Letters in comics, though often written through a semi-literate fog, on other occasions often impress me with their wit, intelligence, explanation of continuity, or just their enthusiasm and love for comics, and on occasion are superbly written.
Some of them, guys like Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Dave Sim, Dean and Jan Mullaney, Don McGregor, Mark Gruenwald, Todd McFarlane, Richard Morrissey, Martin Pasko, Bob Rozakis, Allan Brennert, Mike Barr, Kurt Busiek and Mark Waid, it was a precursor of professional work they would do later.
Others, such as Guy H.Lillian and T.M Maple, became famous solely on the basis of being prolific and clever letterhacks. And many others are just one-hit wonders that are now a part of the comics they loved enough to write to.
I'll start with a modest one I just read in the letters page of ADVENTURE COMICS 363, Dec 1967.
Quote:
Dear Editor:
I have a cat named Streaky who likes to help me read ADVENTURE comics that feature the Legion of Super-Pets -- especially Streaky the Supercat. He pays no attention to Krypto, Beppo and Comet. If you can feature Streaky with the Super-Pets in an ADVENTURE adventure, my cat would love it. --Charles Dorsett Jr., Walnut Creek, California
( You and your cat will be happy to learn that Streaky and his super-pet pals will be featured in our very next issue. --Editor)
The name isn't "Jerry" but I could easily picture this being Beardguy, who was a hugely enthusiaastic reader of Legion during this era. Regardless, what a fun letter.
Just to add a few words to the already awesome mound of praise (one might term it a "mountain of judgement", had one a way with clever nomenclature) surely deluging you, my compliments on the first issue of Jack Kirby's FOREVER PEOPLE. In recent memory, only Deadman, Enemy Ace and Bat Lash seem to match this strip for innovation and success. Which probably means -- if we are to use as yardstick the commercial failure of those three high-water marks of quality continuity -- FOREVER PEOPLE is too good for the average comic audience.
Its power and inventiveness display the Kirby charisma at its peak. Every panel is a stunner. Potentially, it appears to be the richest vein of story material National has unearthed in years. One hopes Kirby will be given total free reign, that he will be allowed to ride his dreams to wherever they take him, for the journey is a special one, and we get visionaries like Kirby once in a generation, if we're terribly lucky. To constrain him, to force him to fetter himself with the rules and regs of previous comics experience, would be to dull the edge of his imagination.
After many false starts of National efforts in the past five years, at last it seems you've struck the main route. That it should be Kirby -- at the top of his form -- that worked point-scout, is not surprising. He has long been a master of the form, and in FOREVER PEOPLE it seems he's found his métier.
Best wishes and prayers for a long, long life for the FOREVER PEOPLE. Till now, all the flack bushwah about this being the Golden Age of Comics have follen tinnily on us; but with Kirby in the saddle FOREVER PEOPLE casting its wondrous glow, you now have leave to bang the drums. --Harlan Ellison, Sherman Oaks, California
(It cannot be denied that a great deal of hard work has gone into unearthing that "rich vein of story material" of which you write, Harlan. But no matter how highly we may rate the FOREVER PEOPLE, the real drum-banging has to come from the readership, who responded in unhesitant manner. )
I always enjoyed not only getting a letter published, but when it made enough impact on the editor that he/they felt compelled to write a response to it. Although needless to say, who isn't going to notice when Harlan Ellison sends them a letter?
When I was nine years old I had a letter to the editor published in B&B where I asked them to team up Batman with Krypto. They said that wouldn't work. I'm surprised. Bob Haney could make anything work.
I'd like to make a few cracks -- I mean, remarks -- about FOREVER PEOPLE # 1, but I'm afraid this missive will get lost in the thousands that are shipped to Jack Kirby in California. Of course, the fact that that I have nothing complimentary to say doesn't exactly help, either.
Even though the concept of the strip is unorthodox, the design of nothing in it appears equally creative. It may be that when Mr. Kirby was working for that other company, he designed everything. So it is only natural that everything he does for DC looks like it was suggested by something from the other company. Then, of course, Kirby cannot write well.
It appears that transplanting the heart of Marvel to DC will suffer the same fate as most transplants: rejection.
-- Martin Pasko, Clifton, N.J.
Well hey, you can't please everyone.
Within 5 years, Pasko was scripting many of DC's titles himself, most notably SWAMP THING just prior to Alan Moore's run. And in 1979 also writing TV episodes of Buck Rogers In the 25th Century !
