Down Memory Lane - a half century later

50 years back, in the January 1967 of Superman a very interesting "Letters Page" ran under the heading of DOWN MEMORY LANE. The previous August in Adventure comics, the editors asked for letters from parents instead of the readers. Their purpose being to get their perspective on how Superman had changed since he debuted three decades earlier. Can you imagine that? The editors at DC actually wanting to hear from the public?
It was a different time.

Let's take a look at their responses. Perhaps it might provide some insights half a century later.

"One thing never changed - stories dealing with the brotherhood of man."
Oh, damnit. Can't think to type. Music in head too loud...

...Your lifelong membership is FREE

keep agivin' each brother all you can

OH aren't you proud to be

in that Fraternity

the great big Brotherhoo-

Oh - um...  Draw your own conclusions.

Good stories. Yup, can't argue with that being key.

Well, he wasn't wrong there.(then?)

For younger readers, when he says 'scanning' he means perusing, not archiving. Scanners weren't even telepathic head poppers yet, much less personal archiving & duplicating machines.

"A great improvement in your comics is the letter page."
For younger readers (again), this was back in a time when the publishers wanted Readers, so the idea of the letters page made sense. In the current market, readers are an annoyance, Collectors are much preferred.  Readers want actual stories to follow, and they often share what they read. Collectors just want events that might be worth money later, and they often buy multiple copies, sometimes without wasting their valuable time 'reading'.
Readers once vastly outnumbered collectors, but today are mostly anecdotal. They're out there, but when's the last time you actually saw one?

Through all the subsequent evolution, Superman has ben a human character..."
Umm....  not last time i looked.

Skipping past a time when 10 cents was hard-earned money...  Times changed on that one, eh? It's a lot harder to convey Patriotic messages in a time when directly opposed views are both labelled "patriotic" and both called "treason". Patriotism gets confused with Old World Nationalism with Fascism with whatever Extremism the speaker has embraced.
Hard to fault not heavily embracing that one. It comes across as parody too often.
And it can come back to bite you in the ass when definitions change again. (See 1950's Captain America and later retcons)

Fifty years later, how much of the above still holds true?
I really couldn't say. I gave up on the comics a while back. Worked out pretty well for me. The world in my head never suffered through the depredations of villain worship, among many other horrors inflicted upon them (and their readers). What shuddering whispers pass my way keep me from wanting to return to the books any time soon.

Last i saw in the comics, and most certainly in the movies, there's little recognizable from that character 50 years ago.

Here's the whole page, from Superman #192:

I wonder if Tyler Hoechlin's going to be brought back for Season 3?

DOWN MEMORY LANE from Superman #192 (Jan 1967)