The chase to get a letter printed in a major comic book.

I can't speak for current collectors, but the kids that I knew that collected comics in the 70's and early 80's always read the letter columns. Sometimes we read the letter and agreed with the writer and determined that the letter writer was clearly genius. More often, we read it and determined that we could certainly write better letters and that we should see our own letters in the comics. This, of course, coincided with our "we can write better comics than this" and "we can draw better comics than this" and "we have better ideas than this" campaigns.

So, at the ripe old age of 8, I decided that it was time to write a brilliant letter and get myself printed in a comic. I wrote to Marvel Team-Up. I don't remember the exact letter, but it was something to the effect of:

Dear Marvel,

Could you please have a team-up with Spider-Man and Mister Fantastic? Thanks.

It was brilliant! No wasted fluff. I got straight to the point. For some amazing reason, my letter did not get printed in Marvel Team-Up. I was shocked. So, I wrote another letter of similar caliber. And once again, I did not see my letter printed. Clearly, there had to be some sort of conspiracy.

When I hit about 15 years old, I tried again. I wrote to Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four. This time, my letters were actually long and had subjects and points. But, somehow they didn't see print. I couldn't figure this out. I tried a few more times, and never even got a sniff.

When I was 18, I decided to take one more shot at this. How could I be 18, have collected comics for over a decade and not have seen my name in a single comic? I began to strategize. I knew that I had written good letters to Spider-Man and FF. But, when I started thinking about it, I had to figure that those editors got hundreds of letters every month. Those were the two hottest Marvel comics. My letters weren't going to have a very good shot, no matter how good they were. What if I wrote to some comics that were a little less popular?

I decided to write ten letters. I also decided to type them, so they would look really nice. I picked out ten titles that I figured I had a better shot with. Then, I sent them out.

A few months later, I checked the local Time Saver (hey, I bought most of my comics at drug stores and convenience stores) and I saw Conan the Barbarian. I checked the letter column. Drat! I didn't make it. How could I not? My letter was pure genius! And I even typed it! This sucks!

Then, I flipped through the books and found the latest issue of Power-man/Iron Fist. I went to the letter column. And there it was. Right there in issue 101... my letter... my name... there it was... Woo Hooooooo!!!!!

I bought the comic (which I still have) and took it home and showed my mom. Look! It's MEEEEEEEE!!!! She was naturally thrilled beyond belief (to quote her: "That's nice."). The following week I checked again to see if I had been fortunate to have any more success. Sure enough, I was printed in Jonah Hex, Green Lantern #173, and The Flash. Four out of ten. I couldn't believe it! Not only was I printed, but I was in both a Marvel and multiple DC's!!!

It was right after this that I sold my collection, but I kept those comics. A few years later, I wrote a single letter to the editor of The Avengers and it got printed. I think it was issue #270. It was cool because I wasn't really expecting it, and The Avengers was one of my favorite books.

It was the last letter I ever wrote to a comic. Do they even print letters anymore? Is the excitement still there for collectors? I really don't know. But, I can say that for a poor kid just getting ready to go off to college for his freshman year, seeing my letters in print was a thrill beyond belief.

I wonder if CGC will allow me to sign them and get a Signature Series out of them. Hmmmmmmm.....

Sam

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