DC Comics Brings Back The Letters Page

WIth much fanfare (i.e. a blog post, interviews, and press releases) DC Comics announced today that they are bringing back the letters pages to their books.

Okay?

The comic book letters page used to be the only real way for fans of the books to interact with those who created it. People became famous in the comic book community for writing tons of letters and getting them printed over and over in their favorite books. Go back many years and you can see people like Kurt Busiek and Augie de Blieck Jr. show up over and over in letters pages.

But this announcement has left me completely nonplussed. Why? The comic book letters page is a relic of the pre-email, pre-Twitter, pre-internet days. It's a nice, nostalgic relic, but a relic nonetheless. Were people clamoring for the return of the letters page in DC Comics? I'm sure there were some, somewhere, who were upset that the letters pages had disappeared, and I'm sure they're really happy right now. But with so many more immediate and more reliable ways of contacting creators these days the only benefit I can see to the letters page returning would be to see your name in print in one of your favorite books.

Me, I'd be more interested if DC announced that it was reversing their bizarre policy and adding a recap page for each issue like Marvel has had for years. That would actually show some forward thinking on a useful feature.

In the meantime, you're excited about being able to send lettters to DC again, here's how to do it, courtesy of DC Comics:

To submit a letter go to:

www.dcletterspage.com

Letters may be sent by regular mail to this address:

Letters to the Editor
DC Comics
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

Please include your full name, and address, for confirmation purposes. Letters should be no longer than 500 words and should not include attachments.

Letters may be edited for length or clarity and may be published in any medium. Letters become the property of DC Comics.

Unpublished letters will not be returned or acknowledged. Published letters may identify the writer by first name, hometown, state or country

 

Comments

  1. I don 19t know. I like the letters in Kirkman’s books. The should use it as a forum to let the writers show some personality.

  2. Could be some nice retro fun, but I hope this isn’t one of those 20 pages we’ve been reduced to.

  3. I like letters pages because I think it’s meaningful to see the letters actually attached to the comic book.  Letters are always the first thing I look for in a back issue; they give a nice time capsule of reader attitudes at the time the book was published.  When I read the first 25 issues of Brubaker’s ‘Captain America,’ for instance, I could follow the discussion of Bucky’s return in real time, something I hadn’t paid attention to as it was happening.  Same for the original ‘Young Avengers’ series and the discussion of Wiccan & Hulkling’s sexuality, before it was officially revealed in the comics.

    Now, whether there are really many people who catch up on comics this way, or whether it’s something that should be at the top of DC’s priority list (especially as they’re making the books themselves shorter) I don’t know.  But I’ve really enjoyed the letter pages in Marvel books. lately, and I’ll be interested to see how they work out for DC.

  4. I’m with Conor on this one. You make a great point about the recap pages. Sadly, I remember reading somewhere (possibly from a DC editor) that the reason DC doesn’t do recap pages is that their storytelling should always be able to stand on it’s own, implying that Marvel’s doesn’t. This is a great sentiment, but we all know that this isn’t always the case. Maybe they should let go of their pride, bite the bullet and start doing recap pages. They’re not hurting anything or anyone by being in there.

  5. I will miss the Double Feature back-up stories. I think after initial misfires, like with Green Arrow, DC finally got it right before abruptly discontinuing what was shaping up to be AWESOME stories: Atom; Jimmy Olsen, Commissioner Gordon; Legion.  This letters page announcement seems like a crappy concilation prize and irrelevant filler.  RIP co-feature.

  6. I couldn’t disagree more Conor.

    Jut yesterday I read an issue if Avengers Academy and thought to myself about how much I love that it has a letters page. Which then had me thinking more generally about how much I enjoy Marvel’s letter pages and how I think it’s something DC is missing.

    Marvel does a great job of choosing interesting letters, a lot of the time from a very different point of view from my own: readers from foreign countries and LONG time readers.

    I do agree with you on the recap pages. I’d like both in DC books!

  7. @Thursday  No, those are story pages.

  8. Every time I see the self-indulgent six pages of letters in the back of an indie book, I make a brief list of the other things that paper could have been used for before wondering how much of the $4 I just paid is covering this printed circle jerk.

