Comic book letter column
Encyclopedia
A comic book letter column is a section of a comic book
where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns (or lettercols), letter pages, letters of comment (LOCs), or simply letters to the editor. Letter columns appeared early on in the history of comic books themselves, and their growing prevalence — particularly beginning in the 1960s — helped create and legitimatize comics fandom
. Letter columns remained a regular feature of most comic books until the early years of the 21st century, when they were gradually phased out in favor of the growing prevalence of E-mail
and Internet fora.
s of the time, the first recorded comic book letter column appeared in Target Comics #6, published by Novelty Press
in 1940. (The page in question also has an early mention of comic book collecting.) The first DC Comics
comic to include a letters column was Real Fact Comics #3 (Jul-Aug 1946).
Early versions of the lettercol tended to be simple fan letters, often from young readers. These letters tended to be praise for the previous issue's story and artwork; or simplistic questions about the correct pronunciation of "Mxyzptlk" or where Superman put his Clark Kent clothes when he was in costume; or alternately, obsessive dissections of perceived continuity errors or art mistakes.
Letter columns came into their prime in the 1960s, when readers' letters became longer and the discussions more sophisticated. For example, in the mid-1960s longtime letter writer (and future comics historian) Peter Sanderson
's lengthy, well-reasoned, and impressively erudite missives forced DC
editor Julie Schwartz to expand the lettercols in his books to a second, separate page (such as "Flash-Grams — Extra", "Letters To the Batcave — Extra", and "JLA Mailroom — Special Peter Sanderson Edition") to facilitate Sanderson's sharp analysis.
By the 1970s, nearly all mainstream comics included letter pages. Historian Matthew J. Pustz describes the different approaches of the two major publishers:
As the letter column became a longstanding tradition in the mainstream comic book industry, it even became a feature of underground
, independent, and alternative comics
of the 1970s and 80s. By the first few years of the 21st century, as comic-related forums sprang up all over the Internet, letter columns were gradually replaced by advertisements or in-house promotions. In 2002, DC officially ended the practice of the letter page. Ironically, many independent titles (such as Dark Horse
's Usagi Yojimbo and Hellboy, or Drawn and Quarterly
's Optic Nerve and Palooka-ville) still feature letters pages to this day.
The letters page was often used as a soapbox, where in addition to responding to reader comments, the editor would provide behind-the-scenes details about the comics world, announce changes to the title or the creative team, plea for more (or better) letters, needle the competition, and otherwise communicate with readers.
Due to the monthly (or longer) lag between issues, a comic’s letter column usually featured reader responses to issues about three-to-five months prior to the current one. Occasionally, if a story ran too long one month, or there were printer-related problems, a comic's letters page would be omitted that issue. This would often produce an outcry from deprived readers in later letter columns, accompanied by the requisite apologies and explanations.
Until the late-1970s, letter columns were usually found in the middle of the book, when they mostly moved to the book’s second-to-last page (the last page tending to be an advertisement).
Toward the end of 1960 — thanks in no small part to the urging of motivated readers like Jerry Bails
(later to be known as the '"father of comics fandom") and Roy Thomas
— DC editor Julius Schwartz
decided to print readers' home addresses in the letters. The first letters page with the letter writers' full addresses appeared in The Brave and the Bold
#35 (May 1961). Because of this practice, many readers connected with each other, becoming penpals, and starting communities of fans and/or publishing fanzines. In at least one case, a reader "met" his future spouse via a comic book letter page!
Peter Sanderson writes of Schwartz's letter columns:
Similarly, under the guidance of editor-in-chief/publisher Stan Lee
, Marvel Comics
also decided to print readers' home addresses in the letters. Lee made it a priority to create a community of readers, giving them a sense of personal investment in Marvel and its titles. Lee's ambition to create a company aesthetic in this way was overwhelming successful; many Marvel fans would sign off their letters with the phrase, "Make Mine Marvel!"
