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Herbie Popnecker is one of the greatest Oddball Comics characters of all time. Created by writer Richard E. Hughes and cartoonist Ogden Whitney, Herbie made his first appearance in FORBIDDEN WORLDS No. 73, then returned in issues 94, 110 and 114 (also appearing in UNKNOWN WORLDS No. 20) before debuting in his own funnybook series, HERBIE, with its first of 23 issues dated April – May, 1964. Possibly the most accurate depiction of a typical comic book fan ever to appear in the four color medium, the sentence-fragment-uttering, supernaturally-powered “plump lump” -- a bespectacled and bowl-haircut-wearing kid of incredibly roly-poly proportions -- apparently derives his mysterious abilities from his intake of lollipops (especially the “hard-to-find cinnamon ones”!

The 13-page cover-story for this issue of FORBIDDEN WORLDS, “Herbie Goes To The Devil!”, was written by “Shane O’Shea” (in actually, editor Richard E. Hughes) and drawn by Ogden Whitney, and it’s a masterpiece of surrealism. When Herbie Popnecker’s father unexpectedly loses his job, his “fat little nothing” of a son ponders some way to help his dad. Meanwhile, down in Hades, Satan’s bookkeeper taunts his boss that he might be losing his grip. Using a map of the USA as a dartboard, Satan randomly selects Herbie (who apparently lives somewhere near Cleveland) as his next victim, giving him a sharp poke in the seat of his pants in the process. That night, Satan appears before Herbie, presenting himself as a philanthropist who wants to give the lollipop-licking oddball whatever he’d like “more than anything in the world.” Of course, the single-minded Herbie asks for lollipops, but Satan talks him out of that wish in favor of becoming a great actor. Herbie’s whisked to the set of CLEOPATRA, where he immediately replaces “Elizabeth Baylor’s” leading man “Richard Merton”. But during a love scene, Herbie makes it clear that he prefers a lollipop over Miss Baylor’s lips! With Herbie eschewing show business, Satan offers him another wish – to become “a big business tycoon”! Herbie accepts this offer and signs Satan’s standard contract, with the provision that, his father becomes the recipient of his wish. Sure enough, the next morning Herbie’s dad learn that he’s inherited a lollipop factory! As this page (and this other one) will attest, Herbie achieves near-nirvana surrounded by a limitless supply of lollipops. But soon (and you just knew there was gonna be a “soon”, didn’t you?), Satan’s henchmen (resembling Universal’s versions of Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula) show up, demanding that Herbie accompany them back to Hades, as per the contract that Herbie signed earlier, but Herbie resists their efforts to spirit him away by sending a bunch of anthropomorphic lollipops after them! Wanting to do the honorable thing, the “plump lump” consults various unusual friends and associates (such as a leprechaun and a talking dog, cat and cow) regarding his deal with the devil, and they all agree: for once, the lollipop-licking oddball has made himself the “sucker” in this situation! Herbie decides to do the right thing, boring through layers of subterranean rock strata until he arrives in Hades. There, Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula attack him, but his merest glance melts them into talking puddles! Then, “Satan’s Security Force” rushes in, but Herbie handily defeats them too. When Satan orders Herbie to enter one of his hellish furnaces, the flames within flee in fear! When Satan claims that no matter what Herbie does, he’s consigned to the netherworld for eternity, “the fat little nothing” organizes the “imps of Hades” into going on strike; after all, they’re working in the ultimate “sweatshop”! Exasperated, Satan finally gives in, tearing up his contract with Herbie, begging him never to return. Herbie bores back up to the surface world, where he’s surprised to see the “Popnecker Pops” sign on his father’s lollipop factory being removed:

MR. POPNECKER:
You were eating up all the profits, Herbie – so I sold out before I should go broke. But I got a good price for the lollipop plant – I’m a RICH MAN!

HERBIE POPNECKER:
Parents! Here I go through Hell for him…and now I’ve got to start BUYING my lollipops again. YOU CAN’T WIN!

Other stories and features included in this issue of FORBIDDEN WORLDS include:

• “Strange Beast”, drawn by Harry Lazarus -- Kurt Andrews, archaeologist, is assigned to travel to Syria, where he investigates stories of a lion with a man’s head. Eventually, after he (and the reader) endures the retelling of local folk legends), Andrews discovers the buried remains of a lion’s skeleton – with a human skull!

• “The Face In The Portrait”, drawn by John Rosenberger – When Alex Harris discovers his likeness in a book printed during the 18th Century, he journeys to a crumbling castle to find an ancient portrait that also greatly resembles him. Later, genealogical records prove that he’s the heir to the property – and a millionaire!

• “Dreams Of Glory”, written by “Greg Olvetti” (again, Richard E. Hughes) and drawn by Edd Ashe – All his life, Jerry Landon dreams of having a “real” adventure. As an adult, he finally qualifies to be an astronaut, but a week before his space mission, he suffers a heart attack. Meanwhile, the rest of the exploration team (which includes his Uncle Tm) is captured by a bizarre race of hairy alien creatures, which sentence the Earthmen to death. Suddenly, Jerry appears, frees them from their bonds, leads them to escape back to their spacecraft – and vanishes! Back on Earth, Uncle Tim relates the tale to Jerry’s mother. She makes an astounding connection; the moment Jerry disappeared from Tim’s rocket was the exact moment -- back on Earth -- that Jerry died!

• This tiny mail-order ad for “Grog Grows His Own Tail!” (one that I fell for as a kid! Imagine the look on my face when I discovered that this “monster” was a thimble-sized plaster planter that was so small that the first time I tried to water the seed that supposedly would grow into “Grog’s” mighty tail, it washed away! No wonder ol’ ”Grog” was sold by a company calling itself “Ransom Products”!)

This issue of FORBIDDEN WORLDS also includes a letter from Paul Gambaccini, a comic book fan and letterhack who DC editor Julius Schwartz immortalized as “Paul Gambi”, the fictitious tailor who provides costumes for THE FLASH’s “Rogues Gallery” of villains!

ODDBALL Factoid – In the 1970s, cartoonist John Rosenberger drew many issues of SUPERMAN’S GIRLFRIEND, LOIS LANE!

For more from Scott Shaw!, visit his Web site at http://www.shawcartoons.com/.

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