It seems to me that letters pages in the big two publishers is going the way of the dodo. Not enough hours in the day, not enough personnel to get it done, whatever. I miss them. When I was a young reader, I loved reading the letters column. It prolonged enjoyment of the book, and added to the communal feeling of comics fandom. Plus you’d get hints about stuff that was coming up, and there was just a coolness factor of getting direct responses from the editors. Perhaps that’s taken for granted in this computer day and age of pros interacting with fans on the net, but hey, not *every* kid in America is on line.
I just think it’s unfortunate that the lettercol tradition is on life support. And, as I usually and stupidly do when I think something is unfortunate, I try to do something about it.
Beginning with issue #15, there will once again be a letters page in “Captain Marvel.” How do I know this? Because I volunteered to assemble and write it, and editor “Dandy” Andy Schmidt agreed to give me the page (and no, it’s not going to be taken out of the story page count. Losing one page to the summary was quite enough, thanks.)
Issue #15 seems to be a good time to launch it. It’s got the Neal Adams cover, it’s actually the 50th issue of Marv’s title, and it kicks off a four parter that features a most unexpected intervention to deal with Captain Marvel’s insanity.
Now, of course, we need letters. So consider this an open call for them.
In case you’re wondering, we’re not going to be doing the “Interrupt every other sentence with bold face responses” approach from earlier columns. We’re going to do it the old fashioned way: You talk. I listen. I respond at the end if it needs a response.
Here’s the prerequisites: Keep them under 200 words. Sign your name to it (if you can’t be bothered to stand behind your opinions, I’m not interested in printing them.) Provide an address: Snail mail preferred, e-mail if you must. Why? Because, again, in the old days, I liked seeing where there were other fans. There’s something cool about hearing from fans in different regions. E-mail homogenizes everything. I’m old fashioned, and want the Captain Marvel lettercol to evoke the old days. Addresses are not mandatory, but such letters will be given preference. Names are a must. I’m not running letters from “Flyingpig413” or some such.
If your letter is selected, and I have a mailing address for you, I’ll make sure you get a signed copy of the issue your letter appears in.
Right now I’m looking for letters that are either of a general nature, or about the most recent issue (issue #12). They should be posted right here, on this thread. Every month, when the new issue comes out, I’ll start a thread in my blog. Please do not respond to this thread unless it’s with something intended for publication in “Captain Marvel.”
If people want to send snail mail letters, they can send them to me at PO Box 239, Bayport, NY 11705. DO NOT SEND LETTERS INTENDED FOR PUBLICATION TO MY E-MAIL ADDRESS. My e-mail box is crowded enough.
So there it is. Viva the lettercol.
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