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29-488: Its mascot, Forbush Man , introduced in the first issue, was a superhero wannabe with no superpowers and a costume of red long johns emblazoned with the letter "F" and a cooking pot, with eye-holes, covering his never-revealed head. His secret identity was eventually revealed in issue #5 (Dec. 1967) as Irving Forbush , Marvel's fictitious office gofer . Marvel Comics' superhero-satire comic book Not Brand Echh ran an initial 13 issues ( cover-dated Aug. 1967 - May 1969), with

58-629: A Superman takeoff recalling Wally Wood 's influential " Superduperman " in Mad #4 (May 1952); the Ecchs-Men in "If Magneat-O Should Clobber Us", parodying not only the X-Men and Magneto , but also the high melodrama of 1960s Marvel titles; and Marvel characters visually standing-in for the baseball -player protagonists of the otherwise faithfully rendered famous poem " Casey at the Bat ". Events took place in

87-562: A 14th issue published in 2017. Editors Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich pitched a comics series that would poke fun of other companies' characters, but Stan Lee decided that it should focus its satiric lens on Marvel's own output. The series title was a play on an advertising convention of the time, in which a competitor's product was not referred to by name, but simply as "Brand X"; DC was sometimes playfully called "Brand Echh" in Marvel " Bullpen Bulletins " and letters pages , hence this comic

116-537: A choice for top assistant editor. During the 1980s and 1990s, Forbush Man became the mascot of the Marvel Age news magazine. He also was a main cast member in What The--?! , a satirical ensemble book. In 1993, Forbush Man was killed fighting Dumsday in a parody of DC Comics ' " The Death of Superman ". Forbush Man appears in the 2006 series Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. as a member of "The New Paramounts",

145-403: A costume comprising red long johns with the letter F on the front, black galoshes and a cooking pot with eye-holes on his head. Forbush-Man's first major appearance was in the lead story of Not Brand Echh #5 (December 1967): "The Origin of Forbush-Man", which was "conceived, created and cluttered-up" by Lee and Kirby. In this story, Forbush-Man's secret identity is revealed as Irving Forbush,

174-526: A giant poster. In the late 1980s, a poster made up of the first twelve issues of the original Handbook was released. For the poster, several characters were added and others received up-to-date looks. In the Master Edition (1990–1993) this changed and every character was allocated a double-sided loose leaf page. Later versions allocate characters different lengths of entry depending on their history and importance. There have been several versions of

203-669: A team consisting of Not Brand Echh characters. He is later killed by Tabitha Smith after failing to control her mind. Forbush Man later appeared in the 2010 one-shot Captain America: Who Won't Wield the Shield . He is killed while defending Marvel Comics employees from critics who believe that they have made comics too dark, but soon returns as a zombie. The original Forbush Man had no superpowers. The Forbush Man who appeared in Nextwave can project deadly hallucinations into

232-563: Is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Originally the mascot of Marvel's Not Brand Echh , he is the alter-ego of Irving Forbush , a fictional employee of "Marble Comics" (a parody of Marvel). Forbush was devised in 1955 by Marvel editor Stan Lee to refer to an imaginary low-grade colleague who was often the butt of Lee's jokes. In his guise of Forbush-Man, he first appeared in 1967. According to Marvel Comics' Alternate Universes 2005 , Forbush Man

261-575: Is a native of Earth-665 as opposed to Marvel's regular Earth-616 . Irving Forbush was introduced in Marvel's short-lived satirical comic book Snafu as a mascot. Forbush was given a line in the magazine's content page where he was credited as Snafu 's founder. Another Forbush family member, Melvin, was mentioned in the letters column reference, "Losted [sic] by his cousin, Melvin Forbush". During Snafu 's three-issue run, starting in November 1955,

