Mole! by Will Elder & my letter column memory (UPDATED)

The image above is from Mole!, a classic Mad story by the late Will Elder. It holds a special significance for me because it was the story that got me into the letter pages of Batman, which for young me was pretty much my life's goal. The deal: a Batman adventure did an homage adaption of this story, and I wrote a goofy letter making the connection.

I'm in a University meeting today far from my scanner, so I'll have to post the page from Batman 345 later. For now, Will Elder--rest in peace.

UPDATE: Finally made it to the office, so here's the letter. My scanner is a bit hinky today--no surprise, since it's so old it creates images through daguerreotype--but here is a serviceable scan of what was for my the highlight of my days: my letter printed in Batman 345.

And yes, I really did say "Spa Fon," an EC in-joke whose latinate-yiddish origins are discussed here.

In a poignant coincidence given this week's news, the story in question--the homage to Will Elder that was the subject of this column was, according to the letter column, "the dazzling DC debut of Gene Colan."