Chip Zdarsky's Howard the Duck

[stingray]

I was thinking of picking up the trades for this series. Is it any good?

[Seren]

If I recall correctly it is very good.

[Ravin' Ray]

Zdarsky got Aunt May in the book and it surprisingly meshed well. Plus, there's a really heartbreaking arc that spanned years to complete.

[spidergeek2000]

Here comes my Howard the Duck rant. I am a huge fan of the original series from the 70s by Steve Gerber. It had subversive existential satire and biting commentary on political and social issues. I have also enjoyed some comics I have read by Zdarsky. He does phenomenal character work in Marvel Two-in-One and Spider-Man: Life Story.

I am not a fan of Zdarsky's Howard the Duck. To a certain extent, this isn't Zdarsky's fault. Modern Marvel is very different from the free-wheeling, anything-goes Marvel of the 70s. This is so much the case that Marvel took out a light joke Zdarsky made about the former US president in his first issue of Marvel Two-in-One. The modern Howard does not engage in political commentary and has a very different sense of humor than the original series. Zdarsky sets out to write a largely inoffensive book and I argue this detracts from the core appeal of the character. Zdarsky substitutes the original Howard's very serious existential dread for pointless grumpiness. No tail feathers are ruffled with this book. There are a few issues I enjoyed (I remember one involving Beverly Switzler in the second volume) but it overall left me unimpressed.

I would recommend reading the original series before Zdarsky's. It is philosophically deep and deeply funny. Howard runs for president in 1976 (Zdarsky missed his opportunity in 2016) and fights a villain named Doctor Bong. Gerber's essay on comic book writing in HTD #16 is brilliant. This is essentially an underground comic that Steve Gerber somehow got published through Marvel. I would also recommend the Howard miniseries written by Ty Templeton from 2008. If you've read these already, reread them. At that point, if you're really interested in checking out Joe Quinones's art (which has some great cartooning) and seeing what Zdarsky has to offer, check out the recent run.

[stingray]

Here comes my Howard the Duck rant. I am a huge fan of the original series from the 70s by Steve Gerber. It had subversive existential satire and biting commentary on political and social issues. I have also enjoyed some comics I have read by Zdarsky. He does phenomenal character work in Marvel Two-in-One and Spider-Man: Life Story.

I am not a fan of Zdarsky's Howard the Duck. To a certain extent, this isn't Zdarsky's fault. Modern Marvel is very different from the free-wheeling, anything-goes Marvel of the 70s. This is so much the case that Marvel took out a light joke Zdarsky made about the former US president in his first issue of Marvel Two-in-One. The modern Howard does not engage in political commentary and has a very different sense of humor than the original series. Zdarsky sets out to write a largely inoffensive book and I argue this detracts from the core appeal of the character. Zdarsky substitutes the original Howard's very serious existential dread for pointless grumpiness. No tail feathers are ruffled with this book. There are a few issues I enjoyed (I remember one involving Beverly Switzler in the second volume) but it overall left me unimpressed.

I would recommend reading the original series before Zdarsky's. It is philosophically deep and deeply funny. Howard runs for president in 1976 (Zdarsky missed his opportunity in 2016) and fights a villain named Doctor Bong. Gerber's essay on comic book writing in HTD #16 is brilliant. This is essentially an underground comic that Steve Gerber somehow got published through Marvel. I would also recommend the Howard miniseries written by Ty Templeton from 2008. If you've read these already, reread them. At that point, if you're really interested in checking out Joe Quinones's art (which has some great cartooning) and seeing what Zdarsky has to offer, check out the recent run.

Thanks! I've read all of Gerber's Howard stuff from back in the day, including all the Man-Thing appearances. I was a big fan of the character, but missed out on his more recent appearances. I agree about '70's Marvel btw. I read in 'Marvel Comics the Untold Story' that editorial control was pretty lax on books not featuring Marvel's main characters, so writers on lower selling books were free to experiment and pretty much do whatever they wanted to, because their books were close to cancellation anyway. Comics like Howard and Warlock were the best things the company turned out back then because of this. I might pick up the
Zdarsky stuff anyway, because I think I might enjoy the detective angle, but you're right, I don't think we'll ever see the likes of Gerber's run ever again.

[matt levin]

Well stingray, you seem pretty well versed in HTD, so, if not too late, let me just say that Spidergeek2000 speaks clearly for me, as well!