''Forbidden Worlds'' was a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

comic from the

American Comics Group American Comics Group (ACG) was an American comic book publisher started in 1939 and existing under the ACG name from 1943 to 1967. It published the medium's first ongoing horror-comics title, ''Adventures into the Unknown''. ACG's best-known cha ...

, which won the 1964

Alley Award The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with th ...

for Best Regularly Published Fantasy Comic. It published 145 issues between July/August 1951 to August 1967.

Publication history

''Forbidden Worlds'', a 52-page comic with the initial subtitle "Exploring the Supernatural!", debuted in October 1951. Due to pressure from the 1954 Senate subcommittee hearings on the dangers of comic books, the comic changed its title (and focus) to ''Young Heroes'' from March 1955 to June/July 1955 (publishing issues #35–37). However, in August 1955, ''Forbidden Worlds'' reappeared with (another) issue #35 and the altered subtitle "Stories of Strange Adventure". Issue #101 (Jan./Feb. 1962) saw a price raise from 10 cents to 12 cents. From #108 on, ''Forbidden Worlds'' became sporadically bimonthly instead of strictly monthly. #114 and #116 were special issues called ''Forbidden Worlds presents Herbie'', featuring

Herbie Popnecker Herbie Popnecker is a fictional comic book character 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")

, who first appeared in ''Forbidden Worlds'' #73 (December 1958). Issues #125 to #138 all featured Magicman on the cover. The final issue was #145 (August 1967), when the company stopped producing newsstand comic books. Most of the contents of ''Forbidden Worlds'', from 1957 to 1967, including the features "Magicman" and "Herbie", was written by Richard E. Hughes under a plethora of pseudonyms. Artists who contributed included

Pete Costanza Pete Costanza (May 19, 1913 – June 28, 1984) was an American comic book artist and illustrator. He is best known for his work on Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family during the World War II era fans and historians call the Gol ...

for ''Magicman'' and

Ogden Whitney John Ogden Whitney (May 1, 1919 – August 13, 1975) was an American comic-book artist and sometime writer active from the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of comics through the 1960s Silver Age of comics, Silver Age. He is best known as co-creator of t ...

for ''Herbie''. Other occasional contributors include

Hy Eisman Hy Eisman (born March 27, 1927) is an American cartoonist. Comic Strips He entered the comic strip field in 1950 and worked on several strips, including '' Kerry Drake'', '' Little Iodine'' and ''Bunny''. In comic books he was the last art ...

, John Buscema,

Paul Reinman Paul J. Reinman (; born Joseph Paul Reinmann, ; 2 September 1910 – 27 September 1988)Paul J. Reinmen

, and

Chic Stone Charles Eber "Chic" Stone (January 4, 1923 – July 28, 2000)Charles E. Stone
at the ...

. An October 1, 1952, "Statement of the Ownership, Management, and Circulation" published in ACG's ''Forbidden Worlds'' #15 gave the publisher's name as Preferred Publications, Inc., 8 Lord St., Buffalo, New York" and the owners as Preferred Publications and "B. W. Sangor, 7 West 81st Street, New York, N. Y." The editor was listed as Richard E.Hughes, 120 West 183rd St., New York, N. Y." and the business manager as "Frederick H. Iger, 50 Beverly Road,

Great Neck Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincor ...

, Great Neck, L. I., N. Y."

References

External links

Grand Comics Database Project

American Comics Group * Toonopedia pages o

an

Comics magazines published in the United States Fantasy comics 1951 comics debuts 1967 comics endings Magazines established in 1951 Magazines disestablished in 1967 American Comics Group titles {{Comics-stub