  9. Anyone else remember “T.M. Maple”?  I seem to recall they even eulogized him in the letter columns when he died.

  10. I like letters columns. I started reading comics in 2009 as an adult so I don’t have the history, but I enjoy reading letters columns. Some of the letters columns I like are Kirkman’s Walking dead stuff and Hickman’s letters column in FF.

    I do like the fact that it is a letters column and not an emails column because it will weed out the lazy spammer email. By the way I am too lazy to send letters.

  11. I don’t know, it can’t be any worse than the DC message boards, I guess.

  12. I’m assuming this is to help make up for the two pages of content we’re losing in each issue, yes? Eh. I’m okay with it. It’s not going to replace great online forums like this one but it will give a tiny bit more content.

  13. Cool. I’ve always liked the letter columns, never much cared for the recap page at Marvel. In general they’re not well executed, there have been some nice ones though: ThorTMA springs to mind, X-Factor has novel recap pages, but too often sound like PAD complaining about the recap page! The Buffy the Vampire Slayer letter column is really interesting reading as well, since many of the readers claim not to have been normal comic readers. The idea that the book prompted them to not only read a comic but write to the editors its intriguing. What’s the motivation?

    I think discounting is as a relic is a bit shortsighted: my friend was never more excited then when his letter got published in an issue of Jersey Gods, only a year and a half back. unlike fora where anyone can post, the letters column has the air legitimization. Because an editor/writer saw the letter and selected it to publish it in a book. It’s not just “a post on a board” or a meaningless tweet. It was *selected.* 

  14. Forgot to say, I really like the image attached to this. Interesting representation of the DCU (The Big 5, Teen Titans!? and Batgirl and Powergirl!)

  15. It’s funny that they would claim “the storytelling can stand on its own” as the reason for no recap page, because I can always see the hoops the writers are jumping through each issue to catch the reader up–a recap page lets you jump right in like you never left, but when you read DC in trades you can really see how blatantly every 20-some pages the characters are suddenly pulling the old “Remember how this happened a few minutes ago?” routine, or the voiceover is telling you exactly what you just read before you turned the page.

    Seems to me the only reason not to do a recap page is they don’t want to admit they were wrong about something Marvel got right.

  16. @Jimski  HA! That may be the grouchiest thing I’ve ever seen you post. Did Labor Days hack your account and post as you somehow?

    What’s weird is that they formally announced this when random Marvel and Image books still have letters pages.  Did Steve Wacker recently migrate from Marvel to DC? That would explain this announcement, no problem.

  17. I like this idea a lot. Letters pages always made comics feel like more of an “experience”. It gave you another type of content within the comic. As others have said, hopefully they use this to give a space for the editors/creators to have a bit of a forum every now and then to write a few paragraphs about what’s up with the series. Twitter has its purpose, but letters columns would provide space for longer, more thoughtful dialogue and explanations of the comics-creating process.

  18. We actually have to POST the letters? What is this, the Stone Age?

  19. I like the letters pages in Walking Dead, but I think that’s because of Kirkman and his people.  I don’t know if it’s right for every book/team.

  20. I think it’s a great way to make up for the fewer story pages per issue. And in terms of the time it takes to read a letters page versus a splash page or even a diagloue-light story page, you might even end up with more reading time for your money! Also, does anyone know if Uncle Elvis is still around?

  21. letters pages are fun, but i agree with conor…they are kind of antiquated retro kitsch. I got a “letter” published in an issue of Chew a while back…it wasn’t really a letter, but an email that i sent to the creators about their book, and they put it in print. It was really a snippet of a back and forth conversation we had so i dunno…its just not as authentic as it used to be. Its kinda like those USB drives that look like old cassette tapes…call it whatever you want, its still not a mix tape. 

  22. I always liked the letters pages cause people would bring up theories and ideas i had never thought of. twitter is great for one on one but it’s nice to read other fans thoughts on the books and answers to their questions

  23. I always thought that the letters page added a bit of character to the book.  I’m looking forward to their return.

    It’s also nice to get a glimpse of where the readership was when you go back and reread an issue with letters pages.  I suppose I could print a bunch of forum posts and file them with the issues for future reference, but I’m pretty sure DC printing a letters page is going to be infinitely easier.

    Haters are always gonna hate, so just don’t read ’em if you don’t want to. 

