Marvelmania Catalog #1

Background

To get more of the story of Marvelmania and this Catalog, check out the review for Marvelmania Magazine (1969 One Shot) #1 which includes quotes from American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1960s (1965-1969) like “Chip Goodman had made contact with a man named Don Wallace in California who was interested in licensing the Marvel heroes for products he’d sell through the mail” and “Once Wallace agreed to absorb the MMMS membership kits into his catalog, a deal for $10,000 was struck and Marvel began loaning the entrepreneur artwork – most of it by Jack Kirby – for illustration purposes” and “Once he realized that he was losing money on the deal, ‘Uncle Don’ – as [Mark] Evanier sarcastically called him – ‘began siphoning money from the company to set up his next Get Rich Quick scheme and, suddenly, no one was getting the Silver Surfer posters they’d ordered’.” Those Silver Surfer posters? You’ll find them in the Marvelmania Catalog!

Story Details

That Jack Kirby artwork begins on the cover with a group portrait of Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch, the Invisible Girl, the Thing, Dr. Doom, the Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Captain America, and Thor rushing towards us. Jack is the creator or co-creator of all these characters except Spider-Man, whom he rarely drew, which is why Spidey is the only one of these characters who looks a little odd. Counting the cover, Spidey is on 11 of the 16 pages.

On the inside front cover, Stan Lee gives a “Greetings, Great One!” in a message draped by Dr. Doom, also drawn by Jack. Stan provides some-now amusing comments like “your club will be working night and day to make Marvelmania everything you want it to be – and more” and “your club will be given the full attention and tender loving care which it – and you – so richly deserve” and “the best is yet to come!” He signs it, “Smiley.”

And now we plunge into the catalog which, amusingly, promises, “All Products Have a Marvelmania Money Back Guarantee.”

The first offer is for four different Marvelmania Decal Sheets. They “average 20 big decals per sheet,” cost $1.25 each (plus 25¢ postage and handling) and feature art by Jack, John Romita, Steranko, Herb Trimpe, Gene Colan, John Buscema, and others. Most of the main Marvel characters are here but there is also a Badoon, the Mangog, and this guy who I don’t recognize at all.

Next, we have the Jumbo Posters that are a “giant 2 feet by 3 feet.” There are eight in all and, this time, we have the artists credited. Jack has done four including the Silver Surfer ones that “suddenly no one was getting.” Herb Trimpe does the Hulk with the Leader, Steranko does Cap and the Red Skull, and, oddly, Howard Purcell does the Black Knight fighting, possibly, the original Black Knight. The Spidey poster features Doc Ock and the Green Goblin and is drawn by John Romita.

Now, 14 years before the Official Marvel Try-Out Book, “12 different drawings for you to ink and color” including “6 different drawings by your favorite artists of themselves” including the familiar self-portrait of John Romita at his drawing board surrounded by Spidey, his villains, and his friends.

The Kirby self-portrait is also familiar and was used on the cover of The Jack Kirby Collector #1, September 1994. The others are self-portraits of John Buscema, Marie Severin, Gene Colan, and Herb Trimpe, also surrounded by their characters. This is “Only $1.75.”

“The Official Marvelmania Pen Pal Program” provides you with a kit of 10 stationary sheets (with Marvel characters on the top of the page), 50 sheets of a 5” by 7” scratch pad (the same illustration at the top), 10 envelopes (with a drawing of Dr. Doom on the flap saying, “Answer this letter – doomed if you don’t”), and a list of “Pen Pal Names and Addresses.” It was all designed by Jack and we are told that refills are available and that “stationary also good for inter-galactic memos.” Again, “Only $1.25.”

The “Super-Hero Buttons” feature Spidey, Sub-Mariner, the Silver Surfer, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Captain America, and Dr. Doom. (Doom is prominent in the catalog, both on merchandise and as one of the characters plugging the merchandise. He has his own poster while Iron Man, the X-Men, and Daredevil do not. This is probably because Jack Kirby did most of the artwork and he wasn’t working on any of those others at this time.) The buttons are “All Metal” and of “Assorted Sizes.”

There are two different “Plastic Pillows” (previously sold in the comics since ASM #66, (November 1968); one with Spidey, one with Thor, who asks of the plastic pillows, “What have these mortals unleashed now?” A good question. The buttons and the pillows are “Only $1.25” each.

That’s it for the merch. The next two pages are a letter to “Dear Marvelmaniac” and signed “The Marvelmania Madmen!” and probably written by Mark Evanier saying things like “All this is a start – hopefully a good start to what shall soon prove to be the greatest thing to happen to comic books since the staple!” and promising that “the first one hundred copies of each poster will be autographed…by the artists themselves! This means getting King Kirby to sign 400 posters, but no sacrifice is too great for you merry men!” Did Jack actually sign posters? Probably not. As Mark Evanier wrote in his March 31, 2002 “News from ME,” “In 1969, Jack was snookered into producing a ton of artwork for a Los Angeles-based company called Marvelmania International — a mail order firm that had licensed the right to manufacture Marvel merchandise in the guise of a fan club. The fellow who operated Marvelmania was not the most honest guy in the world. I worked there a while and quit when the full magnitude of his duplicity became apparent. Many of us were either never paid, or paid way less than we were owed. Jack was promised hefty sums of cash to draw dozens of things, including eight posters of Marvel heroes that the guy at Marvelmania promised to market. The eight drawings represented some of Jack's finest work, and he actually inked them himself, which was something he rarely did. Only four of the eight were ever issued and, though poorly printed, they sold well...which, of course, did not mean that Jack received the promised hefty sums. He got only a few bucks for the four that were released and nothing at all for the others.”

The inside back cover promotes, “Marvelmania Mad Money,” which promises “with each order you send us for $1.25 or more, we will include 1 coupon worth 42¢. When you have 3 coupons, send them along with 25¢ to cover postage and handling along with the free selection you want. You can choose any poster or decal sheet.” Did this deal ever come through? I wouldn’t count on it.

The back cover announces “Marvel Marches On…” and is a plug for the comics. “And now, Stan and the Bullpen hereby pledge to raise comic mags to ever-greater, ever-loftier heights so that…at 15¢…Marvel Comics will continue to be what they have always been…the biggest entertainment bargain this side of Asgard’s Rainbow Bridge!!”

General Comments

It’s a nice little package. The Kirby cover is impressive with the Marvel heroes seeming to leap off the page as they run towards you. The decals, posters, coloring kits, stationary, and buttons all look like something worth buying. (I’m not sure about the plastic pillows.)

The trouble is, although I try to stay in the moment of the item I’m reviewing, I can’t look at this catalog without thinking about what a con job it turned out to be and how many Marvelites sent in their $1.25 (plus 25¢ for postage and handling) only to receive nothing at all.

Overall Rating

Call it 5 webs for the artwork in the catalog and 0 webs for the club. Altogether , two and a half webs.

Footnote

Next: Let’s move on to Marvelmania Catalog #2. Why not?