Willie Lumpkin

Willie Lumpkin
Willie Lumpkin demonstrates his ear wiggling "power" in his debut appearance in Fantastic Four #11 (Feb, 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 Dan DeCarlo Jack Kirby
In-story information
Full name	Willie Lumpkin
Supporting character of	Fantastic Four, Spider-Man
Abilities	Ability to wiggle ears and nose

Willie Lumpkin is a fictional supporting character in the Marvel Universe, who is best known as the mailman of the Fantastic Four in their self-titled comic book.

Fictional character biography

Newspaper comic strip

Comic strip art by Dan DeCarlo.

The character was originally created for a syndicated, daily comic strip by writer Stan Lee and artist Dan DeCarlo. Lee had initially submitted samples of a strip about a New York City beat cop, but was told by his editor that it was too "big city-ish" and that he wanted a friendly mailman to better appeal to mainstream America. Willie Lumpkin, which was only published in 1960, drew humor from the people and situations Willie Lumpkin would encounter along his mail delivery route in the small town of "Glenville."

Marvel Comics

Lee and artist Jack Kirby then introduced their comic book version of Willie Lumpkin in Fantastic Four #11 (February, 1963). 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 located in Nebraska.

In his first comic book appearance, Lumpkin is represented as having befriended the Fantastic Four, to whom he makes regular fan mail deliveries at their Baxter Building headquarters in New York City. He half-jokingly requests to join the team on the grounds that he has the "power" to wiggle his ears. He serves as their mailman for many years, and on occasion falls into the zone of 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 the Super-Skrull, when he helped to save the team from the Mad Thinker, or when he is mind-controlled into accessing Doctor Doom's time machine by a minion of Immortus. An alien Skrull also impersonates him in another story to infiltrate the Fantastic Four's headquarters. Willie Lumpkin also crossed over into Spider-Man comics, where he briefly dates Spider-Man's Aunt May.

Willie Lumpkin appeared in his own solo feature in Marvel Comics Presents #18 (May, 1989). The fan-favorite story was a parody of A Christmas Carol in which Lumpkin is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who had intended to haunt cantankerous Spider-Man nemesis J. Jonah Jameson but couldn't find his address. The story concludes with the normally amiable postman deciding that he hates Christmas.

Willie has since retired, and his niece Billie has taken his position as the Fantastic Four's mail carrier.

Willie appears in Fantastic Four #543, being interviewed about the FF on the news show 'Lateline'. He talks about how, though the group took on cosmic menaces, they always found time to greet him.

Other versions

Ultimate Universe

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, 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 recruiting Reed Richards. He has expressed a romantic interest in Grimm's mother. Lumpkin and three of his men assists the Four in confronting the Mad Thinker. The entire group is knocked out by tranquilizing chemicals. Reed saves everyone.

Marvels

Marvels is a "history" of the world of Marvel super-heroes painted by Alex Ross and which spans from the late 1930s to the 1960s. In one scene, main character Phil Sheldon, a journalist who observes the Marvel characters from a distance (and sometimes close-up), meets his ex-girlfriend in a movie theatre where she introduces him to her date, Bill Lumpkin. With a smile, Lumpkin tells Sheldon that they have met though he states that Sheldon will not remember where, causing the reporter a little embarrassment.

In other media

Television

• Willie Lumpkin appears in the Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes episode "My Neighbor was a Skrull" voiced by Colin Murdock.

Film

Stan Lee playing Lumpkin in Fantastic Four

• Willie Lumpkin appears in the 2005 Fantastic Four film portrayed by his own creator Stan Lee. This marks the first time that Mr. Lee's "Marvel movie cameos" have amounted to him actually portraying a character he helped create. In the movie, Mr. Lee/Wille greets the Fantastic Four at the elevator of the Baxter Building.

External links

• Dan Decarlo Website
• A Conversation between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, includes dialogue about the Willie Lumpkin comic strip