For many fans, having a letter printed was a badge of honor — especially if it was in one of the more high-profile letters pages. The feeling was that if one wrote enough good letters, it was possible to influence the direction of the comic and/or one's favorite characters. And as letters pages became more collaborative in this way, many became forums for long-running discussions among the editors and readers, with topics ranging from what defined a "mutant" to real-world issues such as religion, racism, feminism, gay rights, and the rights of the disabled. Cerebus creator Dave Sim
's comments about women, for example, became the source of a particularly long-running and bitter debate in the pages of "Aardvark Comment".
In certain circumstances, it was practice for Marvel and DC to solicit letters for titles which had trouble filling a letters page each month. While popular titles could receive up to 40 or more letters per month, other titles might not receive enough to even fill a page. In desperate circumstances, DC and Marvel lettercol assemblers were even known to write fake letters under assumed names, just to fill out the column.
For some time in the 1970s, Marvel editors (and assistant editors, like Mark Gruenwald
) responded to readers' letters in the guise of a "friendly armadillo." Beginning in 1980, under new editor-in-chief Jim Shooter
, Marvel instituted new letter column policies. One change was to let writers of certain titles (rather than the book's editor) manage the letters pages. The other was to eliminate the conceit of the "armadillo" and have the books' editors or writers respond to letters under the own names.
In later years, some DC Comics letters pages — like those in Lobo and Ambush Bug
— used the humorous device of having the main character "respond" to letters. Marvel's Deadpool
, as part of his regular practice of breaking the "fourth wall
," also answered his own letters.
The letters page also functioned as another form of "house ad," a place to promote the book, other books in the same line, or the comic book publishing company in general. Some had additional purposes such as in the 1980s The Question
series, written by Dennis O'Neil
, whose letters pages included a reading recommendation with each issue to complement the philosophical points illustrated in the feature story.
), "JLA Mailroom" (Justice League of America), "Legion Outpost" (Legion of Super-Heroes
), "Metropolis Mailbag," (Superman
), "Avengers Assemble!" (Avengers
), "Letters to the Living Legend," (Captain America
), "The Spider's Web" (The Amazing Spider-Man
), and "X-Mail," (Uncanny X-Men
) are just a few examples of this tradition. Suicide Squad
faced difficulties in this aspect, as the United States Postal Service objected to delivering what were labeled as "Suicide Notes."
Some books had trouble sticking with a lettercol title, and changed them on a more or less regular basis. It soon became a tradition to hold a contest for fans to write in with column title ideas, with the winning writer credited in the letters page. Similarly, when a new comic book series was created, readers were asked to submit names for the lettercol title right from the outset.
may have been the first reader to believe he could influence the direction of his favorite comics. In the early 1960s, he bombarded the DC offices with suggestions for new superhero revivals
such as was already happening with the Flash, the Justice League, and so on. For instance, in Justice League of America #4, the letters page is filled with missives from Bails under different pen names. He did everything he could to fool editor Julius Schwartz, including mailing the letters from all across the country.
Later on, during the lettercol heyday of the 1970s and 1980s, many comics actively encouraged reader participation. Fans were asked to weigh in on a character’s uniform changes, or in some cases, submit their own uniform designs, with the winning entry actually becoming the character’s new costume. Readers of Tomb of Dracula
and The Vision and Scarlet Witch limited series were asked to suggest names for the main characters' babies. (Winners of contests liked these were often awarded with original artwork from the book in question.)
For team books like The Avengers, Justice League, or the Legion of Super-Heroes, fans were polled as to which characters should become permanent members, team leaders, or conversely, excised from the team. (Readers were also asked to suggest or vote on the title of the letter column. See further discussion below.)
Many 1970s Marvel lettercols stressed the importance of reader feedback, such as this one from Power Man #24 (April 1975): "We don't score hits with every issue. Sometimes a story has flaws or just doesn't come up to snuff. Which is why your letters are so valuable to us in producing these comments. . . . So don't let anybody tell you your letters aren't important, people. They are vital to these magazines."
Similarly, (beginning in the 1980s) the most esteemed letterhacks were occasionally solicited to send letters based on early preview copies, thus helping to build a fan-base for a new title. And in a few cases, low-selling titles were saved from cancellation by groups of dedicated fans writing in to the company’s editor-in-chief or publisher.
