Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} MAX by Comic Book / Howard the Duck. Howard The Duck is one of the strangest comic book characters ever published by , best known today because of its movie adaptation, believed by many to be one of the worst films ever made; this is unfortunate, as the comic was both funny and full of social criticism, and was one of Marvel's best known titles during the 1970s. While not an underground comic in of itself, Howard the Duck is widely cited as an example of the underground comix movement's influence on mainstream media. The character was apparently created as a sight gag; in "Adventure into Fear " #19 (December, 1973), in a Man-Thing story involving the "Nexus of All Realities" characters from several universes appeared, many of them being obvious homages to fictional characters such as Conan the Barbarian and (in Howard's case) Donald Duck. However, writer Steve Gerber, known for both his love of strange characters and playing with readers' expectations, decided to continue using Howard, and convinced Marvel to give the character his own series. Although Marvel had to strike a deal with Disney in order to use the character, including such things as requiring Howard to wear pants , the character proved popular, most likely due to Gerber's writing. Gerber had the "duck" accidentally transported to Cleveland, where the "hairless apes" (as Howard always refers to them) refused to believe he was anything but a midget in a duck costume and treated him as a weirdo. "Trapped in a world he never made" (the series' catchphrase) Howard tried to live a normal life (and got a series of jobs, such as driving a taxi) but kept running into bizarre people and creatures and ended up having to confront them. The vast majority of these were just wannabe supervillains with silly names and goals such as "Doctor Bong" or humorous menaces like a vampiric cow. More importantly, the series used the short-tempered and sarcastic duck as a way to snark on modern human society. At one point, Howard even runs for President of the United States (!) only to retire after a false accusation of having sex with his friend, a human woman named Beverly Switzler. Howard, despite running into superheroes occasionally, was no superhero himself, and had no superhuman powers (other than the occasional unexpected skill such as "Quack Fu") though he still did end up helping people, directly or indirectly, mostly because of Beverly. The character's popularity led to his being adapted into the live-action movie, but since other than the Beverly/Howard romance, nothing from the comics made it in, especially not the humor, fans of the character hated it. It was universally poorly-received among critics and fans alike, and was a major flop for Marvel, seemingly killing any chance of more stories involving Howard. Thankfully, time has been kind to him and he makes a cameo appearance in The Stinger of the hit and critically acclaimed film Guardians of the Galaxy , confirming him as a canon part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity. He even got a new ongoing series —his first since The '80s— starting in March 2015, with Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones at the helm. Howard was also the cause of a legal dispute between Marvel and Gerber, who claimed to own the character. This caused Gerber to leave the company and led to many years of legal wranglings; in the end, the situation was settled with Marvel keeping ownership of Howard. Howard has appeared occasionally in various Marvel titles since the 1970s, and a few years ago starred in a miniseries (again by Gerber) that made open references to his sexual relationship with Beverly (it was part of Marvel's adult-oriented MAX line, which may not be a canonical part of the .) He was one of the major parodied characters in the Amalgam Universe , merged with DC Comics's Lobo as Lobo The Duck . Seriously. He appeared again as an agent of the dimensional-patrolling agency ARMOR in the "Marvel Zombies" comics, starring alongside various heroes such as Aaron Stack, the Machine Man, and also had an appearance in the LEGO Marvel Superheroes game as an unlockable character. More on Steve Gerber, Howard the Duck, and Omega the Unknown. I was going to do this in the comments to Brad Curran's post from yesterday, but I felt like reminding everyone that I have posting privileges here. So. As I said in that thread, I strongly sympathize with Steve Gerber's attempts to gain some measure of control over the characters he created while working for Marvel, including Howard the Duck and Omega the Unknown. Of course, I'm a little biased. Gerber is my favorite writer to work in the comics factory system, ever, period, full stop. And, on the other hand, I don't