Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck is a character that was created by Steve Gerber for Marvel Comics in the pages of the comic book Fear as a secondary character in that comic's "Man-Thing" story. Eventually, Howard got his own title with Howard the Duck #1 that became a minor national sensation, albeit a brief one.

Howard was later the subject of an industry-wide controversy when Gerber became embroiled in a battle over the rights to his creation with publisher Marvel. This opened the door to creator-owned comics such as Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon. The battle over ownership was parodied in Destroyer Duck, produced by Gerber and comics legend Jack Kirby (who, himself, paved the way for creator-owned comics with Captain Victory for Pacific Comics) and published by Eclipse Comics.

In 1986, Lucasfilm and Universal Pictures produced the movie Howard the Duck. The film starred Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones and Tim Robbins.