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During my teens and early adulthood I spent a lot of time reading and enjoying comic books. Here in the UK that meant older Marvel and DC Comics (80’s / early 90’s) from a local market stall, and Panini UK reprints of Marvel titles such as X-Men (Essential X-Men) and Spider-Man (Astonishing Spider-Man). Later on I found the local comic book shop and managed to get the latest issues.

Part of the enjoyment of these comics was reading the views and opinions of other fans in the letters page. The letters pages of comic books acts a time machine to the comic book culture of the time. A new character appearing or a storyline with big changes? Some fans would write to share their excitement, others to vent their anger. Editorial staff and writers would respond, sometimes even the “characters” would chip in.

The letters page was an opportunity for a fan to share their thoughts with the comic publisher, the comic creators, the comic editorial team, and more importantly other fans. It was also a great place to ask questions and get back answers from those in the know.

Famous Comic Book Letter Page Writers

Some of the letter writers would later on go on to work on comic books, and seeing their early contributions in the letters page could be quite inspiring. Kurt Busiek, Dave Cockrum, Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and Beau Smith are all examples of letter writers who later went on to work in comic books.

First Comic Book Letters Page

The first comic book letters page seems to be Target Vol 1 Issue 11, cover dated December 1940 (Source: https://tombrevoort.com/2023/10/21/the-first-comic-book-letters-page/).

World Wide Web and Decline Of Letters Pages

Around the same time as me finding my interest in comic books there was the growth of the world wide web, and with it forums, bulletin boards and chat rooms. Suddenly there were many more places to discuss comic books. Some of these were great, allowing fans to connect instantly to share opinions, questions and points of view faster. However, I also think that they drove to the decline in letters pages which started to disappear from a lot of comic books.

Did I Ever See A Letter Printed?

Although I was interacting on web boards and forums, I still took the time to write letters. My first few hit print in the Panini UK reprints (such as Avengers United) before I managed to see my name in print in the US titles such as X-Men, New Thunderbolts, Alpha Flight, and Cable & Deadpool. I even managed to tie my enjoyment of comics and Star Wars together with some letters in Dark Horse’s Star Wars titles.

Modern (2026) Comic Books

Recently I started reading comic books again, and I was very happy to discover that some comics titles (e.g. Marvel’s X-Men) have letters pages and fans are still letters. Sure I could try jumping back into web forums or social media to see what other fans opinions are, but the letters page still has a magic that the web is missing.

Thank you to all the publishers that still embrace letters pages!