Herbie #18 - "Make Way For the Fat Fury..."

It Came From the Long Box...

Last night I pulled out my oldest and most well-read (re: tattered) comics researching for my previous article on The Fantastic Four.  As I thumbed my way through these fragile issues, I was flooded with memories.  Most of the comics I remember reading as a child in the mid-1960s and early 1970s.  One issue in particular stood out, Herbie #18.

Herbie was one of the oddest (and most subversive) comics that I have ever read.  It's about a young, very fat boy, whose father constantly refers to him as a "little fat nothing."  But unknown to his father, Herbie Popnecker is a secret hero, known and well-regarded not just by presidents and prime ministers, but by some of the greatest leaders in human history.  The secret to his heroic identity - the Fat Fury - lies in some very special lollipops.  These lollipops of various flavors and colors transform him into a costumed superhero who could time travel, hypnotize his opponents, fly, become invisible, use magic and do many other stupendous things.

In this issue, #18, Herbie encounters and assists such persons as President Lyndon Johnson, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, President Charles de Gaulle, and Queen Elizabeth II.  Published in June/July of 1966, this issue had two stories, but it's the second story that I want to tell you about.  It's called, "Clear the Road for Skinny."  Herbie's dad is on his back about being so fat, so Herbie calls in a favor from President Johnson to have his father appointed Ambassador to Hongadingia - a land where there has been a civil war between its inhabitants, the Hissians and the Pigturtles.  The Hissians were a snake like people and the Pigturtles were, well, a cross between pigs and turtles.  During his tenure there, Herbie's father is bitten by a Pigturtle and becomes fat and Herbie is bitten by a Hissian and becomes skinny.  By the end of the story, their fates are reversed again.  Herbie's dad, who is known for his quick money schemes, gets a Hissian and Pigturtle to come back to the U.S. with him where he starts a business - for people who was to lose weight, they are bitten by a Hissian, and those who want to put on some weight are bitten by a Pigturtle - all for a fee, of course.

Herbie Figurine

Herbie was a creation of Richard E. Hughes (aka, Shane O'Shea) and Ogden Whitney for the American Comics Group (ACG).  Herbie first appeared in Forbidden Worlds #73 in 1958.  Herbie made several more appearances in ACG's titles until he finally got his own title in 1964.  The comic lasted 23 issues until ACG folded.  The good news is that the Herbie comics have been re-collected by Dark Horse Comics and published in three beautiful hardback editions.  I strongly encourage anyone interested in Herbie to check these out.