I was having a Facebook discussion with my friend Peter Damien (go visit his blog) about old comics. He had posted something about Captain American #406, which was Capwolf Versus Cable! and we were talking about how much fun comics used to be. Of course, we split on a few things, but it got me thinking. Not about how Pete and I used to talk about this stuff in emails and regular mails and that since he now tends to go off the grid these spontaneous conversations have sort of died away… no, I was thinking about what made me love comics and specifically Marvel.
DC gave a rebirth to comicbook superheroes with a retcon of The Flash, starting the Silver Age. For many years, they were the King of Comic Book Companies. All the others bowed down at the DC altar. Atlas/Marvel was just another two-bit publisher, no better than the other second tier companies, like Gold Key, Dell, Harvey, and so on.
Until the Fantastic Four. Then all hell broke loose. Marvel had broken the mold. Instead of a superhero team where everyone just got along and fought baddies, here was a team that had in-fighting, and one of the heroes was a monster! So there was angst and emotions and The Thing feeling sorry for himself. Then when Spider-man came out, a hero with pimples, girl problems, inner turmoil over the death of his uncle, who he could have saved… well, the flood gates opened. Superheroes weren’t just cookie cutter characters in colorful costumes, they became people we could relate to.
Suddenly, comics weren’t just for kids, college kids started reading them.
And I say all that just to bring home a point. Marvel was the groovy comic book company. They were happening. And many people point to this as their success, that they had broken the barrier and made comics cool with adults.
But I think what made Marvel so much different from DC and so much different from what is out there today was that Marvel communicated with its readers.
They gave their writers and artists nicknames, like Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “The King” Kirby. They had asides in the comics that addressed us, the readers, with things like, “Hang tight, True Believer, all will be revealed soon enough.” They broke down the fourth wall and made us a part of the story.
And there was the Bullpen Bulletin where Stan Lee told us of all the happenings within the Marvel universe. And he’d say things like “Excelsior!” and “Nuff Said.” Hokey? Maybe, but we ate it up.
And though DC had letters pages, Marvel took it a step further with in-jokes, and the famed “No Prize” which was nothing more than an acknowledgement that the fan had done something good, like when you’d point out an error in the previous issue. “Good catch, Tiger! You win a ‘No-Prize!'”
And Marvel had a fan club! Several fan clubs, to be precise. It started out with the M.M.M.S. (The Merry Marvel Marching Society.) It even had it’s own theme song, for goodness sake!
That was followed by Marvelmania, and then F.O.O.M. (Friends of Old Marvel.)
These all combined to make Marvel special. Each little component made the reader feel a part of the experience, as if he or she were important to the cause.
Now? Now comics don’t even have letters pages. There is nothing within comic books of today that make a reader feel a part of what’s going on. There’s nothing to differentiate one comics publisher from another except the logo on the cover. They’ve all lost the one element that made comics, Marvel comics particularly, so unique in the Silver Age and that element is FUN.
Today’s comics, despite being about superheroes, just aren’t fun. They take themselves far too seriously.
What we need today is a comic book company that can bring the fun back. Or at least a letters page.
Nuff said!
Excelsior!
-30-
Upon Reflection 
I don’t MEAN to forget e-mails. If it helps any, it’s not like I exclusively forget just YOURS. 🙂
Anyway.
I think what you’re talking about is really to-the-point of some of my problems with comics these days. Super-hero comics ‘grew up’ in the 80’s through the work of people like Alan Moore and Neil gaiman. The problem is that so much of the rest of the super-hero field didn’t try to bring a lot of intelligence and thoughtfulness to the comics, they just got grim and mean.
Sort of, anyway. The goofy comics I posted pictures from — CAPWOLF! — was from the 90’s, after all, the dark age of super hero comics.
My theory is, you have to come to comics at precisely the right age, and they’re amazing. The same comics, encountered for the first time at different ages, are not as enjoyable. Would I LIKE modern super-hero comics more if I were the right age for them? Yeah, I bet. As it is, I long for the silly. And the dysfunction and the humor. That’s when Fantastic Four worked (and still does, on occasion).
Listen, if you haven’t read it…PLEASE go find a copy of some of the old SUPREME comics that Alan Moore wrote. TRUST ME. you won’t regret it. It’s a Superman copycat character, on purpose, and he puts in every goofy Super-hero (and Superman) thing that he ever loved. It’s beautiful and funny and VERY SILLY sometimes, and you will love it. You will read it and realize that Alan Moore loved all the same things about super-heroes that you did.
As for Comic letter pages….we’re so close. The comic in pamphlet form is, I feel, pretty dead. And that’s okay, because it’s getting possible, digitally, to produce comics wonderfully. I’ve been reading a few Batman comics on my wife’s iPad, and they’re gorgeous.
What isn’t there yet is a way for me to finish the issue and hit a button and type in a comment on that issue, which goes onto a page of other reader comments, and occasionally the writer or editor or artist notices and comments in there too. Much the same way a comment trail on a blog works. We need that.
As it is though, I don’t know that we NEED comic letter pages. we have the internet, which is full of comic forums. Digital Webbing is my personal favorite, although I lurk more than post. I think that does the job.
It isn’t that all comic-book publishers have taken on an air of contempt for their readers (my opinion may be a bit harsher than most), though there has definitely been a further distancing since the late 90s. It is a shame, since I really enjoy hearing about the elements which go into the production of any given issue. The most interesting publisher at the moment (by far, and with some of the best creators) has to be Dark Horse Comics, which have gone out of their way to interact with the readership.
Maybe it will take a few years, but I have the feeling that letters columns will return when the next generation of creative talent enter the field, demanding the return of the things they liked about the comics they bought in their youth…
Pete, like you and eBooks, I’m not a fan of digital comics. I want to hold it. I want to admire the colors and the pages, pour over it. I like the feel of paper and the smell. And I like to sit on the floor surrounded by stacks of comics. 😀
BW88, I do like Dark Horse. Mostly because they publish a lot of Robert E. Howard.
The comic field is in great shape these days, actually, but you have to venture away from Marvel and DC. They cast such a big shadow, though.
But yeah, Dark Horse, as mentioned, gets it right. They are really sharp and smart.
My favorite comics publisher of the moment is IDW, and they do really, really good work. They’re personable and interesting and I love ’em. And there’s a million small press comic publishers, a lot of online comics….this is a good period for comics and short stories, both. you just have to go lookin’. 🙂
Personally, I feel that at the moment, neither Marvel nor DC have anything to say at all. I’d love to see that change, and we see a small step in the right direction when the films appear and succeed (creatively, I mean, not financially). I don’t know if we’ll see the big changes needed, though.
I’ll go back to cost. Yes, there might be a lot of good small publishers out there, I’ll also throw Moonstone out there — I like when they publish “Kolchak” The Night Stalker” — but unlike “the good ole days” you have to be less pioneering in your choices. When comics were cheaper, you could take a flyer at an unknown comic or publisher, but now, with them at $4 a pop, many of us stick with what we know. After 2 years unemployed, I had to give them all up except for Captain America.