Howard the Duck Omnibus

The Omnibus edition of Howard the Duck's 1970s comic run has been around in two different editions. I think the first was published around 2008. After this went out of print, the Guardians of the Galaxy movie with Howard's appearance in the post credits spurred a new printing. I resisted all of this until Rich Johnston reported that Marvel was clearing out many Omnibus' and letting them go out of print. I snapped it up for less than $50, not sure if I would keep it for selling later or reading. But yesterday during Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon I decided to unwrap it and read it!

It's kind of joy to read, a real trip down memory lane. Steve Gerber wrote a nice introduction back in 2008 for the first printing, where he describes Howard's publishing history, even talking briefly about the lawsuit. He seemed to be very proud of his creation and was glad it was reprinted in the Omnibus.

The very first Howard appearance in the the 2-part Fear / Man-Thing #1 story are included, and while I love Man-Thing, the artwork seems sketchy blown up to the Omnibus size.

But the first three stories by Frank Brunner, from Giant Size Man-Thing #4-5 and Howard the Duck #1, are jaw droppingly gorgeous. His artwork translates well to these oversized pages, and I always loved the light hearted nature of these first Howard tales.

If you were around and collecting comics back then, you will remember the speculator frenzy of Howard the Duck #1. I got a copy off the newsstand but others were unable to get it, prices went up sky high. Some people said this was a rigged game by people getting bundles of comics at the distributors before they went on sale. It's nice to have this historic issue reprinted here and again, it looks fantastic. Many first issues of new series featured an appearance by Spider-Man to draw reader interest, and that happened here - it's a funny story, despite the fact part of the plot is driven by Howard wanting to commit suicide.

The later issues with Gene Colan's artwork are, in some cases, a bit of a letdown. The stories themselves are funny, no problem there, especially whenever the Kidney Lady or Dr Bong show up. My personal favorite is the issue where Howard meets Daimon Hellstrom and accidentally becomes the Duck of Satan. The problem I have with the artwork is that Colan's artwork doesn't look as great in this oversized format as his Tomb of Dracula work. The difference is the inking / coloring; ToD had the great Tom Palmer - that artwork stands the test of time and resizing. Not the Howard stuff, it looks a bit sketchy. It's a minor quibble and probably other collectors won't have the same feeling as I do.

Another letdown is the lack of letter page columns reprinted! The Fantastic Four Omnibus' had them, not sure why they are not included here. Stan Lee wrote a letter about how much he liked the Quack Fu story in HTD #3.

What is included is plenty of supplemental material about Howard the Duck's 1976 Presidential Campaign, including the ads for campaign buttons, which I always thought must have gone directly to Steve Gerber's home address? Berni Wrightson drew the image for the campaign button and this special lithograph in 1976.

There is also an interview between Gerber and Colan about their work on Howard. And all the remaining issues of HTD after Gerber left, which are quite frankly terrible, but none of the black and white Howard the Duck magazine.

For a fan of Steve Gerber and Howard the Duck, it's a great addition to your bookshelf. Nuff Said!

Strange Sunday: Berni Wrightson wraparound cover to Dr Strange Special Edition 1982

Ever wondered how Berni Wrightson might approach Doctor Strange?  In 1982, thanks to the glorious Baxter reprint specials, we got a chance to see Wrightson draw a cover with the Master of the Mystic Arts.



Doctor Strange Special Edition from 1982 reprinted the classic Silver Dagger storyline from Doctor Strange #1-5 by Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner.  Wrightson went nuts drawing all those souls and skeletons trapped in Limbo.  Nuff Said!

Update: Comments from my old MT blog...

2 Comments

By Miguel on October 10, 2010 1:36 PM

Berni Wrightson is so good... Thanks for this post!

By edward2962 on October 16, 2010 1:55 PM

I own this reprint edition of DR Strange and the cover by Bernie is great as is the inside art by Frank Brunner! I think you have a really wonderful site!

