Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck (1976) #1-8, 16

by Steve Gerber, Val Mayerik (Illustrator), Frank Brunner (Illustrator)

Collects Giant-size Man-Thing #4-5, Howard the Duck #1-8, #16

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Humor

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2015

About the author

Steve Gerber graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and took a job in advertising. To keep himself sane, he wrote bizarre short stories such as "Elves Against Hitler," "Conversion in a Terminal Subway," and "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!" He noticed acquaintance Roy Thomas working at Marvel, and Thomas sent him Marvel's standard writing test, dialoguing Daredevil art. He was soon made a regular on Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, and the newly created Man-Thing, the latter of which pegged him as having a strong personal style--intellectual, introspective, and literary. In one issue, he introduced an anthropomorphic duck into a horror fantasy, because he wanted something weird and incongruous, and Thomas made the character, named for Gerber's childhood friend Howard, fall to his apparent death in the following issue. Fans were outraged, and the character was revived in a new and deeply personal series. Gerber said in interview that the joke of Howard the Duck is that "there is no joke." The series was existential and dealt with the necessities of life, such as finding employment to pay the rent. Such unusual fare for comicbooks also informed his writing on The Defenders. Other works included Morbius, the Lving Vampire, The Son of Satan, Tales of the Zombie, The Living Mummy, Marvel Two-in-One, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shanna the She-Devil, and Crazy Magazine for Marvel, and Mister Miracle, Metal Men, The Phantom Zone , and The Immortal Doctor Fate for DC. Gerber eventually lost a lawsuit for control of Howard the Duck when he was defending artist Gene Colan's claim of delayed paychecks for the series, which was less important to him personally because he had a staff job and Colan did not.

He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.

In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.

In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'

Reviews

[Johnny Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sheer madness. If you want typical Marvel superheroes, tights and spandex then Howard is by far not for you.
Thrown in at the deep end, lost and stuck on Earth. Cleveland, America to be exact. The very similar dimension to his own, except with the 'hairless apes' rather then walking, talking suited ducks. But Howard is no Donald Duck the only similarity is their fiery tempers.

You get a good collection of his early stuff so you can get right into the bizarre and unorthodox world. Full of wit and biting satire. A few cameos and as bizarre as it sounds, even with the most random villains you could meet, a very down to Earth simpleness. Howard makes a friend with Bev and they need work to make money.

But as a bonus you get the fill in issue. The truthful essay style of Gerber's writing. At stress level max. Deadline due and nothing to show. Rather then do the comic book industry cheat and reprint. Gerber takes on a bizarre look into his mind, I guess. An essay style talk between him and Howard. Odd, truthful and very funny.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant introduction to Howard.

I feel the movie from the 80's certainly did cripple his reputation with long-standing and casual Marvel fans but don't let that dumpster fire deter you, I heartily recommend this collection of comics.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creo que tengo esta misma edición pero alguno de los ISBNs está equivocado.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Howard The Duck não era a típica história de heróis Marvel, afinal, ela tinha um pato antropomórfico como protagonista e não super-caras. Seus enredos eram bizarros, excêntricos. No primeiro número o Homem-Aranha faz uma aparição para alavancar as vendas, libertando a inocente, mas inabalável Beverly Switzler (que seria a sidekick de Howard) das garras de um mago da matemática e da contabilidade. A aparição do Aranha e os números envolvidos como vilões da edição são uma crítica de Gerber e do desenhista Frank Brunner à indústria dos quadrinhos e suas estratégias de alavancar as vendas. Os números conseguintes trariam a aparição de personagens ainda mais peculiares como Garkko, o Homem-Sapo, o Homem-Nabo Espacial, o Piscadela (um herói sonâmbulo), a vampira Vaca Demoníaca, o Mestre do Quack-Fu, a Incrível Criatura de Biscoitos, o psiquiatra com a cabeça de sino Doutor Bong, entre tanto outros como a reclamona e ameaçadora velhinha dos rins. No final dos anos 70, Howard era tão popular que chegou a concorrer à presidência - nos quadrinhos é claro -, mas isso não impediu que no mundo real algumas pessoas votassem nele na eleição de 1976 em que concorriam Jimmy Carter e Gerald Ford. Esta edição dos Clássicos da Marvel da Salvat também inclui a edição número de 16 que foi uma artimanha do roteirista Steve Gerber para conter os prazos de entrega dos roteiros e se chama O Zen e a Arte de Escrever Quadrinhos, que é mais um desabafo do autor do que qualquer outra coisa. História bem loucas que abriram caminho para outros personagens que quebram a quarta parede como a Mulher-Hulk, a Arlequina e o Deadpool.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the great comic series, brilliant satire of non conformity. And a sad reminder of what could have been.

