Howard The Duck
Fowl play
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Publisher: Marvel Writer: Chip Zdarsky Artist: Joe Quinones
His postcredits
cameo in Guardians Of The Galaxy was one of the biggest movie surprises of 2014, and now Howard the Duck has officially returned to the mainstream Marvel universe. First created in 1973 by Steve Gerber and Val Meyerick, he’s an irascible talking duck from a parallel dimension. Here he takes a starring role in the latest Marvel title to give a comedic perspective on the superhero world.
Attempting to make a living as a private investigator, Howard still views the world of humans as perplexing and insane. Life doesn’t get much better for him when an investigation into a jewellery theft leads to imprisonment in the intergalactic zoo of the Collector, a team- up with the Guardians, and an unexpected showdown with a gun- wielding Aunt May…
With scripts from Sex Criminals artist Chip Zdarsky, these first four issues serve up an offbeat tone with plenty of laughs. The art from Joe Quinnones hits the right level of kooky energy, but Zdarsky’s approach is rather scattershot and his pacing is uneven, while Howard remains a spiky character who’s not always easy to like. Lovers of daft comic entertainment will find lots to enjoy, but after The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl showed just how good Marvel comedy can be, Howard the Duck’s latest incarnation is fun without being truly essential. Saxon Bullock Howard’s design had to be altered in the ’ 70s after Disney threatened a lawsuit over his resemblance to Donald Duck.