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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2019 19:44:56 GMT -5
Yeah the old letter columns were a source of enjoyment for me. They were the forums back then. It was neat to read how other fans felt. And some of the regular letter writers became pros.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 22, 2019 20:17:45 GMT -5
I really miss T.M. Maple’s and Uncle Elvis!s letters!
They were in pretty much every other issue of anything, too!
Steve Tompkins also had brilliant letters in SSoC... they were practically essays, and made the mag that much better.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 23, 2019 5:22:45 GMT -5
The only time I was interested in the letters page was when the Creators actually answered or interjected their opinions. Erik Larsen and John Byrne come to mind.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2019 5:28:00 GMT -5
Those of you who don't like letters pages are philistines - and will never be welcome in my cab! Joking aside, I did like Byrne's letters column. Oh, and Scrollos. Scrollos was a mysterious being who edited the UK Masters of the Universe comic (80s). He stated that he brought the real-life exploits of the MOTU to us via the fortnightly comic. Or was it weekly? I can't recall. Here's "Master Mail" where Scrollos answers the questions:
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Post by kirby101 on Jul 23, 2019 7:40:28 GMT -5
I remember when "Let's Yap with Cap" was changed to "Let's Rap with Cap". Rap being Hippie slang for talking, well before it became a music genre. Well after hippies and everyone else stopped using the term. Are you saying that Marvel was a little behind the times?
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 23, 2019 9:16:43 GMT -5
Well after hippies and everyone else stopped using the term. Are you saying that Marvel was a little behind the times? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.......................... I'm sure Stan dug the scene and was rapping with the children of Aquarius, mannnnnnnnnnn. Groovy!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2019 14:51:40 GMT -5
I bought a comic book price guide when I was about 14. I planned to buy EVERY comic listed in the guide, no matter how long it took. I'm 38. I've probably bought 3-5% of the books in the guide. That makes me a failure. Ah, the vagaries of being young, though. We think we can take on the world. We think we can acquire everything and anything with our money given to us by parents. At 14, I *really* believed I would track down every comic in that guide.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jul 23, 2019 15:23:11 GMT -5
Letters and editorial pages could have been better spent on 2-3 more pages of story.
There I said it.
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Post by tarkintino on Jul 23, 2019 16:43:55 GMT -5
Letters and editorial pages could have been better spent on 2-3 more pages of story. There I said it. Some stories--like a great deal of that published by Marvel in the 80s--did not deserve 2-3 more pages of story. No reason to keep the torture going. There. I said it.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2019 17:18:09 GMT -5
Letters and editorial pages could have been better spent on 2-3 more pages of story. There I said it. Sir, would you like to step outside? *Puts boxing gloves on*
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Post by brutalis on Jul 23, 2019 17:25:53 GMT -5
Whenever the letters pages were uniquely connected as a vital part of the comic book, then it was great fun reading and feeling as though you were seeing something special and being provided insider knowledge about the comic itself. When they were just half pages of rambling praises (likely made up by editors) or the yearly production notices and or ads for the next issue then it was just useless wasteful nothingness.
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Post by tarkintino on Jul 23, 2019 18:16:46 GMT -5
Yeah the old letter columns were a source of enjoyment for me. They were the forums back then. It was neat to read how other fans felt. And some of the regular letter writers became pros. All true. In the 60s and 70s, fans were truly engaged with the title, characters and creative teams, and were never afraid of expressing their love or distaste for anything in the book, even taking shots as creators of rival publishers. As you say, they were the forums of that period. Just remembering the excellent letters pages of Amazing Spider-Man, Batman/Detective Comics, Marvel Team-Up, and the Warren horror magazines (for just a few examples) brings a smile to my face, as they had fans who would often "go deep" on a subject.
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Post by berkley on Jul 23, 2019 19:34:48 GMT -5
The best letters pages were not only a great source of enjoyment in themselves but also enhanced the reading experience of the comic itself, for me.
I never would have gotten all the pop culture references in MoKF, for example, if they hadn't been pointed out and discussed by some letter writers - Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus, for example, I hadn't heard of until it was mentioned there because Moench and Zeck incorporated some of its ideas and imagery into one of their big Fu Manchu epics.
But it wasn't only things like that, it was also pointing out some of the story nuances that I might have missed in my own reading. The most interesting writers naturally attracted the best, most thoughtful letters, so almost any series written by Gerber or Englehart was sure to have a good letters page, also Wolfman's ToD, Don McGregor's Kilraven and Black Panther, etc.
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Post by Duragizer on Jul 23, 2019 20:43:37 GMT -5
Basil Wolverton belonged to the same pseudo-Christian fundamentalist cult my parents did. Once upon a time I was proud of that fact; now I'm just sad.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,627
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Post by Confessor on Jul 24, 2019 4:36:38 GMT -5
But again, rose colored nostalgia glasses color our perception of the letters pages of the past and we conflate the good ones with all of them. Just because someone disagrees with you, it doesn't automatically mean that their opinion is being coloured by nostalgia, sentimentality and half remembered childhood experiences. And even if it is, that hardly invalidates what they're saying. Christ, this whole community is basically founded on nostalgia! Myself, I kinda like re-reading old letters pages where I have them -- which would be in old comics and places like the Marvel omnibuses. They're not essential, of course, but at their best, I think they can provide illuminating historical and social context for the comic you're reading. The editor's replies can also sometimes provide an interesting window on the behind the scenes creative process. That said, I don't miss letters pages at all when they're not reprinted in a TPB.
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