Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

Howard the Duck

By Henry Chamberlain
February 5, 2008 - 12:46

The new 4 issue series of Howard the Duck has wrapped up and is still on some comic book shop shelves. In other shops  it has  literally been "wrapped up" into bags and boards and sits in comic book bins. But the Duck won't quietly go away in much the same spirit as its creator, Steve Gerber for it is now a time of rediscovering the talented Mr. Gerber.

Marvel has already released Gerber's classic Omega the Unknown as a trade paperback and will release Howard the Duck Omnibus, an 800 page hardcover, in March. Currently, Omega the Unknown is getting a makeover in the capable hands of novelist Jonathan Lethem and indie cartoonist Farel Dalrymple. There's been controversy to be sure between Gerber and Marvel regarding ownership of his characters but the positive side to all this is the opening up of some great storytelling to new readers.

Howard the Duck is not new to adversity. When the original Howard the Duck was issued in 1975, it was quite an odd duck for the times. The sort of content found in this comic was and still is out of the mainstream. Gerber doesn't call it outright humor. Essentially, it could be called existential musings. The focus is on gritty realism: the world of bounced checks and out of work actors. But, of course, the story is going to also happen to be funny when you've got an alien duck ranting about a world he never made and in the company of his sexy human girlfriend, Beverly.

This latest Marvel treatment of Howard the Duck is a four issue series that is not written by Gerber and pretty much lets the duck out to go through his paces. It's fun, no doubt about it, but it's not Gerber, it's Marvel with a certain offbeat key missing. And Howard is not himself in more ways than one. He's the same crabby cabbie but, due to legal issues between Disney and Marvel, can not look like he used to which had some resemblance to Donald Duck. Now, he looks more like he did in the infamous movie with Lea Thompson. That said, the moments in this comic between Howard and Beverly are the best which is as it should be for this character-driven saga. The latest Howard the Duck weirdo villain is also pretty cool: a media monster controlling talk show hosts and blogs. How it controls blogs is unclear as is why Oprah is not included, if it's really serious about controlling the media, but it's still a cool weirdo villain speaking to Gerber's focus on our narcissistic consumer culture.

The art is done up in the spirit of underground comics with soft curves and lush colors reminiscent of Heavy Metal. It sort of compliments the Disney mandatory look for the mallard in a strange way: the swollen beak, the required pants, standard-issue ugly.

Overall, it's great to see Howard back if only as an opener for the upcoming collected stories and it does leave you wanting more whether new or classic. How Howard the Duck would fit into future Marvel plans is an interesting proposition. Gerber got his crack at reviving the character a few years ago for a limited run in Marvel's Max line, for mature audiences, and that might be where Howard's future lies: specific Gerber projects. For now, it's nice to know that Gerber continues to produce great stuff such as Nevada and Hard Time and that Howard the Duck is getting such a fine tribute with the Omnibus edition.

Last Updated: November 29, 2025 - 16:51