have any particular attachment to Marvel as a brand. I like plenty of Marvel product, from Joe Maneely's stuff back in the fifties to Supervillain Team-Up: Modok's 11, but I certainly dig plenty of Marvel's characters. But I don't have any particular loyalty to Marvel Comics. So now that I got my cards on the table, lemme provide some context, starting with this summation of Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck lawsuit. This is coming from estimable comics historian and writer Mark Evanier, so it carries a little more weight than anything I could say. Link here.As to the results of the lawsuit: Well, there was a court decision, and Gerber does not own Howard the Duck. On the other hand, Marvel is supposed to put "created and written by Steve Gerber" in all books featuring Howard. And that's pretty much all we know: The exact details of the arrangement between Marvel and Gerber have never been disclosed. And just to muddy the waters a bit, artist Frank Brunner claims to have co-plotted Howard the Duck for a few issues, and I've never heard his claim disputed. So Gerber claiming to be sole writer seems to be untrue. Moving on: Gerber's Moral argument is a little more complicated. This was originally printed on the Howard the Duck Yahoo Group, and reprinted in Rich Johnson's Lying in the Gutters. As best I can tell, Jonathan is a very nice guy who was acting with the best of intentions. His interest in reviving OMEGA comes out of passion for the material, not purely monetary considerations. "I misjudged him, and I offer my sincerest apologies. "That doesn't change my mind about the OMEGA revival itself, however. I still believe that writers and artists who claim to respect the work of creators past should demonstrate that respect by leaving the work alone -- particularly if the original creator is still alive, still active in the industry, and, as is typically the case in comics, excluded from any financial participation in the use of the work. "Over the last decade or so, it's become the trend in the industry for creators just to let these things slide. By lodging even an informal protest, a creator always risks appearing pathetic and whiny to the fans or threatening to a current employer. No one wants to be thought of that way. "Remaining silent, however, would implicitly condone the comic book industry's business practices up through the early 1980s and the means by which publishers claim to have procured ownership of characters and story material in those days. "Remaining silent would also perpetuate the fiction promulgated by publishers that 'we all knew' what rights we were supposedly giving up by signing our paychecks. (In those days, the publishers' favored instrument for acquiring rights to material was a one-party 'contract' printed or stamped on the back of a writer or artist's paycheck. This so-called 'agreement' set forth terms of employment that were rarely if ever agreed to by the writer or artist prior to the start of work.) The truth is, we didn't all know. Most of us had no idea, until the Siegel & Shuster case came to light again in the late 1970s. (In fact, there are serious questions regarding the ownership of 'Omega The Unknown' that Marvel has probably never thought to ask.) "When a writer of Jonathan's stature agrees to participate in a project like this, he also, intentionally or not, tacitly endorses the inequities of the old system. I've tried for a couple of decades now to convince the rest of the industry that those inequities will end only when writers and artists -- whether celebrities from other fields, like Jonathan, or longtime comics professionals, like myself -- say 'no' to projects that make no provision for the original creators. I've failed. I find that endlessly frustrating. This post is a follow-up to his original diatribe, which was impassioned but came off as rather silly, even to a huge Gerber-booster like me. (Gerber calls Lethem's actions "unforgivable" and states that he has "made an enemy for life.") In a recent interview with Wizard Magazine, Gerber says: So, look-coming at this in a very general way-it would just be really nice if, in the case of a character created by someone who is still living and still active in the industry, the publisher would think to approach the that person and say, "Hey, we'd like to do something new with this character. Would you like to try it again?" How much effort does that take? How much does it cost in editorial pomp and self-importance, especially weighed against the good will it would create?