Some of the most prolific "LOCers" or "letterhacks" include Jerry Bails
(the "father of comics fandom"), T.M. Maple (who published over 3,000 letters), Augie De Blieck, Jr. (who claims to have published over 400 letters), Bill Schelly
(now a comic book historian), Peter Sanderson
(ditto), and Irene Vartanoff (an omnipresent 1960s letterhack who ended up working behind the scenes for Marvel in the 1970s and 1980s). The 1994 Squiddy Awards
even featured a "Favorite Letterhack" category (won by Augie De Blieck)!
As discussed above, some letterhacks gained entrée into an actual career in comics because of their letter-writing expertise. For instance, Bob Rozakis
parlayed his frequent published letters to DC comics during the late 1960s and early 1970s into a job as DC's "Answer Man" and eventually a solid career as a DC writer. Kurt Busiek
, Mary Jo Duffy, Mike Friedrich
, Mark Gruenwald
, Fred Hembeck
, Tony Isabella
, Paul Levitz
, Ralph Macchio
, Dean Mullaney
, Martin Pasko
, Diana Schutz
, Beau Smith
, Roy Thomas
, and Kim Thompson
are just a few of the many comic book professionals who got their starts as young letterhacks.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns (or lettercols), letter pages, letters of comment (LOCs), or simply letters to the editor. Letter columns appeared early on in the history of comic books themselves, and their growing prevalence — particularly beginning in the 1960s — helped create and legitimatize comics fandom
Fandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
. Letter columns remained a regular feature of most comic books until the early years of the 21st century, when they were gradually phased out in favor of the growing prevalence of E-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and Internet fora.
History
Although they were already standard in the science fiction magazineScience fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
s of the time, the first recorded comic book letter column appeared in Target Comics #6, published by Novelty Press
Novelty Press
Novelty Press was an American Golden Age comic-book publisher that operated from 1940–1949. It was the comic book imprint of Curtis Publishing Company, publisher of The Saturday Evening Post...
in 1940. (The page in question also has an early mention of comic book collecting.) The first DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
comic to include a letters column was Real Fact Comics #3 (Jul-Aug 1946).
Early versions of the lettercol tended to be simple fan letters, often from young readers. These letters tended to be praise for the previous issue's story and artwork; or simplistic questions about the correct pronunciation of "Mxyzptlk" or where Superman put his Clark Kent clothes when he was in costume; or alternately, obsessive dissections of perceived continuity errors or art mistakes.
Letter columns came into their prime in the 1960s, when readers' letters became longer and the discussions more sophisticated. For example, in the mid-1960s longtime letter writer (and future comics historian) Peter Sanderson
Peter Sanderson
Peter John Sanderson, Jr. is a comic book critic and historian, as well as an instructor/lecturer in the New York area concerning the study of graphic novels/comic books as literature....
's lengthy, well-reasoned, and impressively erudite missives forced DC
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
editor Julie Schwartz to expand the lettercols in his books to a second, separate page (such as "Flash-Grams — Extra", "Letters To the Batcave — Extra", and "JLA Mailroom — Special Peter Sanderson Edition") to facilitate Sanderson's sharp analysis.
By the 1970s, nearly all mainstream comics included letter pages. Historian Matthew J. Pustz describes the different approaches of the two major publishers:
As the letter column became a longstanding tradition in the mainstream comic book industry, it even became a feature of underground
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
, independent, and alternative comics
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
of the 1970s and 80s. By the first few years of the 21st century, as comic-related forums sprang up all over the Internet, letter columns were gradually replaced by advertisements or in-house promotions. In 2002, DC officially ended the practice of the letter page. Ironically, many independent titles (such as Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
's Usagi Yojimbo and Hellboy, or Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
's Optic Nerve and Palooka-ville) still feature letters pages to this day.
Form and content
As standardized by the big mainstream American companies, the letter column was typically overseen by one of the comic’s staff members, often the book’s editor (or later on, the assistant editor), and occasionally the book’s writer(s).The letters page was often used as a soapbox, where in addition to responding to reader comments, the editor would provide behind-the-scenes details about the comics world, announce changes to the title or the creative team, plea for more (or better) letters, needle the competition, and otherwise communicate with readers.
