Face Front, True Believers! Back in the day, DC’s comics felt like they were put together in a giant office that might have resembled an insurance company or a tightly-packed Mad Men set. Think guys with buzzcuts, white shirts, ties and shiny shoes, occasionally having a cigarette while trying to create comic books for 12-year-olds. Marvel Comics presented themselves as the anti-DC: hipsters and cool cats who were tapped into the youth of today and their crazy scene, man.

One of the great things that Marvel did to cement its relationship with the fans and start building the mythology of the Marvel offices – the bullpen - as the original frat party for comics nerds was to get more personal. Stan Lee gave everyone snappy and with-it nicknames – Stan “The Man” Lee, Jack “The King” Kirby, “Darlin’” Dick Ayers, “Jolly” Solly Brodsky, “Our Pal” Sal Buscema, and dozens more. You can find a fairly complete list over at the Wikipedia.

(Comic book and TV writer Paul Cornell – Captain Britain and Doctor Who - recently collected a list of snappy nicknames for modern comics creators.)

In the 1967 Bullpen Bulletins page that ran in Marvel’s comics, then-fan Mark Evanier suggested some equally snappy “nicknames” in the form of honorary titles for Marvel fans. You can see that original page over here.

That letter sparked what became known as The Hallowed Ranks of Marveldom, a list of aspirational titles that ran on the letters pages in Marvel’s comics. Here’s the original list:

R.F.O. (Real Frantic One) – a buyer of at least three Marvel mags a month
T.T.B. (Titanic True Believer) – a divinely-inspired “No-Prize” winner
Q.N.S. (Quite ‘Nuff Sayer) – a fortunate Frantic One who’s had a letter printed
K.O.F. (Keeper Of The Flame) – one who recruits a newcomer to Marvel’s rollickin’ ranks
P.M.M. (Permanent Marvelite Maximus) – anyone possessing all four of the other titles
F.F.F. (Fearless Front Facer) – an honorary title bestowed for devotion to Marvel above and beyond the call of duty

That was over 40 years ago, and times change. It’s probably a good idea to update those definitions now that the comics industry is undergoing another one of its periodic upheavals. Here’s my proposed new list for 2009:

R.F.O. (Real Frantic One): A Marvel addict who’s trying to figure out how he’s going to pay $3.99 each for all the comics he used to get for $2.99
T.T.B. (Titanic True Believer): Someone who believes, yes, really, genuinely believes that the events in the upcoming crossover event will actually matter longterm
Q.N.S. (Quite ‘Nuff Sayer): A Marvel fan who’s had “quite nuff” of crossovers, events and high prices and taken up video games, Hulu and social networking
K.O.F. (Keeper of the Flame): A collector who believes absolutely that print comics will always exist, because they always have and he wants them to
P.M.M. (Permanent Marvelite Maximus): A fan whose body ages normally (and expands exponentially) but whose brain remains stuck at 13-years-old
F.F.F. (Fearless Front Facer): A comic book publisher trying to figure out how to make limited edition collectible webcomics with alternate covers

Feel free to add to the list, make up your own post them in the comments.

[Illustration: Cover to Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier. I like it because it’s a cool and with-it cover.]