When Marvel introduced romance magazines in the late 1960s, Suzan (Lane) Loeb wrote the advice column “Suzan Says” for titles like My Love and Our Love Story. While she was a guest at Heroes Convention, she talked with Scoop about working in the Marvel Bullpen, attending conventions, and remembering John Romita, Sr.

Scoop: How has the weekend been?
Suzan Loeb (SL): Very busy and absolutely uplifting and wonderful. The fans are terrific as always.

Scoop: What do fans want to talk to you about the most?
SL: Most of all, about the original people in the Bullpen and what it was like. It really is a throwback to what things are now when I was with Marvel comics. It was like a mom and pop store there, maybe 10 or 11 of us in the office, the address was not publicized, so fans did not walk through the doors. The only people who did come in were artists to pick up the boards and blue lines to do the inking and coloring. The Bullpen was Johnny Romita, Sr., Herb Trimpe, Marie Severin, and Tony Mortellaro, and the rest of us were just around the periphery of the actual Bullpen, it was fabulous.

Scoop: It sounds like that was a more intimate, camaraderie than what we would see now.
SL: Oh yes, absolutely. It was like a family. There was no ego, nobody had ego and these people were creating the most marvelous works of art. Which today, in my opinion, going to the digital and the laptop is creating a lost art. So that was really a legacy of a time gone by. It was a camaraderie and because it was a small office, there was a lot of interaction and a lot of talk. I believe Laugh-In was on Monday night, so when you come to the office on Tuesday, they were recreating the scenes that they liked most. There was a lot of raucous laughter all the time, but the work got done in spite of all of the laughter.

Scoop: Do you think that fostered more creativity since you were all so close together?
SL: No, I think that these people were so talented and so creative that they could’ve been locked in a cell by themselves and still produce what they produced.

Scoop: What do you like about attending comic conventions?
SL: I love meeting with the fans of comic books, whether they are from Marvel or other ones. There’s an enthusiasm and people come over and say, “I’m a nerd” and they’re proud of it, and it’s a place for them to express themselves and ask questions of people who started in the industry.

Scoop: What do you like about Heroes Con?
SL: The people who are involved in Heroes Con, whether it’s Karla or Shelton or Jason or Justin or Josh – I think I mentioned all of them – have been fabulous and gracious. You look around and see the amount of work that was put into this. They’re just fabulous people to come up with this. Also, I’m not comfortable asking people to pay for my signature, and Heroes has a foundation and we accept donations to the Heroes Initiative. That to me is fabulous and uplifting because we’ve been able to raise several hundred dollars for charity.

Scoop: Before we started recording the interview, we talked a little about John Romita, Sr. You were part of a remembrance panel for him yesterday, what was that experience like?
SL: It was very moving. Obviously, we had stories that created laughter and some heartfelt and heart-tugging remembrances. I think it was a lovely tribute to John Romita, Sr., also to Jr. and I know he wasn’t able to be here. It meant a lot to the people in the audience to be able to be touched by people who knew John Sr. personally. I was thrilled to be asked at 3 o’clock to sit on the panel at 4 o’clock. It was wonderful. It gave me closure too, because it was difficult learning about John’s passing and then coming here was a flood of emotions.

Scoop: I’m sorry for your loss, I know it must be tough. What’s something you want people to know about John?
SL: We had nicknamed in the office and John’s nickname was Papa John, so if you had any kind of question or any kind of problem he really was the glue in that office, in my opinion. It created wonderful memories. He was Papa John, which was great.

Scoop: The history of how Marvel has grown is so important. You have a lot of new fans because of the Marvel movies, and it’s good for them to learn about where these characters came from.
SL: Stan Lee was a visionary. We saw glimpses of that in the small office that we had and then to see it exploded into the industry and universe it is, is fabulous. Going back to my time, and Johnny being there, I was immortalized with the logo that John created for me. Everybody said that I looked like Mary Jane, which was an honor as far as I was concerned. It is thrilling to me that this was back 50 years ago and there it is just as fresh as it was back then.