Number 1816: Herbie debuts as the Fat Fury

In Herbie #8 (1965), bowing to the popularity of superhero comics and their sixties renaissance, Herbie Popnecker became a superhero called, appropriately, the Fat Fury (aka the “Plump Lump”).

Herbie is a fat kid, and his dad is abusive in his remarks (“Little fat nothing!”), but Herbie is also a very special person. He has very special powers already (levitation, talks to animals, knows absolutely everyone from queens to commoners). Why put him in a costume? Especially one like this? Well, I dunno...I dunno why editor Richard Hughes did many of the things he did, but in this case what he did apparently heightened the popularity of Herbie, even beyond that which had been already achieved. Herbie was a hit from his first appearance in Forbidden Worlds, right through to the end of ACG comics in 1967. If a barefoot Herbie with a toilet plunger on his head, wearing long underwear and a cape increased sales, well, so be it.

Number 1815: Bob Montana and the boy inventor

Bob Montana, most famous for his work on the Archie newspaper comic strip (at one time carried by 750 newspapers), came up the usual way of many cartoonists of the era, through comic books. He worked for MLJ and also for the Lev Gleason line of comics. Here is an example of his early work in these episodes of Dickie Dean, Boy Inventor. Dickie was a secondary Lev Gleason character, appearing in various titles, drawn by various artists. He was a Tom Swift-inspired character, a genius youngster who came up with important inventions, many of which he donated to the U.S. government.

This story, from the last issue of Silver Streak Comics (#21, 1942), is an example of how good Montana was, even at a young age. Born in 1920, he was 21 or 22 when this was published. I have also included a two-page Dickie Dean strip from the first issue of Crime Does Not Pay, which continued its numbering from Silver Streak at #22. The strip is a patriotic plug for what young readers can do to help the war effort. Montana caricatures himself at the very end, right across from a cartoon of Uncle Sam, drawn with a toothy Archie-like grin.

Number 1814: Phantom monkey-wrenches Ape and his gorillas

This Phantom story, originally published in newspapers in 1954-55, was titled “Aboard the S.S Gay.” The S.S. Gay is a cruise ship transporting a gangster who has been deported from the U.S. No port will accept him so he and his men take over the ship.

He and his gang are able to take the ship, but keeping it is another matter when the Phantom sneaks aboard and starts messing up their plans. Hence the title, “Hoodoo of the Pirate Ship.” Fighting pirates is the Phantom’s original purpose. Four hundred years ago his ancestor was attacked by pirates and vowed to get revenge. It is a long time to hold a grudge, but those men who became the Phantom, one after another for centuries, are devoted to their purpose.

The story was reprinted in Harvey Hits #44 (1961), written by Lee Falk and drawn by Wilson McCoy. I wonder why their names are deliberately left off the reprint. Were Falk and McCoy paid for reprints? Or was it a form of piracy on the part of the syndicate to get money without sharing it with the character’s creator? I don’t know, but if that was the case someone might have deserved the imprint of the Phantom’s ring on their jaw.

Number 1813: “The Pen is...” nearly as mighty as the policewoman

Both Sally O’Neil, Policewoman, and Pen Miller, cartoonist-detective, debuted in National Comics #1. They were both back-up features, yet both lasted much longer than the lead feature for National, Uncle Sam, who didn’t last through the end of World War II.

Sally is smart, Sally is beautiful, Sally is tenacious, Sally can handle a gun, Sally can handle men. Now that is a great character. According to the website, Public Domain Superheroes, Sally was created by Frank Kearn, Toni Blum, and Chuck Mazoujian.

Pen Miller is a successful cartoonist who lives in a penthouse with a man servant. As Don Markstein remarked on his Toonopedia web page, Pen was the “cartoonist’s ideal self-image.” Indeed. Since cartooning for a living is a full-time job, one would think Pen would not have time to do a successful comic strip and still solve murder mysteries. But that would be part of the “ideal,” or at least a stereotype among non-cartoonists that all cartoonists do is sit around, knock out a few funny pictures, then haul in the big bucks.

Pen also has a name that leads to my speculation that it may be a private dirty joke. The second caption of the story says “‘Pen’ is busy . . .” The letterer must be careful of letter-spacing in a sentence like that. The talented Klaus Nordling, who also did Lady Luck, is the artist.

These are their first stories, from National Comics #1 (1940).