Luke Owen reviews Howard the Duck #1…
Howard the Duck is back! Join him as he takes on the weird cases that only a talking duck can crack as the Marvel Universe’s resident private investigator! Let Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones guide you through his new world as he takes on the Black Cat and mysterious forces from outer space! Waugh!
Howard the Duck. He’s a character always on the outskirts of popularity within the Marvel Universe. Best known for the under-appreciated big screen flop from George Lucas and a recent fleeting appearance in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Howard the Duck isn’t particularly known for his comic book tales. He’s never had a Spider-Man No More or a Days of Future Past, but he’s always been around. Can this new series from Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones help him rise to prominence and solidify him as a firm cult favourite?
The story follows Howard as a struggling private detective who suddenly gets given a new case to track down a stole necklace, which has been taken by The Black Cat. After Spider-Man refuses to help him, he gets some help from a tattoo artist who he met in prison – but is taken aback when The Gatherer stops by Earth to steal Howard for The Collector’s collection.
As a character, Howard the Duck is a grown-up version of Deadpool. The writing can play fast and loose with the Marvel Universe and its staple of serious characters, but it’s never as forced as The Merc With a Mouth who is seemingly-contractually bound to make unfunny pop culture references at every turn. Zdarsky’s writing has those pop culture references we like, but they’re fun, bouncing and flowing with the story. They never break the pace or feel out of place – they’re there for a reason. Howard is stuck in a world he didn’t create and doesn’t understand, and his 1930s film-noir attitude doesn’t fly in this 2015 world. It also allows for us to have fun with characters like Spider-Man, Black Cat and She-Hulk that we don’t usually get to have.
And Howard the Duck #1 is very, very funny. It doesn’t jam in too many duck-puns like his big screen counterpart did back in the day, but there are a couple in there that are genuinely well-written. The Quacking Pumpkins? Come on, that’s great! There’s even some really good in-jokes to other comic book characters like Catwoman, Superman and Donald Duck. As previously stated, it’s a grown-up Deadpool. And unlike Deadpool, this is unlikely to get old fast.
With the box office success of Guardians of the Galaxy, it was wise for Zdarsky to follow a storyline for Howard the Duck #1 to make it feel connected to that world, as that is where many people will have learned about him. Picture yourself being a first-time reader of Howard the Duck and your only knowledge of the character was from that post-credit scene. And what do you get? A story about Howard being stolen by The Collector and the promise of a team-up with a Guardians of the Galaxy alumni. Obvious, maybe. But it works.
Howard the Duck #1 is a superb, hilarious comic book that deserves to get a big readership. Zdarsky’s writing is on point, the artwork from Joe Quinones is great and you’ll have a blast with the fun it has with all the characters involved. Deadpool may be the firm cult favourite in the Marvel Universe, but this series could get Howard the Duck up there with him. It’s certainly not fowl (see what I did there?) and is in fact, ducking brilliant (I did it again!).
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published March 17, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
