Howard the Duck: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1

Howard the Duck: The Complete Collection #1

by Steve Gerber, Tom Palmer (Inker), Marv Wolfman

Get the full story of how Marvel's most notorious movie star became trapped in a world he never made! Howard the Duck takes an adventure into fear when he is plucked from Duckworld and finds himself on Earth, bill to proboscis with the melancholy muck-monster Man-Thing! Stuck here on a planet of hairless apes, the furious fowl forges a future for himself in, of all places, Cleveland. But the would-be Master of Quack-Fu will have his wings full hanging out with Spider-Man and waging "waaaugh" with madcap menaces like the Space Turnip, the Cookie Creature, the Beaver and Doctor Bong. Will that earn him a spot on the Defenders?

COLLECTING: Fear 19, Man-Thing (1974) 1, Howard the Duck (1976) 1-16, Howard the Duck Annual 1, Marvel Treasury Edition 12, material from Giant-Size Man-Thing 4-5

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Humor, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics

438 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2015

About the author

Steve Gerber graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and took a job in advertising. To keep himself sane, he wrote bizarre short stories such as "Elves Against Hitler," "Conversion in a Terminal Subway," and "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!" He noticed acquaintance Roy Thomas working at Marvel, and Thomas sent him Marvel's standard writing test, dialoguing Daredevil art. He was soon made a regular on Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, and the newly created Man-Thing, the latter of which pegged him as having a strong personal style--intellectual, introspective, and literary. In one issue, he introduced an anthropomorphic duck into a horror fantasy, because he wanted something weird and incongruous, and Thomas made the character, named for Gerber's childhood friend Howard, fall to his apparent death in the following issue. Fans were outraged, and the character was revived in a new and deeply personal series. Gerber said in interview that the joke of Howard the Duck is that "there is no joke." The series was existential and dealt with the necessities of life, such as finding employment to pay the rent. Such unusual fare for comicbooks also informed his writing on The Defenders. Other works included Morbius, the Lving Vampire, The Son of Satan, Tales of the Zombie, The Living Mummy, Marvel Two-in-One, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shanna the She-Devil, and Crazy Magazine for Marvel, and Mister Miracle, Metal Men, The Phantom Zone , and The Immortal Doctor Fate for DC. Gerber eventually lost a lawsuit for control of Howard the Duck when he was defending artist Gene Colan's claim of delayed paychecks for the series, which was less important to him personally because he had a staff job and Colan did not.

He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.

In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.

In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this series, but I didn't quite get into it.

Howard finds himself on Earth in Cleveland surrounded by us hairless apes. He starts to forge a life for himself here including some human friends and even running for a political office.

Howard the Duck is a great character, and really sticks out in the Marvel Universe. The artwork is great at times with a fantastic roster of creators like Val Mayerik, Frank Brunner and Gene Colan. Of course, as with all the Silver Age reprints Marvel does, this has a horrific recoloring job.

The politics behind the series is interesting. Apparently Disney wasn't happy about Howard wearing pants! A bit of a rip off of their ducks I suppose. Gerber held his ground... unfortunately now Disney through buying Marvel owns the right to Howard the Duck.

Gerber was certainly ahead of his time, but I'm not sure this series has held up as well as expected. Because of the reliance on satire (including political satire) it could just be due to my age. I didn't find it "laugh out loud".

I will say that it's completely unique to the comics landscape at the time (and still to this day mainstream DC/Marvel comics). I can't really see those two companies publishing effective adult satire these days.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not in the mood to read about Howard's presidential campaign this close to election day. I like this quite a bit but it's wordy as hell and not want I want to be reading right now. I'll return to it at some point.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9 stars

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume One includes the first 16 issues of HOWARD THE DUCK who fell through a metaphysical interdimensional time warp and arrived from his home world (DuckWorld) to find himself in Cleveland, Ohio on Planet Earth. First, however, he appears in ADVENTURE INTO FEAR and MAN-THING issues from Marvel comics as a pawn in a nefarious plan by an evil sorcerer. Steve Gerber, the creator and writer, later was allowed to give Howard his own comic book and tell of his strange existentialist adventures along side his beautiful sidekick/female companion Beverly Switzler.

