Willie Lumpkin
Willie Lumpkin | |
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![]() Willie Lumpkin as depicted in his debut appearance inFantastic Four#11 (February 1963). Art by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | (in daily comics):? (1960), (in comic books):Fantastic Four#11 (February 1963) |
Created by | Stan Lee(writer) Dan DeCarlo(artist) |
In-story information | |
Full name | William Lemuel Lumpkin |
Supporting character of | Fantastic Four,Spider-Man |
Abilities | Ability to wiggle ears and nose |
William Lemuel "Willie" Lumpkinis a fictionalsupporting characterappearing inAmerican comic bookspublished byMarvel Comics.The character is best known as themailmanof theFantastic Fourin theirself-titled comic book.[1]
Willie Lumpkin was portrayed byStan Leein the 2005 filmFantastic Four.
Publication history[edit]
Newspaper comic strip[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3f/Lumpkin.gif)
The character was originally created for asyndicateddaily comic strip by writerStan Leeand artistDan DeCarlo.[2]Lee recalled in a 1998 interview that,
Mel Lazarushad done a strip calledMiss Peach,which used not panels but one long panel instead. I liked that idea very much, so when Harold Anderson, the head ofPublishers Syndicate,asked me to do a strip, I came up withBarney's Beat,which was about a New York City cop and all the characters on his patrol who he'd meet every day and there would be a gag. I did some samples with Dan DeCarlo, and I thought it was wonderful. Harold said it was too "big city-ish" and they're not going to care for it in the small towns because they don't have cops on a beat out there. He wanted something that would appeal to the hinterland, something bucolic. He said, "You know what I want, Stan? I want a mailman! A friendly little mailman in a small town." I don't remember if I came up with the name Lumpkin or he did, but I hated it. I think I came up with the name as a joke and he said, "Yeah, that's it! Good idea!"[3]
Willie Lumpkindrew humor from the people and situations Willie would encounter along his mail delivery route in the small town of Glenville. The daily strip ran from December 1959 to May 6, 1961. A Sunday strip ran through May 28.[4]
Marvel Comics[edit]
Lee and artistJack Kirbythen introduced their comic book version of Willie Lumpkin inFantastic Four#11 (Feb. 1963).[5]The comic book Lumpkin is depicted as significantly older than in the comic strip, though the character's good nature was retained, as were references to his past as a mailman in Glenville, which the comic book placed inNebraska.[citation needed]
In his first comic book appearance, Lumpkin is represented as having befriended the Fantastic Four, to whom he makes regular fan mail deliveries at theirBaxter Buildingheadquarters in New York City. He half-jokingly requests to join the team on the grounds that he has the "power" to wiggle hisears.
Lumpkin appeared in his own solo feature inMarvel Comics Presents#18 (May 1989). In this parody ofA Christmas Carol,he is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who had intended to haunt cantankerous Spider-Man nemesisJ. Jonah Jamesonbut couldn't find his address. The story concludes with the normally amiable postman deciding he hates Christmas.