Ken Bruzenak of Finleyville, PA dropped us what is probably the shortest letter of comment in history: "Dear Editor, Thank You!" We are accordingly dispatching a letter to him saying "Dear Ken, You're Welcome!"
I think most of my letters were actually published in First Comics, back in the 80s: Nexus, Sable, Badger, etc. That may be less of a tribute to my writing skills and more to their dearth of readership, however.
When I was nine years old I had a letter to the editor published in B&B where I asked them to team up Batman with Krypto. They said that wouldn't work. I'm surprised. Bob Haney could make anything work.
Yeah, we've discussed Haney's WTF tendencies elsewhere at length. You'd think he'd want to make a kid happy, and squeeze it into a cameo for a few panels in one of his stories.
That's actually what made Howard the Duck an enduring character, instead of a throwaway one-shot (intended by Gerber to be used only for a 2-part story in FEAR 19 and MAN-THING 1 in 1973-1974), was the persistence of several fans (who soon after turned pro) who lobbied hard for a continuing Howard feature, that finally materialized as a back-up series in (my favorite title for a comic book of all time!) GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING issues 4 and 5, and then rolled over to a HOWARD THE DUCK comic series, newspaper strip, and black-and-white magazine.
I think most of my letters were actually published in First Comics, back in the 80s: Nexus, Sable, Badger, etc. That may be less of a tribute to my writing skills and more to their dearth of readership, however.
Aww, don't be so hard on yourself, G-man. I had several letters published in a number of First titles too, but primarily in DC titles of which I've always been the biggest fan, as well a scattered few in Marvel titles, and a few other independent titles. I think when you wrote to someone other than Marvel, DC, First or Eclipse, the readership was far smaller to the point that your odds of getting published were much higher.
As a result of letters of mine published (with my address), I actually got letters from fan magazines and smaller fanzines soliciting contributions, including Guy H. Lillian, and Rex Joyner of THE LEGION OUTPOST. The longest things I've written as comic scripts were LEGION stories, that I actually submitted to DC. After receiving rejection letters from Karen Berger and her successor, I wish I'd had the good sense to send it to the OUTPOST, to allow it to be published in some form.
I also got letters from inmates in prison a few times, looking for pen-pals, who saw my address. (I'm thinking of Cartman in South Park: "I am a 10-year old boy looking for a mature relationship with an older man..." ) Similarly a few Europeans looking for pen pals who wanted to practice their English. One guy from Poland asked me to look for some matchbox cars for him.
The most amazing thing for me though, was in the 1980's when I went to my first San Diego Con, and met people like Rick Oliver, Peter Gillis, and Karen Berger, I was wearing a nametag from pre-registration, and it amazed me they all recognized me from the letters I'd written them.
I never expected that! I also ran into a guy named Kurt Goldzung who was then the marketing manager for First, who I saw for the first time in years, but had known as the owner of a comic shop in Hollywood, FL (circa 1980-1985) before he closed his store to move to Chicago and work for First Comics.
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that didn't lead to comics work for me. I submitted several scripts. I started submitting during a change of the guard, and the new editors at DC didn't know or care who the fuck I was.
I doubt Haney had the final say. Murray Boltinoff was the editor of B&B and I think he tended to be the one who decided who teamed up with Batman. He was also a control freak racist.
T.M. Maple (c. 1956[1]–1994) was the pseudonym of Jim Burke, a Canadian who wrote more than 3,000 letters to comic book letter columns between 1977 and 1994.[2]
Burke's letters were quite popular among readers as well as editors, and he wrote prolifically to a diverse number of comic publishing companies and titles. Burke originally signed his letters as "The Mad Maple," but Marvel Comics editor Tom DeFalco abbreviated it to "T.M. Maple" to make it sound like a real name (thus circumventing a new policy at the company to stop printing letters submitted under pseudonyms).[2] Burke took a liking to the new name and began using it exclusively (including variations like "Theodore Maddox Maplehurst") until 1988, when in Scott McCloud's Zot! #21 he revealed his real name.[2]
Burke published a fanzine about comics in the late 1980s. With artist/publisher Allen Freeman, Burke co-created the superhero Captain Optimist.[3]
Some believe that the Simpsons' character the Comic Book Guy was based on Maple.[4] Simpsons creator Matt Groening, however, has repeatedly stated that the Comic Book Guy was based on "... every comic-bookstore guy in America".[5]
After Burke died of a heart attack in 1994, he was eulogized in a number of letter columns published by DC Comics, the company he probably wrote to most prolifically.
