Fan Mail for a Flounder

I was sifting through my archives (AKA: Boxes o' Crap) recently, and I came across this item, so I thought I'd share it with you.

When I was young I used to write a lot of fan mail to the  various cartoonists I admired. My letters to them were full of gushing praise for their work, as well as requests for original artwork. I would mail off the letters and then every day after school I would race home to see if I got any goodies in the mail. Some cartoonists never responded, which sort of soured me on them (although now that I am an "adult" and seldom even answer the phone, let alone return mail, I am willing to cut them some slack). Other cartoonists were great though. One of my favorite replies was from Mort Walker, creator of Beetle Bailey. Back in the day, I was a big fan of his clean modern style, and I was thrilled when he answered my letter. Not only did he send a warm note that gently critiqued the crappy cartoons I  sent him, but he also included this personalized print in response to my request for a drawing. It's obvious that he printed these up to deal with the numerous requests he must have received from little pests like me, but it was still a thrill for me to see the Beetle characters using my name.

After all these years, this still makes me smile.

I realize my posts lately have not been too engaging, so I promise next time, no mention of my childhood, Perfect Wife, Doctor Who or Rocco the Wonder Dog.

Unless I can't think of anything else...

BTW, as I'm sure you realize, the above image and characters are copyright Mort Walker, so don't even think of using them elsewhere!