*SNIP* Now, the Omega matter happened slightly differently. As I understand it, when Marvel approached Jonathan Lethem about writing for them, it was Jonathan who inquired about Omega . Marvel said fine, but the idea didn't originate with them. It still would've been nice of them to call, but the truth is, they were never going to say "no" to a New York Times bestselling novelist in order to get a new Omega book from me. I want to add, by the way, in regards to Omega , that Marvel and I did manage to reach an accommodation about that character and a couple of others. In the end, they were very reasonable about it, and I consider the matter closed. Now it would be petty of me to opine as to who did or did not get paid off, especially when I have no source to back up any such speculation. Still, it would be really interesting to here what steps were taken by Marvel to achieve equitability in Gerber's eyes. As I recall, I only requested that the books not be discussed here. If I did suggest boycotting any or all of them, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. I'm not crazy about the idea of boycotts in general because of what happened to Void Indigo. Buy and read whatever you like. Fair enough. But I'm still boycotting. Well, OK, I probably wouldn't care much about Howard or . But I would've picked up Omega, because I am an absolute insane, drooling F-A-N-B-O-Y of artist Dalrymple's Pop Gun War. Some of this is simple loyalty. Gerber has made some very positive contributions to my headspace, and I OWE him. But it's ALSO true that I have a lot of sympathy for Gerber's position. If a corporation owes it's existence to the intellectual property created by it's freelancers - Hell, property created by it's employees - It, morally, should acknowledge these creators. Even beyond a one-time paycheck. And, on the other side, it's certainly fair for the creators to say "Hey. These characters would not exist without our contributions." But this can certainly seem like a betrayal to mainstream fans, who's loyalty to the Marvel Brand often (usually?) far exceeds their loyalty to individual creators. (Which, honestly, has always struck me as somewhat bizarre, and I wonder why this doesn't translate to other media. I only watch movies from New Line! Paramount is teh Suxxors!*) Still, Gerber's "demands" seem very reasonable. A phone call or an e-mail sayin' "Hey. We're hauling your toy out of the toybox. Is that cool?" Even thinking from Marvel's POV this seems to be a fair compromise in return for a marketable intellectual property. Doesn't seem to be a bad deal for keeping a still-active and still somewhat popular creator happy, either. And, more importantly, it would send the message that creators AND their creations are valued. Marvel has historically been slightly ahead of the curve in this area. And simple gestures of appreciation in this area could cement the House of Ideas current reputation as a company that gives a shit about it's creators. What am I missing? How is this not a win-win deal for both sides? Closing Thought One: Current creators seem far more savvy about the pitfalls of signing over their creations to corporate owners than those from the seventies and before. And I'm wondering if the Gerber lawsuit didn't play some part in this. If so, it seems hard to argue that the lawsuit was not a Very Good Thing for the industry. Closing Thought Two: On a more universal note, it seems like an easy gesture of respect to list the creators of the primary characters in any comic. (IE: originally created by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman. Current version created by Steve Gerber and Matthew Sturges.) * OK, to be perfectly honest I've got a decent amount of loyalty to the Fantagraphics brand. (Except for the stuff by people I hate.) So I shouldn't make TOO much fun of you Marvel Zombies. Friday Funny Pages: Wisdom From Howard The Duck. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to post something from Howard the Duck in Friday Funny Pages. Steve Gerber is one of my favorite comic book writers of all time, he was a stellar satirist and commentator on American culture from the 1970’s up until his death in 2008. His humor and wit was subtle, intelligent, and boundless. Gerber’s style of writing and unique story telling techniques were ahead of their time and often pushed the boundaries of conventional comic book writing, which lead readers at the time to either wholeheartedly embrace it or confusedly reject it. Steve Gerber often had creative clashes with the heads at Marvel but the success of his work is best illustrated in his run as writer for Man-Thing , the non-vocal swamp creature (created the same month and year as DC’s Swamp Thing) which was once a scientist who was transformed into a walking vegetation monster empowered by the living wet lands and given empathic abilities that allow him to sense and respond to emotions. Those who are calm, and well mannered are able to befriend the odd creature, but those who know