Former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter Blasts The Modern Comic Industry: "Nobody Wants To Read Propaganda"

Marvel and DC Comics have been filled with D.E.I. agendas in the last decade, destroying the comic industry. Jim Shooter has something to say about that.

Each day, more comic professionals are coming out against what the current crop of woke activists who took over Marvel and DC Comics are doing. At first, many feared doing so because speaking against the DEI agenda perpetuated in the comic industry would get you blacklisted, maligned, and canceled. Now, Jim Shooter, former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and Valiant Comics, made a damning statement about the current state of modern comics. 

When retailer Glenn O’Leary made a viral video last year speaking to how modern comics were filled with cringy self-insert stories surrounding a writer’s race, gender, or sexual orientation, it created a watershed moment where many comic book professionals openly admitted the industry was in dire straits for the first time.

Fan favorite writer Mark Millar held a roundtable of several retailers to discuss the problems in the industry and pitch what could be done to save it. However, Marvel and DC Comics, along with their followers in IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and more, have doubled down on preaching identity politics in their storylines since then, ignoring the warning signs of collapsing sales, closing comic shops, and fans speaking out against their toxic content. 

Jim Shooter has always been outspoken about comic book quality, and his initiatives saved Marvel Comics in the 1980s, ushering in a new era of great storytelling that hasn’t been surpassed to this date. He was known as a hardline boss who pushed his creatives, sometimes to a point where they didn’t like him much personally, but the results were clear in what he accomplished.

His leadership ushered in some of the best runs ever in the history of Marvel Comics, including Frank Miller’s Daredevil, Walter Simonson’s Thor, and Roger Stern’s Amazing Spidre-Man. He also built the company further with the first company-wide crossover event in The Secret Wars, with which the success changed comics forever.

Later, Jim Shooter did great work starting Valiant Comics, a line with some of the most unique and best superheroes ever created. 

In a TikTok video filmed at his table at a recent convention, Shooter was asked, “So, how do you feel about the state of the comic book industry today?”

Shooter replied, “I think they forgot what business they’re in. I think that, you know, hey guys, it’s supposed to be entertainment, but a lot of it comes out like propaganda. And I don’t care if you agree with every word they say. Nobody wants to read propaganda. It’s just, you know, it’s boring.”

He continued, “An awful lot of retcon going on. Like I said, I respect the intent of the creators. Jack Kirby never intended for Thor to be a girl.”

“Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, and Stan Lee are spinning in their graves because they turned Captain America into a Hydra guy or a Nazi or something, and he always was. Well, that’s just wrong.”

“Don’t do that. Stay true to the character,” he concluded.

Comic writers had best listen to his advice. Many still ignore that their bastardizations of the characters have turned off thousands of fans in an ever-dwindling market. Jim Shooter has always been one of the best editors, understanding how to put character first, and his speaking out is a stark warning of what identity politics does to any industry.

What do you think of Jim Shooter’s comments on the state of Marvel and DC Comics? Leave a comment and let us know, and restack this post so more people see it.