Herbie Archives Volume 1 [Hardcover]

Shane O'Shea (Richard Hughes) (Author), Ogden Whitney (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Herbie Archives | Publication Date: September 2, 2008

Make way for the Fat Fury! The unlikeliest superhero of all time makes his mark in this new Dark Horse archival series. Coming from the strange, wry imaginations of classic comics scribe Richard Hughes and artist Ogden Whitney, Herbie Popnecker looks like a plump lump, but with his collection of supernatural lollipops, there is pretty much nothing that he can't do. Herbie Archives Volume 1 collects the earliest appearances of Herbie, as he battles monsters, bends time and space, and gets the better of Fidel Castro! Herbie is a delightfully weird, all-ages barrel of laughs!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Superman. Batman. The Fantastic Four. Second-stringers, the lot of them, when measured against the awesomeness that is Herbie Popnecker. Perhaps the most unlikely and bizarre superhero in the history of comics, Herbie is a little fat nothing, as described by his staggeringly disappointed father, but what his dad doesn't know is that young Herbie wields vast superpowers and saves the world on a daily basis. When not fending off extraterrestrial invasions or traveling through time and space as easily as you or I might cross the street, Herbie contends with talking animals, Frankenstein, Dracula, dinosaurs, and even Satan himself, while associating with JFK, LBJ, Queen Elizabeth II and Marie Antoinette. If all of this sounds absurd, it certainly is, and this mere description cannot do justice to the utter madness that flows from the minds of writer O'Shea and illustrator Whitney, whose straight drawing style only enhances the bullmoose strangeness. The classic stories found here, originally published mostly in the early to mid-'60s, are eagerly awaited by fans in the know, and for those previously unaware of Herbie, this collection will come as a hilarious look at what was going on elsewhere in comics during the storied Marvel Age. (Aug.)
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From Booklist

Herbie Popnecker is one of comic books’ more unlikely heroes, a portly, expressionless, bespectacled youngster whose passivity leads his exasperated father to call him “a little fat nothing.” Little did his family suspect that Herbie possessed enormous (unexplained) powers. He flew, communicated with animals, turned invisible, and time-traveled—abilities augmented by his ever present lollipops, especially the hard-to-find cinnamon ones. Herbie fought monsters, went to other planets, and crossed paths with many of his era’s celebrities, from JFK and LBJ to Sonny Liston and the Beatles. The comic’s droll wit was all the more surprising coming from the third-rate American Comics Group, a publisher best known for rigorously unscary horror titles. Writer Hughes, who scripted most of ACG’s comics under a variety of pseudonyms, displayed a previously unsuspected wry humor, and Whitney’s straightforward, unadorned artwork perfectly complemented the scripts’ deadpan tone. Readers who encountered Herbie back in the 1960s have fond memories of the character, and this volume inaugurating a reprinting the series’ 10-year run ought to enlarge the cult. --Gordon Flagg

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse; Reprint edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593079877
• ISBN-13: 978-1593079871
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #616,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make Way for the Fat Fury!, September 12, 2008

By 

Gary Perlman (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Herbie Archives Volume 1 (Hardcover)

Herbie is a parody of a superhero -- fat, emotionless, addicted to lollipops -- but with amazing powers derived from his lollipops -- flies (but by walking on air), travels back in time (in a grandfather clock), talks to animals (who all know him), indestructible, and on an on. His speech lacks pronouns and articles, but his catchphrase is "You want I should bop you with this here lollipop?" Although famous throughout history, Herbie's powers are not known by his parents. Herbie's father, Pincus Popnecker, is an ambitious but unsuccessful businessman who is dismayed by his lot of having a "little fat nothing" of a son. A recurring theme in Herbie comics is how Herbie helps his father overcome one bad business venture after another, always without the knowledge of his parents. There are many recurring sight gags and phrases.

Important advice to new readers: Instead of starting the Herbie Archives with the first story on page 11, I suggest that new readers should start with "Herbie and the Sneddiger's Salad Oil" on page 45 and read forward from there. You can return to the formative stories later.

Publication Notes: The Dark Horse volume features cover art where Herbie appears, as well as some ads that ran in Herbie and other ACG comics (such as Forbidden Worlds, Unknown Worlds, and Adventures Into the Unknown). The pages appear to be cleaned up scans of the original comics, replicating the colors used. The pages are about the size of the original comics. There is an article at the front and biographies at the back by Scott Shaw, all worthwhile, but unfortunately printed black on red and produce maximum eye strain.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality classic book,for best price, September 16, 2008

By 

David Jansen (Minneapolis Mn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Herbie Archives Volume 1 (Hardcover)

You can go on ebay, & find the original comics reprinted in this book,& pay at least 1,000 in collectable shape,or you can buy this book,on good white paper,with bright coloring,for less then 1/20 of that price! And make no mistake,if you want quality top notch gut busting humer,then nothing can beat the adventures of herbie,the fat fury!Created way back in 1958, and lasting untill early 1967, this character has an EXTREAMLY loyal,devoted fan following!Nothing like herbie had never seen print,before or since!This is a collection, that has LONG been desired by herbie fans, the beginning of the complete reprinting of herbie,in color.At best,only about 3 issues worth of stories have seen color reprinting,over the past 42 years.In itself, I predect this book will one day, be a much sought after collection.It's a product of a bygone era,when America was'nt a tenth as uptight. Only the 1950's could have given birth to such a character,with such outragous stories.IF your hung up on political correctness, then this isn't the book for you, because Herbie was'nt. IF your hung up on realism,this is'nt for you either. this,is a character and book,on a level with jack Cole's plastic man. I have EVERY single original apperence,& I still had to have a copy of this book!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best use ever found for paper, July 10, 2010

By 

Blind Lemming Chiffon (South of the North Pole) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Herbie Archives Volume 1 (Hardcover)

The only thing I can add that was not mentioned by the other reviewers, is: you don't buy all three volumes, Herbie's gonna bop you with this here lollipop.