Solomon Kane by Berni Wrightson

This Solomon Kane pinup, by Berni Wrightson, appeared in Kull and the Barbarians #2 in 1975.



As usual, Wrightson works wonders with Kane fighting a monster in the shadows on a moonlit night.  Too bad we never got to see Wrightson draw a full length Robert E Howard story! 

One thing I always think about when looking at Wrightson and Barry Smith.  In addition to everything else, they are great at drawing natural scenery, such as grass, weeds, plants, and trees.  Nuff said!

Update: Comments from my previous Movable Type blog...

2 Comments

By Rick Tucker on January 29, 2010 4:07 PM

In this case Berni doesn't need to draw an entire sequential story. This one piece of art alone does what an entire film will soon fail to do, and that's capturing the spirit of Robert E. Howard' character and the doom filled world that this lone adventurer Puritan has taken on as his responsibility and service to God.

Rick

By Richard Guion on January 31, 2010 10:36 AM

Perhaps you are right! Wrightson communicated more in single page illustrations than anyone.

Berni Wrightson Star-Lord pinup

Sometimes it’s the artwork that sells you on a character more than the story.  Doc Savage, the Shadow, Conan—my appreciation of those characters all started with the cover paintings.  With Star-Lord’s first appearance in Marvel Preview #4, it was this frontispiece by Berni Wrightson.



I just think this is magnificent.  Peter Quill blasting out the brains of an alien against the backdrop of—another planet—another moon?  The whiteness of that object highlights Star-Lord in the foreground, a very clever page design that Wrightson probably whipped out and thought nothing more of it.  Nuff said.

Update: Comment from my old MT blog...

1 Comments

By Klaus Nordby on September 4, 2009 1:07 PM

Wow, I have never seen that great Berni Wrightson piece before -- thanks! I've actually had the pleasure of talking to Wrightson on a transatlantic phone line almost twenty years ago. In 1990 I was working as Associate Art Director for Norway's Book-of-the-Month Club, and some editor decided we should publish Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" novel in a nice hardcover edition. I had much earlier bought a signed/numbered 10-print limited edition portfolio of Wrightson's superb pen-and-ink illustrations for that novel, so I showed those pages to the editor -- and I was then instructed to, somehow, buy the rights from Wrightson for using a dozen illustrations in our edition. So I called Marvel in NYC, explained all, some editor there reluctantly gave me Wrightson's home phone number -- apparently, some fans could be annoying stalkers! -- and then I phoned up BW, explained our Norwegian book project, and offered him my budget of $1,000 for the usage rights. He happily agreed right away -- it was pure windfall profit for him, natch! And then we published the book some months later -- and I sure hope the accounting folks did the right thing, and paid him and sent him a few copies (I didn't get to follow up, alas, as I had by then quit that job.) So that was the story of my little brush with Wrightson's pen-and-ink greatness!

Thing Tuesdays: Jim Starlin's Hulk and Thing, Funnier than Lewis and Martin!

In celebration of Hulk week, let's look at some classic Thing-Hulk encounters.  Jim Starlin has produced three classic stories featuring our favorite Marvel monsters, featuring plenty of no-holds barred brawling, but also lots of humor.  The Thing becomes the straight man (Dean Martin) to the Hulk's lovable lummox (Jerry Lewis) in each of these stories.

Marvel Fanfare #11 was published in 1973 and was the launching pad for what became Marvel Two-In-One.  It proved that the Thing was popular enough to star in his own series, albeit a team-up series with a different guest star each month.  Written by Len Wein, drawn by Jim Starlin, and inked by Joe Sinnott, this is probably my favorite Hulk-Thing story of all time.

The Leader and a more obscure villain called Kurrgo (Master of Planet X) are bored and decide to play a game.  A game where the Hulk and the Thing must fight each other!  One of them boosts Ben Grimm's strength artificially to make him more of a match for the Green Goliath.

