Letter Bugs by Don MacPherson The disadvantages of being a comic-book collector are never more apparent than when one moves, as I discovered recently. I not only discovered that my collection had grown to unreasonable and unwieldy proportions, but that I've reached a point in my life at which moving my collection around can lead to real back problems. Still one of the fun things about moving one's comics is that one ends up thumbing through old issues and experiencing the thrill of comics reading of one's younger days. You also never know what names one might encounter within the book, and not just in the comic's credits. Letters columns -- a dying animal in comics today, thanks in part to the immediacy of online communication -- feature some familiar names from time to time, and this feature is dedicated to showing the Fans of Today that the Professionals of Today were once the Fans of Yesterday. Our first letter is from "American Graffiti" from Captain America #318, published 20 years ago in the spring of 1986... Dear Americans, At the risk of being tarred and feathered, I must say I almost found myself rooting for Flag-Smasher. Almost. "Go back to Russia, ya Commie!" "What? I'm not a Communist. Weren't you people listening?" No, Flag-Smasher, they weren't listening and you should have known they wouldn't be after you tried to ram your noble idea in their faces. Flag-Smasher's failure lies in his outright disregard for the imperfect human psychologies of the individuals he addresses so eloquently. This is presumably so because he built a wall of resentment between himself and others, seeing every nationalist as guilty for his father's death and his own unhappiness. Although his ultimate goal is virtuous (we should stamp out prejudice and unfair separatism), all of his means to that goal are distorted by an unrealistic understanding of the problem. In closing, Cap's final speech was insightful, understanding, and inspired, but I doubt everyone was listening to him either!" Signed, Norman Breyfogle, Santa Maria, Calif. Norm Breyfogle himself, artist on such titles as Batman, Detective Comics, Anarky and Prime confirmed for The Fourth Rail this was his letter. Two decades ago, some might have accused the burgeoning artist of siding with a terrorist. Of course, his warning about others' inability or unwillingness to listen to differing opinions holds just as true today, if not moreso. Breyfogle's most recent work was on Of Bitter Souls, published by the now-defunct Speakeasy Comics. However, the title lives on. Markosia Comics has published a trade paperback collection of the first series and now has a second limited series underway. Now let's jump back to a Marvel title published a decade earlier: Super-Villain Team-Up #6 (with a publication cover date of June 1976) with its "Bad Tidings" lettercol: Dear Marv, SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM UP is a mag I would have liked to have written to more often than I have, especially after reading the request for "more feedback from you fans" on the letters page this issue #4. The problem is that I haven't worked up much enthusiasm for the concept as a whole, nor for the way it's been handled so far. this is not to imply I haven't enjoyed the stories, for considering the legion of writes and artists who've had a crack at the book thus far, it's held up pretty well. I am disappointed in the fact that no one has as yet taken over this title on a permanent basis, with any long range plans that extend beyond the next issue. It becomes pretty upsetting to read month after month in the COMIC READER that a new writer has taken over this book. I really can't put much into a critique if I'm not even certain that writer is going to be around the following month to read it. I've always maintained that Round Robin Writers Syndrome is the worst fate which can befall a comic, short of cancellation. Simply following Marvel through the years as I have, it became evident early that the comic biz is as unstable and unsure an entity as the San Andreas Fault, so my sympathies are with you. Still, I would ask that in the future, every precaution be taken--including threat of torture--to insure that a reasonably permanent writer/artist combo will begin a new strip and then pledge to stay with it as long as they can. It's painful to see a good concept go bad because everybody's doing fill-in issues on a comic and the thing never gets off the ground. but I will end with a hopeful note. Next issue we've been promised the permanent team of Steve Englehart and Herb Trimpe, as well as the introduction of Shroud. Let's get this book rolling and make it the healthy addition to the line-up it deserves to be. Signed, Ralph Macchio, Cresskill, N.J. Even as a comics fan, it seems Macchio was an editor at heart, determined to get his favorite titles on track creatively. Of course, we all know Macchio today as the editor of Marvel's incredibly successful Ultimate line of titles, but he's been writing and editing for the House of Ideas since the 1980s. This comic book features not only what appears to be one of many of Macchio's missives to Marvel, but cameo appearances by the Fantastic Four, the Shroud and... Dr. Henry Kissinger?!?! That's right, Kissinger turns up in this issue and #7 in his role as then-U.S. secretary of state to defend Dr. Doom's sovereign right to rule his country as he sees fit. Hmm... I can't picture Condy Rice in gabbing with Tony Stark and Jarvis over crumpets in a Marvel comic of the 21st century. On another note, is it me, or does the tone of Macchio's letter make it seem as though he'd be right at home among today's online comics critics? E-mail Don MacPherson comments about this column, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.