I’m going to pick up this discussion where Randy’s Steve Gerber Howard the Duck discussion left off. The first duck up is Howard by someone “other” than Gerber.
HTD #28 – “Cooking with Gas”
Guest Plotter: Marv Wolfman
Penciler: Carmine Infantino
Dialogue: Mary Skreens
Editor: Steve Gerber
Consulting Editor: J. Shooter
This issue looks like a fill-in. I mean, it is a fill in, and it looks like it, too. Carmine Infantino drew an issue once before, but this issue (inked by Frank Giacoia) looks much more like Infantino’s distinctive 1970s style than issue #21 did. Steve Gerber is still listed as editor, but I’m not sure how much input he had.
Plot-wise, the humor is much more traditional. And it is funny. I mean, I get every joke, whereas the point of a Gerber story often eludes me. The plot concerns a psychiatrist and three patients who have encountered Howard the Duck. (The shrink’s name is “Dr. Pheels Goode”… a name about as subtle as Gerber’s “F.A. Schist.”) Each of the patients ends up being carted off to the mental hospital, and in the end, the psychiatrist does, too. It’s a very structured story, and the humor is very different from Gerber’s, too. It’s very unlike any HtD story so far, but it’s not bad… just different.
As a fill-n, there is no continuity with previous issues. This issue and the next will be standalone stories in the usual “funny animal” vein.
Replies
By then Marvel was doing fill-ins ahead of time as a hedge against lateness. Possibly it had been prepared earlier as one of them.
There are examples of Gerber and Wolfman Howard newspaper strips here. Of the Wolfman ones I think the first daily shown awful and the one with the thieving UFO a fairly close imitation of Gerber. Howard's story in the latter feels more like an imitation of Gerber's satire than something really heartfelt and I don't find it funny. But then, I don't always find Gerber's satire funny either.
Thanks for that link, Luke. I remember my local newspaper carrying Howard the Duck for a time. I remember that I read it, but I don't remember anything about it. I wish some publisher would collect them (and the Hulk comic strip and the JLA one and the post-movie Batman, especially the early ones by Marshall Rogers).
HTD #29 — “Help Stamp Out Ducks!”
Plot: Mark Evanier
Artist: Will Meugniot
Writer/Editor: Steve Gerber
Another fill in. Like last issue, the humor was much more traditional. Apparently Gerber did script this issue (as part of a contractual obligation), so at least Howard speaks with Gerber’s voice. Still, some of the jokes (one-liners) were incumbent on the plot, so I would guess that they were Evanier’s.
Changes are in the air, though, as we shall see tomorrow.
ISSUES #30-31:
Issue #30 begins with the caption “our regularly scheduled storyline resumes.” I find the credits of these two issues interesting. #30 lists Mark Gruenwald as assistant editor and Jim Shooter as editor-in-chief, but there is no mention of “editor” at all (except on the letters page, where Shooter is listed as editor). In issue #31, the credits list Shooter as editor with no assistant (although Gruenwald is listed on the letters page).
Bill Mantlo has taken a lot of flack for this assignment over the years… as far as I can tell for not being Steve Gerber. HTD had been Gerber’s personal vision up until this point, no question, but writing assignments at Marvel in the ‘70s were just that: assignments. Quite frequently titles begin with an editor’s vision, but after he gets the ball rolling by writing the initial adventure or two, oftentimes the tile would be assigned to someone else to continue.
I’m not saying that’s exactly the case here, but I’m sure that’s how Mantlo approached it: as an assignment. If the series hadn’t been cancelled and Mantlo had been given the time to find his voice, although Gerber’s name would have always been held in high esteem, maybe he wouldn’t be considered by many to be the only writer for Howard as he is by many today. I think #30-31 were very much like a Gerber plot, myself. “Iron Duck” is not so very different from “Master of Quack Fu,” plus the story features the return of Dr. Bong, the other supporting characters, and most importantly, Gene Colan.
If Mantlo did anything wrong, it was in trying to replicate Gerber too closely, and not making the character his own. Then again, he had been tasked with tying up loose ends from his predecessor’s run, so he really didn’t have that much choice. He established that Beverly and Bong’s marriage was never consummated, which I don’t think would have been (or “was”) Gerber’s intent. Other than that, I think he did a good job, as well as can be expected under the circumstances, for his first outing.
Unsigned editorials (which I assume were written by Shooter) in issues #30 ad #31 illustrate the behind-the-scenes upheaval concerning HTD.
#30 EDITORIAL:
“AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE MIGHTY MARVEL BULLPEN
“Good news. Bad news. Them changes.
“First, the good news: Despite wildly spreading rumors, Howard the Duck will not be canceled. HTD will survive in its present 35¢ color-comic form. It will not be replaced by a $1.50 magazine-format package, though the possibility of its being joined by such a companion mag in the future are not entirely ruled out. So, for all our fans who have expressed consternation about even the suggestion of HTD’s demise… fear not!
“Next, the bad news: Steve Gerber, the man who gave voice and soul to Howard way back in Adventures into Fear #19, has left his position as Writer-Editor. We share with you the deepest respect for Steve’s brilliant accomplishments. Under his guidance, Howard the Duck grew as a book that stood out in the crush, a book that shone with a creative light all its own. Steve’s work will be missed.