This is one crazy comic character that will mystify you at first in its weird stories that seem written and conceived by a mind that is either crazed or on chemical or liquid additives that have propelled his brain to just go nuts. It's a wonder MARVEL allowed this to happen. But, after awhile you realize that Howard's adventures and tangles with a Vampire Cow, a menacing Turnip from Outer Space, Man-Frog, several Marvel superheroes (including Spider-Man) and other creatures, monsters, and villains are part of a social satire on the times of the late 70s and comic book adventures themselves. Howard spouts his own philosophies on Life and those that reference famed great thinkers who ponder Life's great mysteries. In one issue, Howard suffers a nervous breakdown and must be institutionalized and even contemplates Death. I loved it.

If you are ONLY familiar with the feature film HOWARD THE DUCK, you know Howard a bit; wise cracking, tough, cigar chomping. The film did not capture or have the full weight of the crazy mix of the duck's viewpoint on "hairless apes" (humans) and his slant on existence. Let's hope that can be corrected, because it would be fantastic for MARVEL to allow him to be re-booted in the original conception. But, will MARVEL allow an audience that pleasure and allow a talking fowl in a suit, philosophy, and social satire full reign on the big screen? WE can only hope.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a a 1970s collection this isn’t bad. Writing is a bit dated but the art work is gorgeous and the humor holds up. I thought a lot of these comics were really funny. Loved seeing Howard the Duck run for President, fight a vampire cow, fight the band Kiss, and go up against a deadly vampire bovine!

[David Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a few comics that stand out from the crowd, game-changers, Watchmen, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Swamp Thing, Vol. 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing, and now I would definitely say that Howard the Duck belongs on this list!

This was spectacular, and far more than I expected! I had heard plenty about just how existential, and satirical Howard the Duck was as a comic, and to be perfectly honest I was slightly worried (being British, and born in 1987) that I wouldn't get the satire as it is mainly about 1970's America, but my fears were unfounded, this collection is brilliant!
Howard the Duck is such a human character, and Gerber uses him to explore how we look at super heroes, media violence, politics, mental illness, censorship and even the struggle to write such comics.
This is a must-read book for any fan of comics, ducks, and something a little out of the ordinary.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Howard the Duck is a one of a kind character at Marvel. Sure, he has a lot in common with John Byrne’s Sensational She-Hulk and Deadpool (from the deranged minds of Fabian Nicieza & Rob Liefeld) in that all three characters speak about the structure of narrative, the reason for motivation and the problems of characterization as much as they are humorous, but Howard is still different. And I’m not just speaking about him being a Duck (heck, Thor was a frog, thank you Walter Simonson). No. Howard is first and foremost a tool for ripping down pseudo intellectual pretentiousness. In many ways Howard is a prototype of white heterosexual male fanboy who can’t see the forest for the trees. Except, Howard does see the trees. The point of divergence is that Howard’s writer, Steve Gerber knows the difference between vigilantism and anarchism. Most of the American white heterosexual male fanboy types who run around thinking they’re being all in-your-face truth, justice and the American Way are instead simply terrorists of the home grown variety. I know, I know, you’re asking what does any of this have to do with Howard the Duck? Well, a lot actually. See, Howard bucks the system. He’s enormously egocentric and he takes nothing from nobody. He’s a man’s man … er … duck’s Duck … ah … mallard’s mallard … oh whatever! See Gerber was speaking to these white heterosexual male fanboy before they even knew they would become these mind numbingly inane white heterosexual male fanboys (not that most of them actually know how to read, but that’s another problem). And this is where things get divided between those who grok the satire in Howard the Duck and those who just think he’s a foul-mouthed mallard with an over abundance of cool.
I first discovered Howard in the pages of Giant-Size Man-Thing (try saying that to the general public outside a comic book store and see what happens, oh the looks you’ll get), as I’d missed his debut in Fear and Man-Thing, these early stories form what I’m going to call: Howard the Duck: The Prologue. And I’d read the issues of his comic contained in this volume as they were coming out. But I didn’t stick around much longer than what’s included here. Howard’s routine wore a bit thin for me after awhile. The highlights, for me at least, in this volume are the appearances of Marvel’s other characters like Spider-Man, the aforementioned Man-Thing, Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan and, of course, the dynamic Defenders: Doctor Strange, Hulk, Valkyrie and Nighthawk. There’s even an appearance by the members of KISS, yes, the glam rock band KISS can be found in these pages (believe it or not, I don’t care, and neither does Howard). Oh, and Howard runs for President. Hey, it’s Howard the Duck, what else would you expect? I mean, this guy was so popular at Marvel that he got a big budget Hollywood movie long before … well, anyone else at Marvel (except Conan the Barbarian, but that’s another story). So, kick back, unclench your pin feathers, relax and enjoy the coming of Howard the Duck (No! I didn’t mean it that way, you perv).

