Marvel has announced a new Howard the Duck comic series featuring writing from Chip Zdarsky and art from Joe Quinones.
Howard the Duck is an interesting character. One of the more unique creations to wander the Marvel Universe, he’s been around since the early 1970s as a force of satire and parody in a world full of serious superheroes. Sadly, while he gained a strong core of fans among comic readers, his mainstream reputation has gained a huge black eye thanks to the widely panned 1986 film based on his adventures. Most recently however, Howard was the subject of a cameo at the end of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Perhaps sensing that modern moviegoers might be a tad curious about who the heck the talking duck was, the company has now announced plans to launch a new comic series focused on him.
The new book will feature writing from Chip Zdarsky (Sex Criminals) and art from Joe Quinones. Speaking in an interview about the new Howard, the two described their intention to create a version of the character who exists primarily as an outsider. “I love the contrast of Howard against both the normal world of us hairless apes and the weird worlds of Man-Things and Dr. Stranges and Spider-Mans. Cause he doesn’t fit into either, really,” said Zdarsky.
He said that his main goal is “to continue exploring those contrasts” while ultimately delivering a book that’s funny. “I want to jam-pack these issues with tons of jokes and action and weirdness.” Quinones also spoke about his desire to create a take on Howard that’s less “Toon Town” and a bit more realistic. “I wanted Howard to get away from the giant cartoon eyes,” he said. “Howard should be able to sit in the same panel as Rocket Raccoon or Spider-man, and not have it look like Who Framed Roger Rabbit.“
All in all, it sounds to us like the makings of a solid reinterpretation. Granted, the duo probably could have gone full-on bizarre with Howard (he is a talking alien duck, after all) and still have done a good job. We can say with some certainty though, that we’re looking forward to seeing how Zdarsky and Quinones’ more down-to-Earth Howard fares when the series launches next year on March 4th. If nothing else, it can’t be any worse than the movie.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
