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Jul 15, 2018

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1236: Howard the Duck #2, March 1976

https://www.comics.org/issue/29676/

Mssrs. Gerber and Brunner turn their satiric lens on the superhero in today's issue. For me, it's a clear call back to the origin of Green Lantern, in that a mysterious thing from space chooses a particular individual to wield its power, and the hapless fool just acquiesces. I mean, if I found a talking ring (or turnip, in the case of today's comic) sitting in the middle of nowhere, I'm not sure I'd just pick it up and put it on.

Things go horribly wrong, of course. The turnip is actually interested in chaos more than justice, and it's up to Howard and Bev to rescue the schmuck who donned the vegetable helmet.

I love getting write things like that.

The only other thing that really stood out to me here was something that has always resonated for me from the HTD film. Howard and Bev, who don't really seem to have known each other very long, appear to share a bed, and hang around in various states of undress an awful lot. There's a scene in the movie in which Lea Thompson takes a chance on Howard being a good lover, but I hadn't realized that this semi-undressed aesthetic was actually an aspect of the comic as well. It's interesting that something like this could get past the Code.

More to come...

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