In 1958, the idea of an anti-hero was relatively new to the comics world. But we can't think of a better way writers could've introduced the concept to the American public than through Herbie Popnecker.

Herbie first appeared in Forbidden Worlds #73. He just came ambling along with thickly bespectacled and lazy eyelids and a lollipop stick jutting out of his round little mouth. An easy target for schoolmates, Herbie was jeered and despised by the lot of them.

Little did anyone know, despite his flabby frame, bad haircut and sluggish speech, Herbie possessed an array of superpowers, untapped and unexplained, which allowed him to foil potential world-dominators before their evil and at times, alien, plots were detected by the public.

Why would someone with such stunning potential continually allow himself to be dismissed and detested? Perhaps creators Ogden Whitney and Shane O'Shea (Richard Hughes) enjoyed the idea of elevating the most unlikely of rubes to a superheroic level--and keeping him roundly repulsive to those around him ensured his anonymity.

At any rate, Herbie was an instant hit with readers and by 1964, his longsuffering was rewarded. He received his own regularly published title. There he went on to defend and disappoint the world, by flunking out of superhero school and making a really bad costume of long underwear and a plunger for a hat, calling himself "The Fat Fury."

Contrary to popular belief, the retirement of Herbie's title in 1967 was by no fault of his own. Hughes and Whitney, Herbie's creators, decided to pursue other things--such as freelancing for DC and Marvel respectively.

In the grand Herbie tradition, the slovely superhero was rejected from retailers' shelves. But avid fans of the hefty hero can still find copies of his titles skulking about in the shadows of booths and tables at annual comic cons even today.

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