Herbie is an atypical hero – a short, obese, unemotional, terse, unstylish boy[2] who is nonetheless nearly omnipotent.

Deriving some of his powers from genetics and some from magical lollipops he obtains from a salesman from a mysterious realm called "the Unknown", Herbie can carry on detailed conversations with animals and sometimes even inanimate objects (who all know him by name), quickly reach any location (including other galaxies) by walking through the sky, become invisible, cast spells, summon spirits from other dimensions, quickly dispatch all enemies with ease, and travel through time.

His mother is reasonably supportive; however, his father, Pincus Popnecker, repeatedly refers to him as a "little fat nothing" and longs for a more ambitious son.

Despite his wholesome and conservative "1950s dad" appearance, he constantly engages in foolish schemes, inevitably fails in spectacular fashion and winds up in varying levels of trouble.

In Herbie #8 (March 1965), Herbie feels a need to become a costumed superhero; but, after failing superhero school, he creates the Fat Fury by donning full-body red underwear with a drop seat, a blue cape, a blue plastic mask, and a plunger on his head.

With the aid of his super-empowering lollipops, Herbie punches out Sonny Liston, confronts Fidel Castro and gets sent on a secret mission by U Thant.

Hughes took a while to perfect his stories' tone of deadpan absurdity, but Whitney's slightly stiff, matter-of-fact artwork improves the gags by understating them.

In 2008, Dark Horse Comics announced that they would reprint the original Herbie stories in a series of hardcover archive volumes.