Marvel Immersion Project: Howard the Duck #18-24

I probably only have a couple more weeks with Howard.  The series was in trouble at this point.  Steve Gerber's inability to meet deadlines was driving the artists crazy, as you can probably glean from the switches in personnel on this particular run.

It's too bad.  Howard the Duck is an amazing series.  I don't find the character himself to be particularly appealing - or unappealing - but the stories are fantastic.  For the most part, the plot lines alone demonstrate why the series was special.  As such, I haven't felt compelled to add too much in the way of commentary.  I always enjoy good satire and Howard is wonderful along those lines.  I am intrigued by his influence on the rest of the medium and also on such publications as Mad Magazine and Cracked.  Best of all, the stories are unpredictable: quite a novelty in the comic book industry.

Particularly since he is the artist for issues 22 and 23, it's time to pay tribute to Howard's co-creator...

Val Mayerik was born March 29, 1950 in Youngstown, Ohio.  He broke into the comic book industry the summer after he graduated from college.  He worked for Dan Adkins, an inker for Marvel including many of the issues I have read during my immersion project.  He is best known for his work on Howard but he also contributed to Man-Thing and several novel adaptations, including The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.


My Recent Reads

Howard the Duck #18
Originally Published November 1, 1977
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: Gene Colan

• In exchange for a promise not to kill Howard, Bev agrees to marry Dr. Bong.
• Bong's Moreau-esque machinery turns Howard human.
• Bong's duckwoman accomplice Fifi escapes with Howard.

Howard the Duck #19
December 1, 1977
Gerber/Colan

• Howard, now in human form, roams New York aimlessly.
• As always, he makes friends: Mad Dog, a smelly vagrant; Amy Pope, a woman who latches on to Howard to get away from her needy boyfriend and Elton Burke, said boyfriend.
• Dr. Bong discovers Howard and Fifi's escape.  He vows to kill Howard.

Howard the Duck #20
January 1, 1978
Gerber/Colan

• Howard is a duck again.  He evades Dr. Bong's attack and finds himself alone on the street, basically having to start over from nothing.
• He gets a job washing dishes from diner owner Lee Switzler.  Neither we nor Howard know it yet but Lee is Bev's uncle.
• Howard witnesses the creation of Sudd, a sentient swarm of bubbles set on cleansing society.  Howard and Lee must find a way to combat Sudd, and quickly.

Howard the Duck #21
February 1, 1978
Gerber/Carmine Infantino

• Having destroyed Sudd, Howard and Lee become a target for those who supported his cause.
• Lee leaves town and leaves Howard his apartment.
• Howard is kidnapped by SOOFI (Save Our Offspring From Indecency), whose leader attempts to brainwash him, in a washing machine, naturally.

Howard the Duck #22
March 1, 1978
Gerber/Val Mayerick

• Howard is recruited/abducted by some old friends to help save the universe, among them:

via Marvel Database

• Dakimh (first appeared, Fear #14)

via Marvel Database

• Jennifer Kale (Fear #11)

via Marvel Database

• Man-Thing (Savage Tales #1)
• The issue's sub-title, "May the Farce Be with You," is an obvious tribute to a popular 1977 science fiction film.

Howard the Duck #23
April 1, 1978
Gerber/Myerick

• In #23, the Star Wars spoof is full-on, from the cover onward.  The issue is sub-titled "Star Waaugh!"  Worth noting: Marvel also had a highly successful Star Wars comic book series running at the time.  Not to put too fine a point on it, that series probably saved the company.  See here.  
• The C-3PO equivalent is called Naac-P30.
• The R2-D2 equivalent is a wastebasket named 2-2-2-2, Tutu for short.
• The Millenium Falcon equivalent is called Epoch Weasel.
• The Death Star equivalent is called Death Store, the entire story a dig at consumer culture.
• I quite like Man-Thing.  Between him and Black Bolt, I seem to be partial to Marvel characters who don't speak.  What is this telling me?

Howard the Duck #24
May 1, 1978
Gerber/Colan

• To be honest, there isn't much to this issue.  Man-Thing and friends drop Howard off on the first page and he meets Winda's and Paul's ship at the dock on the last.  In between, he mostly wanders the street and moans about his life.
• There's trouble ahead for this series - real world trouble.  An issue like this probably wasn't a good sign: Gerber was running out of ideas.  Or at any rate, his capacity to get decent stories in on time was getting worse.