Number 1507: Halluci-Herbie-nation

In re-reading old Herbie stories, written by ACG editor Richard E. Hughes under his pen-name, Shane O'Shea, it’s not surprising to see the mind-altering qualities. They were published in the 1960s, and have a hallucinatory quality reminiscent of the decade.

The absurd goings-on of the story, “Professor Flipdome’s Screwy Machine,” from Herbie #4 (1964), drawn in artist Ogden Whitney’s precise and deadpan art style, adds to the feeling that there is something beyond the usual mind-blowing quality of some comic books.

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I scanned the stories from the 1964 first issue of Herbie to bring in the New Year of 2010. Just click on the cover thumbnail:

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Number 1431: Latin love

In my next lifetime make me a Frenchman, so I may be “born to love.” As Andre LeBlanc says on the cover of ACG’s Lovelorn #2 (1949), “It’s in our hearts — in our blood — part of our life!” Andre is being dramatic; love is not under patent by the French. (Love aside, the other reason I could be a Frenchman is I own a beret.)

Laura Matthews, an acting student on scholarship to the Sorbonne in Paris, meets Andre after he insults her while she is singing in a café. He says she has a “stupid American crow’s voice.”  This is a love comic, so besides the stereotypes, complications abound, including Laura’s hometown boyfriend showing up unexpectedly after Laura becomes engaged to amorous Andre.

Sharp-eyed comics fans will notice Andre LeBlanc, the mustached cad of “Lure of Latin Love,” is also the name of a longtime comic artist. LeBlanc was a journeyman in the American comic book industry for many years, working with Eisner, Dan Barry, among others, and even working solo on projects like The Picture Bible. Could using his name be some sort of inside joke on the part of the writer? Our story is signed by artist John Belfi.

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Number 1390: “All that glitters...”

For a time in the 1950s comic artist John Forte’s work could be found prominently in ACG titles. He went from there to DC where he did the Bizarro World stories in Adventure Comics, written by Jerry Siegel. He then became the first artist for the Legion of Superheroes. He died young in 1965.

I never really saw him as a superhero artist, although his Bizarro stories are some of my favorites of the era. My affection for Forte is for his work on mystery and supernatural. This particular story, “The Glittering Nightmare,” is credited to Forte and writer Shane O’Shea (actually ACG editor Richard E. Hughes). It has a scientist obsessed with a project that ruins his marriage and an alien lifeform taking on earthly shapes, reminding us of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I showed this story in the early days of this blog, but these are my new and improved scans.

From Forbidden Worlds #76 (1959):

Some pre-Comics Code Forte here. Just click the picture.

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Number 1364: Funky Funnies: Herbie and Ticklepuss!

We have reached the last of our Funky Funnies theme week, with entries from Basil Wolverton, Bill Holman, Gill Fox and now from the team of Richard E. Hughes and Ogden Whitney, who created one of the greatest 1960s comic characters, Herbie Popnecker. Herbie has a perfect camouflage for his extraordinary powers: a corpulent body, a blank look through his goggle-eyed lenses, an obsessive-compulsive need for lollipops. No one should mistake his appearance for who he really is. Herbie is much more than what meets the eye. Among things like the power of levitation and ability to talk to animals, Herbie knows famous people. In this story he encounters Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck. He even demonstrates to Gregory how to properly kiss a woman. It's just all in a day's doings for our “fat little nothing,” (as his cruel and verbally abusive father, Pincus Popnecker, calls him). Herbie is very attractive to the opposite sex, as we see here and as we have seen in the past when he's had dalliances with none other than Elizabeth Taylor and Jackie Kennedy. In “A Caveman Named Herbie” he not only makes a starlet swoon, but he catches the eye of a prehistoric dreamgirl, Ticklepuss. Oh, that I should have Herbie’s charms! No woman would be safe!

It's all from Herbie #6 (1964):

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A couple more Herbie stories. Just click the pictures:

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Number 1315: Romance in a trance

Admit it, guys. You looked at those ads in old comics for books on how to hypnotize, or thought of sending for the Hypno Coin, hoping that you could put a hot girl into a state where she would go out with you. I know you did, because I did, too. Hypnosis would make it easy, wouldn’t it? As I recall from my dating days, nothing about dating was easy, even if I’d had the powers of the great stage mage, Manfred. In this mesmerizing memoir he hypnotizes rich girl Francine Van Rhys into being his love slave. Luckily for Francine, she also has romantic Raymond Keenan who loves her, and is mighty Manfred’s rival. The power of love overcomes the power of Manfred’s hypnosis.

Here’s a Valentine’s Day treat for tomorrow from ACG’s Romantic Adventures #7 (1950). Artwork is credited to Bob Lubbers by Golden Age art expert Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr.

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Here’s a Valentine for those among you Pappy’s readers who like paper dolls. It’s a shorty from Katy Keene #16 (1954), and includes a page of fashions for you to cut out. Just remember to print them off first; don't attack your monitor with scissors.

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