I doubt Haney had the final say. Murray Boltinoff was the editor of B&B and I think he tended to be the one who decided who teamed up with Batman. He was also a control freak racist.
That one I didn't know.
Murray Boltinoff was my least favorite editor because of the way he butchered letters in his column down to like one sentence, to cram as many reader comments as possible on the page. It made for very dry reading, and rendered letters devoid of any personality or style.
I hated Tyroc, it was everything negative about black "ethnic" characters of the 70's. It's actually something of a relief that Grell portrayed him that way because he refused to take the notion of the character seriously. In contrast, Grell created a very strong and likeable black character in Machiste, in his WARLORD series.
Messrs. Joe Orlando, Len Wein, and Berni Wrightson, Dear Responsible Parties,
A week ago I watched Joe Namath perform a feat of athletic prowess that nearly won the Jets a wild card place in the playoffs: with no offensive line to help him, devoid of a ground game, he passed and passed, and connected and connected, until the opposition blitzed and smashed him into the ground, at which point he was taken out; five minutes later he was back in again, limping, and brought his team to within inches of winning. Last night I saw Rudolf Nureyev dance Tchaikovsky's "The Sleeping Beauty" and saw an integration of grace and art and expertise that removed him, in my eyes, from the masses of slower-moving humans that dot the planet. He managed to make High Art seem effortless, to move as humans were meant to move by a higher order, to wrest from the commonplace potentialities of bone and musculature a wonder that was superhuman. No matter how good the best in any line of work are taken to be, once in a generation there arises a talent that goes far beyond the ordained limits. A Chaplin, a Van Gogh, a Twain, a Nureyev, a Namath. No matter what their chosen field, they rise above all the others with a superiority that puts them in a class all their own. Thank you for SWAMP THING.
Sincerely, Harlan Ellison, Sherman Oaks, California
The supreme compliment is one received from someone whose work you all admire and whose opinion you all respect. Thank you, Harlan, for many hours of reading pleasure, as well as for these priceless lines.
This is a letter I read at age 10, that later made me seek out Harlan Ellison's books when I re-read the letter at age 15, starting with his 1971 collection Alone Against Tomorrow, a collection of stories that was the perfect introduction to Ellison's work.
Ellison was the transitional bridge for me, from reading comics to reading actual books. (At least, reading books beyond what I was assigned to read for school.) His letter was also the first that showed me it wasn't just kids my own age, and maybe high school and college age, reading comics, but also accomplished and highly creative people in other fields. That comics were an appreciated art form.
I doubt Haney had the final say. Murray Boltinoff was the editor of B&B and I think he tended to be the one who decided who teamed up with Batman. He was also a control freak racist.
DC clearly had its fair share of vindictive and territorial editors in that era.
Jim Shooter relays (in BACK ISSUE #34, June 2009) the story of his brief second stint at DC from about 1974-1976, freelancing at both Marvel and DC, before moving completely to more receptive ground, working exclusively at Marvel. Mort Weisinger, who Shooter had worked for from 1966-1971 had retired, and Murray Boltinoff had taken over as editor of SUPERBOY/LEGION, and by Shooter's account was one frustrating editor to work for, but it was Julius Schwartz who had it in for Shooter since the first day, because of Schwartz's feud with Infantino, and since Shooter was introduced to Schwartz by Infantino, Schwartz (who apparently hated Infantino) perceived Shooter as Infantino's boy, and did his damnedest to, successfully, leverage Shooter out.
