Although the above question can apply to any publication, fictional or non-fictional, as it's here, I guess we'll talk more about 2000 AD.
Whether it's the magazines I buy, or the comics I purchase, letters pages are important to me. Despite the era of great forums like this, where you can instantly see what people like, I think there are two great reasons for letters pages.
Firstly, there is something cool about seeing a snapshot of opinion on a letters page. Letters selected for publication are usually the "cream of the crop" and provide a wide variety of views.
Secondly, and most importantly, it's great that you can buy back issues and get a feel for how people felt at the time. I wasn't around in, say, the late 50s, but pick up a publication from that era and it's nice to get a feel for how people living back then felt. Some modern comics that lack letters pages won't be the same for future generations.
Any thoughts?
Yeah, letter pages are important for me( more important for others!)
It gives a feel of community and love for the material. If someone takes the time to pen and consider a letter to the comic, whether positive or negative, it adds to the experience of reading the comic, it may point the reader to look at a story in a different perspective. I think it's different to the keyboard diarrhea of a lot of comment of on-line reviews.
The letter pages to Warrior, Daredevils, etc were an essential part of reading them.
Its funny when comics are new I'm not overly fussed about the letters page. However when it comes to back issues and older comics I love them. Add a real scene of time and place to the comic. There were also some great regular writers to US comics in particular who offered some fascinating insight into stuff.
Its also fun for future star spotting. Normally comics creators but always remember spotting a letter from Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) in an old issue of Machine Man!
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 03 April, 2016, 08:00:52 AM
Its funny when comics are new I'm not overly fussed about the letters page. However when it comes to back issues and older comics I love them. Add a real scene of time and place to the comic.
^^This^^
Aside from the content in the comic the letters (and fan's pictures) in old comics can really take you back. A friend of mine got a picture published in an old ROTJ Weekly (Yagton Fett, brother of Boba Fett). Any time I take a look at it I'm ten again, I can remember the Saturday we bought the comic and saw his drawing.
I always love to see a letters page in the Prog and the Meg and think they are distinctly different to the forum, in as much as not everyone who writes in is on the forum (I am guessing).
Sadly the Prog more often than not doesn't have a letters page these days. In years gone by there was always one. I suspect it is because they aren't receiving that many anymore.
One of the great things about the Prog and Meg letters over the years has been that they have featured some fairly insightful comments and weren't just rose tinted praise.
Compare that with the letters page in IDW's Judge Dredd Mega City Zero issue 3 which was all huge praise and which given my view of the quality of that particular comic left me thinking "are you quite sure about that?"
Letters are always welcome in a comic as long as they, as Magnetica points out, give an honest view and aren't just filtered to show the positive comments.
Though of course anyone who went so far as to start counting or indexing letters would clearly have a screw loose ;)
I think it shows effort, too.
This forum is great - it's why I joined - but some, well...
I was on a comic forum years ago devoted to British reprints of Marvel US titles. One guy put no effort in and was told to put more effort in when reviewing comics. His posts were a sentence long and usually:
"I really liked that issue."
"I didn't think that was a good issue."
And then on another forum, one guy's 'critique' of a Doctor Who episode was:
"Absolute, stinking drivel!"
I guess being able to hit the "Enter" key on your laptop/Chromebook/Mac is all the effort some want to do. No publication would print letters with comments like those above. Writing a letter requires effort and thought, whether being positive or negative. I like to think they'll always have a place.
All of the above, and if there weren't one: Buttonman would gravitationally collapse in upon himself in such a manner that it would create a portal to another Universe. We would then have the reality of Glimmer Rats played out in front of us. Z
i love the letters page and am always pleased to see it. I kind of miss the old style, short and quirky letters from the past ('Dear Tharg, You know that episode of the Flintstones where Fred becomes a rock star? Well, that's my favourite episode, that is.'), but still, I'm all for a letters page in every prog.
It's also a bit of a treat to be reading a back prog and come across a letter from a future creator; Kek W is one letter-writer I remember. Also it's interesting to see one of you chaps in the back progs; I recently came across our boy the Shark in an old Megazine.
I do love the thrill of writing a letter and then wondering if it'll get printed in the Prog/Meg. Also getting the free gifts is great, too! I still can't quite believe people used to get £10 for sending in a letter/drawing sometimes. That's real money today, never mind 35 years ago. I definitely think very differently about what I might want to say in a letter to Tharg vs what I'd write on a forum such as this one.
For letters in the Meg you get a Rebellion graphic novel, usually worth a tenner or more, where as for 2000ad you get a little plastic figure. So if that is a concern you want to be targeting the Meg :D
I usually feel letters to the Meg need to be more meaty and contain a level
of analysis, where as Prog letters can be more throw away (there's scope for analysis as well.)
I had a friend who was at boarding school in the late 80s / early 90s who was obliged to write a letter home every week. He didn't fancy writing to his aprents all the time so he wrote to Tharg each week instead. In the end he only got published once (so he tells me), for one of those throwaway 1-line insults. The kind of letters that don't seem to appear much anymore. I get the very strong impression that there used to be hundreds of letters sent in once upon a time, and now it's a trickle of maybe 10 emails a week. Is that because the times have changed or the readership has grown up?
Its very important for keeping the deranged from annoying real people.
I can take them or leave them.
Actually not. It's the lifeblood of the Prog or Meg, the beating heart, the vox populai, the fevered debate or immature name calling - and I write in most weeks too.
If you are seriously interested in the letter page Stephen (Good name BTW) and I think you are, these articles (https://2000ad.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/writing-to-tharg-part-1/) may be of interest as they cover the thoughts of two letter writing greats and Tom Proudfoot. Full disclosure demands that I state that I now have had 91 letters published.
