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Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Number 2341: Boy Beetle, Herbie

This is a story about Herbie Popnecker, and how he found pop music stardom. He stuck a mop on his head, turned his name around to Eibreh Rekcenpop, then warbled a couple of songs to drive the girls wild! As pop stars of that era will tell you, it was not easy to compete with the Beatles. It was more of a long and winding road to stardom for most. But Herbie, errrr, I mean Eibreh, has some sort of irresistible charm about him. Herbie is so charming that he charmed a whole bunch of people into buying his comic book in the sixties, and even now it is seen as something still charming, even unique in comic book history.

In “Herbie, Boy ‘Beetle’” the Beatles really aren’t prominent; they appear in a few panels and then vanish, leaving the rest of the story to Eibreh and jealousy from established artists Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Just when you think the story couldn’t get any screwier, Dean and Frank assault Herbie by cracking objects over his head. That physical stuff never works on Herbie, who is impervious to harm..

Written for Herbie #5 (1964) by ACG editor Richard E. Hughes under the name Shane O’Shay, and drawn by the master of deadpan humor, Ogden Whitney. Herbie is, as always, a very unusual hero. And we love him, yeah yeah yeah.











6 comments:

Kirk said...

I love these Herbie stories, but, can I assume that the Hawk that didn't survive his encounter with our hero? While Herbie stories have their share of violence, I think that this is the first one to hint at actual death. In self-defense, of course. Unless Herbie just stripped the hawk of his feathers but left him alive. I really can't tell.

Rick said...

Simple solution...don't eat popcorn.

Brian Barnes said...

That one is all over the place! It's kind of interesting to see Martin and Sinatra as sort of "equals" to the Beatles, when it was the British Invasion bands that were knocking the old crooners off the charts.

There must have been less complicated plans to get back at a couple singers! Another fun Herbie story, though the ending -- with his mom (!!) swooning over what was obviously her son in a mop wig was kind of creepy!

Pappy said...

Brian, I think Sinatra and Dean Martin did very well during the British Invasion. Sinatra had a couple of hit songs, both solo and with his daughter, Nancy. Dean Martin got a TV program. I didn't care for Dean Martin. I'm not big on performers who are drunk or make an appearance of it as part of their act. They were part of my parents' generation. My folks never understood what people of muh-muh-my generation loved about the Beatles or any of the other long-haired guys from England.

Pappy said...

Rick, when I stopped eating popcorn is when my tinnitus stopped. No, wait...I haven't had any popcorn in months and yet as I write this my ears just started whistling again. So, never mind.

Pappy said...

Kirk, wow...once again a reader is more astute than me; it looks like Herbie ripped the bird's head off and stepped into its body. Oh, the horror! Not to mention Herbie probably broke a few laws in the process.