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The Debut of Herbie in ACG's Forbidden Worlds #73, Up for Auction

An unlikely hero with unassuming beginnings, Herbie Popnecker has achieved cult classic status over the course of his 60+ year existence.



Article Summary

  • Herbie Popnecker debuts in ACG's Forbidden Worlds #73, marking his first appearance.
  • Created by Richard Hughes and Ogden Whitney, Herbie became a cult classic over 60 years.
  • Alan Moore praises Herbie as a work of pure comic book delight.

An unlikely hero with unassuming beginnings, Herbie Popnecker has achieved cult classic status over the course of his 60+ year existence.  The character was created for publisher ACG (American Comics Group) by writer-editor Richard Hughes and artist Ogden Whitney and first appeared in issue #73 of ACG fantasy/"strange adventure" title Forbidden Worlds. There's a CGC FN 6.0 copy of Forbidden Worlds #73 (ACG, 1958) up for auction in the 2024 October 24 – 25 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40272 at Heritage Auctions.

Forbidden Worlds #73 Title Page art by Ogden Witney, ACG 1958.
Forbidden Worlds #73 Herbie title page art by Ogden Witney, ACG 1958.

Ogden Whitney's work in general and Herbie in particular has been admired by numerous comic book creators over the decades, perhaps most famously in recent times by legendary writer Alan Moore.

There is an endless amount of wonderful material in the comic medium, but if I had to boil it down to single comic strip work for which I retain the most affection, it would have to be Richard E. Hughes and Ogden Whitney's sublime Herbie, originally published by the American Comic Group (ACG) during the 1960s. This is not, of course, to diminish the medium's many other great accomplishments, from Lynd Ward and Winsor McCay to Harvey Kurtzman and Will Eisner to Garth Ennis and Kieron Gillen, but simply to say that for pure comic book delight that never seems to age, my money is on Herbie. Who appears both in the narrative and on the cover of Jerusalem.

An unlikely hero in the form of a young, quiet kid who secretly has incredible power, Herbie's appeal has endured through the decades since his first appearance in Forbidden Worlds #73. There's a CGC FN 6.0 copy of his first appearance in Forbidden Worlds #73 (ACG, 1958) up for auction in the 2024 October 24 – 25 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40272 at Heritage Auctions.

Forbidden Worlds #73 (ACG, 1958)
Forbidden Worlds #73 (ACG, 1958)

Forbidden Worlds #73 (ACG, 1958) CGC FN 6.0 Off-white pages. First appearance of Herbie. Ogden Whitney cover and art. Overstreet 2024 FN 6.0 value = $213. CGC census 10/24: 1 in 6.0, 21 higher.

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Mark SeifertAbout Mark Seifert

Co-founder and Creative director of Bleeding Cool parent company Avatar Press since 1996. Bleeding Cool Managing Editor, tech and data wrangler, and has been with Bleeding Cool since its 2009 beginnings. Wrote extensively about the comic book industry for Wizard Magazine 1992-1996. At Avatar Press, has helped publish works by Alan Moore, George R.R. Martin, Garth Ennis, and others. Vintage paper collector, advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide Update 1991-1995.
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