A GoFundMe fundraiser is asking Stocktonians to donate for the completion of a Fantastic Four Mural Outside Al’s Comics at the Stockton Miracle Mile.
The GoFundMe fundraiser “Be Part of Stockton’s Comic Book History” has a $3,000 goal. As of Thursday, March 19, the fundraiser had 34 donations with 74% of the goal raised.
“This mural grew straight from the hearts of local artists — no city funding or pay from Al’s Comic shop just pure passion. We started this on our own to celebrate Stockton’s legacy as the birthplace of the Fantastic Four & inspire the creatives young & old,” Ivan Montijo, organizer of the fundraider said on the GoFundMe page. “Now, we’d love the community’s help — paint, supplies, or even a meal for the crew — to finish bringing this story to life.”
According to the website, the fundraiser was created on April 18, 2025.
Fantastic Four in Stockton
Forty one years ago, Al Greco and Joe Field led a petition to get Stan Lee, an American comic book writer, editor, publisher and producer responsible for the launch of Marvel Comics superheroes, to proclaim Stockton as the Fantastic Four’s birthplace.
“I just wanted to get people to read, and I thought the young kids would enjoy it,” Greco, owner of Al’s Comics, said previously. “That’s what it was about.”
During that time, Field worked for Stockton’s KJOY-AM radio in sales and marketing.
“I saw that Marvel Comics’ 25th anniversary was coming up, and I was buying my comics from Al’s Comics,” Field said. “I thought it would be a fun opportunity to do something that would get some publicity for Al’s Comics, the radio station and Marvel.”
Field was a fan of the Fantastic Four. He said he saw an opportunity to put Stockton on the map.
“In Marvel Comics, they always made it a point that the heroes were based in real cities. New York was prominent, but they had heroes in San Francisco and Los Angeles … different, real cities all over the country,” Field said.
But unlike other superheroes, the Fantastic Four were from a fictional city known as ‘Central City, California.’
“I thought that needed to be a real city just like the other ones,” Field said. “With Stockton being the most central city in California, I thought that it was a good fit.”
They collected 300 signatures by promoting the petition on KJOY and having people go by Al’s Comics to sign it. Field took the signed petition to a Stockton City Council meeting.
A resolution was passed and urged Marvel Comics to recognize the city as the birthplace of the Fantastic Four. At the time, Stockton Mayor Barbara Fass and City Manager Ed Griffith signed the resolution before they sent it off to New York City Marvel Comics headquarters.
The news went national, but Field recalled the most important story to be written by Charles Hillinger, the lead features reporter at the Los Angeles Times. He contacted Lee before the story published, and asked him what he thought of the campaign.
According to Field, Lee told Hillinger: “We’re in the business of saving universes every day. This is the least we could do for little ol’ Stockton.”
Lee visited Stockton on Feb. 26, 1986, and stood on the steps of Stockton City Hall for a special ceremony and proclaimed Stockton as the birthplace of the Fantastic Four.
To learn more about this fundraiser, or to donate, visit gofundme.com/f/be-part-of-stocktons-comic-book-history.
Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers business and community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: ‘Celebrate Stockton’s legacy.’ GoFundMe raising funds for Miracle Mile mural
Reporting by Angelaydet Rocha, The Stockton Record / The Record
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