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never read a Howard the Duck comic before, I had seen the movie however, and loved it....Don't judge me! So when I saw this collection at the library I hade to pick it up and give it a go.

The introduction to Howard in the Man Thing comics is a bit rough but once you get to his own comics it's a blast! A bit sexist, sure, a bit dated, absolutely, but it was still fun and that's all you can ask for a comic of this type.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book about a talking duck that tackles depression, religion, relationships, politics, creativity, and the occasional supervillain fight

[Alex Sarll]

Well, Howard himself may have returned to the big screen twice now, and even Hellcow gets the odd comic appearance, but funnily enough I think this may have been the only appearance for Phelch, last of the space turnips... The original Howard comics collected here, right back to his first appearances (yes, including the wonderfully titled Giant-Size Man-Thing) oscillate between sheer silliness and slightly heavy-handed preaching, Gerber clearly seeing Howard as his alter ego and the comic as his soapbox. But as often as not he seems to realise the risks inherent in this and pushes the message so far that it loops back around to comedy, one hopes deliberately. And even when it doesn’t quite make it, there’s something impressive about a seventies Marvel comic with a recurring theme of the futility of violence. Howard moves through a world of fads, cults, neuroses and institutionalised idiocy that has more in common with Mad magazine's targets than most of his stablemates; the closest thing to a recurring arch-enemy, if you exclude his own temper, is a conspiracy theorist who keeps accosting him on buses. He’ll wander into pastiches – a gothic castle whose inhabitant is recreating Frankenstein’s monster in gingerbread, say, and which saturnine realtor Heathcliff Rochester is trying to sell so the inhabitants can move to a different gothic castle, in Wisconsin. Some of these, most obviously the run for the presidency, were obviously satirising issues of the day; with others, one suspects it was just a drunken bull session crafted into art over the following days. I can’t claim it’s not dated, but for the most part it’s still much more readable than most superhero output of a similar vintage, let alone most alternative comics of the time; sometimes sitting between two worlds is the best way to escape the fate of either. And finally, after a cliffhanger introducing the quite spectacularly silly Dr Bong, we get…an issue which totally fails to resolve it, instead being an illustrated essay about being Steve Gerber, about the pressures of writing comics, and so forth.

Bonus material includes a bunch of Howardmania ephemera, and a fairly long interview in which Gerber laments the decay of the medium (he was a better writer than prophet), which he blames largely on the strictures of the Comics Code. Hard to remember now it’s a dead letter quite what a limiting factor that was on a whole medium, for decades.

[Cesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of one of the more obscure Marvel titles I’ve ever read. Not everything is good but surprisingly much of the content is. The art is very retro and thus to my liking. The story is what you expect from a title like this. Bonkers to say the least. I find this collection to be a great companion piece if you, just like me, find the movie adaptation a great and fun watch.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the humor is spot-on, nearly fifty years later, but much of it isn't. I can see why it was cutting edge coming from Marvel Comics in the late 70s, but I struggled through it today in 2023.

[Robert Monk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Howard the Duck. Oh, Howard the Duck. What can I say about Howard the Duck? To start out with, I had a particular loathing of the terrible movie version, because I'd previously read the comic and enjoyed it. Started picking it up when I'd reached the age where my childhood superhero magazines weren't cutting it any more, and Howard seemed a bit more... challenging. So when the lame film adaptation came about, I was super annoyed. This particular holiday season, when I often found myself feeling nostalgic, I decided to look back on ol' Howard the comic.

So how does it appear from my middle-aged vantage? It's a tough book to categorize. It's kind of like an underground -- Fritz the Cat is sort of a cousin -- but it was put out by Marvel and had that Comics Code seal so it wasn't really one. Its early issues (collected here) aren't entirely unlike early Cerebus: it makes fun of comics tropes, and has a funny animal main character who doesn't act like a funny animal.