fear, burn at the touch of the Man-Thing! Steve Gerber had a long and successful run on Man-Thing, a book which would prove difficult for other writers who often couldn’t get past the fact that the main character had absolutely zero dialogue. Imaginative storytelling and engaging side characters spawned from Gerber’s pen built up and expanded Man-Thing’s mythos and saw the title flourish. After he left the book, it could never maintain that same momentum and Man-Thing was eventually reduced to one-shots and guest appearances. It was Man-Thing along with his other various writing odds and ends that built up Steve Gerber’s comic book cred and introduced the world to his best known creation, Howard the Duck . The above panel comes from the Howard the Duck limited MAX series published by Marvel. Written by Steve Gerber with art from Phil Winslade and Glenn Fabry. As far as I’m concerned this series was some of Gerber’s finest work and swept Howard along on one of his craziest and most impactful adventures. In the series there are a wide range of familiar Howard characters. His loyal friend Beverly continues her ambiguous relationship with the duck and is ever-present at Howard’s side. Fans of the 70’s comic will recognize two recurring nemeses, the Crazy Bus Lady and Dr. Bong, Howard’s arch-enemy. Published in 2001 the series covers a wide range of topics which were quite contentious at the time, and for the most part still are. At one point Howard and Beverly find themselves staying at an insane limbo-esque hotel that swiftly runs the reader through a bevy of social commentary throughout its dreamlike environment. There they befriend an odd character who closely resembles Hunter S. Thompson. Another satirical caricature is Iprah, obviously a take on Oprah. In the story Iprah is more or less responsible for the near destruction of the Earth. There are other rebuffs dealing with boy bands and the whole idea of manufactured celebrity. In the above panel about fundamentalism Howard is referring to an evangelical preacher claiming that the events of 9/11/2001 were the result of God’s punishment for gays and lesbians living in America. Clearly a reflection of the very real and very inflammatory comments made by Jerry Falwell shortly after the destruction of the twin towers. I could go on all day about how much I love Howard the Duck and everything Steve Gerber, and just reminiscing about it makes me want to go back and reread some of my favorite issues. If you haven’t read any Howard, and aren’t familiar with Steve Gerber’s work then you need to get your head out of your tail feathers and remedy that situation immediately! Friday Funny Pages: Friday Sad Pages. So I got onto the ol’ Facebook this morning and checked my notifications and to my chagrin the first thing I read was a post from my pal Tim telling me that comic book artist Gene Colan had passed away. This was particularly sad news for me because Gene Colan happens to be one of my comic creator heroes. Mr. Colan was involved in several of my favorite Marvel titles such as Dr. Strange and Howard the Duck. He was a co- creator of Blade, and his art was a driving behind some of Marvel’s top horror comics especially the iconic Tomb of Dracula series. I had the great pleasure of meeting Gene Colan in person at the 2007 New York Comic Con. He was part of a silver age panel that they had there where he, Stan Lee, and others talked about working in the industry during the 60’s and early 70’s. Later that day I happened to catch up with Mr. Colan at the artist’s alley there where he was quite gracious and generous enough to sign several of my Dr. Strange and Howard trades I had with me. He took a few minutes to show me several of his sketches he had with him and some of the original comic book art that he was a part of. As I waited in line I saw him interact with everyone in front of me and I was surprised that he was familiar with, and knew by name, a few of the other fans who had obviously interacted with him at other conventions. After that day I was even more enamored with the man, a true comic book fan himself and a creator who was clearly dedicated to the material and the readers who embraced it. I knew he was having some health issues as of late but it is still quite a downer to hear the news of his death. Today I leave you with this pin-up image depicting the iconic confrontation between the title characters of Dr. Strange Versus Dracula . Though it’s not my typical Friday Funny Pages material, this is one of my favorite stories Gene Colan drew which involved many of my favorite characters. This particular image was a poster that was part of the 1980 Occult World of Dr. Strange Marvel calendar with art by Gene Colan and inks by . You will be missed Mr. Colan, thank you for your years