STEVEN MASSARSKY PASSES AWAY

[MattBrady]

Steven Massarsky, one of the co-founders of Voyager Communications, the parent company of Valiant Comics, died late Friday. He was 59 years old.

The family has released the following:

Steven J. Massarsky, an attorney and businessman who was a mentor to many and always generous when it came to sharing knowledge and guiding others to follow their dreams, died October 5, 2007 at 12:26 p.m. in Manhattan. The cause was complications related to cancer.

Steven Massarsky was founder and CEO of the Business Incubation Group Inc. The Business Incubation Group primarily focused on incubating companies that market and sell consumer products and services.

In 1989, Massarsky co-founded Voyager Communications Inc. (Valiant Comics), which grew into the third largest comic book publisher in the U.S. Voyager was voted "publisher of the year" by the comic book retail industry. The company was sold to Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ) where Massarsky remained as President and Publisher of the Acclaim Comics division.

Earlier in his career, Massarsky operated an entertainment law practice. His clientèle included Nintendo, The Wailers, Cabbage Patch Dolls, the Psychedelic Furs, Collins Management, Aerosmith, Tom Chapin and Willie Mays. Prior to his law practice, Massarsky owned and operated an artist management company handling artists such as The Allman Brothers Band and The Wailers, and was responsible for launching the career of Cyndi Lauper.

Massarsky held an A.B. in political science from Brown University and a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law. He is a founding board member of The Brown University Entrepreneurship Program, served on the boards of Shop Well With You and BAM Entertainment. He was a frequent guest lecturer at universities and graduate schools. Massarsky was a member of the California and New York Bar Associations and the Brown University Sports Foundation. He was a member of the Weehawken, N.J. Hall of Fame.

Mr. Massarsky, son of the late Dr. Asher Massarsky is survived by his mother, Yetta Massarsky, of Fort Lee New Jersey; sisters Ellen M. Gertler and Marilyn Judovin; brothers-in-law Dr. Richard Gertler and David Judovin; five nieces, a nephew and seven great nieces and nephews and his loving fiancee Pui King Hui.

Funeral services will take place on Sunday October 7 at 1pm at the Gutterman-Musicant 402 Park Avenue in Hackensack, NJ. He will be buried at the Riverside Cemetery.

Donations can be made to the James F. Holland Research Fund c/o Dr. James Holland Mount Sinai Hospital, One Gustave L. Levy Place Box 1129 New York, NY 10029.

[KryptonSite]

This post just reminds me of how much I'd love for this Valiant legal crap to get settled. The work that people like Massarsky, Jim Shooter, and everyone else had done to put the original Valiant together was so good and had such promise. Too bad that promise can't even continue thanks to some selfish people.

Either way... I hate cancer. Sad to see that someone else passed from it.

[kurupted]

honestly i'd never heard of him till today.

regardless, expressing my condolences is the least i can do. RIP Steven Massarsky.

[sfritz]

This is sad news.

If you want to blame my entrance into comics jounalism, you can blame it squarely on Patty Jeres, Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee and Steve.He was very generous with his knowledge in all the entertainment areas he worked in.

I used to remember going to the old Valiant office and loving to sit down and talk rock'n roll and reggae with him. He liked the idea that I used to cover rock, so the afterhours stories were interesting, to say the least.

I always felt he was a man with a lot of good intentions, and those early Valient comics were amazing.

I always wondered what would have happened if he and Jim Shooter hadn't butted heads and Valient carried on.

So it goes.

-s

[weaselwelch]

Sad news. My condolences to his family.

[grphxkindaguy]

Originally Posted by sfritz

I always wondered what would have happened if he and Jim Shooter hadn't butted heads and Valient carried on.

was Massarksy one of the people responsible for forcing Jim Shooter out of Valiant?

[Jess Nukem]

Originally Posted by grphxkindaguy

was Massarksy one of the people responsible for forcing Jim Shooter out of Valiant?

I'd do an internet search before I post stuff like this in a thread that is supposed to be about remembering a guy who had nothing but great love for the comics medium. It's kind of tactless.


I'm very sorry to hear this, my condolences to his loved ones.

[ThomasC22]

This holds a special sting for me...

One of the things he was famous for was randomly picking a letter out of the Valiant Mail bag and then calling that fan up and having a discussion with them about what they thought of Valiant. I was one of those calls.

For a lawyer he knew a lot about the comics industry (at least by the time I talked to him). Anyway, he was a great guy and though he hadn't been involved in comics for some time he will still be missed.