Fictional character biography[edit]
In Marvel Comics, Willie Lumpkin serves as the postal worker mailman whose Manhattan route includes the joint home and office of the superhero group theFantastic Four.On occasion he falls into the danger that typically surrounds the adventuring heroes. Examples include a story in which he is forced to spend Christmas Eve locked in a closet while the Fantastic Four fight theSuper-Skrull,[volume & issue needed]or when he helped to save the team from theMad Thinker.This incident involved Reed's trust in Lumpkin; he had hired the mailman to manipulate the machinery as part of a safety routine.[6]Later Lumpkin is mind-controlled into accessingDoctor Doom's time machine by a minion ofImmortus.[volume & issue needed]An alienSkrullalso impersonates him in another story to infiltrate the Fantastic Four's headquarters.[volume & issue needed]
He also briefly datedPeter Parker'sAunt May.[7]When May briefly appeared to have died, Lumpkin grieved and was seen to befriend a new companion named Doreen Greenwald.[8]
Lumpkin has since retired, and his niece Wilhemina "Billie" Lumpkin has taken his position as the Fantastic Four's mail carrier.[9]
He was interviewed about the Fantastic Four on the news showLateline,[10]saying how though the group took on cosmic menaces, they always found time to greet him. Sometime later, the super-team, miniaturized, entered his body to remove an otherwise inoperable brain tumor.[11]
Lumpkin was later hired as a biology teacher for the 'Future Foundation', a school founded by the Fantastic Four.[12]Willie enjoyed a trip to the moon when the Future Foundation and associates decided to hold a party.[13]Lumpkin is also hired as a moderator for the FF's online presences.[14]
Other versions[edit]
Ultimate Marvel[edit]
In theUltimate MarvelUniverse, there is a government agent named Lumpkin, who works for the agency that runs the think-tank/school in the Baxter Building. His first name is not mentioned. He is in his forties and overweight. He is initially shown recruitingReed Richards.[15]He has expressed a romantic interest in Grimm's mother. Lumpkin and three of his men assist the Four in confronting the Mad Thinker, a former Baxter Building student. The entire group is knocked out by tranquilizing chemicals. Reed saves everyone.[16]
In other media[edit]
Television[edit]
- Willie Lumpkin appears in theFantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroesepisode "My Neighbor was a Skrull", voiced by Colin Murdock.[citation needed]
Film[edit]
- Willie Lumpkin appears in the 2005Fantastic Fourfilm, portrayed by his creatorStan Lee.[17][18]
References[edit]
- ^Sanderson, Peter (2007).The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City.New York City:Pocket Books.pp. 42–48.ISBN978-1-4165-3141-8.
- ^Markstein, Don."Willie Lumpkin".Don Markstein's Toonopedia.Retrieved2 April2020.
- ^"Stan the Man & Roy the Boy: A Conversation Between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas".Comic Book Artist.No. #2. Summer 1998.Retrieved2013-12-30.
- ^Apeldoorn, Ger (November 11, 2013)."Late Mail".The Fabuleous Fifties.
- ^DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019).The Marvel Encyclopedia.DK Publishing. p. 219.ISBN978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^Fantastic Four#15 (June 1963)
- ^The Amazing Spider-Man#343 (Jan. 1991)at theGrand Comics Database.
- ^Spider-Man Holiday Special, 1995(1995)at theGrand Comics Database.
- ^Fantastic Fourvol. 3, #2 (Feb. 1998)at the Grand Comics Database
- ^Fantastic Four#543 (April 2007)at the Grand Comics Database
- ^Fantastic Four#606 (July 2012)at the Grand Comics Database
- ^FF#5 (2013)
- ^FF#16 (2014)
- ^Fantastic Fourvol. 6 (2020)
- ^Ultimate Fantastic Four#1 (Feb. 2004)
- ^Ultimate Fantastic Four#19-20 (July 2005-August 2005)
- ^Coggan, Devan (September 2, 2015)."Stan Lee says Fantastic Four flopped because he didn't have a cameo".Entertainment Weekly.
- ^Berggren, Victoria (July 19, 2017)."From 'X-Men' to 'Spider-Man': 35 of Stan Lee's Most Memorable Cameos".The Hollywood Reporter.
External links[edit]
- Willie LumpkinatDon Markstein's Toonopedia.Archivedfrom the original on September 16, 2015.
- Willie Lumpkinat Marvel Wiki
- Willie Lumpkinat Comic Vine
- 1959 comics debuts
- 1961 comics endings
- Gag-a-day comics
- Comics set in the United States
- Comics characters introduced in 1959
- Fantastic Four
- Fictional characters from Nebraska
- Fictional characters from New York City
- Fictional United States Postal Service workers
- Characters created by Dan DeCarlo
- Characters created by Stan Lee
- Characters created by Jack Kirby
- Male characters in comics