Merry Marvel Marching Society
Merry Marvel Marching Society (often referred to by the abbreviation "M.M.M.S.") was a fan club for Marvel Comics started by Marvel editor Stan Lee and/or Marvel publisher Martin Goodman in 1964.
History[edit]
Following teaser promotion in Marvel comic books cover-dated November 1964, Marvel Comics introduced the company's in-house fan club, the Merry Marvel Marching Society, in its comics cover-dated February 1965, released in the fall 1964. Generally abbreviated as the "M.M.M.S", the club offered readers a $1 membership kit that initially included a
- welcoming letter
- membership card
- one-sided, 331⁄3 rpm record, "The Voices of Marvel"
- scratch pad
- sticker
- pinback button and
- certificate.[1] The company offered permutations of this kit, plus additional promotional merchandise such as posters and sweatshirts, through comics cover-dated October 1969.[2]
As author Marc Flores, who writes under the pen name Ronin Ro,[3] described,
Stan made up cards and had production people Sol Brodsky and Marie Severin help create a pin, eight stickers prominently featuring the heroes, "a nutty new notepad," a minibook, a pencil, a certificate, and a membership card. Stan wanted his bullpen[4] to join him in a special recording he'd include in the $1 membership kit. Most of the bullpen was willing, except for [Steve] Ditko.[5]
The club proved successful, with Marvel secretary and club coordinator Flo Steinberg remarking that they "were working seven days a week just opening these envelopes" containing the subscription fee.[5] Soon, the club offered a range of other money-spinning products, including:[5]
- Six-foot "life-size, full-color Spidey pin-up" made from a Steve Ditko drawing of Spider-Man
- $1.50 T-shirt with a Ditko-drawn Dr. Strange
- Thing drawing by Jack Kirby on "Official Swingin' Stationery"
- Fantastic Four family portrait T-shirt by Kirby.
The M.M.M.S. membership had ranks indicated by three-letter abbreviations (such as Q.N.S. for "Quite 'Nuff Sayer" to F.F.F. for "Fearless Front-Facer"), based on a proposal by young comics fan Mark Evanier.[6]
The M.M.M.S. was absorbed into the subsequent Marvel fan club, Marvelmania International, in 1969. This second club lasted until 1971. A third official Marvel Comics fan club, FOOM (Friends of Ol' Marvel) followed from 1973 to 1976.
In popular culture[edit]
The character of Hiro Nakamura on Heroes is reported to be an M.M.M.S. member in the episode "Don't Look Back".
The M.M.M.S. is mentioned in the end-theme of the syndicated 1966 TV show The Marvel Super Heroes, which featured the lyric "You belong to the Merry Marvel Marching Society".[citation needed] The "Merry Marvel Marching Society" song also played during the end credits of the video game Lego Marvel Super Heroes[citation needed], as well having Stan Lee humming the tune in some of his perils throughout the game.[citation needed]
References[edit]
- Pratt, Doug. "The MMMS Records Remastered", DogRat.com, September 23, 2007. The Voices of Marvel and Scream Along with Marvel. Archive.org archive, WebCitation archive.
- ^ House ad, Marvel Comics issues cover-dated February 1965
- ^ Ballman, J. The Full-Color Guide to Marvel Silver Age Collectibles from M.M.M.S. to Marvelmania, p. 80. (Totalmojo Productions, 2007) ISBN 978-0-9815349-0-9
- ^ Ives, Nat (January 31, 2005). "MediaTalk; Who Deserves The Credit (and Cash) For Dreaming Up Those Superheroes?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20110122031052/http://costa.lunarpages.com/bp/bullpen.html
- ^ a b c Ro, Ronin (2004). Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution. Bloomsbury. p. 84.
- ^ Evanier, Mark. "How I Became a Young, Zingy, With-It Guy". NewsFromME.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
External links[edit]
- Brady, Terrence H. (n.d.). "Merry Marvel Marching Society". Third Millennium Entertainment (fan site). Archived from the original on July 19, 2011.