Originally Posted by grphxkindaguy

was Massarksy one of the people responsible for forcing Jim Shooter out of Valiant?

Look, in regards to this, people have disagreements and those disagreements lead to those people not being able to work together anymore. When that happens both sides of the disagreement are going to claim it was the other side's fault.

Knowing nothing about the inside story of what happened with Shooter and Valiant I can tell you that both sides were trying to do what was best for the company and both sides came out thinking the other side was acting unreasonably.

So its idiotic for people to take one side of this type of argument and assume the other side was "bad".

[KryptonSite]

I think that no matter what conflicts he had with Shooter, and who was "right," it's irrelevant right now... what I think matters is that without Massarsky, Valiant as we know it may not have happened. The good and the bad.

[Gokitalo]

Man, poor guy. So young, too! Condolences to his friends and family.

[Kintoun]

Originally Posted by ThomasC22

This holds a special sting for me...

One of the things he was famous for was randomly picking a letter out of the Valiant Mail bag and then calling that fan up and having a discussion with them about what they thought of Valiant. I was one of those calls.

Do you perhaps remember any details from this phone call conversation that might have been implemented in VALIANT comics published afterwards?

[redskindavyd]

Originally Posted by KryptonSite

This post just reminds me of how much I'd love for this Valiant legal crap to get settled. The work that people like Massarsky, Jim Shooter, and everyone else had done to put the original Valiant together was so good and had such promise. Too bad that promise can't even continue thanks to some selfish people.

Either way... I hate cancer. Sad to see that someone else passed from it.

Well said!

[RagsM]

Steve Massarsky was always good to me, and generous is a very good word to use.

All I ever had to do for anything was ask and he was there for me. It saddens me that we didn't stay in touch more when Valiant was sold to Acclaim, I feel like I owe him much.

It saddens me too that some people here want to take out their politics over something that can't be changed now. Shame.

[Marc Patten]

Originally Posted by RagsM

It saddens me too that some people here want to take out their politics over something that can't be changed now. Shame.

This forum and the internet in general, are NEVER the place to air personal politics in times like this when someone has passed away and family and friends are grieving.

While I've heard the story directly from both sides, and I've always been a loyal supporter and friend of Jim Shooter's (he taught me well, always treated me fairly, and never promised things he couldn't deliver), Steve Massarsky was also someone who I generally liked and who treated me well.

Steve as a matter of fact got me tickets to see Aerosmith (one of my favorite bands) on more than one occasion. The first was a big thank you to distributors and other supporters during 1993's Chicago Comic Con, where he bused a luxury coach full of us to a stadium in Wisconsin for a huge outdoor concert complete with incredible floor seats and back stage passes. I got to meet a few of the band members and even Liv Tyler back when she was probably around 16.

He pulled strings and got me 10th row seats at Jones Beach in NY, and Steve once almost gave me his personal ticket to see the band on Saturday Night Live, because I wanted to go so badly, but logistics prevented things from working out that night.

Rest in peace Steve.
Condolences and support to your family during this difficult time.

Marc
Destination Entertainment

[Quato]

Originally Posted by RagsM

Steve Massarsky was always good to me, and generous is a very good word to use.

All I ever had to do for anything was ask and he was there for me. It saddens me that we didn't stay in touch more when Valiant was sold to Acclaim, I feel like I owe him much.

It saddens me too that some people here want to take out their politics over something that can't be changed now. Shame.

You will always be remembered by your last mistake no matter how many good things you do in your life. I know him by the decisions which affected me. None of the emotions he inspired within me are positive.

I'm saddened more that he never tried to make amends to those who held grievances against him. Then again, many of his staunch defenders still tread the path he blazed so his legacy remains.

No one truly dies. A piece of them is left with everyone who knew them. I'm happy the memories you have are positive. Keep them alive. Don't let me or anyone else take them away.

Q

[Cray_ws]

NOTICE: Thread of mourning a loss of a human being, NOT a thread of debate.

59 is way too young, My condolences to the family.

[ComicBook Conventions.com]

I'm very sorry to hear of Steve's passing. Straight out of college, I got a job working for Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band and used to travel with the band on tour. Upon learning that I was a comics fan, even though I was a nobody in the ABB organization, Steve treated me great. He would always invite me to their offices, telling people I was there for my "annual inspection." Upon my first visit, after I expressed an interest in writing comics, he arranged for me to sit down with Jim Shooter for a few minutes, and Jim gave me an autographed manuscript. Steve also gave me all the comics I needed to fill in any gaps in my Valiant collection, including the first couple issues of Magnus.