If you need anything more dial B-E-A-S-T into your phone and stand well back.
If you dream of a career in letters - and who doesn't? - here is the current list of everyone who has had 10 or more letters printed. These are the people to beat. Apart from Tom, he likes that too much.
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c118/button71/letters18april_zps5getddw9.png)
If proof was need that care in the community had failed, then there it is :lol:
I wonder if Kevin Barry at joint 17 is my favourite living Irish writer, er, Kevin Barry. I like to think so - City of Bohane has a weird touch of 2000ad to it.
Oooh! Letters based chat ensues! Here is Mr Barry's oeuvre - anyone want to critique his work and comment on the likelihood of him being that author who I haven't heard of?
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c118/button71/barry_zpslmrtitct.jpg)
Quote from: Buttonman on 18 April, 2016, 09:21:29 PM
Oooh! Letters based chat ensues! Here is Mr Barry's oeuvre - anyone want to critique his work and comment on the likelihood of him being that author who I haven't heard of?
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c118/button71/barry_zpslmrtitct.jpg)
emails shouldn't count, far too lazy. You might as well add comments on the 2000ad Facebook page. Pfft
Seeing as he's in my town, why haven't I seen him in the flesh! Does he really exist?
Quote from: Buttonman on 18 April, 2016, 09:21:29 PM
Oooh! Letters based chat ensues! Here is Mr Barry's oeuvre - anyone want to critique his work and comment on the likelihood of him being that author who I haven't heard of?
Maidstone, Kent? It's not the one I was thinking. Read his novel, though; it's about future people in funny clothes hitting each other.
Maybe it's the
other Kevin Barry, who was executed in 1920 for the killing of three British soldiers while in the IRA? Possibly not, now I think of it.
Has it ever been suggested to print the monthly forum art competition winner in the prog letter page. I miss the old art entries. Z
I, too, miss the art entries.
I also love the letters page.
It's the first thing I read, if there is one, after Damage Report.
In Maidstone Kent one Wednesday morning
No thought of a writer's fee
Kevin Barry gave us ten short lines
On the return of Dinosty
Just a lad of 15 letters
Yet there's no-one can deny
It's cos his words to Tharg were fawning
That his Beast rank is so high.
Perhaps more than one Mr Barry but I like to think their paths have crossed. No man is an island.
In Mountjoy jail one Monday morning
High upon the gallows tree,
Kevin Barry gave his young life
For the cause of liberty.
Just a lad of eighteen summers,
Still there's no one can deny,
As he walked to death that morning,
He proudly held his head on high.
Excerpt from original: Tordel's is better. Z :lol:
Given previous Beast data fiascos, can we be completely sure these letters weren't from Barry Kevin?
In answer to the original question: I love a good (translation: Watson and Proudfoot free) letters page. In particular, I like the time capsule effect of reading the letters and editorials in older comics. A few months ago I bought some Daredevil back issues on Comixology and was pretty annoyed to find that none of that stuff was included.
Quote from: AlexF on 18 April, 2016, 01:03:46 PMI get the very strong impression that there used to be hundreds of letters sent in once upon a time, and now it's a trickle of maybe 10 emails a week. Is that because the times have changed or the readership has grown up?
I think it's more that the readership has shrunk rather than grown up. I'm also very lazy about writing in. The only times I've ever made a sustained effort to put finger to keyboard has been when BM's been running one of his more focused campaigns.
He wants me, but can't have me :D
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 19 April, 2016, 07:45:54 AM
I also love the letters page.
It's the first thing I read
Me too, and not just cause I'm 4th in line to The Throne.
It's something that has always added to the enjoyment of a Prog.
Quote from: ZenArcade on 19 April, 2016, 12:41:28 AM
Has it ever been suggested to print the monthly forum art competition winner in the prog letter page. I miss the old art entries. Z
I really like this idea.
I miss the Letters page in comics generally, though it's not something I ever read religiously. I think forums have taken their place somewhat in the wider world.
However, the Prog is a cult of sorts and must remain ever so. I need these weird little hidden subcultures to stumble across (I fully love Buttonman's spreadsheet).
Quote from: Tordelback on 19 April, 2016, 08:04:22 AM
In Maidstone Kent one Wednesday morning
No thought of a writer's fee
Kevin Barry gave us ten short lines
On the return of Dinosty
Just a lad of 15 letters
Yet there's no-one can deny
It's cos his words to Tharg were fawning
That his Beast rank is so high.
You're wasted on us, Tordels.
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 18 April, 2016, 10:18:37 PM
Quote from: Buttonman on 18 April, 2016, 09:21:29 PM
Oooh! Letters based chat ensues! Here is Mr Barry's oeuvre - anyone want to critique his work and comment on the likelihood of him being that author who I haven't heard of?
Maidstone, Kent? It's not the one I was thinking.
An Irishman that doesn't actually live in Ireland? That doesn't happen surely?
Quote from: Buttonman on 18 April, 2016, 09:21:29 PM
Oooh! Letters based chat ensues! Here is Mr Barry's oeuvre - anyone want to critique his work and comment on the likelihood of him being that author who I haven't heard of?
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c118/button71/barry_zpslmrtitct.jpg)
Can you check the BEAST for a Sean South of Garryowen?
Sad are the homes round Garryowen
Since they lost their joy and pride
And the banshee cry links every vale
Around the Shannon side that city of the ancient walls
The broken treaty stone, undying fame surrounds your name, Sean South from Garryowen
First verse of Sean South for reference: go Tordel...go! Z :o
Quote
Can you check the BEAST for a Sean South of Garryowen?
And there's me checking too! Timewaster!
BBAwhahhahahahaaha!