along with Lee congratulating them on winning a No-Prize. For "meritorious service" The No-Prize had been intended as a reminder to Marvel readers to "lighten up" and read comics for pleasure; to not write in for prizes, but instead for the thrill of being recognized for their efforts. Letters soon multiplied, however, as fans wrote in looking for errors in every comic they could, and suddenly the non-existent prize was in high demand. In response, Lee took on a new approach. Since other comic companies had given out prizes for pointing out oversights and continuity errors in their books, Lee began awarding No-Prizes in such situations only "to the fan who could explain a seemingly unexplainable situation." The reader who inspired this version of the No-Prize was a teenage George R. R. Martin, later a successful novelist. The No-Prize soon evolved into a reward to those who performed "meritorious service to the cause of Marveldom": readers who first spotted a mistake, or came up with a plausible way to explain a mistake others spotted, or made some great suggestion or performed a service for Marvel in general. No-Prize distribution As time went by, some recipients of the "award" began to write Lee and ask why they had not received an actual prize. In response, in 1967 Lee began mailing No-Prize-winners pre-printed empty envelopes that said "Congratulations, this envelope contains a genuine Marvel Comics No-Prize which you have just won!" However, some uncomprehending fans wrote back asking where their prize was, even going so far as to suggest their prize had fallen out of the envelope. Confusion and decline After Lee stepped down as Marvel editor-in-chief in 1972 (becoming Marvel's publisher), Marvel's various editors, who were left in charge of dispensing No-Prizes, developed differing policies toward awarding them. By 1986, these policies ranged from Ralph Macchio's practice of giving them away to anyone who wrote a letter asking for one to Mike Higgins' policy of not awarding them at all. As reported in Iron Man #213 (Dec. 1986), these were the various editors' policies: Ann Nocenti (X-Men): "The spirit of the No-Prize is not just to complain and nitpick but to offer an exciting solution. Do that and you will get one from me." Carl Potts (Alpha Flight and Power Pack): "If someone points out a major story problem I'm not aware of and solves it to my satisfaction, I'll award