Dear Editor: The latest issue of BATMAN (#253) was very well executed. The unusual guest-star role of The Shadow kept the somewhat dull and unimaginative plot from being unduly abrasive. The Shadow's mysterious comings and goings, while far from being subtle, fit smoothly into the overall adventure. My guess is that Lamont Cranston would have to be in his sixties, so any suggestion that he return to his strenuous crime-busting habits would be absurd. I think it's just as well for him to continue his "untold" adventures in his own magazine (How's that for a plug?) --James T. McCoy, Valley Station, KY
Dear Editor: Your super-hero comix have brought joy and imagination to adults and children all over the world. They did this for my child-man Jimmy McCoy, who in the past years has written and has had so many letters published by your company. Jimmy had Muscular Dystrophy, and through your comics he saw himself walk and do all the things he couldn't do. Jimmy passed away on Sunday, October 31, 1973, and I'm writing this letter to simply thank you for making him happy. Please continue to do so for all the other child-men in the world. His sister, Kathleen McCoy
( In preparing these pages each issue, an editor often sees the same signatures on the letters of comment again and again. And he often comes to regard his "regular critics" as a kind of small family. Believe us, Ms. McCoy, when we say that to lose someone like Jimmy is to lose a member of that special family. On behalf of our publisher, Carmine Infantino, our editors, and the entire DC staff who have appreciated Jimmy's comments, you have our deepest sympathies and our assurance that we will continue trying to bring that "joy and imagination" to people like Jimmy, throughout the world. Because it is through the sadness of a letter like yours that comes the comfort of knowing that it is all worthwhile. --Martin Pasko )
Dear Editor: It's incredible that Jack Kirby could, in only the first two DC comic mags he's produced, do no less than shatter the limits of imagination within the bounds of 44 comic pages. I reckon he has had this stuff bottled up for so long that we can expect a veritable avalanche of originality and pace-setting in the coming years. Last ish [JO 133] he said he left his former employers because he was being forced into a static state, that in order to create, he had to come to the original creators themselves, DC. And you, like any sane person, gave him full reign to do what he wanted and to just run free. If these two issues are only the beginning, then your confidence is well-founded, and any fears you may have had, baseless. When Jack's new books come out, I intend to buy at least 10 copies of each, so you guys had better print up an extra big batch of those first issues. Looking to JIMMY OLSEN # 134, I find that again he has handled things exceptionally well for someone who hasn't had any association with Superman for ten years. And still, though he adhered to the familiar Superman style, he broke loose with surge after surge of new and unprecedented things and ideas, one following the other. The Outsiders. The Wild Area. Habitat. The Mountain of Judgement. The Hairies. Fantastic, if you'll forgive me. It was really something to see the course they had to travel in order to find the Hairies, but when we got two full pages of legendary Kirby magic (12 and 13) I was struck dumb. How in the world can he do something like this? Will you tell me please, before I burst? The explanation about the Hairies was skilled, yet it fit so well with everything you established before Jack's arrival. Though Jimmy will defy him when he thinks he is right, Superman usually knows what he is doing. The Man of Steel was aware of the Hairies' secret from the first, as was the government, and Superman stepped in with his usual wisdom and straightened things out without a fight or even an ill feeling. Some people would waste ten pages on a senseless fight. I'm sure Jack can be trusted to use things like aggression and hate only where and when necessary, and with discretion. In other words, he is sure to produce some of the finest comic art in a decade in his stay here, which I hope will be for the duration of his artistic career. The best is yet to come? Baby, you know it! --Gary Skinner, Columbus, Ohio
( How did Jarring Jack produce those pages you mention? By collages, created by combining parts of photos. You'll find it explained more fully in the text page of NEW GODS # 2, now on sale. --E.N.B.)
Kirby did 15 issues total of Jimmy Olsen, issues 133-139, and 141-148 (issue 140 was an all reprint issue). Kirby was just kicking into high gear when his JIMMY OLSEN run ended, and the rest of his DC work included FOREVER PEOPLE 1-11, NEW GODS 1-11, MISTER MIRACLE 1-18, DAYS OF THE MOB 1, SPIRIT WORLD 1, WEIRD MYSTERY 1-3, FORBIDDEN TALES OF DARK MANSION 6, THE DEMON 1-16, KAMANDI 1-40, O.M.A.C. 1-8, OUR FIGHTING FORCES 151-162, FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL 1, 5 and 6, JUSTICE INC. 2-4, RICHARD DRAGON KUNG FU FIGHTER 3, and KOBRA 1.
After that, he went back to Marvel from 1976-1978 and did CAPTAIN AMERICA 193-214, ETERNALS 1-19, 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY treasury movie adaptation, and series issues 1-10, BLACK PANTHER 1-12, DEVIL DINOSAUR 1-9, and MACHINE MAN 1-9.
Then a few years in Hollywood cartoon animation on Thundarr, the Fantastic Four cartoon series, and so forth.
And a few final ventures back into comics from 1981-1991, on CAPTAIN VICTORY, SILVER STAR with the launch of creator-owned Pacific Comics. And a few more projects, such as DC's SUPER POWERS miniseries, an issue of DC COMICS PRESENTS with the Challengers, and a few other scattered pin-up pages, for SUPERMAN 400, ANYTHING GOES 2, and DC's OFFICIAL HANDBOOK TO THE DC UNIVERSE.