I was pleased to discover that re-reading these didn't spoil my fond memories of the comic. It's dated as hell, of course, even having jokes about the 1976 election. But it's also pleasingly wise-ass, and still pretty funny. Would a 20-year-old appreciate it? I don't know. And I don't even know if I'm going to keep getting more volumes of this collection. Maybe this one is enough for my Howard yen. But I'm glad I have it.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my first comic book memories is of reading some crumbly but well-preserved mid-seventies comics in an old UPS crate (which I still have in the closet at my new house), saved by my dad from Marvel's trippy Seventies peak. This, if you know anything about comic books, was the tipping point when comics began to move from targeting a child audience to an adult audience, with interlocking storylines, psychedelic visuals and increasingly wordy, self-referential dialogue.

As a kid, I loved Howard for the sheer joyful absurdity of it- a pissed-off, cigar-smoking Donald Duck knockoff wandering crankily through the weirdest Marvel mishaps imaginable. But looking back, BOY did I not get this comic at all! With his tendency to perpetually discuss philosophy, sociology and politics, as well as the writers' love of parodying both high and low culture, Howard the Duck's original run is very much for adults even if the content rarely approaches much more than PG-13. Revisiting these memories as an adult was a rare and lovely experience: it's somehow better than I remember without nostalgia taking over.

[Chaz Donaldson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember loving Howard for reasons I didn't fully comprehend when I was a kid. It's good enough today that I ordered the 2nd Volume on pre-order, and I am sorely tempted to start tracking some old Howard The Duck comics down.

[Howard Pearson-Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books (graphic novels) I've ever read, go ahead make fun of me for reading it and how my name is also Howard, I don't care this book was worth it.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Steve Gerber at his best. Insane, absolutely insane. If you’re interested in the adventures of a misogynistic duck from another dimension who fights a killer accountant, a space turnip, a woman who only cares about people’s kidneys, a Frankenstein gingerbread man, a giant beaver who thwarts his 1976 presidential campaign, and a supervillain with a giant bell for a head you’ve come to the right place. If you love weird, you’ll love Howard.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve Gerber's sardonic, cynical writing and Gene Colan's pulpy, occasionally gothic art come together to make this a great little treasure. The concept is pretty dumb, but Howard is such a fun character to follow around on stupid comic book adventures. The whole thing is dripping with peak-70s counter-culture malaise. Of special note is HTD #16, a self-indulgent illustrated essay lamenting Gerber's creative burnout in lieu of a comic. Good stuff.

[I.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This colour collection of the first Howard the Duck appearances and issues is great stuff that was totally out of step at the time, more adult and satirical, but also weirdly dependent on the times. It might not hold up if you don’t recognize what’s being satirized but it was a worthy experiment and Gerber was a great writer when he had the chance.

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Missing my comics -- I had bought every issue of HTD, carefully planning my monthly trips to Ben Franklin, Walworth's, any place that had a comics rack, to make sure I never missed an issue. Where are they now? Someone knows....

[Chase Bouzigard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Howard The Duck Vol.1 is an amazing comic. That said it is not for everyone, the stories are absurdist satire that comment on the political climate of the 70's as well as a parody of Marvel at the time.
If thats what you are into then you should definitely read this

[mkfs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The battle of mediocrity against absurd villainy is interrupted for roughly a third of the issues by Howard having a nervous breakdown - coinciding with a parallel breakdown in the writer of the series, as detailed in the final issue in this volume.

Still, Howie gets some laughs in.

[Craig W · Rating 2 out of 5]

This actually was my stopping point in the Marvel Omnibus on Gerber’s Howard the Duck. Respect to Gerber for breaking new ground in the 1970s. Today, much of this material just doesn’t hold up (especially the humour), and I could not bear another 300+ pages of it.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very amusing, well written, lots of puns and similar! Not usually a comics guy, but this one is full of parody, satirizing other genres, detectives, etc. very smarmy, sarcastic title character. ready for volume 2 to finish Gerber's original run.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool bit of Marvel history and a great character. Howard the Duck is a fun and biting satirical character that puts a very different spin on the idea of a Marvel hero.

[Barry Hammock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most thought provoking comics in American history.

[John Feetenby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daft, but of massive nostalgic value. Like the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers or Fritz the Cat, but somehow in the Marvel comics continuity.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of each issue is worth the satire, but I didn’t find any of it very funny.

[Kris Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve Gerber is up there with Alan Moore as my favorite comic writers of the 20th century.

[pun dog · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only good marvel character