Howard the Duck is a 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 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 the Duck | |
|---|---|
| Howard the Duck as depicted on a variant cover of Howard the Duck #1 (November, 2015) | |
| 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 | Duckworldian |
| 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 | 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 |
Fear Itself[]
During the Fear Itself storyline, Howard forms a team called the Fearsome Four with She-Hulk, Frankenstein's Monster and Nighthawk to stop the Man-Thing when he goes on a rampage in Manhattan, due to the fear and chaos he senses on the citizens. They later discover a plot by Psycho-Man to use the Man-Thing's volatile empathy to create a weapon.
Powers and abilities[]
Howard has no superhuman powers, but he is skilled in the martial art known as Quak-Fu, enough to defeat, or at least to hold his own against, far larger opponents. He has shown some degree of mystic talent in the past, to the point that Stephen Strange taught some spells to Howard and even offered to train him, but Howard declined.
On one occasion, Howard used a suit of powered armor known as the "Iron Duck" armor designed by Claude Starkowitz. Besides its property as body armor, the suit was equipped with foot-mounted leaping coils, a chest-mounted searchlight, and flamethrowers in both arms.
In other media[]
- Howard the Duck makes a cameo appearance in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series episode "Awesome", voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. Spider-Man finds him contained in a lab on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
- Additionally an alternate reality pirate version of Howard appears in the episode "Return to the Spider-Verse" Pt. 2, voiced by Seth Green He previously served as the pirate captain Web Beard's first mate aboard the pirate ship Groot before joining the crew in launching a mutiny. They attempt to make Web Beard and a multiverse-traveling Spider-Man and Kid Arachnid walk the plank, but a Kraken attacks the Groot. In response, Spider-Man and Kid Arachnid convince the pirates to reconcile and join forces to drive off the monster. Following this, the crew agree to serve under Web Beard once more.
- Howard is introduced in the live-action film Guardians of the Galaxy, as a living exhibit in the Collector's museum on Knowhere. When the Guardians of the Galaxy visit the Collector and attempt to sell him the Power Stone, his slave Carina attempts to use it, only to cause an explosion that kills her and frees all of the Collector's imprisoned creatures. In a post-credits scene, Howard has a drink with the Collector and Cosmo the Spacedog amidst the wreckage. In August 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn said, "It's possible Howard could reappear as more of a character in the Marvel [Cinematic] Universe. But if people think that's going to lead to a Howard the Duck movie, that's probably not going to happen in the next four years. Who knows after that?"
- Howard the Duck makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. animated series episode "The Collector", as one of the eponymous character's prisoners. In this cartoon, the Collector acts as a toy collector and described Howard as an "ultra rare hero".
- Howard the Duck appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series, voiced again by Seth Green (This cartoon was made based on the movie of the same name). This version is an old acquaintance of Rocket Raccoon. In the episode "Lyin' Eyes", Rocket and Drax the Destroyer find Howard reading a newspaper in a display case at a Knowhere auction house. In the episode "Happy Together", as part of a deal with the Collector, Howard hires the Guardians of the Galaxy to obtain a Kree item. While making the exchange, Phyla-Vell attacks the Guardians while Howard escapes to give the item to the Collector in exchange for seeing the outside of his ship. In the episode "Long Distance Runaround", the Guardians find and apprehend Howard, who confesses to setting them up and reveals the Collector betrayed him. The Collector sabotages the Guardians' starship, the Milano, to manipulate them into leading him to the Kree homeworld, Hala, so he can shrink it. However, Howard places a tracker on the Collector's ship for the Guardians so they can follow him. In the episode "With a Little Help From My Friends", Star-Lord recruits Howard to help him fight the Serpent.