So Kirby's DC work wasn't exactly "till the end of his career", but I still enjoyed Mr. Skinner's eloquence, and share his enduring enthusiasm for Kirby's Fourth World and other DC work.
I know that this letter is late, but I have only just received JIMMY OLSEN 136. I couldn't help but notice the remark of Gregory Kent in the letter column. If you don't like the new JIMMY OLSEN, Greg, perhaps you will like this:
Issue one hundred and blech of JIMMY OLSEN:
Our hero is strolling down the lane with Lucy Lane when a flying saucer casually flies over them. Jimmy says "Holy cow, Lucy, a flying saucer! What a scoop! See you later." "No you won't," says Lucy, quite understandably. "You're always standing me up for a scoop, I've had it with you."
Jimmy runs after the saucer and sees it landing. An alien says "I must destroy the handsome earthling." A ray is fired at Olsen.... the saucer takes off... Olsen is still standing. (Footnote: ) Yes, the the killer ray was rendered harmless by a small cloud of dust in a thousand billion trillion to one freak accident. Jimmy signals Superman with his watch so he can beat up the dirty aliens. But Superman is away on an outer space mission.
Later, another saucer lands. It's the Intergalactic Olsen Fan Club. "Do not be startled, handsome Jimmy. We've arrested those dirty aliens, says the leader. "Holy cow," says Jimmy. "My hero," says Lucy, returning. "Hello," says Superman. "Oh my God,' says the reader.
If you like that story, there are over a hundred of them to read. But for those who like deep science-fantasy and brilliant art... Kirby's here! --Philip Warren, Bexley, Kent, England.
( And in case you haven't noticed, Royer is also here this issue. --E. Nelson Bridwell)
This was the first issue of JIMMY OLSEN inked by Mike Royer, although he only inked 146 and 147. 148 was again inked by Vince Colletta, as was the rest of the run.
When I was nine years old I had a letter to the editor published in B&B where I asked them to team up Batman with Krypto. They said that wouldn't work.
Oh, and by the way it took approximately forty years, but...SUCK IT BOLTINOFF!!!
I had posted T.M. Maple's photo above, but decided it was against the theme of the topic I created here, and edited it to just a link, if you still want to see it.
The topic point is not what T.M. Maple, or any letterhack, actually look like (I started a topic several years ago showing photos of many comics professionals for that purpose.) The point is the persona they create with their words on the pages of lettercolumns.
To that effect, this letter by T.M. Maple, from THE QUESTION 5, June 1987:
Quote:
Dear Questionable Ones: "The unique aspect about The Question is that he is a man with a secret identity, but without an alter ego." That statement from #1's lettercol caused me to ponder a bit. I wondered if it was really true. Aren't most superheroes essentially the same in and out of costume? Superman has pretty much the attitudes and outlook of Clark Kent (especially the new version), after all. And doesn't, say, Green Arrow seek the same social justice that Oliver Queen supports, albeit in a more, um, physical way? Seeking a solution to this apparent contradiction, I looked up "alter ego" in my dictionary, which defined it as "another aspect of oneself." Ah, now things start to fall in place! Above when I talked of Superman and Green Arrow, I was basically saying their costumed identities were just another aspect of the total being, the flip side of the coin, so to speak. But, to take your words literally, you are saying that The Question is not even a different aspect of Charles Victor Szasz, that one is indistinguishable from the other --a "two-headed coin", to follow my previous analogy. This indeed is an interesting premise, especially as Szasz himself sees it that way. It is certain to bring a unity and single-mindedness to the story, for if The Question is a crimefighter and is also indistinguishable from Szasz, then Szasz himself must be narrowly focused on fighting crime as well. However, I wonder at the validity of this concept. You see, I have some personal experience in this area. I adopted "T.M. Maple" merely as a pseudonym for writing letters, so you could say that I too was someone with a secret identity but without an alter ego. However, as time passed (eight and a half years now) a strange thing happened. I began to find that T.M. was indeed just slightly different from my everyday self. In some ways he had become a little more what I would like to be in my everyday life. To a small extent, there was a switch from me driving T.M. to be "better" to T.M. automatically assuming the desired characteristics. (Me? I'm perfectly sane! Oh, yes.) My point is that if this could happen to me to this small extent (more a curious tendency than an uncontrollable compulsion, I hasten to add) in so feeble a secret identity (i.e., a little and not very intensely used), how could Szasz/Question escape a more dramatic and similar effect? Given the intense nature of his activities as The Question, how could he possibly retain indistinguishable cohesion between the two identities? Is this an indication of a fanatical self-control or obsession, thus indicating further mental problems? Or is it the result of a good, strong conception of self, such that one is not adversely affected by mere artificial disguises? (Thus indicating that I'm a little wacko? Well, okay, we already know that I'm a little (!) nutsy, but I mean wacko in this particular sense... ) Incidentally, this lack of an alter ego could also jeopardize his secret identity. The Question and Szasz look and act so much alike that I fail to see how anyone familiar with both of them wouldn't figure out the connection sooner or later (and I think it would probably be sooner. ) --"T.M. Maple" Box 1272, Station B Weston, Ontario M9L 2R9 Canada
From a brief 4-issue Marvel comics series THE CAT issue 3 (1972-1973), the first published letter of future comics artist Frank Miller, at age 16:
Most of you young'uns probably never heard of it. But the first issue has art by Marie Severin/Wally Wood and is a good story by a girl named Linda Fite (Herb Trimpe's girlfriend and later wife) with a somewhat feminist angle. The issues after have art by new talent at Marvel, including a final fill-in last issue with art by Jim Starlin and Al Weiss.
