Marvelmania International was comic-book publisher Marvel Comics' authorized but independently operated fan club from 1969 to 1971, which absorbed the Merry Marvel Marching Society begun in 1964. It included a six-issue fan magazine, Marvelmania Magazine.
History
Creation
Following teaser promotion in Marvel comic books cover-dated November 1964, Marvel Comics introduced the company's in-house fan club, the Merry Marvel Marching Society, in its February 1965 comics, released in the fall of 1964. Generally abbreviated "M.M.M.S", the club offered readers a $1 membership kit that initially included a welcoming letter; a membership card; a one-sided, 33⅓ rpm record, "The Voices of Marvel"; a scratch pad; a sticker; a pinback button; and a certificate.[1] The company offered permutations of this kit, plus additional promotional merchandise such as posters and sweatshirts, through comics cover-dated October 1969.[2]
In those same October 1969 issues, Marvel announced in its promotional Bullpen Bulletins page that it had contracted with an unnamed "California executive" to create a new fan club, and that "the M.M.M.S. will be incorporated into a fabulous parent organization named Marvelmania International". The new company, the announcement continued, would be independent of Marvel. Marvel publisher Martin Goodman
Demise
Evanier wrote in 2003 that he discovered Marvelmania "was taking orders for such items and cashing the checks, and once in a rare while, they'd actually produce an item and ship it out. But a lot of kids were shamelessly ripped-off and when it became apparent that this was happening, I quit, as did my friend Steve Sherman, who was also working there. A few months later, the guy who owned and operated the company upped and vanished to avoid a legion of creditors, and has not been seen since".[15] Evanier further recalled to historian Marc Flores, who writes under the pen name Ronin Ro,[16] that after suspecting business problems, he arrived at the tiny Marvelmania office one day to see original Jack Kirby art, loaned to Marvelmania for reproduction, being given to local comics fans in exchange for mail-room duties.[17] Ro writes:
"... things at Marvelmania continued to fall apart. The guy who ran the place had overextended himself. He had great ideas for full-color catalogs and posters, but just as many outstanding bills from printers. [Steve] Sherman quit working there. Three weeks later, after completing the next Marvelmania fanzine, Evanier also left. Soon, creditors came after the guy who ran the place, the sheriff shut him down, and the police sat there and took the funds as they came in the door. Employees who left work on a Friday arrived on Monday to find the guy had 'cleaned the place out and disappeared'.
External links
References
- House ad, Marvel Comics issues cover-dated February 1965^
- Ballman, J. The Full-Color Guide to Marvel Silver Age Collectibles from M.M.M.S. to Marvelmania, p. 80. (Totalmojo Productions, 2007) ISBN 978-0-9815349-0-9^
- Ronin Ro. Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution' Bloomsbury USA, 2004^
- "Meet the Marvelmania Madmen".