But like everything at Marvel, the Bullpen Bulletins page did not debut in a flash of inspiration; rather it evolved over time. Initially "Marvel" only had one superhero comic, The Fantastic Four, so there wasn't much need for a BB page, although starting with the third issue, Stan did put in a letters page, which is where the Bullpen Bulletins actually started. In FF #5, Stan appended a little comment at the end of the letters column:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2VgW6VcEY8vqKDROcfehvguRU_rxiNq5u7CSGCqBMQh7ObDVNfGb2QNvRvjweSjQxyczh2IvVNfu-QetGpU6FFKpgFdgAyHQ6dvQLDCsFRuL9wnr84YXnObrnjgIu7InUe51vMfqkvc/s400/FF005_08.jpg)
You could argue that was the beginning of the Bullpen Bulletins, and I wouldn't disagree too hard. In FF #10, though, come some unmistakable signs:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4LeAfLrQoqr2etfqywQUXJpyWf4Nd0AdqFvn7EGyCMTKV6Fgyn91kEJXJ_EQ2pUIERWF4eEDgN8IlR6BmCLs5MWoWEr_t0zNeSzVkruhTKIwPtT5VvRIfO6rO8fb1f0KTI_R6yJ0QdA/s400/FF010_26.jpg)
Note the lack of a hyphen in Spiderman.
And:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUId301EEVkye9hsm0bkmejUml5czlIyOxdr0DsYoDbqMKLHTVWoUck9lRTsBooOHtK-Wl8DUmNvJs_gABL8cguhzwGDmOY_ufW6zbDF-D2T1v89K-iGern56qTRWFWHQxGLcX9Sbo5uE/s400/FF010_26a.jpg)
In FF #13, the letters column included a "Special Announcements Section":
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh03dTUB9JXBibOM7d_k0KNCt65o6G-nnL210nESljHtfuy-bvCcedmjKIowVlAxSFqGl3gDqi3UeLt9GhkDF6aL_Qn4Cg5dqDD7ZMlRKnYRdgzAKPJLrse-ytRwVAlL42pWOh_00wOTcs/s400/FF013_32.jpg)
As I have mentioned in the past, this was about the time (April 1963) that Marvel could credibly have a "line" of superheroes, and the next issue saw the debut of "Marvel Comics" on the cover, and the continuation of the Special Announcements Section:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJtw_QF_IbccxrjCKdFIU7xopEI1HOItpKiHTHradG3FOFneKi0oQ85PzoZC7fA9ztoHVyQuuKT5jHaLSnkiUtoSan3zdMOcBbMjzAPmP6RnKImZboWwFsBl_ktBUB8RHzOX6YPp536E/s400/FF014_32.jpg)
This lasted until FF #20, when the Special Announcements Section got bigger (taking up almost half of the second letters page), and a key change was made:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhO0PNewKA3rJjnaVCrQw8Hld8DRVi_cm8hyphenhyphenKB0N7YLnuFYsqU-R10-0MzpxKzgNoixXTJt2_IEkRu1g_tS0IFrD3ZVOssmVH6FlAICzc7d_vlhegCeUYnmn6UV3uug-XvRA81hioOizk/s400/FF020_32.jpg)
It's not quite the Mighty Marvel Checklist, but it's the beginning of one. In FF #26 we get the first appearance of "Item":
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzfgOWjGDy-ckg_oYAVLaa4-oSA1jffxd04GAGcLE5BEL7Rsu9AcWvHOu3vGIYTdvUZtedgMnQNpbHuwbIrCt1pBS1Z8U4HnCRP09Ui0tyx8l3U3cn5zkhqkeN0VPEIIZytME6iOEOTI/s400/FF026_32.jpg)
I never quite understood the need to say "Item" in front of every tidbit, but it became a very durable part of the Bullpen Bulletins.
In FF #33, we saw the first named appearance of the Mighty Marvel Checklist:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityyTR16qBc0haEeZ8EkCzDDa8fI0Gt6-U0ci7itqzBYkqieckT97x0-1Z4wBGPULSiLrKrBoAFI7KaNPd0v8eLgXq00CVrnPrf_9IoMs5JVZPG_by4_Nz8K3msHXEI2rxWqAjNOmUw14/s400/FF033_32.jpg)
With FF #38, Stan did away with the Special Announcements Section, in favor of sprinkling the announcements throughout the letters page. In FF #41, we saw the first appearance of the Merry Marvel Bullpen Page, although it was really just an ad for FF tee shirts and the Merry Marvel Marching Society.
Finally, in FF #45 we got a look at the future:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4UoiWsRE5FXMMaJDQzg6V8OdQ8JR9YYwnNPp25wIDeXU0rQYHmsjzH6fnGM6rGWF8NbPfr9j-r0U13Cd7y_zMLEmR7XaLLZonLk9NkwiqkheX2Jidwa4xSiXV53imL25d2CUhPNAQoM/s400/FF045_31.jpg)
Incidentally, while I appreciate Marvel's Essentials and DC's Showcase reprints as a good way to read these issues on a budget, it is a shame that filler material like this is almost never reprinted. I got these scans from Marvel's 2005 complete FF collection on CD-ROM, which are an even better value and contain beautiful scans of every page of every issue.
Coming soon: A complete index to the Bullpen Bulletins for each year!
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