The Marvel Comics Bullpen Bulletins Index: 2007-09-16

March 1973

"Hmmm... The Monster Times... The New Yorker... looks like there are no worlds left for the ol' wall-crawler to conquer, 'cept maybe the Ladies' Home Journal! But, who knows - maybe one of these fine days-!"

From Captain America, Vol. 1, No. 159

February 1973

"Those of you who've been with us since the early days of Marvel have probably lost track of how many times I've hammered home the point that, unlike cigarettes, our comics are really good for you."

From Fantastic Four, Vol. 1, No. 131

January 1973

"Remember - the dread Dormammu is watching you!"

From Incredible Hulk, Vol. 1, No. 159

December 1972

"...Steve Ger ber - a name we predict you'll be seeing a lot more of, in the near future!"

From Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1, No. 115

November 1972

"Anyway, for years now, we've wanted to start a comic-mag which dealt exclusively with the derring-do of a gal superstar, instead of the usual hunk of masculine muscle."

From Avengers, Vol. 1, No. 105

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When I was a kid, there was this series of hardcover juvenile adventure books featuring a character named Jerry Todd. They were something like the Hardy Boys, but they had a lot of humor mixed in with the adventure. And at the very end of each book, the publisher printed letters from the readers as well as responses from the author himself. It was so informal, so warm...it made me feel like I knew these guys and they cared about what their readers thought. I was surprised at the time other books didn't see what a great idea this was. I don't know if I consciously remembered those books when I set out to do the Bullpen page years later, or if I was unconsciously influenced and only afterwards realized where I got the idea from. I do know that talking to the readers informally and indirectly seemed like the natural thing to do."

-Stan Lee
From Mark Gruenwald's Origin of the Bullpen Bulletin

Marvel Bullpen Bulletins': a page of Marvel gossip and advertising featured in every issue of every comic, written in a style that could be characterised as High Hipster - two parts Lord Buckley, one part Austin Powers. Stan Lee was a writer gone Barnum, who'd abandoned new work in favour of rah-rah moguldom. He was Marvel's media liaison and their own biggest in-house fan, a schmoozer."

-Jonathan Lethem

Most of the comics Stan [Lee] worked on in the sixties have been praised to Asgardian proportion and I certainly agree there was wonderment aplenty in there. But I also really liked the friendly editorial "voice" he established in his letter columns, house ads and especially in the Bullpen Bulletins. He put himself on a first-name basis with the readership at a time when the rival DC editors generally came across not only as adults but stodgy adults. He simultaneously bragged about the greatness of Marvel and expressed such humility that when they screwed up, as they occasionally did, you were willing to cut them a lot of slack."