Herbangelism
Herbangelism is a latter-day holy order in the fine tradition of other fannish religions, founded by Elst Weinstein and dedicated to spreading the teachings of the fannish ghod Herbie, based on the lollipop-sucking comic-book character Herbie Popnecker, aka The Fat Fury, who first appeared in Forbidden Worlds #73 in December 1958, published by American Comics Group. He was created by Richard E. Hughes (using the pseudonym "Shane O'Shea") and Ogden Whitney.
Herbie bops evil-doers with his powerful lollipops, which give him superhuman strength and other special abilities. The Hard-to-Get Red Cinnamon Lollipop is especially potent.
Mike Glyer was the Holy Gopher, North American Kahuna, who had under him four Sector Sinbus. It was possible, for a mere monetary consideration, to become a High Priest of Herbie, or, as they were called, Highheads – "a member of the college of the Coo-Coos, one of Those who Spit at the Hand of Fraud; be they Bopper, the Pun, or the Holy Gopher." Leah Zeldes was appointed High Priestess of the Midwest in 1976, largely as a result of an entirely deadpan research paper she had written on Herbangelism for her high-school Comparative Religions class (it was subsequently published in Scientifriction 3, October 1975, p. 11).
The religion was most fannishly active in the 1970s, with many of its publications, such as the Holy Babble, franked through APA-H.
| Fanspeak | 1970s— |
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