The character had a transformation (similar to the Beast in AMAZING ADVENTURES) into Tigra, and then another character took on the costume she wears in this series, and became a regular in THE AVENGERS during the Englehart, Shooter and Perez runs of the series (i.e., most of the 1970's and early 1980's).
Frank Miller started working professionally in comics in 1978, and within a year was a well-established talent on DAREDEVIL. I actually prefer Miller's earliest issues with Roger McKenzie writing (issues 158-167) to the ones after where Miller became writer/artist. But regardless, a remarkably fast jump from comics fan to comics pro.
I'm always been impressed by letters from those who were fans, and then went on to fame as comics creators themselves.
Here's one more, from INCREDIBLE HULK 225, July 1978:
Quote:
Dear Folks, You know, Roger Stern isn't a bad writer. In fact, HULK 221 wasn't a bad issue. Alfredo Alcala's inking gave the Hulk a look I thought only Jack Kirby could capture. And it was nice to see Bruce Banner again. Why don't you have a couple of New York issues in a row?
Now that I've gotten that out of my system... is there any chance of a Pocket Books paperback edition of HULK 1-6? How about another HULK TREASURY EDITION? I hope so. Anyway, until next time, make mine Marvel!
Erik Larson P.O.Box 1433 Albion, CA 95410
Erik, we get the idea you'll soon be a very happy lad indeed! This spring will herald not only the Hulk paperbacks and treasuries you request, but the debut of an all-new HULK color magazine as well! And when you add that to the Hulk television show and this year's HULK ANNUAL by Stern and Byrne ...well, let's just say you won't see that much green this side of a St. Patrick's Day parade!
I included that one more for the editor response than for the initial letter by Larsen. Those were certainly some major Hulky times. And it's always nice when your letter is not only printed, but draws a personal response from the book's creators.
I don't know about "best" letter, but here's one of my letters, I think the last published in comics, that appeared in Walt Simonson's ORION 8, cover-dated Jan 2001.
It's the only one where I'm credited as Dave the Wonder Boy. They pulled it from a longer comment I left about the series on the DC boards. I praised the first ORION issue as a perfect expansion of the biblical/spiritual warfare for Earth between the good and evil New Gods, that I felt began as one of the best expansions of Kirby's original series. Only the 6-issue FOREVER PEOPLE series by DeMatteis and Paris Cullins ever explored the spiritual warfare concept as intelligently. But in the DC boards comment, I expressed that Simonson's run had increasingly declined from that high point ever since. The issue I commented on, issue 5 (which you can read at the same link) is an all-visual no-captions issue. In his response on the DC boards, Simonson openly said my call for continuing the more high concept themes he'd done so well in the first issue, that he "just didn't want to work that hard". And that shows in the lack of depth in the remainder of the run. In which Simonson largely farmed out a number of backup pages each issue to be drawn and written by other creators. But hey, it was nice of him to personally respond on the boards. Aside from the universaly reviled Mike S. Miller, Simonson is the only DC creator I can recall responding to criticism on the DC boards (at least under his own name). And hey, at least he excerpted one of my online comments on the letters page.
