Letters page (Marvel UK)
| This article is about the Marvel UK feature with multiple subtitles. For the IDW issue about Soundwave, see Soundwaves (issue). For the Grimlock portion of Ask Vector Prime, see Ask Vector Prime#Grim Grams. |
The Marvel UK Generation 1 comic had an interesting approach to fan mail — the letters were answered by Transformers!
Originally the Marvel UK comic's letters pages were a fairly pedestrian affair, occasionally spiced up by a Hasbro employee dropping in to plug toys. However, starting with issue 22, a new take was created with a Transformer answering the letters page in character. By this stage the comic was being printed in a weekly format which, combined with in-character letter answerers, resulted in a very informal, "chatty" interaction with fans. Simon Furman attributes this to Ian Rimmer being trained at IPC Magazines Ltd., where an editorial 'character' who would answer letters was part of the product; on Scream!, for example, where both men had worked, the comic was 'edited' and readers spoken to by Ghastly McNasty[1] who claimed to live and work in IPC's dungeon basement.
While Ian Rimmer came up with the concept, Simon Furman would write the bulk of them and was the man who argued Soundwave, rather than an Autobot, should be the host.[2]
The letters pages created on-going in-jokes, addressed continuity errors and were constantly telling the readers (especially during Grimlock's tenure) to ignore the cartoon because, while it was an amusing diversion, the comics were the real story. It's not every day that a Transformers fiction makes the claim of being more legitimate than another!
There were tips about where to pick up old merchandise, and sightings of new toys. The corner section of the page ran recurring items as well — "Stock Exchange" and "Comic Exchange" let fans swap their toys and comics with each other; other times, a fan might have a "Your Choice" printed – a list of their favourite aspects of the series, be they issue, character, artist and so on.
The letter answerers were also unashamedly biased towards their own factions and generally completely biased towards themselves. They'd often berate or tease letter writers, talk down about the previous columnists or berate the staff of the series itself (in all good fun office banter, out of universe).
Those lucky fans who had a letter printed would receive a free mini-Autobot or, later, a Special Teams toy, as well as a reply from the Transformer in question.
Outside-inside continuity
The continuity of the letters page is somewhat complicated. Generally the answerers treated themselves as 'in continuity', even if this defied all logic. While the comic had a human production staff (Stubbies) who could be blamed for some gaffes that might occur, the comic was also supposed to portray "real events". Or, as Grimlock put it when a fan tried to blame the writer for Galvatron's rampage:
The hosts answered questions and bantered with fans, discussing subjects ranging from Megatron's Cybertronian form (a handheld laser gun) to Optimus Prime's opinion of Mötley Crüe's music (not a fan!). In some cases the letters page is the only canon source for vital information about characters. For example, Chuffer's name comes completely from the letters pages.
The waters of canon were further muddied by the letters pages' interaction with editorial columns and the gag strip, Robo-Capers, which would generally treat the letter answerer as being an employee of Marvel UK, operating out of their offices and interacting with the staff. In an early strip, Soundwave would blow up a Marvel office after one printing mistake too many, and later on, Grimlock would let the fame of being a movie star go to his head. It became something or a tradition for the transition of letter answerers to be depicted in special Robo-Capers strips, though in one case a departure was told in a special festive text story in the editorial slot, and in another, the host was inaugurated by an appearance in Robo-Capers' replacement, Combat Colin.
How this all fits together with the actual comics canon is anyone's guess. The writers merely dramatise the real events, which happen to their Transformer co-workers, who also appear in fourth-wall breaking gag strips published by the same company depicting their career at that company, which also exists in-universe, via comics writer Donny Finkleberg. Even more horrifying is this thought: If the letters pages are canon, that makes every single human who wrote into the pages a canon part of Transformers fiction. Let's... ahhh... let's not start publishing pages about them, though, please.
Hosts/Page title
Soundwaves
- Soundwave hosted the page under the title Soundwaves, from issue #22 to issue #73. It was revealed in #40 that he had gotten the spot through blackmail. Whenever Autobots (puttup) were named in the letters page, for example Optimus Prime (puttup), Soundwave would spit. What exactly the (puttup) meant was kind of confusing until issue #65 when Soundwave actually spat (puttup and all... through his face plate, no less) at Robot Master in the main strip. This strange scene further linked the letters page to general canon.
Rat-Chat
- Ratchet hosted Rat-Chat for issue #41 only. Ratchet generally crowed about having taken over the letters page — but his responses were a bit weak compared to the acidic tone of Soundwave.
Grim Grams
- Grimlock began hosting Grim Grams after storming the building. Robo-Capers UK 74 He reigned from issue #75 to issue #182 (there was no letters page in issue #74). As the comic was doing well, they could afford to create an original picture of Big Grim for the page by Will Simpson. It fit awkwardly in a three-column format but it's such a nice picture who'd want to change it?[4]
Grimlock was one of the most enjoyable of the hosts. He was open, genuine and fun. Also, his pages were filled with hundreds of little tidbits about Transformers canon, from the names and alt modes of otherwise unnamed generic Transformers to the fact that Galvatron has a weakness for chocolate covered oil drums. Yikes.
Grimlock was particularly bloodthirsty towards the people supposedly creating the comics, starting a bunch of running gags — from referring to them as "Stubbies" to threatening to put them into the VVH. He also got to do a few other special features, including getting to do his own review on the Transformers film. Again, stretching continuity credibility to new levels of thinness.
Unlike Dreadwind, Grimlock never got to occupy the corner box on the cover of the comic during his massive run. At first it alternated between Optimus Prime and Megatron, then after they died between Galvatron and Rodimus Prime, and finally it went back to Powermaster Optimus Prime. Poor Grimmy.
Dread Tidings
- Dreadwind hosted Dread Tidings (not "Dread Fidings" in spite of what the design of the second logo suggested), with occasional "help" from his Nebulan companion, Hi-Test. The Wind of Change! Dread Tidings ran from issue #184 to issue #299. Again, there was an issue gap between Grimlock leaving the strip and Dreadwind taking up the strip — the place of the letters page in issue #183 was taken by a special Robo-Capers strip showing Dreadwind taking over the letters.
Dread Tidings ran both in colour and in black and white. To distinguish the difference between Dreadwind and Hi-Test, Dreadwind answered in red/pink, while Hi-Test answered in blue. This meant that when the page was published in black and white Hi-Test stopped answering letters for a while.
The corner boxes on the covers of issues #282-285 feature a sequence where Dreadwind punches out Optimus Prime and steals the corner box from him.
In issue #302, despite having been kicked out several issues earlier, Dreadwind was still holed up in the Marvel offices. His final departure was the subject of "Dreadwind's Xmas!", that year's Christmas story, a text story on the Transmissions index page. (The smallest, and most half-arsed Christmas effort in the history of the series.) A reader would compare his deposition to the removal of Margaret Thatcher, which is an insult to either Dreadwind or Maggie but we're not sure which. #308 Darn 'n' Blast It
Darn 'n' Blast
- Action Master Blaster rounded out the comic's run with Darn 'n' Blast, beginning in issue #300. Don't ask what happened to Dreadwind's picture of a sad-eyed puppy. Curiously, Blaster took over while his comic counterpart was STILL DEAD, though this Blaster explained that he hails from an alternate reality, one where several Transformers (not just Grimlock) became Action Masters.
During Blaster's run we learned more about his family, and more about Transformers soccer leagues. Uh. Yay. His tone was much more bright and upbeat than the other letter answerers — resulting in a somewhat more bland set of columns. Ironically, comics Blaster wasn't really a fun and upbeat guy, but that's the UK take for ya.
Post-Marvel
- The later Armada comic from Panini and both Titan's Movie & Animated comics have since used the same format for their letters page.
- The various Ask Vector Prime Q&A interactions are conducted in a similar fashion. At one point, guest columnist Grimlock renamed the feature "Grim Grams" in a presumed nod to this similarity.
See also
We have a completely transcribed archive of all in-character letters pages. Begin your journey below:
| Marvel UK letters page archives | |||
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References
- ↑ The Great Derelict 13:05 in
- ↑ The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1, page 14
- ↑ Grim Grams, issue 124
- ↑ The Transformers Classics UK page 9
