The Comic Life and Hard Times of Howard the Duck Quiz

Answer: Adventure Into Fear

'Adventure Into Fear' was originally a rehash of old EC-style horror and sci-fi stories, but by the time Howard appeared in issue #19 (December, 1973) the comic became a showcare for horror-themed Marvel characters like Morbius, the Living Vampire and the swamp-based Man-Thing, with whom Howard made his debut.

He got his own storyline in the weirdly-titled issue 'Giant-Size Man-Thing' a short time later. 'Spotlight' introduced characters like Ghost Rider, Spider-Woman and Werewolf by Night, while 'Journey' brought the Mighty Thor to the Marvel ranks. 'Tales' was not a comic at all, but a British TV anthology series.

Answer: Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik

When writer Steve Gerber (1947-2008) signed on with Marvel in 1972, he originally started with such mainstays as the Sub-Mariner, Iron Man and Daredevil before getting noticed through his work with a 'non-group' of superheroes called the Defenders. He and artist Val Mayerik were working on the Man-Thing when the idea of Howard came about. Wein and the senior Romita were looking for a new superhero to fight the Hulk and came up with a mutant named Wolverine. Fox and Lampert created the 'Fastest Man Alive', the Flash, while Pulido and Hughes put together the voluptuous Lady Death of 'Evil Ernie' fame.

Answer: Cleveland, OH

After landing in Florida, Howard immediately hooked up with a wizard named Dakimh the Enchanter, his protege Jennifer Kale, Korrek, a barbarian and the Man-Thing (actually Dr. Ted Sallis, who injected himself with a variation of Captain America's 'Super Soldier' serum that mixed with the swamp to create a grossly misshapen creature).

After defeating Thog the Nether-Spawn, Howard tripped and fell from the Stepping Stones of Oblivion on his way back home, landing instead on the streets of Cleveland.

Answer: Pro-Rata, the Cosmic Accountant

Pro-Rata was in search of a key to unlock the immense power of a device called the Cosmic Calculator and was holding Beverly hostage when Howard intervened. Pro-Rata would have killed the pair, but Spider-Man blundered onto the scene to save the day. As for the others, they all did indeed exist. Bessie was a 300-year-old vampire cow killed by Dracula one night when there were no humans available (I still hear her evil laugh 'Ha ha ha moooo'), Garko was a normal human manic-depressive who drank a strange liquid and became a giant frog (before changing further and shrinking into a real frog who was run over by a squad car) and the Space Turnip was Phelch, last of a race of sentient space vegetables who bonded with Arthur Winslow, a friend of Beverly's.

Answer: Disney

In 1979, Disney threatened to file suit against Marvel over the close resemblance between Howard and Donald Duck. One of the main concessions Marvel made was (I am not making this up) putting Howard in a pair of pants. Total irony hit home when Disney announced it purchased Howard and all the other Marvel characters in August of 2009.
Of course Howard looks nothing like Warner Brothers' Daffy Duck, while the NHL's Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Aflac duck were still years away when the initial suit was discussed.

Answer: Run for President

As a candidate of the fictional 'All-Night Party', Howard's campaign slogan was 'Get Down, America!'. Sadly, the storyline had most of the voters convinced he was a height-impaired person in a duck costume and regarded his candidacy as a joke.
In reality, Gerber and Marvel sold millions of comic books that year (and made a little extra money on the side with 'Howard for President' paraphernalia). Thousands of comic readers actually voted for Howard as a write-in candidate rather than the actual front-runners, incumbent President Gerald Ford and eventual winner Jimmy Carter.
Howard was not the first cartoon to be found on a Presidential ballot. He was preceded by the likes of Betty Boop, 'Mad' magazine icon Alfred E. Newman and comic strip politico Pogo the Possum.

Answer: Onslaught

Led by Dr. Angst (based on Dr. Strange, but confined to using mundane everyday objects to channel his powers), the group was specifically formed to kill Howard during his presidential campaign. Tillie was simply a large woman who wore Nordic armaments, Spanker was a disgraced headmaster (fired for his use of corporal punishment) and Sitting Bulls-eye was a disgraced FBI agent with a target permenantly affixed to his chest.

The only other member was Black Hole, who was struck by a grain of a white dwarf star, giving him the power to suck objects into his chest. For the record, Onslaught was an all-too-evil villain comprised of the dark psyches of Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto.

It took the combined strength of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to destroy him.

Answer: Kiss

It should be noted that Winda suffered from an Elmer Fudd-type speech impediment, hence the spelling of her name.
As Howard watched Winda's antics, Peter Criss came over to him and whispered, 'When life hits you head-on, kiss it smack in the face. You're a target, but you don't have to be a sitting duck'. Then the group vanished back into Winda's head.
Howard's incarceration coincided with the real Kiss signing on with Marvel for a special comic series (the infamous 'blood in the ink' issue) which was written and edited by Steve Gerber, Howard's creator. The appearance with Howard marked the band's first ever foray as comic-book characters.

