Finally, a reason to get excited about DC Comics again!

[thehefner]

Most awesome comics news of the week, and possibly the month: DC Comics to bring back letters columns!

I used to have a love-hate relationship with letters columns, the hate mainly forming during the Kyle Rayner era of Green Lantern, where editor Kevin Dooley pretty much seemed to use the letters page as a propaganda piece for all things pro-Kyle and anti-Hal. In a day and age where all major comics news sites and blogs seem to be little more than glorified P.R. and wankery for the comic companies (actual criticism? FUCK THAT! We want exclusive previews and interviews! GEOFF JOHNS IS AWESOME AND CAN DO NO WRONG! ANY DISAGREEMENT WILL BE FLAMED/BANNED/IGNORED/MOCKED), it's amazing to read the letters in comics from twenty years ago and find how many editors often published balanced responses.

It's a great time capsule for comics fandom, putting stories in a historical perspective. More than that, it's just plain fun. Sometimes, more fun than the actual comics themselves. It's also great fun to track down all the future "celebrities" (comic writers, artists, bloggers, editors to be) in the old letters pages, back when they were just fans. I'm now making a note of every one I find, possibly to make it a recurring feature.

While anybody can have their opinions published online (a great and terrible thing unto itself), there's something different about knowing that opinion is actually being read by the editors and sometimes times the writers themselves! Jeph Loeb actually remembered me as "John from Cabin John" from my lengthy letter to The Long Halloween, and while I've become very critical of both Loeb and that story in years since, I'm still fond of that thrill: the sheer excitement and accomplishment at seeing my letter actually PUBLISHED in a COMIC BOOK. I tell you, I was the happiest kid in seventh grade.

You bet your ass that Henchgirl and I are gonna write letters. Snail mail, even! What about you, the five people who still read DC Comics on my f-list? Will you be taking advantage of this?

Comments

[shadowlongknife.livejournal.com]

I shall, indeed. Marvel never published one of my letters, and I have two (TWO, HEFFIE) comics that feature letters from me in the lettercols.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Which comics which comics which comics?

[shadowlongknife.livejournal.com]

Suicide Squad (I think number 44), and an issue of JLI. With Guy and Ice kissing on the cover.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Ooh! I have both issues! Dare I dig 'em out?

[shadowlongknife.livejournal.com]

I promise I didn't have any revolutionary ideas. The Squad one was mostly me using it as an avenue for my guesses at the end of the upcoming storyline and asking for them to add a list of people to the Squad (BLOODSPORT, FOR GOD'S SAKE). The JLI one was my teenage attempt at humor.

Look for Gordon Lyons, and you'll have my letters, sir.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

Given that guys like Quesada and DiDio are in charge now, I'm amazed that you think that the return of letters pages won't actually be WORSE than they were in the days of Dooley.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

It's entirely possible, and I'm sure at least some of the books will be Dooley-fied in that respect. But I have hope that there are still editors out there who will be more even-handed, assuming that wasn't something lost when they stopped publishing letters in the first places.

[sharkbites.livejournal.com]

Like Techie said, back then, the letter writers themselves were opinionated and THOUGHTFUL but most importantly they were respectful in their disagreement. That's a rarity given the climate which is full of BBs and blogs where flames are a dime a dozen. I might make the effort.

[kiffie.livejournal.com]

I never participated in letters columns, mainly because I seemed to have missed the boat -- I came into the period where one would write letters just as they were phasing themselves out. But if they bring them back, I just might have to.

Also -- I love your icon in a silly, wondrous way.

[stubbleupdate.livejournal.com]

Are letters columns better than two pages of story?

That's what's going to make space for them.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Considering most of the stories today, I'd say that if the letters pages can avoid being propaganda fluff pieces, they could potentially enhance the enjoyment and communal feeling of comics fandom more than two extra pages.

[hybridhelen.livejournal.com]

I think I will, although it'll have to be electronic, rather than snail, mail, if I was them to be received in time to be relevant.

(I really enjoyed reading the letters and responses in the recent Hawkeye & Mockingbird mini - more, perhaps, for the novelty than the content!)

[bitemetechie.livejournal.com]

You! Noms!

[punishermax.livejournal.com]

Gonna send a letter as Hulk.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Will DC publish it? Will you have to send it as an anonymous mystery readers whose identity must be upheld lest it jeopardize his career at another prominent company?