The night the Acclaim deal went down, I actually guarded the door of a small office in the Beacon Theater in New York City so Steve could talk through the final details on his cell phone with someone.

Although I haven't spoken to him since those days, I liked Steve and am saddened by this news.

Brian Pate
Comic Book Conventions.com

[strucker]

Originally Posted by grphxkindaguy

was Massarksy one of the people responsible for forcing Jim Shooter out of Valiant?

If I'm not wrong, he was the one that "bought out"
Shooter of the equation, paying him 4 million for
Valiant (Shooter was the majority owner), because
he already had ready the deal
to sell Valiant to Acclaim for 65 million, so...

[RyanMcLelland]

Some time after I wrote that big Valiant article for Newsarama, I had talked with Steve over the phone. It was all strictly OTR banter between us two but for some one who didn't like talking about those Valiant years many years before, we certainly had several great conversations. It wasn't just Valiant that we talked about, we talked everything from those early days with the Allman Brothers to Cabbage Patch Kids and those three or four conversations were some very well spent hours just B.S.ing about the love of some great comic book and musical stories.

Steve was ill at this time and it's always sad to see that he never overcame the cancer. He was sick for a number of years but that never stopped him from trying to succeed in whatever he did. At that point he was long away from comics, but still making an impact somewhere in the world.

We all know the stories of this, that, and the other from Valiant's past but someone here in the boards put it best: Without Steve there would not have been a Valiant. He was a founder...and a great contributor to the entertainment community at large.

You'll be missed Steve. Here's hoping you'll always be looking down at us smiling.

Ryan

[Marc Patten]

Originally Posted by strucker

If I'm not wrong, he was the one that "bought out" Shooter of the equation, paying him 4 million for Valiant (Shooter was the majority owner), because he already had ready the deal
to sell Valiant to Acclaim for 65 million, so...

There is not one tiny bit of true to what you wrote here. Not one. Trust me. This never happened. This is how rumors blow out of proportion. Please do not post about things which you know nothing about. Jim was never a majority owner, and he basically got nothing.

Again, try and keep the thread about Steve Massarsky and let folks who have had a personal experience with the man post.

Marc
Destination Entertainment

[JimTrabold]

He was so young. This is horrible news.

My condolences to his friends and family.

[ComicHappy]

59 is too young to die.

Condolences to friends and family.

[bernardchang]

i'm very saddened by the passing of steve, who was both a mentor and role model. steve was an innovator and pioneer in the comic book industry. it comes as no surprise that not many knew of his failing health in recent years. it was just like him to bear the brunt of much hardship squarely on his own shoulders. i knew steve as a generous and personable man, always sharing stories of his experiences and trying to infuse a higher level of professionalism and business sensibilities with the core of young artists at valiant, such as sean chen and myself. til this day, i still repeat many of his examples to aspiring artists and students.

steve's footprint in comics is undeniable, though not well documented. at the peak of valiant's popularity, he recognizing the need to broaden the readership of the medium, and attempted to launch a national ad campaign to widen the general public's awareness of comics by trying to unify all the major comic book companies, similar to that of the milk and pork industries. it was also during his tenure at valiant when both joe quesada and dan didio, current editor-in-chiefs of marvel comics and dc comics respectively, had their first introduction to comics (joe via early valiant books including ninjak and dan thru doctor mirage while at abc).

i was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to honor his life in attending the funeral this past sunday, which was standing room only. the realization of his passing truly hit when as part of the burial, we helped to shovel dirt to fill the grave. when i went to pay shiva, i was able to meet and talk with his relatives and friends. it saddened me further to hear that when some of them went to look online for more information regarding his comic book history, they came upon the classless comments made on this thread.

my name is bernard chang, and i am grateful to have known steve massarsky and called him a friend.

[garion]

it's always sad to me to hear when people have passed away.

i did not work with either jim or steven. Nor do I know anything about Valiant or what happened between them. And while I am curious as to the situation that went down. And find it interesting to learn about this history. I will say this, it would probably be better to post items regarding that in another thread. It just seems like the proper thing to do. Even if this isn't a wake/condolence/funeral thread.

But it is true, that this isn't that type of thread so in theory any post should be allowed here. Except for the calling people names post.

[MaxBlackwell]

Very sad to hear about this.

I'm sure Valiant fans everywhere will mourn his passing and wish the very best for the Massarsky family. God bless.