290-700: The Avengers parody the Revengers, the S.H.I.E.L.D. parody S.H.E.E.S.H, and finally the X-Men parody The Echhs-Men. His third major appearance came in Not Brand Echh #13 (May 1969, the comic's final issue), which finds him in a loose parody of Silver Surfer #5 (April 1969). Writer Lee himself puts in an appearance as Marble Comics' "Fearless Leader" in the final two panels. On page 3 of Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965) while Patsy Walker and her rival Hedy Wolfe eye Tony Stark and search for Millie

319-733: The Marvel Cinematic Universe series Daredevil , Jessica Jones , Luke Cage , Iron Fist , The Defenders , and The Punisher . This version is a police captain and attorney. Forbush Man appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 . Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is an encyclopedic guide which details

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348-533: The fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications. The original 15-volume series was published in comic book format in 1982, followed by sporadic updates. Jim Shooter , Marvel's then editor-in-chief , conceived the idea of envisioning a guide detailing statistics much in the manner of those found upon the back of baseball cards . This initial project was to be called The Marvel Super-Specifications Handbook (the eventual title incorporating

377-598: The "Marble Universe", a play on the Marvel Universe . In broader topical references, Gary Friedrich , writer of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos , and cartoonist and Marvel production manager John Verpoorten contributed a Marvel-character version of the Beatles ' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band record album art. Robert Crumb 's album cover art for Big Brother and the Holding Company

406-563: The "actual face" of Irving Forbush was often shown, though this face was of someone not named Irving Forbush. Forbush-Man first appeared on the cover of the first issue of the satirical Not Brand Echh ( cover-dated Aug. 1967), drawn by Jack Kirby and featuring Doctor Doom , the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer cowering in fear as Forbush Man approaches. Forbush-Man is a wannabe superhero with no superpowers who wears

435-519: The 1978 instructional paperback How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way , Chapter Five focuses on drawing a humanoid figure. The introduction states, "...Most anyone can draw a stick figure. (Even Irving Forbush!)" In the early 1990s, when Comics Buyer's Guide begin their annual fan awards, Marvel came up with its own award for assistant editors as they were ineligible for the CBG awards. Some ballots, which appeared on Marvel's letters pages, listed Forbush as

464-553: The Model as the crowd gathers for the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm , chants of "We Want Irving Forbush, We Want Irving Forbush" are seen in the background. He is mentioned by Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man #35 (April 1966) as what Spider-Man calls an in-joke. When Molten Man tells Spider-Man that when he beats him, nobody would stop him, Spider-Man remarks, "There's always Irving Forbush". In

493-663: The concept since it was first published in 1982: Marvel Fact Files are a series of encyclopedic guides which detail the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications. The magazine series is published in the U.K. by Eaglemoss Publications starting in 2013. Lawrence Henry Apodaca reviewed the original The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe in Space Gamer No. 64. Apodaca commented that "Non-comic collectors should be able to find copies at stores which carry back issues - and should look for them. They are

522-460: The fictitious office gofer at Marble Comics. The character has a shrewish maiden aunt (Auntie Mayhem) who is indirectly responsible for her nephew becoming a superhero: in a fit of pique, she slams the fabled cooking pot over Irving's head, inadvertently providing him with the disguise he'd been looking for. The fictional October 13, 1939, edition of the Daily Bugle claims an "Irving Forbush"

551-474: The information presented was only the most recent data and was subject to change. Sanderson, one of the writers of the original guide, noted that "Mark sought to make the Marvel characters' super-powers as firm a basis in real science as possible. After the first version of the Handbook , Mark decided that some of the explanations had grown too complicated, and asked me to simplify them." The OHOTMU detailed

580-653: The minds of others, with this power normally being blocked by his helmet. During the DC/Marvel Amalgam Universe crossover , Irving Forbush was fused with DC's AL to form Al Forbush, proprietor of Lobo the Duck's favorite diner in the series' parody installment. He wears Forbush Man's trademark cooking pot with eye holes on his head. In Infinity Wars , Forbush Man is fused with Eternity and temporarily gains cosmic powers. Irving Forbush makes non-speaking cameo appearances in photographs depicted in

