Willie Lumpkin

William Lemuel "Willie" Lumpkin is a fictional supporting character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is best known as the mailman of the Fantastic Four in their self-titled comic book.^[1]

Willie Lumpkin
Willie Lumpkin as depicted in his debut appearance in Fantastic 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

Willie Lumpkin was portrayed by Stan Lee in the 2005 film Fantastic Four.

Publication history

Newspaper comic strip

Willie Lumpkin in the 1959-61 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.^[2] Lee recalled in a 1998 interview that,

Mel Lazarus had done a strip called Miss Peach, which used not panels but one long panel instead. I liked that idea very much, so when Harold Anderson, the head of Publishers Syndicate, asked me to do a strip, I came up with Barney'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]

Marvel Comics

Lee then introduced the comic book version of Willie Lumpkin in Fantastic Four #11 (Feb. 1963), featuring art by Jack 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 a mail carrier in Glenville, which the comic book placed in Nebraska.^{[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 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.

Lumpkin appeared in his own solo feature in Marvel Comics Presents #18 (May 1989). In this parody of A Christmas Carol, he 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 he hates Christmas.

Fictional character biography

In Marvel Comics, Willie Lumpkin serves as the mail carrier whose Manhattan route includes the joint home and office of the superhero group the Fantastic 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 the Super-Skrull,^[6] or when he helped to save the team from the Mad 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 accessing Doctor Doom's time machine by a minion of Immortus.^{[volume & issue needed]} An alien Skrull also impersonates him in another story to infiltrate the Fantastic Four's headquarters.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Willie Lumpkin was visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past who couldn't find the address to J. Jonah Jameson. This incident led to Willie disliking Christmas.^[6]

He also briefly dated Peter Parker's Aunt 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 show Lateline,^[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 by Agent Anti-Venom who advised him and the person his Zombiote appearance had cornered to take shelter inside a building.^[16]

Other versions

An alternate universe variant of William Lumpkin from Earth-1610 appears in Ultimate Fantastic Four. This version is a government agent for the Baxter Foundation who is in his forties and overweight.^[17][18]

In other media

• Willie Lumpkin appears in the Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes episode "My Neighbor was a Skrull", voiced by Colin Murdock.^{[citation needed]}
• Willie Lumpkin appears in Fantastic Four, portrayed by Stan Lee.^[19][20]