It seems like, every time I’m feeling nostalgic for letters pages in comic books, I actually read one. Here are some excerpts from a letter printed in Avengers 503. It’s from a cancer survivor and longtime fan of the Scarlet Witch:
“I was only 14 [when he read his first Scarlet Witch story during a stay in the hospital], and through all the ups and downs, I have always looked forward to Wanda and company coming to my doorstep. I don’t know, I guess I just relate to her. Ups, downs, whatever, she always perseveres and survives, and has, in a wonderful way, been an inspiration to me. Wanda has kind of been my best friend and ally, telling me I can make it through the worst…”
“I guess it seems silly to you. I know she probably only seems like a comic character to you, but so much love has been put into her evolution over the years that to me she is much more. So thanks for not killing the Scarlet Witch in AVENGERS #502. In saving her life you really gave me more time also.”
For those of you not following the book, this letter is printed in the issue where Wanda is revealed to be insane, incapable of handling her powers, miring herself in fantasy to compensate for her losses, and responsible for the death of some of her dearest friends and the destruction of the team to which she’s devoted her adult life. She’s turned into a mindless vegetable at the end of it, deemed too dangerous to be allowed to function.
I’m honestly at a loss to figure out what Marvel had in mind by printing this letter. To give the reader the thrill of seeing his thoughts in print in his favorite comic? In the very issue where his gateway character, his inspiration, gets torn to shreds? I certainly don’t think they’re purposely trying to poke a sick reader in the eye, but that would seem to be the inevitable result.
Associate Editor Andy Schmidt’s response to the letter isn’t very illuminating:
“From everyone working on AVENGERS, thank you for this letter. I hope you’re interested in what’s happening with the Scarlet Witch, because we’ve got big plans for her.”
I shudder to imagine what those plans might include, honestly. And it pains me to imagine what this reader’s reaction will be to this particular issue. And I can’t imagine what they were thinking running this letter after this story. It seems… cold.
The entire column is representative of Marvel’s approach to the “Disassembled” event, a mixture of patently insincere fan service (“He’s a great character and we’re also sad to see him go.”) and snide fan-baiting (“Nobody likes Hank. I know we don’t here in the office. Hank is a stupid face.”), sometimes serving up both flavors simultaneously (“we all continue to enjoy these wonderful characters… and our fun little hobby we call super-heroes.”). Oh, and there’s plenty of trite shilling (“And if you hated “Disassembled,” you’ll probably like NEW AVENGERS #1!”).