Howard The Duck Returning In New Series By Chip Zdarsky And Joe Quinones
By Nick Tylwalk
Many fans speculated that when Howard the Duck showed up in the post-credits scene from Guardians of the Galaxy, it meant Marvel was thinking about giving him a movie of his own down the line. What if it was just meant to test the waters for his return to comics instead?
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We’ll never know if the duck or the egg came first on this case, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen next spring. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Howard the Duck will return in his own ongoing series by writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Joe Quinones. The premise will see Howard starting his own private investigator business, no doubt specializing in cases a bit too unusual for normal PIs.
A big part of his original series from the 1970s was that Howard didn’t feel quite at home even in a world filled with the fantastic, and Zdarsky, known for his work on Image’s Sex Criminals with Matt Fraction, seems to be keeping that in mind:
"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. I’m just going to continue exploring those contrasts, but my ultimate goal is to make it funny. Marvel has taken chances on funny books and injecting humor into superhero titles, so I want to make sure this is worth some chuckles here and there. God, I’m picturing the reviews now: “Some chuckles here and there.” Shoot for the stars, Chip!"
Zdarsky and Quinones might not be able to capture the pure satirical, absurdist flair that Howard’s co-creator Steve Gerber mined so successfully during his initial run, and there’s always a bit of skepticism that seeps in when someone who’s made a name for himself on art moves over to the writing side with someone else doing the illustration. Still, this seems like an idea whose time has come, at least in the sense that the Guardians cameo has Howard the Duck fresh in the minds of so many.
As for another movie … well, maybe that can wait until Marvel Phase Four or Five.