It's the only DC boards comment by me that ended up printed in a letter (that I'm aware of). Although I detailed on the DC boards in a topic how I wanted a set of Neal Adams Batman hardcovers to be presented, broken into three volumes. One for BRAVE AND THE BOLD, one for Adams' DETECTIVE issues, and one for Adams' BATMAN issues, with all the BATMAN, DETECTIVE, B & B and WORLD'S FINEST covers inserted chronologically in between the stories across all three volumes. DC pretty much followed my concept in the BATMAN ILLUSTRATED BY NEAL ADAMS hardcovers. Except that Adams himself screwed the hardcovers up by re-drawing large portions of the books. I'd like to see the Adams stuff reprinted again, but this time without the alterations by Adams, but as they originally appeared.
Possibly other things I said had influence that I'm either unaware of or have forgotten.
I wrote a letter during the period O'Neil began editing the Batman line, discussing how I missed the O'Neil/Adams/Novick Batman who was more reserved and calculated, always watching from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. That I missed that more controlled Batman, the relentless detective that I knew and loved.
About 4 months later, this ad came out in the DC books:
A byproduct of my letter, that the DC editorial leadership took to heart?
Letter columns were a big deal for me. The best letters would maybe clue me in on what happened in an issue I missed and or insight in the reply to a letter. Sometimes the response would be a tantalizing tidbit of something coming up. Usually a TM Maple letter was good one. I even bought Charlton Bullseye because it had good letters imho. For some reason my drugstore carried that short run anthology and while I only wanted superheroes I found myself enjoying horror/funny animal and sci-fi issues too. It never took long to read a comic book but Charlton Bullseye had several pages of letters usually! As for best letters, there was one letter that I liked so much I wrote the person and we ended up being pen pals for many years and still stay in touch to this day.
As for best letters, there was one letter that I liked so much I wrote the person and we ended up being pen pals for many years and still stay in touch to this day.
Dear Linda Carter, My name is Ivan. I watch your program every chance I get. I am seven years old and am in love with you. Could you come up and see me sometime? --Ivan 921 Monthgomery Street Brooklyn, NY 11213
Dear Ivan, Thank you so much for your dear letter. Thank you foir the invitation, but I am so busy fighting monsters and women-hating men that I have little time to relax. I can send you a special memento because you are so sweet; hope you like it. Love, Wonder Woman
From AMERICAN FLAGG 39, April 1987, in the period after Howard Chaykin had departed as writer/artist of his own series, replaced by a different writer/artist team :
Quote
Dear Flaggers, Since Howard [Chaykin] left, the plots seem to have held up nicely, but the art has got to go ! I'm Sorry, but Mark Badger needs to take more drawing lessons. Get someone else to handle pencils if you must. Mort Walker, Casper Weinberger, my three week old nephew, anybody as long as they're not as bad as Mark Badger! (Sorry Mark, nothing personal. I'm sure you're a nice guy. )
Tom Hickey Elmhurst, IL
I have to agree, and not just regarding Badger's work.
It's not that Chaykin was irreplaceable, but they certainly picked a lackluster assembly of new writers and artists after Chaykin left. Paul Smith was the only artist that did something approaching comparable work. Although I find Badger's work consistently awful, on any series. I think Mr. Hickey speaks for the room on this one.
Dear Folks, You know, Roger Stern isn't a bad writer. In fact, HULK 221 wasn't a bad issue. Alfredo Alcala's inking gave the Hulk a look I thought only Jack Kirby could capture. And it was nice to see Bruce Banner again. Why don't you have a couple of New York issues in a row?
Now that I've gotten that out of my system... is there any chance of a Pocket Books paperback edition of HULK 1-6? How about another HULK TREASURY EDITION? I hope so. Anyway, until next time, make mine Marvel!
Erik Larson P.O.Box 1433 Albion, CA 95410
Erik, we get the idea you'll soon be a very happy lad indeed! This spring will herald not only the Hulk paperbacks and treasuries you request, but the debut of an all-new HULK color magazine as well! And when you add that to the Hulk television show and this year's HULK ANNUAL by Stern and Byrne ...well, let's just say you won't see that much green this side of a St. Patrick's Day parade!
I included that one more for the editor response than for the initial letter by Larsen. Those were certainly some major Hulky times. And it's always nice when your letter is not only printed, but draws a personal response from the book's creators.
Updated with a link to the full issue, including the letters page (and all the ads, many of which I discussed in the comic book ads topic).
And this new sample of Guy H. Lillian's talent as a letterhack, from GREEN LANTERN 82, Feb March 1971, expressing his initial enthusiasm for the O'Neil/Adams GREEN LANTERN series, that ran from 76-87 and 89, and as a backup after in FLASH 217-219.
