Howard the Duck

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Jump to navigationJump to search This article is about the character and comic book series. For the film adaptation, see Howard the Duck (film). For the video game, see Howard the Duck (video game).

Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck #1 (Jan. 1976), with series co-star Beverly Switzler in background. Cover art by Frank Brunner.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Adventure into Fear #19 (Dec. 1973)
Created by	Steve Gerber (writer) Val Mayerik (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Howard Duckson
Species	Anthropomorphic duck
Place of origin	Duckworld
Team affiliations	Circus of Crime Defenders All-Night Party Daydreamers A.R.M.O.R. Fearsome Four Ducky Dozen
Partnerships	Man-Thing Beverly Switzler
Notable aliases	Son of Satan, Leonard the Duck, Howard the Human, Iron Duck, Agent Duck, Cynical Duck
Abilities	Master of Quack-Fu Minimal magic manipulation As Iron Duck: Armored suit grants: Superhuman strength and durability Foot-mounted leaping coils Chest-mounted searchlight Flamethrowers in both arms

Howard the Duck is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck first appeared in Adventure into Fear #19 (cover-dated Dec. 1973) and several subsequent series have chronicled the misadventures of the ill-tempered, anthropomorphic "funny animal" trapped on a human-dominated Earth. Echoing this, the most common tagline of his comics reads 'Trapped In a World He Never Made!'

Howard's adventures are generally social satires, while a few are parodies of genre fiction with a metafictional awareness of the medium. The book is existentialist, and its main joke, according to Gerber, is that there is no joke: "...that life's most serious moments and most incredibly dumb moments are often distinguishable only by a momentary point of view."[1] This is diametrically opposed to screenwriter Gloria Katz, who, in adapting the comic to the screen, declared, "It's a film about a duck from outer space... It's not supposed to be an existential experience".[2]

Howard the Duck was portrayed by Ed Gale and voiced by Chip Zien in the 1986 Howard the Duck film adaptation, and was later voiced by Seth Green in the films Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, both set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character also makes a nonspeaking cameo appearance in Avengers: Endgame.

Contents

• 1Publication history
• 2Fictional character biography
  • 2.1Heroes Reborn
  • 2.2Civil War
  • 2.3Secret Invasion
  • 2.4Marvel Zombies 5
  • 2.5Fear Itself
  • 2.6Spider-Man: Back in Quack
  • 2.7The Ducky Dozen
  • 2.8Wolverine and the X-Men
  • 2.9Original Sin
  • 2.10Back to New York
  • 2.11Civil War II
  • 2.12War of the Realms
• 3Powers and abilities
• 4Characteristics and associations
• 5Other versions
  • 5.1Amalgam Comics
  • 5.2Marvel Zombies
  • 5.3MC2
  • 5.4Ultimate Marvel
  • 5.5Universe X
  • 5.6Spider-Gwen
  • 5.7Legion of Howards
• 6In other media
  • 6.1Television
  • 6.2Film
  • 6.3Video games
  • 6.4Theme park
  • 6.5Other comics
  • 6.6Newspaper comic strip
  • 6.7Radio
• 7Collected editions
• 8Reception
• 9References
• 10External links