A letterhack is a fan who is regularly published in magazine and American

comic book letter column A comic book letter column is a section of an American comic book where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns (or lettercols), letter pages, letters of comment (LOCs), o ...

Origin

The term comes from

fanspeak Fanspeak is the slang or jargon current in science fiction and fantasy fandom, especially those terms in use among readers and writers of science fiction fanzines. Fanspeak is made up of acronyms, blended words, obscure in-jokes, puns, coinages ...

, the slang of science fiction fans, and originally referred to prolific writers of letters to

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

s and professional

science fiction magazine A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nov ...

s of the early twentieth century. It was considered to be an important part of

fanac Fanac is a fan slang term (from fannish activities) for activities within the realm of science fiction fandom, and occasionally used in media fandom. Bloch, Robert. "Some of My Best Fans Are Friends." ''Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', ...

("fan activity").

Celebrity and recognition

Many letterhacksCentury, Sara
"THE LOST ART OF THE COMIC BOOK LETTERS PAGE,"
''Sy Fy Wire'' (May 23, 2018). became well known throughout the industry. Writer Mark Engblom describes the phenomenon this way: *

Jerry Bails Jerry Gwin Bails (June 26, 1933 – November 23, 2006) was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primar ...

— the "father of comics fandom" * Reed Beebe — over 300 letters published since 2010Harper, David
"Backmatter and the Golden Age of Comic Book Letters Columns: In 2015, what have comic creators had to do make letters columns relevant again?"
''Sktchd Chronicles'' (September 29, 2015). * Olav Beemer — became one of the most prolific Dutch comic book translators * Len Biehl * Malcolm Bourne * Brian Earl Brown * Dale L. Coe * Augie De Blieck Jr. — claims to have published over 400 letters (184 confirmed through Grand Comics Database) * Brett Downard * Joe Frank *

Paul Gambaccini Paul Matthew Gambaccini (born April 2, 1949) is an American-British radio and television presenter and author in the United Kingdom. He has dual United States and British nationality, having become a British citizen in 2005. Known as "The Grea ...

* Shirley A. Gorman * Elizabeth Holden * Paul Dale Roberts — published over 1,000 letters * Jana C. Hollingsworth * Kashif "Blue Panther" Husain * Guy H. Lillian III — omnipresent 1960s letterhack * Marc Lucas * T.M. Maple (aka Jim Burke) — published over 3,000 lettersCronin, Brian
"Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed" #92, Comic Book Resources (Mar. 1, 2007).
Accessed Sept. 27, 2008. *Joey Marchese * Rich Morrissey * "Uncle Elvis" Orten * Melissa Page * Kent A. Phenis *

Peter Sanderson Peter Sanderson Jr. (born April 25, 1952) In print issue #1650 (February 2009), p. 107 is a comic book critic and historian, as well as an instructor/lecturer in the New York area concerning the study of graphic novels/comic books as literature. ...

Bill Schelly William Carl Schelly (November 2, 1951 – September 12, 2019) was an Eisner Award-winning author who chronicled the history of comic books and comic book fandom, and wrote biographies of comic book creators, including Otto Binder, L.B. Cole, J ...

— comic book historian * Al Schroeder III * Charles J. Sperling * Irene Vartanoff— omnipresent 1960s letterhack who ended up working behind the scenes for Marvel in the 1970s and 1980sFriedrich, Mike
"Julius Schwartz: The Memorial Service," Challenger: A Science Fiction Fanzine (Summer 2004).
Accessed Sept. 28, 2008. * Delmo Walters, Jr.

David S. Goyer David Samuel Goyer (born December 22, 1965) is an American filmmaker, novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the screenplays for several superhero films, including ''Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (film), Nick Fury: Agent ...

is an example of a fan who later wrote comic book films. Some letterhacks gained entrée into an actual career in comics because of their letter-writing experience. For instance,

Bob Rozakis Robert "Bob" Rozakis (; born April 4, 1951) is an American comic book writer and Editing, editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man". Career Bob R ...

parlayed his frequent published letters to DC comics during the late 1960s and early 1970s into a job as DC's "Answer Man" and eventually a solid career as a DC writer.

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ) (born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the ''Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled ''Astro City'', a four-year run on ''The Avengers (comic book), The Avengers, Thunderbolts (comics ...

, Mary Jo Duffy,

Mike Friedrich Mike Friedrich (; born March 27, 1949) is an American comic book writer and publisher best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics, and for publishing the anthology series ''Star*Reach'', one of the first independent comics. He is also an art ...

Mark Gruenwald Mark Eugene Gruenwald (; June 18, 1953 – August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler known for his long association with Marvel Comics. Biography Early career Gruenwald got his start in comics fa ...

Fred Hembeck Fred Hembeck (born January 30, 1953) is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are ...

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

Tony Isabella Tony Isabella (born December 22, 1951) is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath; DC Comics' first major African-American superhero, Black Lightning; and as ...

Paul Levitz Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...

Ralph Macchio Ralph George Macchio Jr. ( ; born November 4, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Daniel LaRusso in three ''Karate Kid'' films and in ''Cobra Kai'', a sequel television series. He also played Johnny Cade in '' The Outsiders' ...

Dean Mullaney Dean Mullaney (born June 18, 1954) is an American editor, publisher, and designer whose Eclipse Enterprises, founded in 1977, was one of the earliest independent comic-book companies. Eclipse published some of the first graphic novels and was on ...

Martin Pasko Martin Joseph "Marty" Pasko (born Jean-Claude Rochefort; August 4, 1954– May 10, 2020) was a Canadian comic book writer and television screenwriter. Pasko worked for many comics publishers, but is best known for his superhero stories for DC Com ...

Diana Schutz Diana Schutz (born February 1, 1955) is a Canadian-born comic book editor, serving as editor in chief of Comico during its peak years, followed by a 25-year tenure at Dark Horse Comics. Some of the best-known works she has edited are Frank Miller ...

Beau Smith Beau Smith (born December 17, 1954 in Huntington, West Virginia) is an American comic book writer and columnist, best known for his work for DC Comics, Image Comics, IDW Publishing and as vice president of marketing for Eclipse Comics. Career ...

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

, Peter B. Gillis,

George R.R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels '' A So ...

, and

Kim Thompson Kim Thompson (September 25, 1956 – June 19, 2013) was an American comic book editor, translator, and publisher, best known as vice president and co-publisher of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Along with co-publisher Gary Groth, Thomps ...

are just a few of the many comic book professionals who got their starts as young letterhacks.

References

Comics people Fan labor Fanspeak {{comics-stub

Origin

Celebrity and recognition

See also

References