Due to the monthly (or longer) lag between issues, a comic’s letter column usually featured reader responses to issues about three-to-five months prior to the current one. Occasionally, if a story ran too long one month, or there were printer-related problems, a comic's letters page would be omitted that issue. This would often produce an outcry from deprived readers in later letter columns, accompanied by the requisite apologies and explanations.
Until the late-1970s, letter columns were usually found in the middle of the book, when they mostly moved to the book’s second-to-last page (the last page tending to be an advertisement).
Toward the end of 1960 — thanks in no small part to the urging of motivated readers like Jerry Bails
Jerry Bails
Jerry Gwin Bails was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom", he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.- Early life :Jerry G. Bails was born June...
(later to be known as the '"father of comics fandom") and Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
— DC editor Julius Schwartz
Julius Schwartz
Julius "Julie" Schwartz was a comic book and pulp magazine editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in the Bronx, New York...
decided to print readers' home addresses in the letters. The first letters page with the letter writers' full addresses appeared in The Brave and the Bold
The Brave and the Bold
The Brave and the Bold is the title shared by many comic book series published by DC Comics. The first of these was published as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983...
#35 (May 1961). Because of this practice, many readers connected with each other, becoming penpals, and starting communities of fans and/or publishing fanzines. In at least one case, a reader "met" his future spouse via a comic book letter page!
Peter Sanderson writes of Schwartz's letter columns:
Similarly, under the guidance of editor-in-chief/publisher Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
also decided to print readers' home addresses in the letters. Lee made it a priority to create a community of readers, giving them a sense of personal investment in Marvel and its titles. Lee's ambition to create a company aesthetic in this way was overwhelming successful; many Marvel fans would sign off their letters with the phrase, "Make Mine Marvel!"
For many fans, having a letter printed was a badge of honor — especially if it was in one of the more high-profile letters pages. The feeling was that if one wrote enough good letters, it was possible to influence the direction of the comic and/or one's favorite characters. And as letters pages became more collaborative in this way, many became forums for long-running discussions among the editors and readers, with topics ranging from what defined a "mutant" to real-world issues such as religion, racism, feminism, gay rights, and the rights of the disabled. Cerebus creator Dave Sim
Dave Sim
David Victor Sim is an award-winning Canadian comic book writer and artist.A pioneer of self-published comics and creators' rights, Sim is best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, a comic book published from 1977 to 2004, which chronicles its main character in a 6,000-page self-contained...
's comments about women, for example, became the source of a particularly long-running and bitter debate in the pages of "Aardvark Comment".
In certain circumstances, it was practice for Marvel and DC to solicit letters for titles which had trouble filling a letters page each month. While popular titles could receive up to 40 or more letters per month, other titles might not receive enough to even fill a page. In desperate circumstances, DC and Marvel lettercol assemblers were even known to write fake letters under assumed names, just to fill out the column.
For some time in the 1970s, Marvel editors (and assistant editors, like Mark Gruenwald
Mark Gruenwald
Mark E. Gruenwald was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler. Gruenwald got his start in comics fandom, publishing his own fanzine, Omniverse, which explored the concept of continuity...
) responded to readers' letters in the guise of a "friendly armadillo." Beginning in 1980, under new editor-in-chief Jim Shooter
Jim Shooter
James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...
, Marvel instituted new letter column policies. One change was to let writers of certain titles (rather than the book's editor) manage the letters pages. The other was to eliminate the conceit of the "armadillo" and have the books' editors or writers respond to letters under the own names.
In later years, some DC Comics letters pages — like those in Lobo and Ambush Bug
Ambush Bug
Ambush Bug is a fictional character who has appeared in several comic books published by DC Comics.His real name is supposedly Irwin Schwab, but he has mental problems that prevent him from truly understanding reality around him, so even his true identity might be no more than a delusion on his part...
