JIM SHOOTER IS BACK AND WRITING GOLDEN AGE STUFF!!

For most of us Jim Shooter is the man who brought the original Legion Of Superheroes to life or at least had the run with the most power to it. Recently he was doing a kick ass job on the re-launch but DC being in their usual rush to cram everything into one Event Series ended the Legion so they could bring back Superboy and re-launch it as Adventure Comics.

Well now Mr.Shooter is back and what's more kick ass is that he's writing Golden Age unused characters for Dark Horse Comics. Here's the official Dark Horse Press release

Press Releases
After Much Speculation, Dark Horse Announces the Return of Turok, Doctor Solar, Magnus, and Mighty Samson 8/05/09
DARK HORSE TEAMS WITH COMICS LEGEND, JIM SHOOTER, TO EXPAND GOLD KEY COMICS’ SUPERHEROES

AUGUST 5TH, MIlWAUKIE, OR -- In a packed panel on Saturday morning during Comic Con, Dark Horse president, Mike Richardson called a surprise guest to announce Dark Horse’s plans to develop new comics and graphic novels for the Gold Key Comics’ superheroes. Fans were shocked to see Jim Shooter enter the room; the man recently named the “Steve Jobs of Comics” by Comic Book Bin. http://tinyurl.com/ku9o3w

Shooter is perhaps best known for his nine year tenure at Marvel Comics, beginning in 1982, with highlights including Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s run on the Uncanny X-Men, and Frank Miller's run on Daredevil. Also under Shooter's editorial reign, Walt Simonsen revamped The Mighty Thor and made it again a bestseller. Following his successful run at Marvel, Shooter launched the well-received Valiant comics imprint in the early 90s, bringing many of Marvel’s creators with him.

Now, Jim Shooter comes to Dark Horse as head writer for the re-launch of the Gold Key Comics characters: Turok, Son of Stone®, Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom, Magnus, Robot Fighter, and Mighty Samson, with further characters and new comic writers to be announced shortly.

“It's great to be at Dark Horse, working with Mike Richardson, world-class creator, honorable gentleman and industry powerhouse,” said Jim Shooter. “It's great to be reunited with Magnus, Solar, Turok, Samson and the other wonderful Gold Key properties. The opportunity is tremendous and the time is ripe. Let's do it.”

“Jim and I share a great affection for these terrific characters. We have some very exciting ideas on how to introduce them to a whole new generation of fans.” said Mike Richardson, president of Dark Horse Comics.

Turok®

An original comic book hero, Turok is best known today for a successful video game franchise boasting more than five million units sold since the first game was introduced in the 1990s. The legend of the brave and ruthless dinosaur-hunter has lived on for more than thirty years in comic book series from Dell Comics, Gold Key Comics and Valiant. Anthologies of the original classic comics are now available from Dark Horse Comics.

Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom

Doctor Solar must find a way to become normal again after surviving an explosion that leaves him with the power to control atomic energy. When danger and disaster threaten the innocent, Solar leaps into action as the “Man of the Atom.” One of Gold Key Comics’ most popular titles in the 1960s, the original nuclear-powered superhero reached legendary status by the 1990s in new comics from Valiant. The original classic comics now appear in hardcover anthologies published by Dark Horse Comics.

Magnus, Robot Fighter

Haling from the year 4,000 A.D. is the stalwart hero of humanity, Magnus, Robot Fighter. These gripping adventure stories, in which a human who battles evil robots in the sprawling futuristic city of North Am, elevated the comic book medium when they debuted in the 1960s from Gold Key Comics, and captured the imagination of millions in new comics published thirty years later by Valiant. The original science-fiction classics now appear in hardcover anthologies published by Dark Horse Comics.

Mighty Samson

A popular Gold Key Comics character from the 1960s and 70s, the post-apocalyptic adventures of Mighty Samson are set in the land of N’Yark, an earth devastated by nuclear war. Amazingly large and strong, Samson uses his mutant strength only for good -- and to protect his friends, Sharmain and Mindor, responsible for saving his life.

For me this kicks ass on many levels. First off I love Jim Shooter's writing style and his absolute knowledge of what makes comic books so special. I'm also an enormous sucker for Golden Age stuff and some of these characters I'm either familiar with or they sound incredible.

I'm also interested in seeing what Dark Horse does with this. Dark Horse doesn't really put out a lot of Superhero type material and this might be just the ticket for them to keep their unique vision but also involve more costumed hero action.