Howard the Duck: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3

Howard the Duck: The Complete Collection #3

by Bill Mantlo, Gene Colan (Illustrator), John Buscema (Illustrator)

Discover rare, never-before-collected tales of the duck with delusions of adequacy as Marvel's trawl through the annals of Howard history plunders the magazine era! As rendered by legends like Gene Colan, John Buscema and Michael Golden, Howie has never looked better, while his adventures get wilder than ever. As for the stories, who could resist epics like "Of Dice and Ducks," "Captain Americana" and "Duck Soup"? Howard will reunite with muck monster Man-Thing and meet Santa Claus, and one of horror's greatest icons may leave a lasting impression: prepare for Drakula, the undead duck! It's enough to make a furious fowl head back home to Duckworld - and Beverly comes along for the ride! Plus: In the name of all that's decent, Howard puts on some pants! COLLECTING: Howard the Duck Magazine 2-7

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Graphic Novels

384 pages, Paperback

Published July 19, 2016

About the author

William Timothy Mantlo is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics.
(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve not read these issues before, as I hadn’t picked up the Howard the Duck Magazine at the time, what I now refer to as Howard the Duck’s Second Act. But I’ve discovered that I’m really enjoying these, maybe even more than the color comic book series, which was what I affectionately refer to as Howard the Duck: Act One. Very satiric social comedy and filled with absurd and surreal incidents after absurd and surreal incidents. It’s almost a series of unfortunate events.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Might seem sacrilegious to say this, but I think some of the writing in this collection of magazine reprints is better than some the Steve Gerber stuff in the original comic. By the end of the comic stuff, Gerber was really repeating the same tired themes without doing much of anything new. But much of what we got in the magazine was refreshing. It also didn't hurt that the comics code authority is obviously not present and although this was not graphic in any way, the themes are much more mature.

[Mike McDevitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giving 4 stars to this book means they put me on some kind of list for sure! But, yes, I like post-Gerber Howard The Duck. Gene Colan certainly carries a lot of those stars. But... Truman Capoultry and Ducktor Strange VERY nearly help me forgive Mr. Mantlo for utterly ruining post-Byrne Alpha Flight.

[pun dog · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest literary characters in history

[Kamil Henri · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

[Ángel Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mediados de los 70, Marvel no sabía qué hacer para incrementar su ya notable popularidad. Stan Lee, un ególatra de cuidado, no se conformaba con el público infantil-juvenil al que naturalmente debían ir dirigidas sus publicaciones, y por eso se atrevió con el formato magazine, para que picara algún que otro señor treintañero o cuarentón. Realmente, solo The savage sword of Conan triunfó, y por un buen motivo: el resto no valían ni lo que costó bautizarlas.

Tan controvertida afirmación supongo que tendrá sus detractores, pero es totalmente cierta si las comparamos, por ejemplo, con las revistas de Warren o con la longeva Mad. Realmente, los magazines de Marvel ofrecían más de lo mismo: súper héroes, a veces disfrazados de monstruos (como Man-Thing) o artes marciales (Deadly hands of Kung-Fu), con el ocasional experimento raruno, como Dracula lives, que no se sabe muy bien a qué tipo de público iba dirigido. Supongo que al habitual de Tomb of Dracula al que le gustara ver alguna teta muy de vez en cuando.

En fin, que no se lucieron, no. El Howard the Duck magazine fue otra bizarrada sin pies ni cabeza, aunque con cierta gracia. Un Bill Mantlo menos aburrido de lo habitual se unió a artistas realmente fabulosos, como Michael Golden, Marshall Rogers y, sobre todo, Gene Colan, para dar forma a un producto raro, raro, que no terminaba de funcionar ni como cómic de humor ni como cómic de súper héroes ni como nada de nada. Era una sátira, eso está claro, pero carecía totalmente de rumbo, y los complementos escritos por la editora y dibujados no tengo ni idea de por quién eran, francamente, una mierda.

En fin, que la cosa duró nueve números, a lo largo de los cuales apareció Hitler (o su dentista), Drácula, Bev y Howard visitaron Mundo-Pato, cambiaron de trabajo una y otra vez, Howard se puso pantalones... en fin, un montón de cosas que no conducían a ninguna parte, pero bueno: a Bev se le vieron las tetas una vez. Y ese es el significado que la palabra «adulto» tenía para Stan Lee, supongo.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has Howard the Duck lost his edge? Or more accurately, have the writers lost Howard's Edge? The transition from single comic to extended black-and-white magazine seems to have sapped the already waning edge of the Duck's satiric and intellectual side, with hoary parody trotted out more and more often. True, there are still inspired moments here, but they have become fewer and fewer. The last official volume out of four has a lot of work ahead of it to restore Howard's irascible good name.