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Dave Jasinski
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: July 05 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 59
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 7:36am | IP Logged | 1
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Many of these comic cons have gotten so big that they take much of the fun away. When you have to wait in a very long line just to get in and then navigate around these spaces just packed to the limit with people. Many of them in cosplay attire so they stop frequently to let others take pictures. Comics ARE represented but it seems like an afterthought. It is nice to see many of the celebrity guests, some from old TV shows from my childhood but the amount they charge for autographs and pictures is sometimes ridiculous. Just seems like a money grab every where you turn. I live in Rhode Island, and even in our small state, the yearly con has taken over the convention center and the adjacent sports/concert arena and they STILL don't have enough room. I went to San Diego years ago but it just seems so huge now and the tickets sell out so fast, I would not even attempt it.
Edited by Dave Jasinski on September 27 2017 at 7:37am
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Drew Spence
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: February 19 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 225
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 7:45am | IP Logged | 2
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Love how people assume things. Gotta love the internet, eh?
Got nothing to do with the internet. If I was standing in front of you, I'd say to your face "I bet you never even wrote a letter to one of them comics"
And you'd say "Wrong! I wrote plenty and...and...."
And I'd be corrected. And you know what, the conversation would move past that. Yep, I'd be wrong about your puzzle piece in my theory.
I do have proof. It's anecdotal. I KNOW editors who write fake letters and know people who easily claim it's their job to fill in softball advice columns and such. It's not so far a stretch to figure lots of places that take 'letters from readers' are doing similar.
Unless "Hey guys" was everyone's opening and "Keep up the good work" was everyone's closing. Sure, possible.
Perhaps my very existence is fake...
And that right there, is the pure internet stuff.
Cause you don't talk like that in real life do you? lol
There's my lol to lighten the mood.
Edited by Drew Spence on September 27 2017 at 7:46am
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Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: June 17 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 8:17am | IP Logged | 3
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Fair enough. But you're not the first person to say that to me.
I may be a minority in writing letters. In fact, perhaps fewer than 5-10 people write letters to particular publications. And I know they are not going to fill a letters page with a letter from me. But I certainly like writing them.
As for your point, I think publications that print fake letters could be accused of lacking ethics. I would rather have the following:
"We're not getting enough letters to fill a page. Please write in."
I'd rather have that than people making up letters. That seems wrong, whether it's newspapers, magazines or comics.
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Drew Spence
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: February 19 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 225
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 9:02am | IP Logged | 4
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I think publications that print fake letters could be accused of lacking ethics.
Well, there's the thought that somebody MUST be thinking this, so it's okay to pick one imaginary reader.
And people say stuff to me all the time and I say 'Send that in an email so I can quote it' and they never do. I think some of the editors take comments and turn them into letters. Stretching, but not totally wrong, wrong.
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: May 26 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11250
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 9:07am | IP Logged | 5
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Yes I can confirm that Robbie has had letters printed.I
too have had letters printed in comics and magazines
numerous times.Most recently in Total Film magazine,I
recieved The Girl On The Train on dvd for my efforts.In
the past I got Django Unchained and Amazing Spider-man 2
on dvd,not bad for a few minutes typing.Like Robbie,I
love reading vintage and current letters pages.I've had
letters printed in newspapers too.Maybe some publishers
fake it,but many do not!
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Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: June 17 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 9:17am | IP Logged | 6
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Thanks, Bill. Oh, I missed a few copies of TOTAL FILM, no doubt the one you got letters printed in.
+++
I think some of the editors take comments and turn them into letters. Stretching, but not totally wrong, wrong.
***
And by doing that, they're probably exploiting what they THINK is a loophole as far as ethics are concerned (a bit like how one journalist used quotes from a press conference to STRONGLY IMPLY it was a one-to-one interview he was conducting; the quotes were true, but he had conveniently left out the fact he was one of many).
It's a shame they have to resort to that. I don't think UK comics do it, though. Not only saying that because I've had letters printed, and I'm not only saying that because people I know have had letters printed, but they just seem real. Very few are wall-to-wall praise, many are critical. Or feature a "laundry list" of impossible questions (one letter of mine requested that DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE try and licence a Doctor/Fantastic Four strip!).
EDIT: I don't write to US comics now. Certainly not DC and Marvel. Despite my letters to them, I haven't spotted a letters page in a DC or Marvel title for a while. I do browse when I enter a comic store. I'm sure someone will point to an exception, if one exists, but I'm not seeing them anywhere, only in small publishers' books.
Edited by Robbie Parry on September 27 2017 at 9:19am
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John Popa
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: March 20 2008
Posts: 4377
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 10:02am | IP Logged | 7
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I remember an issue of DARKSTARS in the 90's that printed 2 or 3 letters and the editor said they were the only letters they had received and asked fans to write in. (The book was cancelled soon thereafter, mind you.)
I've had letters printed in Marvel and DC Comics, and some early Image books, as well as the old Comics Buyers Guide.
I still don't care about letters pages :)
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: May 11 2005
Posts: 132311
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 11:20am | IP Logged | 8
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Not long after I started on FANTASTIC FOUR, a writer for a then-popular zine published a column on how to get letters published at Marvel. She listed half a dozen points, most of which were based on her skewed perceptions, not facts. Nonetheless, lots of readers took this "advice" to heart, and we started getting truckloads of what Roger Stern dubbed "me am think you great" letters. Frustrating, since I wanted to put together good ol' fashioned Marvel-style lettercols. So, in an Editorial "voice" I wrote a small notice to be put in a box on the letter page. There I said John was pleased to receive so many compliments, but he really wanted to see more letters discussing the characters and the stories. Shooter saw this and ordered it removed. "You can't tell the fans what kind of letters to write!" But a fanzine writer can? So I went to Plan B. For about three months, I ran letters I wrote myself, as well as such letters as I could use from what came in. (Somewhat ironically, not knowing what I was doing, Shooter complained that I was running "too many negative letters!") Anyway, it worked. After a few months the letters became less sycophantic and more usable. So, sometimes fake letters can be harnessed for Good!
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: May 26 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11250
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 11:35am | IP Logged | 9
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It just occured to me,the more cynical of you may think
Robbie and i are the same person...i assure you we`re
not!
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Matthew Wilkie
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: March 09 2011
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1139
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 1:42pm | IP Logged | 10
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Letters pages used to set the tone for comics for me. I used to love Alpha Waves until JB left - presumably cos he was no longer writing the responses - with Carl Potts (or would that have been Bill Mantlo?) taking a more corporate tone.
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Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: June 17 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 1:50pm | IP Logged | 11
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The one thing I will say about letters pages - and there'll be exceptions before anyone jumps in - is that, for the most part, the Marvel letters columns were answered by people who felt like friendly uncles, having a cordial chat; at DC, their responses felt very corporate, formal, etc. Like having a conversation with one's accountant.
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Shane Matlock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: August 12 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 1760
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| Posted: September 27 2017 at 6:46pm | IP Logged | 12
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Some modern comics even use things like letters pages, columns by the writer, guest essays, pages from the script, pencil art, character sketches as "back matter" to drive up sales of the monthly comic since those things will not be reprinted in the trade. I think it's a pretty good idea. I love the added essays about old noir films in the back of Brubaker's comics and the monthy comic is the only place to get it.
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