of great work and for taking the time to share your experiences with comic book fans across the country! Your art and iconic tales of fantasy will ensure that your memory goes on and I will personally do my best to continue to spread enthusiasm and appreciation for your unique style. Howard the Duck MAX by Steve Gerber. Writer Steve Gerber began his comics writing career at Marvel, where he soon displayed a knack for social satire and surreal humor. He is best known for creating the character Howard the Duck. He created the character for a Man-Thing issue in 1973, then wrote the Howard the Duck series from 1976 – 1979. Howard was a talking duck from another dimension, just the right size to be constantly taken for a midget in a duck suit. To Gerber, Howard was never a cartoon duck, but an actual flesh and blood person who happened to look like a duck. As an alien being from another world, Howard was the ultimate outsider, a status Gerber frequently used to make social commentary. This ranged from general observations on the human condition to comments about contemporary life and politics. Politics were addressed most explicitly in the famous issue ( Howard the Duck #8) in which Howard ran for President of the United States as the All Night Party candidate during the 1976 campaign season. Gerber also satirized comic books, in a way that skirted quite closely to the “serious” comics Marvel was currently publishing. Howard’s absurd archenemy Doctor Bong was a clear swipe at costumed super villains, as well as one of Gerber’s most memorable characters. Gerber’s run had its ups and downs–Howard suffered a nervous breakdown at one point which went on for several interminable issues–but it’s still well worth reading. Gene Colan was the main penciler on the series, so it’s a visual treat as well. One other issue of Howard the Duck stands out, the famous “Dreaded Deadline Doom” ( Howard the Duck #16). It consisted primarily of text pieces about writing comics, written in place of a standard issue due to a deadline that Gerber could not meet, because he was in the process of moving from New York to . Each was illustrated by a large pinup, so the description “Special Once in a Lifetime Album Issue” appears on the cover. One of those pieces, “obligatory comic book fight scene” was the inspiration for Gerber’s 1998 Vertigo miniseries Nevada (illustrated by Phil Winslade & Steve Leialoha). The caption says it’s a fight between an ostrich, a chorus girl, and a killer lampshade, which seems a thin thread to base an entire miniseries on. But Las Vegas showgirl Nevada appears as fully three-dimensional character, portrayed as a real woman, albeit one who finds herself in very surreal circumstances. Her pet performing ostrich Bolero is quite a character too, although unlike Howard the Duck he’s a normal Earth ostrich who does not talk (other than saying “Wuk” a lot). And Gerber definitely took liberties with the killer lampshade, recasting it as a villain with a lava lamp for a head. Nevada has an unusual act–she appears onstage in an Egyptian outfit, dancing with her ostrich– but apart from that things look pretty normal at first. Something strange is happening to the hotel’s rooftop laser display, and a drunk vagrant appears to be stalking her (the mobster with the lava lamp head is interested in the vagrant for some reason). None of these things seem to have any connection to each other at first. But before long Nevada finds herself in another dimension, where she is called upon to do battle with beings trying to invade our reality. It culminates in a huge cosmic battle: obligatory fight scene writ large, with a sword! Nevada returns to our reality, presumably victorious. Some time has elapsed while she was away, so she has to break Bolero out of an animal shelter. As the series ends she is rebuilding her life. Gerber promised a sequel which never came. Nevada outdid Howard in the surrealism department, and Winslade was up to every challenge. His people are real (Nevada is one of the most realistically portrayed women in comics) and his cosmic transformations are believable. The series was collected in paperback form, and is worth seeking out that way or in individual issues. When Marvel launched its MAX imprint of “mature readers” comics Gerber returned to write a six-issue Howard the Duck miniseries in 2001 (which is often identified as Howard the Duck Vol. 2). Phil Winslade was again the illustrator, and Marvel chose to reproduce the book directly from his pencils, which gives it a distinctive soft-edged look. One issue was done by cover artist Glenn Fabry, a rare appearance on interior art. While it’s great to see Winslade back, I think it’s a shame that Gene Colan didn’t get another crack at the character. At least Gerber was officially