The Astounding Origin of the Red Lion Blog

Back when I was growing up in London, Ontario, Canad,a in the 1960s, whenever I picked up the latest MARVEL comic at my neighbourhood variety store, I rushed home as fast as I could to read it. But before I would find out what adventures my favourite hero (or, in the case of The X-Men or The Avengers, favourite heroes) was having that month I would first turn to the "Marvel Bullpen Bulletins" page and the letters page of the particular comic I was reading.

With the "Bullpen Bulletins" page, I would learn what was going on in the Greater Marvel Universe; what new titles were in development, what my favourite writers, artists, and letterers were up to and, most importantly, what wonderful bits of wisdom Smilin' Stan Lee wished to share with Marvel fanatics such as myself in his "Stan's Soapbox" column.

Then on the letters page I would not only find out what other fans thought of an issue that had been published a few months previously, but I would also see what the letters page editor-who I believe was usually Roy Thomas-had to say to the readers about that issue, plus, on occasion, find out what was in store for the comic I was reading in the coming months. Basically it was like a fan club on the printed page, and back in the days of my youth in the 1960s (and 1970s for that matter) I hung on every single word as it opened my eyes to what a fan like me thought was pretty neat stuff.

So when Lloyd Smith and I decided to set up this blog for Red Lion Publications, when trying to decide what approach should be taken to its content, my thoughts immediately went back to the "Marvel Bullpen Bulletins" and Marvel letters pages of my childhood. What I wanted to do here was for this to be a place where we would not only plug our latest comic, but also a place where you can get to know The Red Lion Revelers better and comment on what we are doing. So in the coming weeks and months, Lloyd and I will be writing articles/columns with exactly that in mind, plus from time to time giving you a sneak peek at what we are working on. And hopefully in the coming weeks and months you'll be writing back to us here, letting us know what you think about what you are reading here plus commenting on what we've got in development. All in all we want this blog to be a fun place for you and for us, so feel free to jump in any time. We look forward to hearing from you.

Jonathan "A" Gilbert, Publisher