Would Howard — with his cigars and brusque chauvinistic manners which were improper even in rough world of 1976 — fit in with the current Marvel offerings.

Maybe Howard could be a brave new world type character — cryogenically frozen in 1979 and thawed in the 2020s, to clash with the other characters.

[Index Purga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tomo XXIX de la saga Clásicos de Colección Definitiva de Novelas Gráficas Marvel, el único dedicado a Howard el Pato. Adventure Into Fear #19, Giant-size Man-Thing #4-5 y Howard the Duck #1-8 y #16. Más intro y extras.

[Rodrigo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastante inusual. Meio psicodélico. Crítico. Inovador. Interessante.

[Allan Heron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was aware of Howard The Duck but had never read any of the comics.

I found this hugely enjoyable and engaging.

And I know not to watch the movie 😉

[Guido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Origen no tan secreto de Howard el pato.

[Mark Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all that is pure and good in the world is was great to be reacquainted with Howard the Duck. I am not going to lie, the suck fairy has visited the good Duck. Howard's gum shoe approach and demeanour does wear thin. When first read I thought it was subverting Daffy the Duck and Donald Duck but to be honest he still has temper tantrums like the other two so he comes across more like the older more cynical and wiser brother.

That said it was wonderful to be reacquainted with Garko, The Man-Frog!; Bessie the vampire cow; Space Turnip; and the Cookie Monster. I loved rereading Howard the Duck's run for presidency back in 1976. It was at times absurdist even as it remained grounded in the mundane world and Howard and Beverley strive to get by living in Clevand, unemployed and running constantly late with bill payments.

I also loved the wonderful bravura piece 'Zen and the Art of Comic Book Writing' written 12 years before Alan Moore wrote Watchmen.

I would love it if another attempt was made to reboot the story in film, the tome was all wrong in the original movie and the special effects just did not match the concept but Who Framed Roger Rabbit has shown it can now be done.

[Ian Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steve Gerber is a unique voice in Marvel, whereas many creators use there work to push their own messages, it's unusual for it to be as in your face as Gerber. He will use the at time absurd adventures of Howard as a social commentary on life and politics at the time, to the point where Howard was the politician America wanted rather than what they got. Quite obviously having the star as a Duck allowed Marvel and the writer to ham it up with a gingerbread Frankenstein's monster or the vampire cow, but still ensues a realism that explores the human condition and psychological issues with the turnip and a sleeping hero. The artwork still holds it own today. The additional issues #16 is quirky and shows how at the time some creators were really trying to push the boundaries, and at times can be quite profound, as shown with Howard describing the Grand Canyon.

[David Muir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a complete run of the original Howard The Duck comics that I lost (along with others) in the "The Great Roof Leak" of the 1980's. I was therefore very pleased to find this collection in a charity shop. Annoyingly, however, it only has issues 1 to 8 and (bizarrely) issue 16.

Issue 16 is a particular weird choice since it is an essay rather than a comic... but Gerber was always a wordy writer; see for example the almost solid page of text in issue 2. More annoying is the absence of the Kiss storyline but since it does contain the election attempt for the "All Night" party I am willing to forgive it!

Get Down America!

[Phillip Berrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mash Doctor Strange, Donald Duck, Millie the Model and the Wolverine (for the attitude and cigar smoking) together and add the sensibilities of the 1970s and you can imagine what this comic is like...

It didn't work for me then and it still doesn't work for me now.

Your mileage may differ, but if that's the case, then we're on the wrong trip.