MARTY PASKO was a well-known name in comicbooks, writing SUPERMAN, SWAMP THING, WONDER WOMAN and a whole host of others. He also wrote for TV, on such shows as BUCK ROGERS In The 25th CENTURY, FANTASY ISLAND, and again, quite few other shows. Sadly, he's died, at the far too young age of 65. Another name from my comicbook reading youth now gone, alas. Such a shame. Condolences to family, friends, and fans.
Sad news. Martin Pasko wrote some really good pre-Crisis Superman stories. I didn't know he'd written for TV, very interesting. I am pretty sure I own a Silver Age Daredevil comic that has letters from both Marty Pasko and Mark Gruenwald in the same issue- two men who's work I have enjoyed many, many times. RIP and thanks, Marty.
ReplyDeleteMarty, along with Mark Gruenwald, Mark Evanier, Irene Vartanoff and others, were regular letterhacks in comics back in the day, DS. Maybe I should have written more letters when I was younger - I might have started working in comics sooner, eh? Yeah, thanks, Marty - you did good.
ReplyDeleteOther notable names that pop up a lot in old letter columns are Ralph Macchio, Peter Sanderson and Paul Gambaccini (I might be wrong, but I think the Great Gambo had a letter in Fantastic Four #50).
ReplyDeleteI often wish I'd made the effort to write a few letters to comics- it'd have been a huge thrill to have seen my name in a Marvel comic! (I did once draft a letter to, I think, the West Coast Avengers letter column, but I read it back and realised it was a load of old nonsense and filed it in the bin. I think I was angling for a No-Prize but can't remember what point I was trying to make).
Bob Rozakis was another well-known letter writer as well, DS. I've had a few letters published in UK Marvel mags, one in 2000 A.D. (during my freelancing days for the comic) and I might've had one in Buster (can't quite recall), so I'm very nearly famous.
ReplyDeleteVery sad news. I loved his Swamp Thing revival in the '80's, sadly overshadowed by Alan Moore's run. As you say, another piece of our past gone.
ReplyDeleteI've got every issue of his Swamp Thing run - it compared favourably with Len Wein's I thought.
ReplyDeleteVery sad and to young to pass away at that age, condolences to all his family and friends. One of my favourite one off comics was written by Martin, Dr Fate from First issue special
ReplyDeleteA letter writer I always remember as a kid, and see in many back issues I pick up from late 60s to about 73 is Guy Lillian III not sure if he moved into comics, films or TV or got a real job or not
Funnily enough, that's not a name that rings any bells with me, McS, though I know most of the 'regulars'.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a real shame about Marty - at least his body of work will survive him and continue to entertain people for many years yet.
Sad news. I liked his Superman work the best .
ReplyDeleteI associate him mostly with Superman and Swamp Thing, PS, but he was a good all-rounder.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of prolific letter writers, they're was a guy who had letters in most issues of Superman in the early/mid 80s (around the time when Marty Pasko would have been writing some of the stories) who had the fantastic name of Kent Phenis.
ReplyDeleteAnother one I don't remember, DS. Was that pre-Crisis?
ReplyDeleteI too remember Guy H Lillian III and also T M Maple. There's an interesting Wiki article about celebrity letter writers - letterhack - that tells you aba more about these two (and done others). I do remember T M Maple's passing in 1994 being marked in DC letters pages.
ReplyDeleteI remember T M Maple and recall reading about his death, but I'm astonished to see that he died over a quarter of a century ago. I thought it was much more recent than that. I'll take a wee look at that site you mention.
ReplyDeleteYou got a link to that site, M? I can't seem to find it.
ReplyDeleteI think this maybe the link to the WIKI page Dave mentioned
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book_letter_column
Thanks for the link, McS. It must have come up in my initial search, but I'd missed the fact that DS had said it was a Wiki article, so never looked at it originally. I thought it was a site he was talking about. Ta much.
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