In order to induce the Thing to fight, the Leader has planted a nuclear bomb in a western town.  Try as he might, Ben Grimm just can't reason with the Hulk!  You have to give a lot of credit to Len Wein here, this dialogue just cracks me up every time I read it.

Marvel Feature #11 is a favorite of many fans, including Art Adams.  You can see his cover recreation of Marvel Feature #11 here.  According to Back Issue magazine, Seinfeld writer David Mandel owns this piece.  He is a very lucky guy with great taste!

Jim Starlin's next Thing-Hulk story appeared in Marvel Fanfare #20-21.  Marvel Fanfare was a great comic series edited by Al Milgrom (who inked this story, see the "Gemini" signature on the cover), featuring stories by great artists like Michael Golden, Craig Russell, George Perez, etc.  These stories were usually slated for other magazines, but were eventually routed to Fanfare because of scheduling problems or cancellations.  This particular story reads like a Marvel Two-In-One two parter, with Dr. Strange in issue 20 and the Hulk in 21.

Dr. Strange is battling the evil wizard Xandu, who is using magic to control the population of New York.  As the Hulk was a close ally of Dr. Strange's (through the Defenders), it doesn't take much for Xandu to pit the Green Goliath against Ben Grimm.  The Hulk keeps calling the Thing "Rockman" which does not set well with Ben Grimm.  This fight takes place all over New York City, and the funniest scene is when the Thing gets in a cab to get away from the Hulk.

Starlin returned to the super-powered comedy duo in 1987, in the Marvel Graphic Novel titled "The Big Change".  But this time, Starlin did not draw the story.  His pal and collaborator, Berni Wrightson, took on the job, penciling, inking, and coloring the 64 page tale.  It was a remarkable achievement, as we got to see Wrightson's full take on Marvel superheroes without anyone else ruining his detailed artwork.

Aliens whisk both the Thing and the Hulk to another planet for a job that requires lots of muscle. There's a Maguffin in this story: if they complete their assigned task, the Thing and Hulk will receive two wishes.  Ben Grimm is thinking wish #1 must be for both monsters to become human again.  The second wish could be something beneficial for humanity.  The Hulk doesn't see things the same way.

The second act of the story is an intergalactic romp as they find and locate a giant mutated monster that has attributes of both the Thing and the Hulk.  As you can imagine, Ben Grimm and his pal are not too pleased.

At the conclusion of the story, the Thing and the Hulk receive their two wishes.  It's funny that I mentioned David Mandel, as what happens next reminds me of a Seinfeld episode.  The one where Kramer sues the Starbucks-type company and screws up his lawyer by settling for lifetime free coffee instead of millions of dollars.  It's very similar here...while the Thing carefully contemplates what he should ask for, the Hulk blurts out two wishes, one of which involves a lot of hamburgers!

I've enjoyed many of Jim Starlin's stories over the years and these are some of my favorites.  I think Jeph Loeb would be capable of writing a funny story with these two characters...let's hope we'll see one from him and Ed McGuinness or Art Adams.  Nuff said.

Monster Mondays: The Hulk, Man-Thing, and Berni Wrightson

The Hulk has clashed with Man-Thing on several occasions, but this Hulk #197 (in 1975) was their first meeting,  What's extra-special about this team-up is the cover by Berni Wrightson.  Wrightson was strictly a DC artist from the beginning of his career, and this was the first time I had ever seen him do Marvel work.  Wrightson's best known creation, Swamp Thing, was co-created with Len Wein, the writer/editor behind this issue of the Hulk.  It was interesting to see Wrightson's take on Marvel's muck-monster, but I really like Wrightson's depiction of the Hulk.  Years later, Wrightson would team with Jim Starlin on a Marvel Graphic Novel featuring the Hulk and the Thing.

The interior art was by Sal Buscema and Joe Staton.  After googling for Hulk 197, I found this cover recreation by Our Pal Sal on Eelco's Original Comic Art Gallery.  Go check out the rest of his collection!  Nuff said.