— used the humorous device of having the main character "respond" to letters. Marvel's Deadpool
Deadpool (comics)
Deadpool is a fictional character, a mercenary and anti-hero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, Deadpool first appeared in The New Mutants #98 Deadpool (Wade Winston Wilson) is a fictional character, a mercenary and...
, as part of his regular practice of breaking the "fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
," also answered his own letters.
The letters page also functioned as another form of "house ad," a place to promote the book, other books in the same line, or the comic book publishing company in general. Some had additional purposes such as in the 1980s The Question
Question (comics)
The Question is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by DC Comics. The original was created by writer-artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Blue Beetle #1...
series, written by Dennis O'Neil
Dennis O'Neil
Dennis J. "Denny" O'Neil is an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of books until his retirement....
, whose letters pages included a reading recommendation with each issue to complement the philosophical points illustrated in the feature story.
Letter column titles
The typical letters page had its own title, which was usually a reference to the book’s hero or heroes. "Cape and Cowl Comments" (World's Finest ComicsWorld's Finest Comics
World's Finest Comics was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled World's Best Comics for its first issue; issue #2 switched to the more familiar name...
), "JLA Mailroom" (Justice League of America), "Legion Outpost" (Legion of Super-Heroes
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team in the 30th and 31st centuries of the . The team first appears in Adventure Comics #247 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
), "Metropolis Mailbag," (Superman
Superman (comic book)
Superman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character Superman began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book Action Comics #1 in June 1938...
), "Avengers Assemble!" (Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
), "Letters to the Living Legend," (Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
), "The Spider's Web" (The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...
), and "X-Mail," (Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
) are just a few examples of this tradition. Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad, also known as Task Force X , is a name for two fictional organizations in the DC Comics Universe. The first version debuted in The Brave and the Bold #25 , and the second in Legends #3...
faced difficulties in this aspect, as the United States Postal Service objected to delivering what were labeled as "Suicide Notes."
Some books had trouble sticking with a lettercol title, and changed them on a more or less regular basis. It soon became a tradition to hold a contest for fans to write in with column title ideas, with the winning writer credited in the letters page. Similarly, when a new comic book series was created, readers were asked to submit names for the lettercol title right from the outset.
Reader Participation
BailsJerry Bails
Jerry Gwin Bails was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom", he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.- Early life :Jerry G. Bails was born June...
may have been the first reader to believe he could influence the direction of his favorite comics. In the early 1960s, he bombarded the DC offices with suggestions for new superhero revivals
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
such as was already happening with the Flash, the Justice League, and so on. For instance, in Justice League of America #4, the letters page is filled with missives from Bails under different pen names. He did everything he could to fool editor Julius Schwartz, including mailing the letters from all across the country.
Later on, during the lettercol heyday of the 1970s and 1980s, many comics actively encouraged reader participation. Fans were asked to weigh in on a character’s uniform changes, or in some cases, submit their own uniform designs, with the winning entry actually becoming the character’s new costume. Readers of Tomb of Dracula
Tomb of Dracula
The Tomb of Dracula is a horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces...
and The Vision and Scarlet Witch limited series were asked to suggest names for the main characters' babies. (Winners of contests liked these were often awarded with original artwork from the book in question.)
For team books like The Avengers, Justice League, or the Legion of Super-Heroes, fans were polled as to which characters should become permanent members, team leaders, or conversely, excised from the team. (Readers were also asked to suggest or vote on the title of the letter column. See further discussion below.)
Many 1970s Marvel lettercols stressed the importance of reader feedback, such as this one from Power Man #24 (April 1975): "We don't score hits with every issue. Sometimes a story has flaws or just doesn't come up to snuff. Which is why your letters are so valuable to us in producing these comments. . . . So don't let anybody tell you your letters aren't important, people. They are vital to these magazines."
Similarly, (beginning in the 1980s) the most esteemed letterhacks were occasionally solicited to send letters based on early preview copies, thus helping to build a fan-base for a new title. And in a few cases, low-selling titles were saved from cancellation by groups of dedicated fans writing in to the company’s editor-in-chief or publisher.
