I wrote a few letters as a kid which must have been annoying as they were just question after question. Will Man-Bat return? Could Juggernaut beat the Hulk? Will we see Hercules take on Juggernaut? Can you do a Superman vs. Riddler battle? And on and on...

And those are fine. We write at the level we are capable of at a particular time. So as a kid, I did write a list of questions.

As I got older, I started writing what I hoped were more thoughtful letters, e.g. comments about the art, profound thoughts on various stories, comparisons between Avengers tales and what I might have seen in TV shows like The Prisoner, etc. Some of those got published.

I do enjoy letters pages, and am dismayed that so few comics and magazines have them now (some do, of course). I try and appreciate that people write at a different level. Some will write 3-4 paragraphs of profound thoughts while others who are younger may send a "shopping list" of questions. All are fine. I like the fact that letters provide a "snapshot in time" of people's thoughts. It's pretty cool for me to pick up comics from before I was born - and find out what readers thought at the time.

You should be working for DC!

Also, and this might be a separate debate, we've all spoken about the expensive price of comics now. I read them in five minutes. I know the days of exciting model kit ads are over, but the price of comics (nearly four quid here!) might feel better, as in the blow would be softened, if there was a Bullpen Bulletins-style column and a letters page.

On the DC forum years ago, someone expressed the view that the internet has made such things redundant. Why? Just because there are forums doesn't mean that we don't need letters pages. Electronic reader polls are a great idea! Plus, the keyword for me with letters columns is "curated". An editor or assistant editor compiling letters (or picking the best from their own forums) would be interesting to read.

That makes me sad in a poignant way.

Those letters are a great "snapshot" of history. And there is a chance (not necessarily true) that the people who wrote those letters might not be with us any longer. But we can still read them.

They often showcased the evolution of the series. Master of Kung Fu had several letters from a Bill Wu, decrying the stereotypical depictions of the Asian characters, the yellow coloring of Fu Manchu and even Shang Chi's orangish tone, compared to the caucasian characters. He pushed hard enough that, slowly, those things started to change.

James Robinson's were a treat, as there were often themed discussions. Firearm had a main character who loved books; so, the letters page was filled with talk of books. Starman was filled with talk of antiques and collectibles.

Good stuff.

Fun Mail from New Fun #4 (May, 1935).

I agree with George, Stumpp, Jr. He was ahead of his time. I don't know how you can have a good story in 6-8 pages, unless it's humor.

Could always move the discussion to the less DC-specific classiccomics.org/thread/6631/letters-pages, but I suppose I’ll say here that while I sure it’s possible to be complex with 6 to 8 pages, I don’t think that’s how most comic writers would have approached it when telling complex stories, since I think that long-form was associated more with pulp novels.

Speaking of Ye Editors’ page, later called Target Hits and Misses, there were a series of letters that stuck out to me from 1944-1945 where readers, which I presume were mainly little kids, were writing about females being involved with comics. Interesting back and forth that went on here: