An old letter I received from Joe (w/ sketch)

[gearhead]

Hi Mad! fans,

Years back, when I was still in grade school, I was got hooked on the X-Men and Joe's work in particular.

I would eagerly rush to the comic rack at the local grocery store in our small town, searching for the next month's issue.

One day, in the 6th grade, I decided I'd write to Joe via Marvel. I sent him a letter that basically said I liked his work and wondered if it'd be possible for me to get his autograph on one of his comics.

A few months passed and I didn't get a reply, so I wrote another one in case it had gotten lost.

Then one day a letter came in the mail, addressed to me.

It was from Joe.

Inside was a handwritten reply, with a quick sketch of Blink at the bottom.

I had told him I liked how his work was "cartoony." It was my way of saying I liked how his anime and manga influences had shaped his penciling and that it was unlike anything else I had seen. (Hey, I was 11.)

After wondering what Joe has been up to after all these years, I found this site and thought I'd share the letter with other fans. (Plus, it finally got me to make a scan of it which is good in case something ever happened to the original.)

So here it is...

[tomtravers]

That's really cool, Tim. Thanks for sharing it.

[onslaught36]

You are so lucky, that's awesome!! It's incredible that he responded, that goes to show how great of a guy he is.

[Sketchlogic]

Mar 14, 2009 16:50:46 GMT -5 onslaught36 said:

You are so lucky, that's awesome!! It's incredible that he responded, that goes to show how great of a guy he is.

Seriously........Joe is simply next level, period. Gearhead you are one lucky fan lol.

[mikebowden]

thats awesome, thanks for sharing. I actually wrote to him in that same year! (didn't get a reply though *sobs*)

[gearhead]

Mar 15, 2009 7:20:10 GMT -5 mikebowden said:

thats awesome, thanks for sharing. I actually wrote to him in that same year! (didn't get a reply though *sobs*)

Maybe you were lost in the mix-up like me. Like I said above, I actually wrote TWO letters... and... I included a stamped return envelope with them so all he had to do was reply and drop it in the mail. Just got lucky, I guess.

Incidentally, I did end up sending a comic for him to sign and never got it back. I'm thinking it fell in a Marvel black hole along the way.

I also wrote to the guys at Image around the same time and got back an Image postcard with the signatures of J. Scott Campbell, Jim Lee and others. I guess they just passed it around.

I'd scan that too for kicks, but it's up in IL at my parents.

[gugesbri]

That's class. Most artist would not reply to a fan. I know I've been very critical of Joe and "Ultimates 3", but, that's class. Nice one Joe.