I spent yesterday afternoon going through my comic book collection, sorting through my 'mint' favourite issues (nothing special, most notable among them are Nightwing #1 and Robin #1... yeah, I'm a baller), old crap like random 1990s issues of the Outsiders, Green Lantern, Hawkworld, Impulse and Suicide Squad, and issues from my favourite series (notably Batman and Birds of Prey). What stood out instantly were the vast differences in story-telling, art quality, and artist-consumer interaction between comics of today and of yesteryear. Most early 1990s books by DC, for example, featured a letters page at the back. While seemingly superfluous, I miss it. Yes, today you do have writers and artists answering questions on Twitter, but with the character limit their responses are usually restrained to yes and no or 'watch this space'-style answers. There are of course a lot more comic-related website getting interviews from them, meaning there is slightly more interaction, but it's indirect and hardly ever critical. What I miss about the letters pages is that it offered creators a chance to explain themselves and their decisions to readers, as well as (hopefully) take reader concerns into account. What has replaced the letters page today (in DC, at least) is a silly DC Nation page, in which the editorial staff give us the "lowdown" on what's happening next (i.e. tell us what event book to buy). I realize a letter is probably not going to change editorial's mind on what to do with a character, but there is at least the illusion of accountability for readers to console themselves with. Now, we're all just faceless morons they get to make fun of (see Adventure Comics).
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