Starting this Wednesday, March 11, 2015, through April, expect to see more of an angry alien duck coming your way. Last seen in the coda to last summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Howard the Duck’s presence was a surprise for everyone. And Marvel Studios swears we won’t be seeing him in a movie coming anytime soon. Yet the nostalgia for Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik’s mad-as-hell duck hasn’t waned any. He’s getting his own series–his second monthly and third overall, including a mini-series 14 years ago–and 20 other Marvel titles will feature variant covers incorporating Howard.
We have a preview of the new Howard the Duck, Issue #1 after the break.
Look for variant covers for the following series:
ALL-NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA #6
ALL-NEW HAWKEYE #2
ALL-NEW X-MEN #41
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #17
ANT-MAN #4
DAREDEVIL #15
DEADPOOL #45 (a.k.a. Deadpool #250)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #26
HULK #14
INHUMAN #14
LEGENDARY STAR-LORD #11
MS. MARVEL #14
ROCKET RACCOON #10
S.H.I.E.L.D. #5
SILK #3
SPIDER-GWEN #3
SUPERIOR IRON MAN #7
THOR #7
UNCANNY AVENGERS #4
UNCANNY INHUMANS #0
It will be interesting to see which Howard we get with the new series, written by Chip Zdarsky with interior art by Joe Quinones. He looks like the movie version, the film that co-starred Lea Thompson. What that character missed was the angst and the story was devoid of the rich political commentary that defined Steve Gerber’s hero. Howard should have the frustration of Donald Duck and Daffy Duck, but the outright rage of Rocket the Raccoon.
I discussed Howard with Gerber on June 5, 2004, at the Kansas City Comic Con, also attended by artist P. Craig Russell and local con frequenters Phil Hester and Ande Parks. Gerber was an engaging, interesting fellow who was eager to share stories about his years in comics, including the unusual Issue #16, which was mainly prose. Other issues featured the artistry of the likes of Gene Colan and Michael Golden. These days the big publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics manage to avoid politics and real-world conflicts altogether, especially compared to stories found in titles like Howard the Duck or Green Lantern in the 1970s. Howard the Duck of the 1970s was the first “above-ground underground” comic book. So how will the new Howard fare?
Here’s a preview of Howard the Duck, Issue #1:
Get a copy of Issue #1 Wednesday, March 11, 2015, at comic book stores everywhere. If you want to read the classic Howard the Duck by Steve Gerber, a great full-color omnibus edition available here
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com
