no-prize

[anthony wareing]

anyone know any examples of no-prizes? heard about em over the years but never actually read one.

[Ron M.]

It's just an empty envelope with drawings of Marvel heroes on it. At least that's all mine was. Sadly tore up the envelope it came in pretty badly to get to that empty envelope. Wanted to keep both of them.The no-prize is supposed to be inside. It's empty because there's no prize. That's the joke. No prize. No-prize.

[Luke Blanchard]

What did you get it for, Ron?

[Ron M.]

It was during the brief time Marvel Age was giving them out. I correctly identified that Marvel's hit X-Men had been stomped on in sales by the one shot The Life and Times of Pope John Paul II. I forget the miniseries that claimed the #2 spot but X-Men, long #1, was shoved down to #3 that month. Marvel must have been shocked that a comic book about the pope sold so well.

[Richard Willis]

I've never seen one but Ron's description fits with what I've heard. Pretty sure they were the same when Flo Steinberg used to send them out.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

My "No-Prize" winning letter appeared in Defenders #131, but that was also after Marvel stopped sending out those empty envelopes. You can see a picture of one in Les Danials' Marvel history. Incidentally, I also named a LOC column: Marvel Age... #14, I think it was. (John Byrne homage to FF #1 cover.)

[Alan Wright]

I was owed a no-prize in the early 80s over an error I discovered in an issue of Marvel Age.  I don't remember the exact error as this was over 30 years ago, but it had something to do with a reference to an X-Men Annual but the article referenced the wrong issue number.  I, and I'm sure hundreds of others, pointed this out via a postcard or letter, as the editor referred to the incident a few issues later, stating that so many had written in that the budget didn't allow for the mailing of so many no-prizes and to consider those of us who wrote in "officially no-prized."  OK, fine, but it still would have been cool to get that envelope!

[Ron M.]

As you point out it's been over thirty years so I may be remembering wrong, but I think the no-prizes were leftovers from Stan's days as editor and they were mailing them out until they were all gone.

[ClarkKent_DC]

I recall a "Stan's Soapbox" or the equivalent -- maybe it was Mark Gruenwald's "Mark's Remarks" or something like that -- that at the time declared the bar for getting a No-Prize was going to be set a little higher. It wouldn't be enough to just point out a mistake; the letter writer had to also provide a face-saving explanation for why it wasn't a mistake. Don't know how long that policy lasted.

[Richard Willis]

In the tradition of "Bob Banner" not being a mistake because his name was Robert Bruce Banner.

ClarkKent_DC said:

I recall a "Stan's Soapbox" or the equivalent -- maybe it was Mark Gruenwald's "Mark's Remarks" or something like that -- that at the time declared the bar for getting a No-Prize was going to be set a little higher. It wouldn't be enough to just point out a mistake; the letter writer had to also provide a face-saving explanation for why it wasn't a mistake. Don't know how long that policy lasted.

[Ron M.]

I'm pretty sure that was Stan who made the change. Possibly Goodman was complaining he was giving too many away.

[anthony wareing]

yeah i remember it saying you had to give a reason for the mistake, i just don't remember any

[ClarkKent_DC]

Ron M. said:

I'm pretty sure that was Stan who made the change. Possibly Goodman was complaining he was giving too many away.

No, this would have been well after Stan and Martin Goodman were both out of the picture, in the '80s or the '90s.