CBR: Shooter Praises “Outstanding” Work of Manapul

[CBR News]

While Jim Shooter stands by his remarks about his departure from DC Comics, he
said his comments about “Legion of Super-Heroes” artist Francis Manapul may
have come off more “harshly than intended.”


Full article here (http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18656).

[david r]

I felt it was appropriate for Jim Shooter to send this second message. His initial interview both praised, and criticized, Manapul, and sounded like Shooter was waffling. Shooter showed he can be a class act, and I think he wanted to say it wasn't Manapul to be blamed for the 16-issue run being cut short.

Damn, I wanted to read the whole 16-part story. Why can't things work out in this industry?

[TStrong]

I think Shooter is one of the greats in this industry. He may lack people skills (and he may not; at Defiant, he was apparently cherished by the staff) but he's a helluva writer.

Whatever he writes...I'm buyin'.

[Ghost Shark]

Shooter should write more and talk to people less. :wink:

He is one of the best comic book writers ever, bar none. He knows the business, and he knows how to sell product. The fact that he doesn't always take people's feelings into account is a problem, yes, but if he wasn't so damn good, would we even know who he was?

Cool of him to clarify his comments, though. I agree with him, if Manapul continues on like this, he will become known as a major talent, and I would definitely seek out his work.

And if Shooter writes more, I will buy more.:biggrin:

[lazlo_toth]

Well, I definitely would have liked to see him get his 16-issue story ard in before they pulled the plug. When they brought the last Legion series to an end in 2004, they cut it off abruptly, without tying up the loose ends of a group of characters that we'd been reading about for ten years by that time. I've stuck up for Dan Didio in the past, but DC has been a total mess for the last two years despite having talent like Morrison, Johns, Busiek, McDuffie, Perez, Simone, and Benes, among others. That has to fall on Didio's shoulders.

Anyway, I guess it was cool of Shooter to clarify his remarks, but I really don't think it was necessary. He did give Manapul plenty of props. I'm not sure how you could construe what Shooter said about him as derogatory. You could reasonably infer, from the context in which he name-dropped Frank Miller among other things, that he actually paid him some fairly high praise. And no, I'm not suggesting he compared Manapul to Frank Miller, I'm saying that by mentioning Miller and how he had to learn how to put it all together he was saying that Manapul has the potential to be an outstanding artist. It's hard to imagine how anyone could really take offense at that.

The rest of Shooter's comments about DC are more or less what I think everyone already knows but is afraid to say. The place is a mess. This would have been a good time to win back some territory from Marvel. I think Secret Invasion has been a huge disappointment so far, but despite the fact that Final Crisis has been an excellent read, the DCU overall is such a quagmire that Marvel has to come out looking better just on points. The continuity issues that One More Day has brought up are a drop in the bucket compared to what DC has put its readers through.

[kalorama]

Anyway, I guess it was cool of Shooter to clarify his remarks, but I really don't think it was necessary. He did give Manapul plenty of props. I'm not sure how you could construe what Shooter said about him as derogatory. You could reasonably infer, from the context in which he name-dropped Frank Miller among other things, that he actually paid him some fairly high praise. And no, I'm not suggesting he compared Manapul to Frank Miller, I'm saying that by mentioning Miller and how he had to learn how to put it all together he was saying that Manapul has the potential to be an outstanding artist. It's hard to imagine how anyone could really take offense at that.

Odds are that had the same comments been made by almost anyone other than Shooter, the level of random fan outrage would have been a lot lower, if not nonexistent. Shooter's history and reputation had more to do with the reaction than the actual content of his statements.

[Shade]

I'm glad he clarified by repeating exactly what he said in the first interview for people that read that one and didn't pay attention.

[Pixie_Solanas]

Odds are that had the same comments been made by almost anyone other than Shooter, the level of random fan outrage would have been a lot lower, if not nonexistent. Shooter's history and reputation had more to do with the reaction than the actual content of his statements.

What fan outrage? The guy came off like a dick and someone probably called him on it. Hence, retraction.

I didn't see a whole helluva lot of fanboy bloviating over it, perhaps they're too busy frothing at Final Crisis.

[Shade]

What fan outrage? The guy came off like a dick and someone probably called him on it. Hence, retraction.

I didn't see a whole helluva lot of fanboy bloviating over it, perhaps they're too busy frothing at Final Crisis.

I'm still trying to figure out how he came off like a dick?

[kalorama]

What fan outrage? The guy came off like a dick ...

Outrage like that.

Hence, retraction.

Except there was no retraction, nor was there an apology. The second piece opened with the interviewer stating that Shooter stood by everything he said in the first one. How's that a retraction?

I'm glad he clarified by repeating exactly what he said in the first interview for people that read that one and didn't pay attention.

Exactly.

[Scott Taylor]

Manapul is definitely an artist I will be looking for in the future. The art has been stellar in this Shooter run of the Legion, both telling the story in pictures and just a very unique and appealing style.

Not sure how Shooter's praise will play at DC. The way that company seems to be run, it might be considered damning.