Herbie #14 (ACG)
Shane O'Shea (w) Ogden Whitney (a)
One of the most bizarre comic strips (and there were a few back in the sixties) was the almost omnipotent Herbie Popnecker who seemingly walked across creation sucking lollipops and being both feared and revered at the same time. Yet his father thinks so little of him....
Herbie first appeared in Forbidden Worlds #73 published by ACG (American Comics Group) in 1958. His powers were obtained from magical lolipops and took him on all sorts of adventures through several issues of Forbidden Worlds though I first came across Herbie in those Alan Class reprint comics on sale over here in the UK.
In this issue Herbie joins forces with the two ACG super-heroes (or at least the ones I'm familiar with), Nemesis (from Adventures Into The Unknown) and Magicman (from Forbidden Worlds) neither of which are particularly memorable characters but do have a niche fan-base. Both characters did feature in the eclectic Alan Class reprints even making the cover once or twice
The oddball team face a villain, Roderick Bump who creates his own gang of "super" villains...I mean Halfman, Monkeyman, Pigman, Pizzaman and Frogman and no the last one isn't a diver. This series doesn't take itself to seriously which is part of the fun.
Herbie also "helps out" Santa Claus when he rescues him from criminals and has to save Christmas. in the second feature.
These comics are just fun, aimed a kids in fifties/early sixties Middle America. Worth having at least one or two in your collection. Herbie lasted 23 issues until his publishers ACG went out of business.
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