Comic Book Talk The Place to talk about Comics

The Letters Pages

Old 08-08-17, 10:31 AM
  #1  
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1,071
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 2 Posts
The Letters Pages

Has anyone written into a comic as a kid (or adult) and had their letter printed in the Letters page?

Also, Obi-Wan Jabroni's post in another thread reminded me, anyone ever win a Marvel No-Prize?


For myself, I recall writing into GI Joe's 'The Pit' a few times, but none of those made it into print.

I did have a letter printed in a Batman Adventures comic when I was trying to win an art page that they would give out. Whenever I find that comic, I usually buy it for the nostalgia and because it was such a dumb letter, looking back at it.
Old 08-08-17, 10:39 AM
  #2  
Challenge Guru & Comic Nerd
 
Trevor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: spiritually, Minnesota
Posts: 36,866
Received 670 Likes on 448 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

I have vague memories of writing letters to Micronauts, and a probably created memory of being printed, but I wouldn't swear to either.

I tend to put them off for later reading that I never get around to, but there are still some great letter pages out there.
Old 08-08-17, 11:24 AM
  #3  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
mrhan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 6,177
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes on 11 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Never wrote any letters but I liked reading them. I remember reading letters from readers who eventually became comic book writers for both DC and Marvel.
Old 08-08-17, 12:03 PM
  #4  
DVD Talk Godfather
 
davidh777's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Posts: 52,462
Received 987 Likes on 818 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

I wrote a couple but never got published.

But thinking back on it, they probably sounded like they were written by a 10-year-old, which they were.
Old 08-08-17, 12:45 PM
  #5  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
mrhan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 6,177
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes on 11 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by davidh777
I wrote a couple but never got published.

But thinking back on it, they probably sounded like they were written by a 10-year-old, which they were.
Yeah, I always wanted to send out a letter but never did. However, I read all the Adventure Comics that starred LSH and I'm almost sure a lot of the letters where written by 12-15 year old kids. I bought them all in the mid-70's after I started to read their run in Superboy.
Old 08-08-17, 12:48 PM
  #6  
DVD Talk Godfather
 
davidh777's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Posts: 52,462
Received 987 Likes on 818 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by mrhan
Yeah, I always wanted to send out a letter but never did. However, I read all the Adventure Comics that starred LSH and I'm almost sure a lot of the letters where written by 12-15 year old kids. I bought them all in the mid-70's after I started to read their run in Superboy.
That would make sense for that title, though, because Shooter was the same age.
Old 08-08-17, 12:49 PM
  #7  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Josh-da-man's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: The Bible Belt
Posts: 43,743
Received 2,677 Likes on 1,847 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by mrhan
Never wrote any letters but I liked reading them. I remember reading letters from readers who eventually became comic book writers for both DC and Marvel.
Yeah, that's pretty cool when you find those.

I was reading through some old comics and did a double-take when I saw a letter from George R. R. Martin.

I have one letter printed in a comic. It's a Vertigo title, and that's all I'll say.
Old 08-08-17, 12:58 PM
  #8  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
mrhan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 6,177
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes on 11 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
I was reading through some old comics and did a double-take when I saw a letter from George R. R. Martin.
I recently saw a clip on tv or online; I wish I could remember what it was but it was mentioned he used to write letters and was published. I'm thinking it mentioned it was a DC book.
Old 08-08-17, 01:05 PM
  #9  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
mrhan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 6,177
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes on 11 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by davidh777
That would make sense for that title, though, because Shooter was the same age.
Speaking of the stories written in general for LSH; they were pretty ahead of it's time. Sort of like Star Trek in the sense that men and women were equals. In this case boys and girls. A lot of girls also wrote letters to comment on the stories.
Old 08-08-17, 01:48 PM
  #10  
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1,071
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 2 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Never really thought about it, but I suppose it was the message board of the day. Unfortunately, you'd have to wait 4-6 months to see how everyone else thought about a story.
Old 08-08-17, 02:21 PM
  #11  
DVD Talk Hero
 