Dear Editor, Green Lantern # 79. Something has happened here. It's called Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, and Dan Adkins, Julius Schwartz. It's called innovation, relevance, risk-taking, and artistic endeavor. It's called honest and fearless work, instead of hack garbage. It's called new respect for an old hobby. "Ulysses Star is alive!" So, now, is my interst in comic magazines. I'm 21 years old, and a veteran of Peoples Park and lesser collisions between the cultures. Comic magazines have been something of an atavism in my life --indeed, were such when I had my first LOC published in the eighth grade-- not even excepting adult characters like Deadman and Enemy Ace.
The Green Lantern/Green Arrow series has put a whole new perspective on my relationship with the field, and this story, this brilliant, intelligent (such a thing in comics? The mind bogglewoggles) utterly splendid work of art --yes I said art, I said ART, has snapped it all in focus. It may win an Alley --but it has won far more than that from me. It has won my respect.
I am gratified, justified and astonished. Good, good show, people. The wanderings of Jordan, Queen and Guardian will have a faithful audience in me. If they're ever down Berkeley way --and I hope they make it someday--- have 'em drop in at Barrington Hall. I can find 'em a place to crash. It's the least I owe them. If comics ever go, it's with artfulness and glory. And I'm happy. I've seen the words of Norman Mailer in a comic magazine. I've seen it all. -- GUY H. LILLIAN III, Kenner, LA.
( As veteran fans know, we've been dubbing MR. ( imagine! 21 years old now! ) Lillian "Our Favorite Guy" for many years. We're pleased to note that with all the schooling he's absorbed since he started out as an LOC-er, that when he waxes enthusiastically now about an issue, he does it with an educated polish! --JS )
With many similar exultations of comics excellence on O'Neil /Adams' work, letters published across future issues of GREEN LANTERN, BATMAN, and DETECTIVE COMICS, in the years to follow.
There was a fair amount of poetry in the Superman titles in the early 1970's, overtures of affection to the Superman cast of characters, and to their creators. Or in this case, an overture to prospective letterhacks.
Here's a sampling from ACTION COMICS 395, Dec 1970 :
I dedicate this poem to Alvin Yellon, whose complaint was printed in ACTION # 389. I say this to the Alvin Yellons of comicdom-- if you are not a master of the written word, or a great literary critic who can point out obscure parallels or do detailed character analyses: and if you do not have Paul Seydor's discerning eye and are not scientifically inclined-- try something trivial like this:
A pox on Martin Pasko, A plague on Irene V. And fie to all the other fans More fortunate than me!
Thus readers rant a million ways O'er fruitless hours of writing praise In deathless prose and deathless verse, At times verbose and sometimes terse.
Suppose the reader knocks the tale And says the artwork was too stale? Or if not, what else might be wrong-- Was the story too short? Or too long?
Yes, that just might be the key To critical success for me! And so, once more to pen and paper To criticize each startling caper Of daring men and super-creatures, Aliens, spirits, other features.
But hapless writers, don't lose heart If pearls of wisdom you'd impart Are deemed to dull by guys and dolls Who cull comments for lettercols. No hard names should you others call, Patience and work will conquer all.
Better luck next time. -- Arlene Lo, Plainsview, NY
Well, your idea worked for you, Arlene. And the name of the game is Imagination ! -- Editor.
What a reputation I seem to have. Hopefully, you'll grant me the last word on this silly debate over whether there are "Lettercol Monopolizers" (gasp!) In response to Arlene Lo's recent poetic gem:
"Flattery gets you nowhere", says Dennis J. O'Neil, Mike Friedrich says he needs the fans to tell him how they feel. And even expatriates John Broome and Gardner Fox, Will tell you there's no need for you on me to place a pox. Even though it's sometimes true that lettercols are hatched When an editor reads a letter and he knows the name attached, That shouldn't make your future in the lettercols look bleak, All you have to do is write 5,000 words a week!
So keep on plugging at it and in time you'll be renowned And very soon for the lettercols your missives will be bound! So thank you, Arlene, for presenting both the pros as well as con, Although I cannot say for sure what side it is you're on! And thank you, thank you, dear sweet girl for immortalizing me In the world's most hilarious and ingenious LoC, But before an Alvin Yellon type --or a hundred more like tthese-- Takes pen in hand, enough's enough! Change the subject, someone PLEASE!
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