Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck

The name of HOWARD THE DUCK has become kind of a joke in recent times. All that most people think of when they hear the name is an extremely bad movie that came out in 1986. Yet there was a time when HOWARD THE DUCK was the hottest property around… when it was poised to become a landmark in the history of comic books. Unfortunately the “owners” of the character thought they had better ideas than the actual creator and they succeeded in squandering that potential for greatness.

HOWARD THE DUCK began his comic book life as a mere background character in an issue of Marvel’s MAN-THING series. He was one of a disparate group of outcasts plucked from alternate worlds to help save the universe. He apparently plunged to an ignominious death before the story’s end and that was supposed to be the full extent of his story. Rabid fans bombarded Marvel with mail demanding the return of this wonderfully original character.

Some months later the waters were tested with a short back up strip featuring Howard in the pages of GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING. The fans still clamored for more so the next step was to put HTD into his own comic. HOWARD THE DUCK #1 soon appeared on newsstands all over North America and caused a huge sensation. The books disappeared from the racks in no time and soon copies of #1 were commanding huge prices in the collectors’ market. (It has been cynically opined that it was collectors themselves who bought up every copy of this book that they could in the hopes that they would soon be quite valuable… somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophesy.)

First drawn by Frank Brunner and later by the more prolific Gene Colan, HTD quickly went from bi-monthly to monthly. Not only that but Gerber and Colan also began a syndicated newspaper strip (both dailies and Sundays) starring Howard. Perhaps a bit too esoteric for the funny pages, the strip was not to last for long. The comic book itself continued to enjoy a modicum of success until editorial interference put the final nails into the coffin.