| Willie Lumpkin | |
|---|---|
 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 | 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"Lumpkin is a fictionalsupporting character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character is best known as themailman of theFantastic Four in theirself-titled comic book.[1]
Willie Lumpkin was portrayed byStan Lee in the 2005 filmFantastic Four.
The character was originally created for asyndicated daily comic strip by writerStan Lee and artistDan DeCarlo.[2] Lee recalled in a 1998 interview that,
Mel Lazarus had 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 Lumpkin drew 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]
Lee then introduced the comic book version of Willie Lumpkin inFantastic Four #11 (Feb. 1963), featuring art byJack Kirby.[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 amail carrier in Glenville, which the comic book placed inNebraska.[citation needed]
In his first comic book appearance, Lumpkin is represented as having befriended theFantastic Four, to whom he makes regular fan mail deliveries at theirBaxter Building headquarters 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 Jameson, but couldn't find his address. The story concludes with the normally amiable postman deciding he hates Christmas.
In Marvel Comics, Willie Lumpkin serves as themail carrier 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,[6] 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.[7]
Later, Lumpkin is mind-controlled into accessingDoctor Doom's time machine by a minion ofImmortus.[volume & issue needed] An alienSkrull also impersonates him in another story to infiltrate the Fantastic Four's headquarters.[volume & issue needed]
Willie Lumpkin was visited by theGhost of Christmas Past who couldn't find the address toJ. Jonah Jameson. This incident led to Willie disliking Christmas.[6]
He also briefly datedPeter Parker'sAunt May.[8] When May briefly appeared to have died, Lumpkin grieved and was seen to befriend a new companion named Doreen Greenwald.[9]
Lumpkin has since retired, and his niece Wilhemina "Billie" Lumpkin has taken his position as the Fantastic Four's mail carrier.[10]
He was interviewed about the Fantastic Four on the news showLateline,[11] 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.[12]
Lumpkin was later hired as a biology teacher for the 'Future Foundation', a school founded by the Fantastic Four.[13] Willie enjoyed a trip to the moon when the Future Foundation and associates decided to hold a party.[14] Lumpkin is also hired as a moderator for the FF's online presences.[15]
During the "Venom War" storyline, Willie Lumpkin was among those possessed by the Zombiotes while delivering the mail. He was freed by the possession byAgent Anti-Venom who advised him and the person his Zombiote appearance had cornered to take shelter inside a building.[16]
An alternate universe variant of William Lumpkin fromEarth-1610 appears inUltimate Fantastic Four. This version is a government agent for the Baxter Foundation who is in his forties and overweight.[17][18]
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