We all laughed at him. To the kids in room 401, The Kingpin was a clown. I mean, his name was Wilson. He was bald, wore purple pants, and smoked a big cartoon cigar. Oh, and he was clearly and unapologetically fat. How were we supposed to take him seriously?
As dedicated readers of the long-running Amazing Spider-Man reprint title Marvel Tales, my friends and I were used to the furrowed brow and twisted grimace of John Romita Sr.’s Doctor Octopus, and the wide maniacal eyes and flared nostrils of Gil Kane’s Green Goblin. The Kingpin, no matter how much Stan Lee’s breathless prose tried to convince us, was just an easily mocked filler-villain who would pinch-hit until Harry Osborn stopped taking his meds and put on his dad’s crazy-pants again. Thirty-five years later, Vincent D’Onofrio would take on the role of Wilson Fisk in the Netflix series Daredevil, and everyone suddenly stopped laughing.
Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin, was created by Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr. First appearing in Amazing Spider-Man #50 (July 1967), Fisk was initially presented as a merciless brute, using his huge, ham-like fists to maul any and all foolish enough to oppose him. As the Kingpin, the character surpassed previously established Marvel mob-bosses like the Crime-Master and the Big Man in his role as the head of New York’s organized crime, and became a recurring Spider-Man villain throughout the 1970s. Like many first-generation Marvel villains, the Kingpin’s look remained consistent from his debut on. Lee and Romita drew their inspiration for the Kingpin’s appearance from the cinema, modeling Fisk on film actor Sydney Greenstreet. Just think, if the MCU had existed back in the 1940s, the Kingpin would have looked just like this:
By the 1980s, the Kingpin was viewed in less impressive terms. He’d gone from imposing bruiser to second-rate Bond villain, using a laser-beam-shooting cane and other cornball devices in an attempt to keep up with the times. It wasn’t until Frank Miller returned the character to his brutal roots in Daredevil #170 that Fisk reattained a degree of his former respectability. Here, Daredevil discovers the Kingpin’s “fat” is actually densely layered muscle, and his foe has a fist as big as his own head:
WHUDD!
Kingpin was a key player in some major storylines at this point. Not only was he making Matt Murdock’s life tough over in Daredevil, he was battling both his own son Richard (aka the Rose) and the Hobogoblin for control of all crime in the city in concurrent Spider-Man titles. Fisk had his stubby fingers in a lot of pies, and ultimately came to rule New York from his penthouse apartment. Around that time, Miller’s run on Daredevil ended, but not before he allowed the Kingpin to systematically dismantle Matt Murdock’s life from the ground up. The “Born Again” storyline saw Fisk portrayed as ice cold, meticulous, and utterly ruthless in the attainment of his goals, defeating Daredevil completely only to see him miraculously rise again. Indeed, “Born Again” proved to be a high water mark for both creator Miller and the comics medium in general. After this dizzying pinnacle, it was inevitable the character of the Kingpin would flounder a bit: Fisk entered into a series of unlikely battles with the Punisher, Iron Man, and even Ghost Rider. He’s gained and lost his criminal empire multiple times in the comics since then, but with the big Marvel reboot coming up, it remains to be seen what actually remains Kingpin canon.
A character as big as Wilson Fisk could never be confined to mere comics alone, and the Kingpin has appeared in every notable pop-culture medium. From the daily Amazing Spider-Man syndicated newspaper comic strip to Saturday-morning animation (Fox’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series) and Prime-Time television (1989’s The Trail of the Incredible Hulk). He’s been in movie theaters (Sony Pictures 2003 Daredevil) on Broadway (2011’s Turn Off the Dark) and more than a dozen video games. And then there’s the critically acclaimed Netflix series, soon to start its second season. So where are all the Kingpin toys?
In spite of serious media presence, the Kingpin remains surprisingly light on the action figure front. Mego never got any further than Green Goblin and the Lizard when tackling Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. It wasn’t until 1991’s Spider-Man: the Animated Series that the Kingpin would receive an action figure. The finished product looked uncomfortably similar to Pinhead from the Puppet Master movies, but it was more or less on-model with the Kingpin seen in the cartoon, so we collectors just had to learn to cope. The mold was later shrunk down to 2-inch and reused in the Spider-Man: Web of Steel line. The Kingpin’s solid body provided the figure with an unintentional and yet characteristic heft and, in the hands of any three-year-old, became a highly dangerous projectile.
In 2006, ToyBiz released the first ever 6-inch action figure of the Kingpin in their Face-Off series of two-packs. Sculpted by Phil Ramirez, it was definitely an upgrade next to the ToyBiz figure, but the ugly articulation and the terrifying head sculpt leaves the figure looking like a constipated marionette.
Diamond Select released a Kingpin Minimate back in 2012, but a tiny version of a big guy somehow seems beside the point. On the opposite spectrum, Gentle Giant’s Zombie Kingpin isn’t an action figure, but a nicely sized bust of Fisk as he appeared in Marvel Zombies. The is by far my favorite representation of Kingpin in collectible form. There’s something about the concept of zombie mob-boss that appeals to ol’ Anthill, but I’m not gonna hold my breath waiting for this version to hit toy store pegs.
It’s hard to say who will take on the Kingpin next. Hasbro or Marvel Select have been mum on the subject, but his continued presence in popular media and the character’s remarkable staying power makes future action figures of the Kingpin a safe bet. What do you want to see next? Netflix Kingpin? A new version of the classic look? Discuss it over on the Fwoosh forums!