View source for Willie Lumpkin

{{Short description|Fictional mailman for the Fantastic Four}}
{{Infobox comics character <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
|character_name=Willie Lumpkin
|image=Willie Lumpkin FF 11.png
|caption=Willie Lumpkin as depicted in his debut appearance in ''Fantastic Four'' #11 (February 1963).  Art by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers.
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|debut=(in daily comics): ? (1960), (in comic books): ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #11 (February 1963)
|creators=[[Stan Lee]] (writer)<br>[[Dan DeCarlo]] (artist)
|full_name=William Lemuel Lumpkin
|supports=[[Fantastic Four]], [[Spider-Man]]
|powers=Ability to wiggle ears and nose
}}
'''William Lemuel "Willie" Lumpkin''' is a fictional [[supporting character]] appearing in [[American comic book]]s published by [[Marvel Comics]]. The character is best known as the [[Mail carrier|mailman]] of the [[Fantastic Four]] in their [[Fantastic Four (comic book)|self-titled comic book]].<ref name="mnyc">{{cite book | last = Sanderson | first = Peter | title = The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City | publisher = [[Pocket Books]] | date = 2007 | location = New York City | pages = 42–48 | isbn = 978-1-4165-3141-8}}</ref>

Willie Lumpkin was portrayed by [[Stan Lee]] in the 2005 film ''[[Fantastic Four (2005 film)|Fantastic Four]]''.

==Publication history==
===Newspaper comic strip===
[[File:Lumpkin.gif|thumb|Willie Lumpkin in the 1959-61 comic strip. Art by [[Dan DeCarlo]].]]
The character was originally created for a [[print syndication|syndicated]] daily comic strip by writer [[Stan Lee]] and artist [[Dan DeCarlo]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |access-date=2 April 2020  |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/wililump.htm |title=Willie Lumpkin}}</ref> Lee recalled in a 1998 interview that,

{{blockquote|[[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!"<ref name=comicbookartist>{{cite news |  title=Stan the Man & Roy the Boy: A Conversation Between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas | url = http://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/02stanroy.html | work = [[Comic Book Artist]] | issue = #2 | date = Summer 1998 |access-date= 2013-12-30}}</ref>}}

''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.<ref>{{cite web|first=Ger |last=Apeldoorn | publisher = The Fabuleous Fifties|title=Late Mail|url=http://allthingsger.blogspot.nl/2013/11/late-mail.html | date= November 11, 2013}}</ref>

===Marvel Comics===
Lee and artist [[Jack Kirby]] then introduced their comic book version of Willie Lumpkin in ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #11 (Feb. 1963).<ref>{{cite book |last1=DeFalco |first1=Tom |last2=Sanderson |first2=Peter |last3=Brevoort |first3=Tom |last4=Teitelbaum |first4=Michael |last5=Wallace |first5=Daniel |last6=Darling |first6=Andrew |last7=Forbeck |first7=Matt |last8=Cowsill |first8=Alan |last9=Bray |first9=Adam |title=The Marvel Encyclopedia |date=2019 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-7890-0 |page=219}}</ref> 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|date=December 2013}}

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 [[ear]]s.

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]],{{Volume needed|c=y|date=March 2013}} 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.<ref>''Fantastic Four'' #15 (June 1963). Marvel Comics.</ref>

Later, Lumpkin is mind-controlled into accessing [[Doctor Doom]]'s time machine by a minion of [[Immortus]].{{Volume needed|c=y|date=March 2013}} An alien [[Skrull]] also impersonates him in another story to infiltrate the Fantastic Four's headquarters.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=March 2013}}

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.<ref>''Marvel Comics Presents'' #18 (May 1989). Marvel Comics.</ref>

He also briefly dated [[Peter Parker]]'s [[Aunt May]].<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/49115/#263953 ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #343 (Jan. 1991)] at the [[Grand Comics Database]].</ref> When May briefly appeared to have died, Lumpkin grieved and was seen to befriend a new companion named Doreen Greenwald.<ref>[http://www.comics.org/series/18329/ ''Spider-Man Holiday Special, 1995'' (1995)] at the [[Grand Comics Database]].</ref>

Lumpkin has since retired, and his niece Wilhemina "Billie" Lumpkin has taken his position as the Fantastic Four's mail carrier.<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/61472/#307013 ''Fantastic Four'' vol. 3, #2 (Feb. 1998)] at the Grand Comics Database</ref>

He was interviewed about the Fantastic Four on the news show ''Lateline'',<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/335453/ ''Fantastic Four'' #543 (April 2007)] at the Grand Comics Database</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/946711/#1080226 ''Fantastic Four'' #606 (July 2012)] at the Grand Comics Database</ref>

Lumpkin was later hired as a biology teacher for the '[[Future Foundation]]', a school founded by the Fantastic Four.<ref>''FF'' #5 (2013). Marvel Comics.</ref> Willie enjoyed a trip to the moon when the Future Foundation and associates decided to hold a party.<ref>''FF'' #16 (2014). Marvel Comics.</ref> Lumpkin is also hired as a moderator for the FF's online presences.<ref>''Fantastic Four'' vol. 6 (2020). Marvel Comics.</ref>

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 [[Flash Thompson|Agent Anti-Venom]] who advised him and the person his Zombiote appearance had cornered to take shelter inside a building.<ref>''Venom War'' #3. Marvel Comics.</ref>

==Other versions==
===Ultimate Marvel===
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]].<ref>''Ultimate Fantastic Four'' #1 (Feb. 2004). Marvel Comics.</ref> 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.<ref>''Ultimate Fantastic Four'' #19-20 (July 2005-August 2005). Marvel Comics.</ref>

==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.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

===Film===
* Willie Lumpkin appears in the 2005 ''[[Fantastic Four (2005 film)|Fantastic Four]]'' film, portrayed by his creator [[Stan Lee]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://ew.com/article/2015/09/02/stan-lee-fantastic-four/|title=Stan Lee says Fantastic Four flopped because he didn't have a cameo|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|last=Coggan|first=Devan|date=September 2, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/stan-lee-cameo-spider-man-homecoming-34-more-films-tv-shows-1018027/item/spider-man-2-2004-stan-lee-cameos-1989-2017-1018040|title=From 'X-Men' to 'Spider-Man': 35 of Stan Lee's Most Memorable Cameos|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|last=Berggren|first=Victoria|date=July 19, 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://toonopedia.com/wililump.htm Willie Lumpkin] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240527130710/https://www.webcitation.org/6bb1lxwvj?url=http://toonopedia.com/wililump.htm Archived] from the original on September 16, 2015.
* [https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/William_Lumpkin_%28Earth-616%29 Willie Lumpkin] at Marvel Wiki
* [https://comicvine.gamespot.com/willie-lumpkin/4005-15288/ Willie Lumpkin] at Comic Vine

{{Fantastic Four}}
{{Stan Lee}}
{{Jack Kirby}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lumpkin, Willie}}
[[Category:1959 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1961 comics endings]]
[[Category:Gag-a-day comics]]
[[Category:Comics set in the United States]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1959]]
[[Category:Fantastic Four]]
[[Category:Fictional characters from Nebraska]]
[[Category:Fictional characters from New York City]]
[[Category:Fictional United States Postal Service workers]]
[[Category:Characters created by Dan DeCarlo]]
[[Category:Characters created by Stan Lee]]
[[Category:Characters created by Jack Kirby]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics film characters]]