighting against a comics market he doesn’t quite understand? I suspect your answer to that may be today’s Comics Rorschach Test.
October 19th, 2011 at 11:21 am
wow. just wow. Jim Shooter needs less attention. i dont even know where to start. forbid i even bring up the fact that Shooter is obviously coming off like a jealous old dude who’s not only uninviting himself from his own party but has shat his pants at the door. Jim, quit while youre -never mind. hey old dude, shut up.
October 19th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Fair.
October 19th, 2011 at 11:29 am
LOL.
I hate to agree with Jim Shooter, because frankly I think he’s a pathetic compulsive liar with an overblown ego and very little talent to match.
But as much as I wanted to love the new Ultimate Spider-Man (and as beautiful as the art is and as youthful and compelling as Miles Morales is as a character), I just couldn’t get into it for pretty much the reasons that Jim is stating here.
I made it halfway through the second issue before I gave up in frustration. $3.99 is more than I’m willing to pay for 21 pages of story moving this slowly.
October 19th, 2011 at 11:33 am
Shooter is correct. Not at all harsh. Very fair.
Blue Beetle #1 was better than Ultimate Spider-Man #1.
October 19th, 2011 at 11:43 am
Shooter may have issues, but he’s dead on here. And….he was dead on with his critiques of some of the new DC titles too. Superhero comics could use a little more hands on editorial style or at least an editor who will challenge the creators to do a better job.
October 19th, 2011 at 11:50 am
wait till Shooter finds out it was drawn by a woman. shits gonna hit the fan.
October 19th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
I know a lot of people have issues with Jim Shooter, or have painted him as being a horrible person on some level. But having read his blog for some times now I find his comments and opinions to be very fair. It’s easy to take a preconceived opinion of who he is and use that as a response to his comments about this comic book, but I don’t believe that is fair. He has worked in this field longer that almost anyone and he has done it all. So he is completely entitled to have an opinion on anything related to comic books, and I believe he backs up his opinions with this lifetime of experience. And if you read his blog you will see how often he says that maybe he is wrong.
I’m a life long reader of Marvel comics and I’m sorry to say that part of me feels like they are going to kill the whole industry. I too have a lifetime of experience in publishing and printing, so believe me when I say that I bring much of that to my opinions as well. I’m sure many would dismiss me if I were to say that comic books were a much better value in the past, -back when people like Jim Shooter was writing the Avengers. But I think it’s honest to say you got a lot more for you money those days. And that’s not because of a price difference, it’s because of content. I read 6 issues of the Avengers recently in just a matter of minutes. There’s just not enough there. Although the art may be great, I can’t help but feel like they are taking a single issue of a comic and stretching it into 3.
In my opinion this new Spider-Man comic is not worth $3.99. Not for that amount of story. But what comic today is worth $3.99 for something I can read in 5 minutes? This is why I buy fewer comics and a lot of people are only buying trade paperbacks. A $3.99 comic book makes a $12 movie ticket seem like a good deal.
Again, I enjoy Jim Shooters blog and I recommend it to anyone interested in comics and their history. You don’t have to agree with him as much as I do, but you will gain a new perspective. And you can’t beat the price!
October 19th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
I say this with complete sincerity… I wish Jim Shooter was Editor in Chief at Marvel again! He doesn’t get enough credit for the things he did do and tried to do. And he cared about comic books and comic book readers. Marvel comics doesn’t care about me as a reader. All they care about these days is how much they can charge and little they can give.
October 19th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Jim, please quit your whining.
October 19th, 2011 at 2:36 pm
He loved the new Batman #1, so I don’t think the issue is that he has “old” views of comics.
Also, “ihaveyourshit,” he says in his review that he liked the art, and I’m guessing the name clued him in that a woman drew it.
October 19th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Well, with sales dropped to five digits and prices spiked to paper it over, there’s reason to listen.
October 19th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
I hate to paraphrase The Bridgetender, but Shooter is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT, SIR!
October 19th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
I totally agree with Jim Shoother, he is right when he spots the fact that comics nowadays are too slow and they are not worth their price.
Jim should be appointed as the new Editor in Chief at Marvel!
October 19th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Fair. What is unfortunate about all this is when the book is cancelled due to low sales, Marvel will believe it had to do with the fact that the comic buying public is not interested in minority characters, rather than believe that there are flaws in the story telling.
October 19th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
People have complained Ultimate Spiderman was too slow for the last ELEVEN YEARS, during which time anecdotal evidence at least suggests that it didn’t hurt for connecting with new readers.
How many years does that book have to run before anyone admits they’re wrong about it being too slow? I’m not a fan– I think Spiderman’s a completely stupid character, and the lack of that book having any big picture story to tell feels like a real missed opportunity. But the slow thing– didn’t the jury come back on that one, like, six years ago, if not seven, if not ten, if not eleven?
October 19th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
you all have the worst taste. no curse words no bullying. you have no idea whats going on in the real world. i doubt any of you ever have.
October 19th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
“People have complained Ultimate Spiderman was too slow for the last ELEVEN YEARS, during which time anecdotal evidence at least suggests that it didn’t hurt for connecting with new readers.”
Except that, if this were actually true, why would this title have needed to be rebooted with a brand-new character as the lead?
I mean, yes, at first, it was unquestionably successful, but how many of the past 11 years has this title been setting new sales lows?
If people weren’t getting sick of Bendis’ writing, Marvel wouldn’t need to restart every single title he writes with yet another #1.
That’s kind of the DEFINITION of not connecting with new readers.
October 20th, 2011 at 10:33 am
Compare the first three issues of Ult Spiderman to the relaunched Superman #1. THAT book tells more story in a single issue than Miles has gotten in 3. Which is a shame, because I really want to like and care about Miles and his journey. Maybe I have BMB burnout, but I have found this extraneous setup to be really boring.
October 20th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
No, Shooter’s a blowhard. no one relevant cares what he thinks.
October 20th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
shooter beside’s jack may be the best thing to ever happen to comic book’s.like alway’s he is spot on.
October 20th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
I’m sorry, is this the same Jim Shooter whose pet project “The new Universe” was a complete and utter failure, who also crashed Valiant before he was ousted? the same Jim Shooter who had two more chances with Defiant and Broadway comics and both were abject failures? If yes, then frankly I don’t want to hear his opinion. His credibility is dubious with me.
October 21st, 2011 at 9:22 pm
That’s pretty much how I felt about the book. If it was $2.99 either at release or digitally a month later, I would’ve picked up issue 2.
October 27th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Wow! Shooter really nails what’s wrong with Ultimate Spider-Man. I’m impressed.