Answer: Dr. Bong

Lester Verde was an overweight kid who took to journalism to exact verbal revenge on his tormentors. He lost his hand to a prop guillotine used by his former band, after which he adopted the 'bell' motif and replaced his hand with a bell clapper. He quickly became proficient in genetic engineering and the science of sonic powers. By clanging his bell-shaped helmet, Bong could produce sonic vibrations that caused a number of effects.
Bong had a long-standing crush on Beverly and forced her to marry him to save Howard's life. They eventually divorced.
The character of Dr. Bong was based on Dr. Doom and a number of real-life people, including the late former 'Rolling Stone' music critic Lester Bangs.

Answer: Destroyer Duck

Long story...Steve Gerber's argument was that his contract with Marvel stated the company didn't have autonomy over 'minor' characters (for which Howard was initially created). When Howard became more popular, Marvel executives called Gerber on his contract.
Kirby (1917-1994), who brought many of Marvel's cornerstones to life (including the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Thor and the X-Men) had a few issues of his own with Marvel and collaborated with Gerber to create 'Destroyer Duck' under the Eclipse label. By 1996, the case was settled with Marvel assuming control of Howard and Gerber back as a freelance artist.
Besides Kirby, other artists coming to Gerber's rescue included Shary Flenniken (who created 'Trots and Bonnie' for the National Lampoon) and Mad magazine icon Sergio Aragones, whose contributed a character to 'Destroyer' that later got his own series as 'Groo the Wanderer'.
The character of Wally Sidney was offended by Howard's non-use of pants and sued him to cover up. Wally was created by Gerber as a subtle slam at Walt Disney and the company's threat of a lawsuit over Donald Duck.

Answer: Lea Thompson

Thompson, who was still riding high on the success of 'Back To The Future' the year before, would later redeem herself in the TV series 'Caroline in the City'. Her character of Beverly was depicted as lead singer of a Cleveland band called Cherry Bomb who is rescued from muggers by Howard, using his martial art of 'Quack Fu'...it gets a little complicated after that. Jeffrey Jones (Ferris Beuller's evil principal) and future Oscar-winner Tim Robbins filled out the main cast.

Despite a nearly 40-million dollar budget and the backing of George Lucas, the film barely broke even, making it one of the biggest box office bombs of the 1980s. Gerber claimed until his death that the movie was someone else's adaptation of his character and he had nothing to do with the production.

Answer: 'Waaauuugghh'

It's not clear exactly how this is pronounced, but it appears to be an onomatopoeia of Donald Duck's sound of exasperation...maybe another reason the Disney people weren't too happy with Howard. No mention of this was made in any legal papers in the Disney-Marvel feud.

Answer: He became the symbol of a new religion.

The main shrine of the new religion was Howard's original home in New Stork (much to his parents dismay). His 'second coming' caused a great deal of consternation among the religious leaders when their own messiah debunked the faith and stopped the church's income. Beverly was also the center of controversy when it was revealed on national TV the two were romantically linked (as, indeed, more than a few comic readers were throughout the series). Howard and Bev were able to escape the enraged worshipers and find their way back to Earth.

Answer: Lobo

Lobo and Howard have a lot in common...both were originally created as minor or throwaway characters that achieved a cult status all their own. Lobo is D.C.'s answer to Marvel's Wolverine, an immortal and immoral bounty hunter who has a fast-working healing factor. Merged with Howard for the one-issue series 'Lobo the Duck', he retains the infamous hook-and-chain and most of Lobo's lingo ('frag' and 'bastitch' are his favorites), but he's a duck with red eyes offset by black eye-makeup.

His companions include Beverly and the Impossible Dawg. Tawky Tawny, a friend of D.C.'s Captain Marvel, is an intelligent tiger who walks upright and Ace was Batman's answer to Krypto the Superdog. Changeling (a.k.a. Beast Boy of the Teen Titans) was merged with the X-Man/Avenger Beast to create the Beastling in the Amalgam Universe.

Answer: He is exempt for being non-human

Not surprisingly, Howard has had his share of brushes with the law, which the personnel of SHIELD (who process the SRA paperwork) are painfully aware. After his defeat of Garko the Man-Frog, Howard was arrested and strip-searched, only for the police to discover to their horror that he really was a duck.

As a non-human, Howard is told he is not only exempt from the SRA, but also jury duty, state and federal income taxes...the whole shebang. After all...he's just a duck.