609-632: The more significant characters, items and locations in the Marvel Universe , itemizing them into individual entries. Individual entries usually consisted of: In the original, characters were listed at one character to a page, although minor characters were sometimes listed at two to a page and major characters would occasionally receive more than one page. In the Deluxe Edition , however, every character received at least one page, with significant characters receiving up to 3-5 pages. Both editions had wraparound covers that could be linked together to form

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638-704: The same name as in Not Brand Echh for a parodistic Fantastic Four . Not Brand Echh mascot Forbush Man made a cover-featured return appearance in issue #8 (July 1990). Two one-shots, Wha...Huh? in 2005, and Marvel: Now What?! in 2013 revisited the concept. The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes (2005) designated the Earth of Not Brand Echh and What The--?! as Earth-665 . Characters inspired by those in Not Brand Echh made an appearance in Marvel's Nextwave series. Several stories were reprinted in

667-415: The term "Brand Echh" in his letter published in The Amazing Spider-Man #7 (Dec. 1963). Marvel published a humor comic called Spoof that ran from 1970 to 1973. In 1988, Marvel published What The--?! , a four-issue miniseries (Aug.–Nov. 1988), followed by an additional 22 issues continuing the numbering (July 1989 – Sept. 1993). One story, for instance, featured "Superbman vs. The Fantastical Four" —

696-493: The term "Marvel Universe" was appropriated from Al Milgrom , who had used it as a working title for the anthology series Marvel Fanfare ). Shooter appointed Mark Gruenwald editor of the project, and Gruenwald developed the project to include all aspects of the Marvel Universe, although he noted it was not comprehensive. In addition to Gruenwald, contributing writers on the initial volume were Marvel editors Mike Carlin , Eliot R. Brown, and Peter Sanderson . Josef Rubinstein

725-486: The three-issue Marvel comic Crazy! (Feb.–June 1973), not to be confused with Marvel's black-and-white magazine Crazy Magazine . In the UK , the comic was published in a tabloid-like black-and-white format in the early 1980s and renamed Marvel Madhouse . In 2022, NFT app VeVe reissued 10,000 copies of issue #1 with five variant covers. Forbush Man Forbush Man (spelled Forbush-Man in his early appearances)

754-448: Was "Not Brand Echh". The title of the comic in its postal indicia was Brand Echh for its first four issues, and afterward Not Brand Echh , the trademarked cover title from the start. Typical stories and name transpositions included Ironed Man ( Iron Man ) vs. Magnut, Robot Biter ( Gold Key Comics ' Magnus, Robot Fighter ); "Best Side Story", with Dr. Deranged ( Dr. Strange ) in a West Side Story pastiche; "The Origin of...Stuporman",

783-486: Was born on Friday the 13th, his parents Stan and Jacqueline wanting a daughter instead. Like his better-known Marvel contemporaries, Forbush-Man triumphs over a number of super powered adversaries, starting with 'The Juggernut ' in Not Brand Echh #5. All of his victories are purely accidental; lacking superhuman powers, dumb luck plays a major role in all his adventures. Forbush-Man's next appearance came in Not Brand Echh #8 (June 1968), when he applies for membership with

812-433: Was brought on by Gruenwald to be the sole inker of the entire 20-year project because he felt Rubinstein was best able to make the characters easily recognizable and to subvert his own style to that of the handbook's various pencillers . Critics of the Handbook have argued that the level of detail within the guide effectively limited the ability of writers to innovate, a charge Gruenwald dismissed, reputedly stating that

841-535: Was parodied by Herb Trimpe. Later issues had parodies of famous films such as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Camelot and features about superhero poetry, superhero carnival and "Rent A Super-Hero", in which children employed their favorite heroes to help with mundane tasks like family plumbing problems. Warren Publishing editor Bill DuBay drew and co-wrote one story in his only Marvel appearance. Issue #10 featured solely reprints from earlier issues. Radio and TV personality Paul Gambaccini said that he coined

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