  24. The letters page in FF has been great since Hickman took over

  25. @ Conor    ” with so many more immediate and more reliable ways of contacting creators these days ..  “
    I firmly dissagree. Like if I shoot off an email or twitter question, Geoff Johns will give me a personal response immediately. I think a letters page would be FUN! You can scan it and see other people that have the same questions as you and get creator’s response.

  26. @Jesse1125  Creators respond to fans over social media all day long.

  27. Cool.  I like the letters pages, from the lengthy ones in Image books to the single page in the Marvel book.  It’s a cool way to see creator dialogue with those that still enjoy the art of writing a letter.  Also, they can be very funny.

  28. it would be nice to have a proper recap page. Would be easier to jump on any issue and It would make for better story telling than what they do with something like Generation Lost where they frequently have a mini recap through dialogue.

  29. @conor  Then I’ve definitely have to give it a shot. It’s just nice not to be plugged into a device 24/7.

  30. In other news: DC and/or Marvel does a thing, fans say it’s not good.

  31. I’d rather have a recap page and the variant cover in the inside (Larsen does it like that).

  32. Add a recap page.  

  33. While there are great sites, namely this very one to boost/get involved in the community…I enjoy the letters pages in Fantastic Four and Scarlett so I don’t see this as a bad thing.

  34. How about letters that recap the last issue or maybe a recap of last issue’s letters?

  35. Logging on to this site every week to pick my comics and browse the articles is the extent of my “extra credit” for this particular hobby. Not everyone who reads comics is main-lining it with every piece of tech they have at their disposal. As a matter of fact, the emailing-twitter-bators are probably in the minority(just a guess). The letters page might be nice for those of us that want to just dip our toes in. I do agree that a recap page would be nice as well.

  36. I like to buy comic books from the 80s and I enjoy reading the letters. So this could be fun.

  37. I like Kirkman’s letter pages.  Hope these include full names and addresses like the old one’s did. 

  38. I guess it might be neat

    Then again I dont read the letters in the Fantastic Four issues I got so chances are I wont read these

    Hopefully we get more questions like “what was your approach to doing this plot point/character beat/whatever?” and less questions like “whats going to happen with this? you forgot this plot element? what are the exact ages of the characters?”

  39. This might be interesting in a Geoff Johns book. He seems to really enjoy interacting with his fans. It could result in some fun responses. 

    I do agree though. They should at least update it to email or something. Having to send a letter is ridiculously out-dated.  

  40. Luddites rejoice! I think this is kinda cool. I miss the letters pages sometimes. As long as it doesn’t cut into the story pages. I would hope the stuff in the letter column would not be repeated online – that would be a redundant waste of space, and also make the letters published less “special.”

    What they didn’t clarify is if there will be a separate letter page unique to each book, or if we’re going to get one letter page reprinted across all titles. The current DC back page thing is weak. And redundant of you read more than one DC book a month. I would hope these are unique to each title.

    At the same time, I would love to see a recap page. If you read as many comics as I do, it would greatly help to keep things straight.

    Just curious – how many nay-sayers have never had a letter published?

  41. @SteenAR  There is a link to DC wensite where you can fill out a letter form online. It’s not email but pretty much the same thing.

  42. I’m not sure why there are any negative vibes about this whole thing. DC is losing 2 pages of story to make their comics cheaper, so why not try and add one more page so in the long run you’re only losing 1 page of comics?

    I always like seeing letter pages in old comics, or in some modern comics that uses them. Now I gotta think of some questions to ask for the DC people. 

  43. Ah, bliss.  Letters columns. I still think they’re relevant, if only for the future for historical purposes.

    @PraxJarvin  – That image in the blog post is a two page spread in the DC comics this week to announce the letters column, too. So you’ll get to see it full-size tomorrow. =)

  44. I like the idea. if you tweet an editor or writer you at best you get a 140 character short response, a letters page is likely to give you something abit more substantial provided its not the kind of pointless self agrandising “hey issue 16 was AWESOME” bollocks or fanboy (not to sully the name) requests for explanations that are ultimately unimportant.

    Saying that one off my foundest memories if winning a No-Prize in the panini re-prints of ASM here in the U.K….i was 11 give me a break.