The Massive Continuity of Ducks

neil-gaiman:

colognedecigarette:
highvioley:
highvioley:
below is the letter received by Neil Gaiman from the “concerned mothers of america” in ‘92, and his response :)
he mentioned this letter in a recent interview with Pink News:
“I remember getting a very grumpy letter from the ‘Concerned Mothers of America’, informing us that due to the number of gay characters in Sandman they would be boycotting us and we had to repent,” he said.
“We never repented and the sales just went up, and up, and up. So I never really worried about their boycott.”
anddd here’s the letter about trans rep for @fandom-geek :) (absolutely love this letter)
Transcription of the letter in the first picture:
Dear Sir:
Do you feel proud of yourself for supporting crime and corruption which is engulfing our country? Violence and death rule the streets and thousands of innocent people are murdered in their homes and elsewhere. Its excessive and needless emphasis on homosexuality, profanity and Christian bashing is well-documented and intentional. The most effective way we know how to strike back is to BOYCOTT those who promote it, and unless you stop glorifying homosexuality, we will refuse to buy any of your comics.
We urge you to write to Don Wildmon, P.O Box 2440, Tupelo, MS 33803, telling him you are tired of lost sales and will honor our request and, after publishing it in the AFA journal, we will again buy your comics.

CONCERNED MOTHERS OF AMERICA.
Neil Gaiman’s response, written in italics:
I have this vision of all the Concerned Mothers of America opening their American Family Association Journal and eagerly scanning the letter pages to find out if the boycott’s over, to see if they can all rush out and start buying SANDMAN again.
That was a typed postcard, postmarked Steubenville, Ohio. The next letter was handwritten (and very impressive) parchment scroll.
Transcription of the letter from the second picture:
Dear Dream Scribes,
I have been following SANDMAN since the “Doll’s House” storyline, thanks to a friend who introduced me to the book. Intelligent, well-written books are a rarity in this field, I believe, and I’ve been delighted with SANDMAN. This dark fantasy is obviously a labor of love from a very creative and talented writer and numerous equally capable artists. (And yes, I ended up buying the trade paperbacks as well.)
I’m writing because I want to thank Neil Gaiman for the current “A Game of You” storyline. There are several subjects that are taboo for comics (probably because of the “lowest common denominator” audiences of most books as much as any social stigma), including and especially gender identity. The subject has almost never been touched upon, much less dealt with in a mature, understanding manner.
Until now. The character of Wanda is one of the most articulate, fully-drawn portraits of a transgendered individual that I’ve ever come across. Every word, every reaction rings true. Frankly, I’m surprised… Transsexuals are usually stereotyped as freaks, drag queens or worse, instead of being treated as real people.
This storyline means something very personal to me, because I’m also a transsexual with much the same personality as Wanda. I keep feeling like Neil Gaiman has written me into the story. (Another friend of several years, who’s been trying to relate to me since my “coming out,” confessed that reading these issues of SANDMAN did more to explain transsexualism than anything else he’d ever come across. “That’s you, isn’t it?” he said to me. “I think I’m finally starting to understand.”)
I loved Wanda’s reaction to the “chromosomes” comment on page 19 of the current issue (#35). That’s exactly how I feel.
Thank you for the most well-written series I’ve ever read, from the first issue to the present, and thank you for…well, understanding the subject well enough to create a true person in Wanda.
I realize this whole letter is focusing on what some would consider a mere supporting character, one who’ll be gone when this storyline is finished, but it’s these fully-realized touches that ultimately make up the rich texture of this series. Everything is important, and a good story depends just as much on peripheral elements as it does on the central characters.
Besides, I thought you’d appreciate some feedback from a real transsexual who admires what you’re doing with these characters. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find such insightful writing on the subject in the pages of SANDMAN; it is one of the most intelligent titles in the medium.

Sincerely,
Laura Adams.
bonus: since the whole page actually contains at least three letters (ones visible on the pictures provided by OP anyway), to the similarly nosy bitches that want to read the other letter, here’s an extra transcript below the cut. this is the aforementioned “handwritten in a very impressive parchment scroll” one.
Keep reading
Published with an “on sale date” of September 1992, which means it hit the comic shops at the end of July 1992, so people were reading this exactly thirty years ago.

pretentioussongtitle:

nitewrighter:
I was about to make a post about like… how my family has this lemon tree out front, and one of the funniest things about having a lemon tree is occasionally I’ll be out in front doing whatever and I’ll see someone walking past and quickly grab a lemon off the tree and stuff it in their pockets as quick as they can like they’re shoplifting.
I was about to make a post about how that’s funny and how, y’know people can have our lemons, it’s not a big deal because the tree pumps them out like gangbusters, but I really can’t make that post without thinking of… them…
I’ll admit it, OP. As soon as you mentioned your family had a lemon tree in their yard I wanted to ask you how they were dealing with the whore infestation.