Willie Lumpkin

Template:Short description Template:Infobox comics character 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.

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

Publication history

Newspaper comic strip

File:Lumpkin.gif

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. Lee recalled in a 1998 interview that,

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.

Marvel Comics

Lee and artist Jack Kirby then introduced their comic book version of Willie Lumpkin in Fantastic Four #11 (Feb. 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 mail carrier in Glenville, which the comic book placed 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.

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,Template:Volume needed 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.

Later, Lumpkin is mind-controlled into accessing Doctor Doom's time machine by a minion of Immortus.Template:Volume needed An alien Skrull also impersonates him in another story to infiltrate the Fantastic Four's headquarters.Template:Volume 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.

He also briefly dated Peter Parker's Aunt May. When May briefly appeared to have died, Lumpkin grieved and was seen to befriend a new companion named Doreen Greenwald.

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

He was interviewed about the Fantastic Four on the news show Lateline, 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.

Lumpkin was later hired as a biology teacher for the 'Future Foundation', a school founded by the Fantastic Four. Willie enjoyed a trip to the moon when the Future Foundation and associates decided to hold a party. Lumpkin is also hired as a moderator for the FF's online presences.

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.

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. 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.

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

• Willie Lumpkin appears in the 2005 Fantastic Four film, portrayed by his creator Stan Lee.

External links

• Willie Lumpkin at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015.
• Willie Lumpkin at Marvel Wiki
• Willie Lumpkin at Comic Vine