PhantomStranger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: The Phantom Zone
Posts: 27,376
Received 783 Likes on 657 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

It's actually amazing how many future Marvel and DC writers first had letters published as kids. Busiek and Waid apparently wrote in all the time.
Old 08-08-17, 04:16 PM
  #12  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Bronkster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: AnaheimLand, SoCal
Posts: 22,410
Received 593 Likes on 341 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

I wrote DC in 1968 or '69. Something about the issues of Superman being released in the wrong order. Wasn't printed, but I did get a postcard response to my concern. I thought that was cool.
Old 08-08-17, 05:00 PM
  #13  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Formerly known as Groucho AND Bandoman/Death Moans, Iowa
Posts: 18,282
Received 369 Likes on 263 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

I've written into a few of Robert Kirman's comics. I even named the Invincible letter page.
Old 08-08-17, 05:50 PM
  #14  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
mrhan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 6,177
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes on 11 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
It's actually amazing how many future Marvel and DC writers first had letters published as kids. Busiek and Waid apparently wrote in all the time.
I recall reading letters from writers Martin Pasko (Wonder Woman) and Cary Bates (Flash). I think Pasko also worked on Mask of the Phantasm.
Old 08-08-17, 06:41 PM
  #15  
Senior Member
 
John Pannozzi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 411
Received 37 Likes on 30 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

I have had a few letters published in Savage Dragon.
Old 08-08-17, 08:19 PM
  #16  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,182
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Re: The Letters Pages

I had letters published back in the eighties. Some of them were pretty dire. I have a great fear that I'll accidentally come across some of them if I'm reading an omnibus which includes letters pages.
Old 08-08-17, 10:12 PM
  #17  
DVD Talk Hero
 
PhantomStranger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: The Phantom Zone
Posts: 27,376
Received 783 Likes on 657 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by John Pannozzi
I have had a few letters published in Savage Dragon.
Savage Dragon always had a great letters page from the beginning. You got the feeling he liked filling up pages of the comic with fan letters if a story ran short.
The following users liked this post:
John Pannozzi (05-19-22)
Old 08-08-17, 11:16 PM
  #18  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Join Date: Aug 1999
Posts: 43,973
Received 1,886 Likes on 1,456 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
It's actually amazing how many future Marvel and DC writers first had letters published as kids. Busiek and Waid apparently wrote in all the time.
Geoff Johns as well. You can easily tell these three are lifelong comic fans. Busiek's Avengers Forever was like this complicated rewrite of Avengers history; Waid's JLA Year One and Kingdom Come are like the bookends of the Justice League, and John's love of the silver age is very apparent.

Here's Busiek's letter published in Byrne's last issue of Uncanny, where he all but roasts Claremont:

https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/...m2&sh=5d8c466f

As far as the Legion and 13 year old Jim Shooter, I always thought Shooter's old blog was a great look into the past, from his perspective
http://jimshooter.com/2011/03/i-aime...han-wors.html/

One of my favorite books is the collection of Legion Outpost fanzines and articles that Twomorrows curated.
Old 08-09-17, 07:31 AM
  #19  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Josh-da-man's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: The Bible Belt
Posts: 43,743
Received 2,677 Likes on 1,847 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by fujishig
Here's Busiek's letter published in Byrne's last issue of Uncanny, where he all but roasts Claremont:

https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/...m2&sh=5d8c466f
I like Kurt, but he comes off like a butthurt fanboy in that letter.

Interesting bit of trivia, but Kurt Busiek is also the person who came up with the trapdoor to get Jean back.

http://www.cbr.com/comic-book-urban-...s-revealed-29/
The following users liked this post:
John Pannozzi (05-19-22)
Old 08-09-17, 07:57 AM
  #20  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
Join Date: Aug 1999
Posts: 5,258
Received 209 Likes on 185 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

I had a letter published in "Tomb of Dracula" #18, -I was buying my comics off a local spinner rack at the drugstore and I had a few continuity questions resulting from issues I had missed. Very vanilla. However, after it was published I got a call from an older (30ish, I guess) African American woman who lived in an adjacent city and was a Peter Cushing super-fan. I was a teen-ager on the only phone (in the kitchen) with my parents circling around (after I was on the phone for a while, they'd start making (phony) noises about having to make a call).