“Them changes: Steve’s departure necessitated the fill-in stories of the previous issues, though Steve helped mold them into HTD’s continuity. Starting with this ish, Gene (The Dean) Colan is back as penciler without peer. The scripting chores on Howard have passed on to Boisterous Bill Mantlo, writer of more Marvel titles in his time than could possibly be enumerated in this short space. The gentlemen in question are, to tell the truth, tickled pink at the thought of chronicling Howard’s future perambulations down the primrose path of life. Judging by their first joint endeavor (this issue’s return of the devastating Dr. Bong) we think you’ll find the satire, social commentary and side-splitting humor of Howard the Duck continuing in the manner you’ve come to expect. But then you’ll let us know if we’re wrong. Right?
#31 EDITORIAL:
“THE DUCK IS DEAD!
“You hold in your hands the last issue of Howard the Duck — the color comic, that is. Why? Howard has, in his short career, become one of the most controversial comic characters ever conceived. You knew it. We knew it. Only problem was—our retailers didn’t. they thought this was “just another funny animal book” and ol’ Howie often found himself trapped on a newsrack he never fit. And so, you, our discerning reader, often missed HTD, while the bubble gum brigade got stuck with a book whose scintillating satire was over their heads. Our intended sophisticated readers were often frustrated, and there were a lot of confused little kiddies running around. We think Howard the Duck is too good a character to let slide into comics limbo, just because folks who wanted Howie couln’t find him, so we took a good look at the situation and decided…
“THE DUCK IS NOT DEAD!
“Two short months from now will see the premiere of the new Howard the Duck magazine, an all-new $1 bi-monthly black-and-white sixty-four page extravaganza. We felt with a magazine format, we’d solve the problem with well-meaning but confused retailers—opening their eyes to the fact that our Duck is a very special Duck. The first issue of Howard the Duck magazine will feature the same brand of excitement and chicanery Howard is known for, imagineered by Bill Mantlo and illuminated by Michael Golden and gene Colan, plus the best articles and features this side of Duck Heaven. So, Duckophiles, flock to your favorite newsstand in 60 days, and show us your true feathers! Support our fowl works!
“THE DUCK IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE DUCK!”
And that’s a good place to break for the holiday. When I resume next week I’ll begin my examination of the black and white series.
#29 was the first issue I owned. I found it a bit disturbing. I wasn't used to comics being so cynical.
The holiday weekend took the wind right out of the sails of this discussion! I do intend to get back to it, though (probably next week at this point). I was filling out previews yesterday and I noticed the second color volume of HTD has been solicited. The “Essential” version reprinted only the Gerber issues. The second volume will reprint not only issues #28-31, but the first issue of the b&w magazine as well. Does that mean a third volume collection the rest of the magazine is intended?
MAGAZINE #1:
“Foul of Fear”—Art by Michael Golden and Klaus Janson. Villain: Mr. Chicken. Topic: genetically enhanced chicken farming.
“The $64,000 Desperado”—Art by Gene Colan and Bob McLeod. Villain: Jackpot the One-Armed Bandit
“From Hell it Cometh”—Art by Gene Colan and Dave Simons. Villain: Chair-Thing. Other characters: Dino Digitalis, Kidney Lady. Behind-the-scenes: Pro-Rata.
One thing I’ll say about the magazine: the art on Howard has never looked better. Golden was a welcome surprise, and the larger page size allowed for Colan to draw bigger, more detailed panels. Both artists appeared to be working in a wash technique. Mr. Chicken, the One-Armed Bandit and Chair-Thing were all Gerber-style villains in my estimation. Bill Mantlo also brought back Gerber characters the Kidney Lady and Pro-Rata in addition to creating his own. Dino Digitalis was based on Dino DeLaurentis.
The very last page shows Howard and Bev in bed together, naked, in a scene that is suggestive is not explicit. Now that Howard was no longer bound by the strictures of the CCA, Marvel could be more forthright about the kind of relationship they shared, and presumably had been sharing all along. But someone mentioned in Randy’s discussion that this scene wasn’t Bill Mantlo’s idea. Whose idea was it? Editor Rick Marschall’s? Anyone know the story behind the infamous page?
That was right here. There's also some information out there about Frank Brunner being forced to redraw another panel/sequence showing them in bed from Howard the Duck #2.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
I read the letters page of HTD magazine #3 last night, in which that scene was brought up in nearly every letter. It does mention that the scene was not depicted the way Bill Mantlo scripted it. His intention was to evoke “Leda and the Swan” and the panel in question was to have been presented in silhouette. Also, one of the other panels was to have been only word balloons on a field of black.
MAGAZINE #2:
“Animal Indecency!”—Mantlo’s take on the Disney lawsuit. New character: “Wally Sidney.”
“The Crash of ’79!”—Topic: the recession. Gerber character: Pro-Rata. New characters: The Eggs-Men.
The letters page ran two letters, both positive, about the last two Mantlo-written issues of the color comic. I don’t think the mail was all positive, though, judging from the letters in #3 and from the following five word message from Mantlo which ran this issue: “I AM NOT STEVE GERBER!”
For my own part, I would say, “Not Gerber, but a pretty decent imitation.” There is a strong faction in fandom that MAD magazine was never as good after creator and original editor Harvey Kurtzman left. I will concede that it wasn’t the same, but not that it wasn’t as good. Not to take anything away from Kurtzman, but it was Al Feldstein who edited the magazine I think of as MAD.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
That's a witty comparison.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 6 Next