Where's HERBIE....??? We have the Silver Surfer... ...coming to Earth in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie.... but where's Herbie and more importantly who's Herbie ?? Herbie was brought in during one of the cartoon periods of the FF on TV, (1978), when the 'powers that be' producing the cartoon thought that kids shouldn't be emulating the Human Torch, who would 'flame on' when using his superpower! Plus they couldn't get the cartoon rights to the Torch, who had been optioned out separately... In the comics, H.E.R.B.I.E. was created by Mister Fantastic and Master Xar of an alien race. They hoped that the robot would aid their search for Galactus. As could only happen in comics, what neither of the creators realized, was that Dr Sun, an imprisoned enemy of Master Xar, was able to escape by jumping from an alien computer to H.E.R.B.I.E.'s robot body. Thus, this robot was Dr Sun's sleeper agent, whom he could control whenever he wished. The scene to the top right shows Mister Fantastic and the Thing confronting H.E.R.B.I.E. who was under Doctor Sun's control. After besting them and the other two members of the FF, Dr Sun then abandoned H.E.R.B.I.E.'s body and transferred his consciousness into the Baxter Building's main computer, which would allow him to control the entire building! However, Mister Fantastic broke free and was able to lock Dr. Sun away from the rest of the computer system. It was then H.E.R.B.I.E., now himself again, realized that Dr. Sun could always simply return to his robot body. Not wanting the villain to return again like so many other comic book villains, the robot heroically threw himself into the computer, destroying it, Dr. Sun, and himself!!! What a story!! For those interested in Fantastic Four comics like the one to the top left, we have several listed in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store. Sorry, we don't stock the cartoon shows, they are usually found at Comic Book Conventions, or at times on eBay. Thank you for viewing this pop culture / comics blog post.... feel free to post YOUR comment below! And don't forget to VOTE in our poll, just click on the easy button that yours truly is holding in the pic below! Michael | H.E.R.B.I.E. stood for: Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics...... whew, what a mouthful !!! HERBIE had the ability to connect to any computer system, electricity generators, etc. He carried lasers, and various hidden tools and features as what was needed in the cartoons, almost like Felix the Cat and his bag of tricks. |