Herbie #2

(June-July 1964)

Herbie and the Purloined Pops! (Table of Contents: 1)

Herbie / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script

Richard Hughes (credited as Shane O'Shea)

Pencils

Ogden Whitney

Inks

Ogden Whitney

Colors

?

Letters

Ed Hamilton

Genre

humor; satire-parody; superhero

Characters

Herbie Popnecker; Senator McClellan; Senator Javits; The Man in the Cloak

Synopsis

The Man in the Cloak is stealing all the lollipops so Herbie investigates. Closing in on the gangster, Herbie is mistaken for the villain and is questioned by a Senate committee that sends him to jail. To set things straight, Herbie breaks out of jail, tracks down, and stares down the real criminal into confessing.

Reprints

• in Herbie Archives (Dark Horse, 2008 series) #1 (August 2008)

Indexer Notes

On page 8, the writers for Horrible Science Fiction discuss a plot much like a typical Herbie scene. Perhaps Richard Hughes is depicted as the writer pitching the story.

Kitchy Witch (Table of Contents: 2)

comic story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Richard Hughes (credited as Shane O'Shea)

Pencils

Ogden Whitney

Inks

Ogden Whitney

Colors

?

Letters

?

Genre

humor; horror-suspense

Lollipop Astronaut (Table of Contents: 3)

Herbie / text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Richard Hughes ?

Letters

typeset

Genre

humor; satire-parody; superhero

Characters

Herbie Popnecker; Pincus Popnecker; General Merton Boop

Synopsis

Dad gets Herbie onto a mission to Planet Fink. Problem is, there are only officers and Herbie is the crew. Herbie bails out the mission over and over, but never receives credit. Herbie's father is resigned to the fact that his son is a Little Fat Nothing, and that's all he'll ever be.

Indexer Notes

Second of three text stories in Herbie comics. "Through space he trudged" is how Herbie's flying is described. (p.1, column 2, halfway down). After Herbie fights a five-mile-long serpent, it is "neatly tied up in the best Boy Scout knots that Herbie Popnecker could remember." This ties into Herbie's cameo appearance as a Boy Scout in Unknown Worlds #20 (December 1961).

"What You Need Is a Girl, Herbie!" (Table of Contents: 4)

Herbie / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script

Richard Hughes (credited as Shane O'Shea)

Pencils

Ogden Whitney

Inks

Ogden Whitney

Colors

?

Letters

Ed Hamilton

Genre

humor; satire-parody; superhero

Characters

Herbie Popnecker; Cinderella; Marie Antoinette; George Washington; Louella; Alexander

Synopsis

Herbie decides to get a girlfriend. A beauty uses Herbie to make her boyfriend jealous. Herbie wants to impress her and goes back in time to get her a pet dinosaur, Cinderella's glass slippers, and Marie Antoinette's jewels, only to find out that he is unwanted. Fortunately, there's always lollipops.

Reprints

• in Herbie Archives (Dark Horse, 2008 series) #1 (August 2008)

Indexer Notes

When looking over the field, Herbie dislikes any traits like his (fat, glasses). To get Cinderella's shoes, Herbie uses a magic lollipop to enlarge a Mother Goose book that he walks into. The story contains a parody of the mirror scene from I Love Lucy with Lucy and Harpo Marx, only with Herbie and Marie Antoinette.