Shooter’s Secret War

Jim Shooter, Virginia Romita, Joe Sinnott, 1991

Out of nowhere on Monday, it was announced that comic book writer/editor/publisher Jim Shooter had died.

On May 7, Shooter’s summer convention schedule was posted on Facebook…

Jim will be appearing at the following shows!
Big Lick Comic Con – NOVA – May 31-June 1
Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find – June 20-22
GalaxyCon Raleigh – July 24-27
Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of FarleyCon Pop Culture & Comic Book Expo! – August 2-3
TerrifiCon ™ – Connecticut’s Terrific Comic Con at Mohegan Sun – August 8-10
Dragon Con – August 28-31
See you there!

… but after missing a couple of those dates, this appeared on June 18.

Shooter had said nothing that I’d seen about him battling cancer, and considering his optimistic convention schedule I have to assume his condition must have declined very rapidly. I waited to post something about his death until the NYTimes had an obit. It’s shared here paywall-free.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/03/arts/jim-shooter-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Tk8.2plK.Hai0QvTUlbwV&smid=url-share

I met Shooter only once, at a Terrificon in Connecticut. Joe Sinnott was going to be on a panel when we heard one of the other panelists was a no-show. I forget who it was, but he was a writer. I’d chatted with Shooter earlier that day, and when I heard of the vacancy I asked him if he would be willing to fill in. I told Jim that Joe would be there, he immediately agreed, and he was great.

Getting an Inkling

Vince Colletta had a long run of inking Kirby’s Thor, but in his rush to finish an assignment he would sometimes cut corners. Which he didn’t apparently do on this interior splash page.

Kirby/Colletta from Thor #153

Bill Everett inked some issues of Thor. This page makes for a good comparison.

Kirby/Everett from Thor #175

Marvelous Joltin’ Joe

June 25 will mark five years since the passing of Joe Sinnott. I was fourteen when I first read an interview with Joe. It was conducted by Mark Evanier and Tony Isabella (now preferring to be called Jenny Blake), and published in Marvelmania No. 4.



Here’s the original published format, suitable for widescreen viewing.

An brief bio is in the same issue, with Joe sharing space with bad boy Sci-Fi writer Harlan Ellison.