Do you read the letters sections of old comics?

[CyberCubed]

Assuming you still have single issues of older comics, do you go back and re-read the letters section after finishing the comic? The funny thing about letters is it's basically the same stuff you'd see on an online forum only back then it wasn't that common and you got the writer/editor to respond to it sometimes.

In Vol. 4 of TMNT for example half the letters sections of Vol 4/Tales was bogged down with political debates about George Bush and the Iraq war which were big topics at the time. It's like going back in time to a piece of history from the early 2000's.

[Zog The Magnificent]

I always read the letters column. It's one of the reasons I like tracking down single issues so much, as opposed to trades. It's the entire reason I'm buying The Walking Dead Deluxe.

The only flaw is that I never get to find out what people think about the final issue of a comic, since the letters are always behind by 3 or 4 issues. The only time I ever got to was with letters for Vigilante #50, which were printed in Checkmate #1.

[IMJ]

I used to read them all the time. It's a big part of comic book culture that I miss. I had a letter printed in Superman once. It was cool.

[Wednesday's Serial]

I'll read some sporadically. I've had a few printed before too, which is cool!

[Andrew NDB]

I had one printed in most of Vol. 3 and 1 or 2 printed in Vol. 4. It's interesting to read the old letters from Vol. 1 and wonder, what happened to these people? Are they still fans? If not, what happened?

[Coola Yagami]

I seem to remember one of my emails printed in one of the early IDW comics, I forgot which one though, it's been so long.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

It's interesting to read the old letters from Vol. 1 and wonder, what happened to these people? Are they still fans? If not, what happened?

They're probably dead. Assuming they were at least 17 or 18 years old in 1984 to be old enough to read comics and send in a letter...they'd be what in their late 60's now? Half of them are on their way to the old age home and the others are probably dead by now.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

They're probably dead. Assuming they were at least 17 or 18 years old in 1984 to be old enough to read comics and send in a letter...they'd be what in their late 60's now? Half of them are on their way to the old age home and the others are probably dead by now.

WTF. Not true. I was sending letters to Archie comics since I was 12 or so. Parents can take their kids to the mail box ya know.

[MrPliggins]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

They're probably dead. Assuming they were at least 17 or 18 years old in 1984 to be old enough to read comics and send in a letter...they'd be what in their late 60's now? Half of them are on their way to the old age home and the others are probably dead by now.

Plenty of the people who had letters published in volume 1 could have been our age. Sure, I was 5 in 1984 when #1 was released, but vol. 1 lasted until 1993.

[CyberCubed]

No 5 year old was reading Mirage Turtles Vol. 1 back in 1984, remember this was an indie black and white comic, no kid is going to have any idea what it was at the time.

Archie is a different story because us kids were exposed through the cartoon and saw a comic that looked like the cartoon on newstands and in shopping malls.

[Andrew NDB]

I'd see Mirage TPBs (the ones with the nice A.C. Farley covers) in bookstores in the 80s.

[CyberCubed]

Considering Laird is 69 I imagine most first time Mirage readers are close to his age, probably 65-70. Like I said, some probably died and others are too busy dealing with their medical issues.

You really think a 60+ year old is going to be thinking about Ninja Turtles from the 1980's?

[MrPliggins]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

No 5 year old was reading Mirage Turtles Vol. 1 back in 1984, remember this was an indie black and white comic, no kid is going to have any idea what it was at the time.

Archie is a different story because us kids were exposed through the cartoon and saw a comic that looked like the cartoon on newstands and in shopping malls.

I guess I started reading Mirage earlier than most at age 10 in 1988. The local flea market comic book dealer sold them, and I found the First Graphic Novels at Waldenbooks. I'm just saying it was possible to have a letter published in volume 1 before 1993, but not issue 1 in 1984.

[joe-eyeball]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I had one printed in most of Vol. 3 and 1 or 2 printed in Vol. 4. It's interesting to read the old letters from Vol. 1 and wonder, what happened to these people? Are they still fans? If not, what happened?

Didn’t one of your letters have a drawing of one of the turtles? And with a colored mask to boot?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by joe-eyeball

Didn’t one of your letters have a drawing of one of the turtles? And with a colored mask to boot?

Definitely not. I think I drew a Turtle carrying a severed head that appeared in Image but it wasn't a rainbow Turtle. It's possible such a thing exists in TMNTA. I wrote them at least a couple letters as a kid but I don't remember them actually printing any.

[CyberCubed]

I remember a dumb thing is most letters pages were only like 2-3 pages long, so they would only print maybe...5 letters at most (because space was taken up by the editor responding to some of them)

Imagine the comic gets what maybe 100 letters a month, and only 5 are printed. Like what's the point. It's weird to think this was a thing before online forums were created

[Mechapod]

The letters pages, editorial page, and old ads are a part of why I collect single issues. It's a cool glimpse into history, and even cooler when you come across a letter from a name you recognize from today.

I never wrote in, but as a kid I was reading TMNT. Didn't have a comic shop in my town so the only TMNT I was able to read were the First! graphic novels and TMNTA from the grocery store and gas stations. I'm 46 now.

I've since collected the single issues of vol. 1-4 and as I re-read these, I love to read the letters and editorial notes.

[joe-eyeball]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Definitely not. I think I drew a Turtle carrying a severed head that appeared in Image but it wasn't a rainbow Turtle. It's possible such a thing exists in TMNTA. I wrote them at least a couple letters as a kid but I don't remember them actually printing any.

I’m gonna have to see if I can find it because I swear the person had the same name. And you do live in Washington? Right? Of course it could be just a coincidence or a false memory on my part.

[frank_one]

As a kid I used to read every inch of every page in the few comics I had, of course! Sometimes more than once.
I still do it whenever I manage to buy an old issue (as I rarely buy new comics) but more than those fan letters what I really care about are the original editorial notes. That's the reason I'm always more inclined to buy first printings and not recent reprintings or collected issues.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by frank_one

As a kid I used to read every inch of every page in the few comics I had, of course! Sometimes more than once.
I still do it whenever I manage to buy an old issue (as I rarely buy new comics) but more than those fan letters what I really care about are the original editorial notes. That's the reason I'm always more inclined to buy first printings and not recent reprintings or collected issues.

I miss those days. I still love comics, but for me it's more about the markets and movement nowadays. Rarely do I get a book I can't wait to dig into and most of the time my own pull list languishes for months, and many almost permanently unread at this point.