credited with Howard’s creation in the credits. The series finds Howard and Beverly Switzler living in a trailer in a junkyard. When Beverly lands an unbelievably good job, they discover that Doctor Bong is behind it. Howard winds up in a vat of chemicals which rearrange his DNA. For most of the series he takes on different forms, most frequently a large mouse (likely a Mickey Mouse reference, in response to Disney’s earlier lawsuit for Howard the Duck). There is once again a great deal of parody, and this time Gerber aims his big guns at Vertigo. There are parodies of Hellblazer, The Sandman, Transmetropolitan, Gerber’s own Nevada, and especially Preacher (to be fair, Witchblade takes quite a beating as well). Perhaps Gerber was still smarting from the failure to launch a Nevada sequel? At any rate, the big climax here finds Howard going to Hell with God. The whole of creation turns out to be a “work made for hire,” which may explain God’s apparent neglect. It’s considerably racier and more pointed than the original series, a reflection of how things had changed in comics publishing in 25 years. Steve Gerber, Creator of Howard the Duck, Dies at 60. Steve Gerber, who created Howard the Duck, the dour, dyspeptic, utterly disagreeable and therefore wildly popular comic-book hero of the 1970s, died on Sunday in Las Vegas. He was 60 and lived in Las Vegas. The cause was complications of pulmonary fibrosis, said Mark Evanier, a friend. Published by Marvel Comics, “Howard the Duck” attracted a cult following that endures to this day. Mr. Gerber conceived the character and wrote the first 27 issues; they were illustrated by various artists, notably Frank Brunner and Gene Colan. Mr. Gerber was also known for suing Marvel in the late ’70s over creative control of Howard. The suit was among the first cases to bring the issue of creators’ rights to wide public attention. His other work includes the comic-book series “Omega the Unknown,” which he created for Marvel with Mary Skrenes. (The series was revived last year, written by the novelist Jonathan Lethem.) He also created the animated series “,” broadcast on ABC in the early 1980s. If most comic books are subversive, “Howard the Duck” was especially so, because what it subverted was the very idea of the comic-book hero. Howard was not a nice duck. He had no special powers, nor was he brave. But then again, poor Howard was, in the words of the comic’s famous tag line, “TRAPPED IN A WORLD HE NEVER MADE!” That world was Cleveland. With the publication of “Howard the Duck” No. 1 in 1976, Howard has fallen to Earth from his home planet, a place where all higher life forms have evolved, quite sensibly, from ducks. He fetches up in Ohio, where many things bewilder him and almost everything annoys him. (Howard had begun making guest appearances in 1973 in the Marvel comic “Adventure Into Fear,” written by Mr. Gerber.) Howard smokes cigars and battles deeply bad individuals, among them Bessie the Hellcow and Phelch the Space Turnip. He soon teams up with the stunning Beverly. The fact that she is Homo sapiens and he is Anas domesticus was apparently no impediment to their sharing a bed. The series also satirized the American political scene, with characters transparently modeled on Anita Bryant and the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. In a much-publicized plot development, Howard ran for president on the All-Night Party ticket in 1976. He lost to Jimmy Carter. In 1986 “Howard the Duck” was released as a live-action feature film, produced by George Lucas. It was widely considered a critical and box- office debacle. Stephen Ross Gerber was born in St. Louis on Sept. 20, 1947. In 1969, he earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from Saint Louis University. He worked briefly as an advertising copywriter in St. Louis before joining Marvel as an associate editor in the early 1970s. In the late ’70s Marvel fired Mr. Gerber. Shortly afterward, he sued the company for ownership of Howard; the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, with Marvel retaining the rights to the character. Marvel stopped publishing the original series in 1979. Howard reappeared from time to time afterward in Marvel publications, sometimes written by Mr. Gerber, but usually by others. Mr. Gerber was separated from his wife, Margo Macleod. He is also survived by his mother, Bernice Gerber; three siblings, Jon, Michael and Lisa Bedell; and a daughter, Samantha Voll. Over the years Howard’s appearance remained largely unchanged except for one thing. He originally wore a jacket, fedora and little else. Disney threatened legal action. At issue was Howard’s alleged resemblance to another well-known duck, who famously wore no pants. In the end, Marvel endowed Howard with trousers.