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Howard the Duck Reading Order

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Howard the Duck Reading Order

Created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik in the pages of Adventure into Fear #19 (cover-dated Dec. 1973), Howard the Duck is now probably better known in the world of comics for the feud between Marvel Comics and Gerber who tried to claim the right of the character—and for the 1980s live-action movie. But the three-foot-tall anthropomorphic duck’s adventures went beyond the courtroom and continued long after his creator stopped writing him.

But let’s start at the beginning. Introduced as a secondary character in the adventures of Man-Thing, Howard the Duck went on to get his own title and to become a candidate during the U.S. Presidential campaign of 1976. He was not elected, as you may know. It’s not easy when you are a write-in candidate. Anyway, Howard is originally from an alternate Earth populated entirely by ducks instead of humans. After being transported to Earth against his will, Howard finds himself in the Florida Everglades where he meets Man-Thing.

When he got his ongoing series, Howard saved model Beverly Switzler who became his sidekick, the two went on crazy adventures as the sarcastic and wisecracking duck had to navigate through various adventures (Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror…) and often dealt with absurd and satirical situations—the character gained popularity for his unique and humorous take on the superhero genre.

Nowadays, Howard works as a private investigator, but that was not always the case. In fact, he was a cab driver for a time, a politician, and other jobs as his stories satirized various aspects of society and pop culture.

Howard the Duck Comics in Order

I. Howard the Duck, From the 1970s to the 1990s

Everything started with Steve Gerber and Man-Thing, then Howard got his ongoing… and Steve Gerber was fired from Marvel. There was also a newspaper strip, and a magazine–Marv Wolfman, Mary Skrenes, Mark Evanier, Bill Mantlo, and Steve Grant also wrote the character and, then, came the movie.

During the 1980s, Howard didn’t have much to do, but Gerber returned to Marvel and wrote Howard in the pages of Sensational She-Hulk and then, a few years later, in Spider-Man Team-Up #5. In the end, Howard was not that active during the last two decades of the last century. That said, Marvel collected everything in multiple books.

The Steve Gerber Omnibus

This big book collects almost everything Howard by Steve Gerber

  • Howard the Duck Omnibus
    Collects Fear #19, Man-Thing #1, Giant-Size Man-Thing #4–5, Howard the Duck (vol. 1) #1–33, Marvel Treasury Edition #12, and Marvel Team-Up #96.

Howard the Duck Omnibus by Steve Gerber

Howard the Duck: The Complete Collection

This collection covers in four volumes the notable apparitions of Howard the Duck from its creation to the end of the 1990s–his apparitions in Generation X, Ghost Rider, Daydreamers, and Man-Thing in 1997 are missing though.

Howard the Duck: Marvel Masterworks

This more recent edition is a pricey deluxe hardcover collection that will probably, in the end, collect everything that was in the complete collection.

Howard the Duck Media Duckling

II. Howard the Duck during the 2000s

In 2002, Steve Gerber came back once more to write Howard the Duck, but this time it was a six-issue miniseries for the MAX imprint (for “mature readers”). Five years later, a regular 4-issue miniseries by writer Ty Templeton and artist Juan Bobillo was published. Then, in 2010, Howard and Beverly appeared in a one-shot crossover with the Amazing Spider-Man.

III. Howard the Duck by Zdarsky & Quinones

Finally, in 2015, for the first time in decades, Howard the Duck came back on a regular basis with a new series from writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Joe Quinones. The story follows Howard as a private investigator on Earth.

The Omnibus Edition

Howard the Duck by Zdarsky & Quinones

The Paperback Collection

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