I was saddened to hear that Steve Gerber, the man behind the beloved comic book character Howard the Duck, died in a Las Vegas hospital yesterday from complications due to pulmonary fibrosis. Gerber was 60.
"Howard the Duck" debuted in December of 1975 in an issue of another Marvel Comics series "Man Thing." Howard was a character who wore a small Humphrey Bogart hat and a polka dot necktie, but the quacky character will always be known for smoking a cigar.
The duck that made Cleveland famous was the subject of a widely panned 1986 film also called "Howard the Duck," which starred Lea Thompson ("Back to the Future").
Howard the Duck also drew the admiration of teenage boys for his sidekick Beverly "Thunder-Thighs" Switzler.
My personal favorite cover of Howard the Duck comic book would have to be the fifth issue of the series which featured Howard standing up to a tall pro wrestler who bore an uncanny resemblance to The Incredible Hulk with the tag: "Waaaugh! It's the feathered fury versus teh man mountain ---Klout!"
In the very first Howard issue, he proclaims that there is always a way out of trouble, and that things are never as black as they seem. In the very next panel, Howard discovers that he has in fact stepped in slime.
Such was the nature of Gerber's highly satirical work, which added in social commentary whenever he could. In issue #5, Howard even makes fun of the likes of Daffy Duck which he sees as 'biased stereotypical trash which is an unfair representation of ducks.'
Howard also took on the likes of capitalist ego-maniac Pro-Rata and cult leader Reverend Joon Moon Yuc. And, he even ran for the presidency in 1976 (I wonder if he got more votes than Mike Gravel).
Gerber also co-created Marvel's "Omega the Unknown" and the 1980s animated tv show "Thundarr the Barbarian," which most boys my age probably watched.
Ty Templeton brought my favorite comic book character minus the cigar back in December of last year, but though the graphics are quite impressive, the new version simply isn't as brilliant as the original.
Gerber was a genius.
He will be missed.
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