HOWARD THE DUCK 301
is notable for Kirkman’s use of horror concepts within the framework of a superhero
narrative.
Andrew Edwards
HOWARD THE DUCK. Best remembered today as the basis for an unsuccessful fi lm
adaptation, Howard the Duck was one of the most sophisticated and unusual main-
stream comics of the 1970s, and indirectly played a pivotal role in the evolution of
creator ownership. Howard was created in 1973 by writer Steve Gerber (1947–2008).
While writing a Man-Th ing story in Adventures in Fear #19, Gerber needed a visual
image stranger than one he had used in the previous issue: a barbarian climbing out
of a jar of peanut butter. Th us, he wrote a scene in which a suit-and-tie-wearing duck
walks out of a thicket and complains about being trapped in a world of “hairless apes.”
(Howard’s trademark cigar was added by artist Val Mayerik.) Th e character appeared
as a backup feature in Giant-Size Man-Th ing #4 and #5, gaining suffi ciently positive
response from fans to merit his own ongoing series. Gerber wrote the fi rst 27 issues
of the series, while Frank Brunner drew the fi rst two issues, and Gene Colan the last
25 issues. In 1977, Howard became the star of a syndicated comic strip, whose origi-
nal creative team was Gerber and Colan. When Marvel fi red Gerber as writer of the
strip (perhaps because Gerber was too radical), Gerber sued Marvel for ownership
of the character, alleging that his contract did not give Marvel ownership of ancillary
Ed Gale as Howard T. Duck and Lea Thompson as Beverly Switzler, in the 1986 film Howard
the Duck, directed by Willard Huyck. Lucasfilm Ltd./Universal/Photofest
