Letter Bugs by Don MacPherson There's a proud tradition in comics, one that persists many titles even today. It's the letters page, or lettercol, as some have been heard to call it. Sure, most of the lettercols we see in comics today are cobbled together from e-mails and message boards, but back in the day, fans sat down and put pen to paper, stamp to envelope. And some of those letter writers, some of those fans... some of them create the comics we read today. These are the real deal... letters written by comics pros when they were comics fans. From "The Superman Family Circle" in Superman Family #213 (cover date December 1981)... "Dear Editor, The way that you have been developing the Supergirl series since her move to New York has been the main reason for my interest in SUPERMAN FAMILY. Making her switch scenes to the Big Apple was the best thing that could have happened. New Athens was just too far away from the rest of your DC characters. "'Strike Three...You're Out" in #209 was by far the best story in the book. (The others were good too, but I'm biased.) First, there were eight new characters introduced. I hope this means there will be lots of interaction between Linda and the soap opera gang. And while the story was 14 pages long, only two of them showed Supergirl in action. I like a good battle as much as anyone, but having twelve pages for characterization was better than any fight could be. I like to see what Linda's thoughts are and how she reacts to different situations. "To top things off, the art was gorgeous! It's not just Win Mortimer's pencilling or Vince Colletta's inkuing, but the combination of the two. They mesh perfectly to draw the best-looking super-heroine anywhere. "I know I've carried on too long and it's time for you to read the rest of the mail, but when I'm excited, I tend to ramble. Next issue, I promise to comment on all five stories..." Signed, Todd McFarlane, Calgary, Alberta, Canada I wonder if Todd still tends to ramble when he's excited? And now, on to "Baxter Building Bulletins" from Fantastic Four #186 (cover date September 1977)... "Dear People, In these days, one sees a lot of the 'new, powerful super-heroine' who's a real scrapper, just as good as--or maybe even a little better than--the males. We've got women like Storm, Phoenix, Valkyrie, Ms. Marvel, the Red Guardian, and Misty Knight (note the recurring writer on most of these characters, Chris Claremont). None of these new heroines have anything to do with those old, weak women like the Invisible Girl. "Hold on a minute! The Invisible Girl isn't weak. If one takes a no-holds-barred free-for-all between all of the FFers, who comes out on top? Right! Susan Storm Richards. "The Thing's most powerful blows have not clobbered that force-field The Human Torch can try to burn it or punch it, but neither is gonna help. And Mr. Fantastic? Forget it! "Letters like this one have, in the past, been answered by saying that Sue's powers are defensive, rather than offensive. Well, let's go back to our hypothetical free-for-all. A quickly moving force-sphere, right between the eyes, would probably down Reed. And the Torch, brash young hot-head that he is, would never notice an invisible fire hose until it was too late. And as for the Thing--well, I seem to remember Sue almost suffocating the Hulk in a very compact field awhile back. Three down, none to go. And those stunts don't begin to compare with what Sue could come up after exercising a little imagination." Signed, Kurt Busiek, Lexington, Massachusetts Well, maybe Kurt's pal Mark Waid can make that hypothetical a four-color reality when his run on FF begins later this year. Invisible fire hose? Don MacPherson submitted a letter or two to comics editors in his time as well, so he's not one to talk. Email Don MacPherson comments about this column, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.