Not sure who my first choice would be, I do like Berger as a writer though.
I think this depends on what you want out of your shared universe. Jim Shooter is arguably the godfather of big crossover events and he did some good (Mutant Massacre) and some bad (Secret Wars II, or as I call it, Jim Shooter’s Marvel Fanfic). Ironically, I also think he shepherded some of the greatest individual titles in Marvel’s history: Frank Miller on Daredevil, Chris Claremont on X-Men, and Walter Simonson on Thor, etc. But considering Shooter’s reputation and how he handled those characters when he had free reign (such as in the Secret Wars events), I’m inclined to think that these titles were good despite Shooter, not because of him, though someone with more knowledge should correct me if I’m wrong.
I don’t think DC needs more big crossover events, and though I do enjoy a shared universe, I really just want high quality serialized storytelling and I think there’s many capable editors that can give us that.
I also think that good writers no longer need to work under a Jim Shooter like they might have in the 1980s. The 1990s really changed the game for creators and if DC’s top writers aren’t happy, other publishers or even Kickstarter will welcome them. I suspect the type of company Shooter ran is not the type of company top creators would stick around at anymore.
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Shooter was a great editor and knew when to step in. Problem is, his good editing made him think his writing was untouchable. Remember, he learned from Mort Weisinger, a man so despised his best friend once joked about his death. Being one of Weisinger’s writers was tough, and is probably where his hands-on approach came from, which is both a blessing and a curse.
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I agree, why settle for the Jr. Sith, when you can go straight to the top.
Despite all that, Mort is one of my favorite comic book editors of all time.
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Mort was certainly a great editor, but was a pretty terrible boss. His son said his favorite story of his father was his father rigging a contest for free tickets.
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