A year or two later I get a letter from The Phillipines from some young girl who also saw my letter in TOD and decided to write to me as a pen pal. We exchanged a few letters then she sent me a picture of herself and asked for one in return from me. I got my mother to take a Polaroid (which made her very suspicious) and sent it to the girl. She sent a letter in reply that said she thought I was Black, and that's why she wrote to me originally. I never heard from her again.
Old 08-09-17, 11:19 AM
  #21  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Join Date: Aug 1999
Posts: 43,973
Received 1,886 Likes on 1,456 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
I like Kurt, but he comes off like a butthurt fanboy in that letter.

Interesting bit of trivia, but Kurt Busiek is also the person who came up with the trapdoor to get Jean back.

http://www.cbr.com/comic-book-urban-...s-revealed-29/
Well, I think he was a kid at the time. But he was passionate about his X-men, and it shows that even the best of us are or were raging fanboys resistant to change at some point.

Yup, Busiek came up with the Jean resurrection concept when he originally heard Shooter would only accept her return if the story blew him away. It's really cool how the story percolated through various writers just from him staying over at Stern's house and chatting.

Of course, the snark in me would say that bringing Jean back was entirely unnecessary and caused a whole bunch of other issues with comic book resurrection and in particular recycling the same Jean concept over and over and over. It's one of the issues with work for hire, fanboy creators will always find a way to bring their favorites back and relive the era that they were a fan of. On the other hand, some creators use well established characters as fodder. That wasn't the case here, but I could see Busiek, not pleased with the direction the Dark Phoenix saga did to "his" X-men, wanting to reverse some of the changes and bring Jean back.

edited to add: well, I guess Busiek was not exactly a kid, he was 20 when he wrote that letter.

Last edited by fujishig; 08-09-17 at 12:16 PM.
The following users liked this post:
John Pannozzi (05-19-22)
Old 08-10-17, 12:46 PM
  #22  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: 3rd Rock from the Sun
Posts: 1,785
Received 32 Likes on 14 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

I got letters published 3 or 4 times, but the only ones I can recall is Savage Dragon and Green Arrow (Mike Grell era). I still remember 2 names who always appeared on the letter pages, Augie DeBlieck(?) who went on to work at CBR and Olav something from the Netherlands.
The following users liked this post:
John Pannozzi (05-19-22)
Old 08-10-17, 01:24 PM
  #23  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Josh-da-man's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: The Bible Belt
Posts: 43,743
Received 2,677 Likes on 1,847 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

Oh, yeah, the letterhacks.

T. M. Maple
Uncle Elvis
Malcolm Bourne
Olav Beemer
Paul Dale Roberts
Tue Sorenson
Rob/Rich? Morrissey
Charles Sperling
Elizabeth Holden

Seemed like, for a while, there was an Uncle Elvis letter, usually just a couple of sentences, in every damned comic I read in the late 80s, early 90s. I remember at the time thinking it was a pseudonym that someone in the industry -- an artist, writer, or editor -- used.

I also remember an issue of Grendel where one letter column consisted of nothing but Malcolm Bourne letters.
Old 08-10-17, 01:35 PM
  #24  
DVD Talk Legend
 
milo bloom's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Chicago suburbs
Posts: 18,251
Received 1,390 Likes on 1,021 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

It never, ever occurred to me to actually write in to a comic. I just had no desire and to be honest, I probably had some doubts that they were *real* letters.
Old 08-10-17, 01:45 PM
  #25  
DVD Talk Hero
 
PhantomStranger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: The Phantom Zone
Posts: 27,376
Received 783 Likes on 657 Posts
Re: The Letters Pages

I just always assumed as a kid that tens of thousands of letters were getting sent to the bigger comics each month and having your letter printed was like hitting the lottery.

Looking back, I imagine they were likely only dealing with a couple hundred at most per month for regular issues.

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.