When I was a kid, back in the days before the War on Terror, my understanding of global conflict was a lot more… limited. It was a simple calculus, really: the Soviet Union = bad, and it was only on rare occasions that the Russkies’ interests would align with America’s. In fact, the only thing that could ever bring the two powers together was a common enemy: a shadowy terrorist organization named COBRA.
For those of you who might not be familiar with GJ Joe, they were basically this division of super soldiers, a motley crew drawn from all branches of the US military. The franchise technically began as a line of action figures (read: “dolls for boys”) sometime during the 1960s, but kids of my generation could also watch the cartoon on television or read the comic book series. I’ll be honest, it was kind of hard to follow the plot back in those days, when comics were limited to one issue a month, with each book costing a whole dollar! You might work your way up to a cliffhanger ending in January, then have to borrow a copy of the next installment from one of your neighbors in February. I mainly stuck to the cartoons, which showed a happier vision of war where nobody ever gets shot.
But even with my own patchy understanding of the ongoing storylines, between the comic’s rotating cast of writers and the different forms of media, it’s inevitable that occasional continuity errors would arise. Sharp-eyed readers began writing letters to the editor to point out these mistakes… because postal mail was how people actually communicated back in the 1980s, believe it or not. I remember being so impressed by the editors’ good humor as they would actually acknowledge their flaws, publishing the criticisms in each issue alongside their fan mail. This humble approach to reader engagement was my first introduction to Marvel’s legendary “No-Prize.”
The “No-Prize” actually began decades before, when loyal readers from pretty much every comic book were writing in to point out minor errors, and also to suggest creative solutions why this ‘mistake’ wasn’t actually wrong. While other publishers of the day might reward their loyal readers with a small gift, or a maybe a free subscription, Stan “the Man” Lee insisted that Marvel Comics would only issue “No-Prizes.” Although his reasoning may have been egalitarian– if there were no winners, there could also, therefore, be no losers– the earliest awards received mixed reviews. Imagine how excited some lucky fans must have been to receive one of these envelopes in the mail, signed by Stan Lee himself… only to open it, and find it empty?
Over time, as Marvel grew in popularity and more readers let themselves in on the joke, the physical No-Prize became a beloved collector’s item. To be awarded one, or even to be publicly denied one, would give a young fan bragging rights for a very long time. And even though the No-Prize was briefly shut down during the early 1990s due to the rising cost of postage, the tradition came back in full swing just a few short years later. Marvel even began awarding special No-Prizes for readers who performed “meritorious service to the great cause of Marveldom,” such as during the Gulf War, when a group of fans donated comics to troops stationed in Iraq.
Although the 1980s were the Golden Era for the No-Prize, a time when the empty envelopes were so prevalent that the company was actually inspired to publish an entire compendium of their most memorable mistakes, I’m told that the tradition still continues today, albeit in a digital format. So the next time you’re out enjoying a Marvel movie… assuming, of course, that theaters eventually re-open someday… keep your eyes peeled for slips and bloopers. You never know what you might (not) win!