Letterhacks
Fans whose letters were published regularly became well-known throughout the industry by virtue of their letters. Writer Mark Engblom describes the phenomenon this way:Some of the most prolific "LOCers" or "letterhacks" include Jerry Bails
Jerry Bails
Jerry Gwin Bails was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom", he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.- Early life :Jerry G. Bails was born June...
(the "father of comics fandom"), T.M. Maple (who published over 3,000 letters), Augie De Blieck, Jr. (who claims to have published over 400 letters), Bill Schelly
Bill Schelly
Bill Schelly is an author primarily known as a historian of cinema, comic books, and comics fandom. He is also a portrait and comic book artist....
(now a comic book historian), Peter Sanderson
Peter Sanderson
Peter John Sanderson, Jr. is a comic book critic and historian, as well as an instructor/lecturer in the New York area concerning the study of graphic novels/comic books as literature....
(ditto), and Irene Vartanoff (an omnipresent 1960s letterhack who ended up working behind the scenes for Marvel in the 1970s and 1980s). The 1994 Squiddy Awards
Squiddy Awards
The Squiddy Awards, also known as The Squiddies, were the annual awards given by the participants in the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.comics through 2004. The awards are named after the humorous typo "Suicide Squid"...
even featured a "Favorite Letterhack" category (won by Augie De Blieck)!
As discussed above, some letterhacks gained entrée into an actual career in comics because of their letter-writing expertise. For instance, Bob Rozakis
Bob Rozakis
Robert "Bob" Rozakis is a comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of Mazing Man and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man".-Biography:...
parlayed his frequent published letters to DC comics during the late 1960s and early 1970s into a job as DC's "Answer Man" and eventually a solid career as a DC writer. Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
, Mary Jo Duffy, Mike Friedrich
Mike Friedrich
Mike Friedrich is an American comic book writer and publisher best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics, and for publishing the anthology series Star*Reach, one of the first independent comics...
, Mark Gruenwald
Mark Gruenwald
Mark E. Gruenwald was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler. Gruenwald got his start in comics fandom, publishing his own fanzine, Omniverse, which explored the concept of continuity...
, Fred Hembeck
Fred Hembeck
Fred Hembeck is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are always drawn with curlicues at the elbows and knees...
, Tony Isabella
Tony Isabella
Tony Isabella is an American comic book writer, editor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath, DC Comics' first major African American superhero, Black Lightning, and as a columnist and critic for the Comics Buyer's Guide.-Marvel Comics:Before he joined...
, Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles...
, Ralph Macchio
Ralph Macchio (comics)
Ralph Macchio is an American comic book editor and writer, who has held many positions at Marvel Comics, including executive editor. Macchio is commonly associated with Daredevil, the Spider-Man line of comics and the popular Ultimate Marvel line...
, Dean Mullaney
Dean Mullaney
Dean Mullaney is an American editor and publisher whose Eclipse Enterprises, founded in 1977, was one of the earliest independent comic book companies. Eclipse would publish some of the first graphic novels; become the first comics company to publish trading cards; and was one of the first comics...
, Martin Pasko
Martin Pasko
Martin Pasko is a writer and editor in a diverse array of media, including comic books and television.Pasko has worked for many comics publishers, but is best known for his work with DC Comics over three decades. He has written Superman in many media, including television animation, webisodes, and...
, Diana Schutz
Diana Schutz
Diana Schutz is a comic book editor, most notable as editor in chief of Comico during its peak years and for her continuing tenure at Dark Horse Comics, for whom she has worked since 1990...
, Beau Smith
Beau Smith
Beau Smith is anAmerican comic book writer and columnist, best known for hiswork for DC Comics, Image Comics, IDW Publishing and as vice president of marketing for Eclipse Comics.-Early career:...
, Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
, and Kim Thompson
Kim Thompson
Kim Thompson is an American comic book editor, translator, and publisher, best known as vice president and co-publisher of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Along with co-publisher Gary Groth, Thompson has for almost thirty years used his position to further the cause of alternative comics in the...
are just a few of the many comic book professionals who got their starts as young letterhacks.