Next year marks 50 years of Howard the Duck, and Marvel Comics will pay tribute to the iconic fowl with a year-long series of variant covers featuring the lovable loner teaming up across the Marvel Universe. From nabbing the Infinity Gauntlet to battling alongside Mary Jane and Black Cat, these delightful pieces showcase Howard the Duck’s one-of-a-kind style, and fans can find them gracing the covers of Marvel’s hottest titles starting in February.
Can’t get enough Howard? Readers can also celebrate Howard’s milestone by picking up Marvel Masterworks: Howard The Duck Vol. 1 and the upcoming Marvel Masterworks: Howard The Duck Vol. 2. Enjoy Steve Gerber and his artistic cohorts Val Mayerik, Frank Brunner and Gene Colan’s satirical Howard masterpieces, including his first appearance and his greatest adventures, all restored in Masterworks glory.
Check out the first four Howard the Duck variant covers following the jump. For more information, visit Marvel.com.
On Sale 2/15
AVENGERS FOREVER #14 HOWARD THE DUCK PLANET OF THE APES VARIANT COVER by DAVID TALASKI
MARY JANE & BLACK CAT #3 HOWARD THE DUCK VARIANT COVER by CARLOS GOMEZ
On Sale 3/1
COSMIC GHOST RIDER #1 HOWARD THE DUCK VARIANT COVER by CORY SMITH
On Sale 4/19
WARLOCK: REBIRTH #1 HOWARD THE DUCK VARIANT COVER by RON LIM
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Of course they used issue #16 for the cover. Of course.
This doesn’t make me feel old at all, he says, remembering reading that first issue hot off the spinner rack. Not the least little bit. [crumbles into dust]
Never saw them after they brought him back. If you can, read the original from the sixties.
Includes things like the horror of the Mall, and nearly being covered with saccharine by the Carpenters.
Oh, and when he started to run for President in ’76, the oil companies and the gun companies trying to literally kill him, in the comic. He was extremely anti-$$$$$$$$$$-establishment.
Steve Gerber’s original Howard the Duck comics were the first back issues I ordered in the mail. It would’ve been in around 1979 or 1980 and I was enamored with the countercultural vibe and the idea he was “Trapped in a World He Never Made!”
The only variant cover that feels like Howard to me is the Planet of the Apes one by David Talaski. His mortified expression at being carried like a child makes it work.
My idea of a Howard cover is one showing him in an unexpected place he doesn’t belong with a supporting cast of fellow oddballs at his side.
When did he lose the little hat?
Now that Disney owns Howard, they no longer need to force Howard to wear pants. Disney originally objected because Howard looked too much like pantsless Donald. Drop trou Howard!
Although the Howard the Duck movie was universally hated and derided, somehow, right after it was released on video, Every Single Person I Visited felt compelled and excited to show it to me.
Not having been a Howard reader, I was not offended and enjoyed it a lot, and it propelled me toward the hard copy version.
But it was also the first movie I ever saw that gave a convincing vision of Lovecraftian Horror descending upon the world.