Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, Swipe File | Tagged: amazing spider-man, letters page, separated at birth

Separated At Birth: Amazing Spider-Man #14 Letters Page

Separated At Birth: Amazing Spider-Man #14 Letters Page with Cosmic Carlos and Tombstone Tyler

The most recent letters page of Amazing Spider-Man #14 has had a bit of an oopsie, and qualified for a Separated At Birth edition, with two letter writers, one calling themselves Cosmic Carlos and the other Tombstone Tyler. No other identifying details, but it is more than just a naming convention that joins the two. Here's the whole thing.

Let's zoom in a little and bring out the editing red pen to mark this up a bit.

Cosmic Carlos ends his letter, "I've been reading Spider-Man comics for about twenty years now, and as we approach AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1000, I'm still just as excited as ever to keep up with the web-head. So, until the real Spidey comes back to Earth (and forever thereafter), Make Mine Amazing! And remember: "In space, no one can hear you thwip!" Sincerely, Cosmic Carlos" with the editorial reply "Thank YOU, Carlos, for the kind words and for reading all these years."

While Tombstone Tyler ended his letter saying "I've been reading Spider-Man comics for my whole life, and as we get closer to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1000, I could not be more excited to see not only Peter's journey but Norman's and Ben's too. So, until Heligate comes back to Earth to kill all the Spiders (and forever thereafter), Make Mine Amazing! Sincerely, Tombstone Tyler," with the editorial response, "Keep reading, Tyler! You'll never guess what's going to happen next!… Keep Thwippin'!"

It does feel like one is a ChatGPT rewriting of the other. And the "Thwipping" editorial response to Tombstone Tyler, surely meant for Cosmic Carlos. Was this a massive coincidence? CB Cebulski committed against AI for creating comics, but not for letters pages. Are people actually writing letters with AI and hoping no one notices? How come no one noticed? As ever, this raises far more questions than it answers…

Call it Separated At Birth or call it Swipe File, we present two or more images that resemble each other to some degree. They may be homages, parodies, ironic appropriations, coincidences, or works of the lightbox. We trust you, the reader, to make that judgment yourself. If you are unable to do so, we ask that you please return your eyes to their maker before any further damage is done. Separated At Birth doesn't judge; it is more interested in the process of creation, how work influences other work, how new work comes from old, and sometimes how the same ideas emerge simultaneously, as if their time has just come. The Swipe File was named after the advertising industry habit where writers and artists collect images and lines they admire to inspire them in their work. It was swiped from The Comics Journal, which originally ran a similar column, and the now-defunct Swipe Of The Week website, but Separated At Birth was considered a less antagonistic title.

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