The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1665: Night Force #9, April 1983

I see Night Force comics in numerous dollar bins, and I've never really given them much thought. Just another obscure DC title from the early 80s that didn't make much of a splash.

Well, I will not be passing them over any more. This was a creepy and very strange comic, and I'm dying with curiosity to see what happens to the people trapped by the weird creature on the cover. The Night Force themselves don't really show up in this comic, either. The protagonist is a murderer who has been pressed into service by the mysterious Baron Winter to do battle against the creature. There's some really murky morality on display here, and the comic's not shy about addressing that fact.

It's Gene Colan on art, so you know it's going to be good. Apparently this series was the first time that Marv Wolfman and Colan collaborated again since Marvel's Tomb of Dracula, which, given the quality of this comic, I may actually have to see about reading. I'm sure I've got a couple of issues, at least.

Worth your time if you find this in a cheap box.

"Only now she's gone. I don't know if the creature got her or not."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1251: Howard the Duck #12, May 1977

Back to Howard. Sorry about the last couple of days.

And what a couple of days it's been for Howard. As the cover of today's comic attests, Howard is losing his mind. And it's really no surprise, given the bizarre circumstances he has come through since wandering into the Man-Thing's midst.

The last couple of days have been a trip through Howard's subconscious, encountering all of the bizarre characters with whom he's interacted in his brief stay in the Marvel U. Considering this strange lot, it's little wonder that by the end of today's issue, Howard is basically comatose. So much so that when KISS burst out of Winda's (HtD's pal) head, he can hardly react.

(Yep, that's the first appearance of KISS in a comic book.)

One thing that pops out to me is the way in which Howard's neurosis is portrayed. He's surrounded by speech bubbles, sometimes spouting nonsense, sometimes acting like a chorus, sometimes interacting with Howard. I've seen this before, in Cerebus, though this issue of HtD predates Cerebus' mania and multiple speech bubbles. I can't help but think that the combination of funny animal book and conflicting speech bubbles to simulate madness is too close a comparison to be coincidence. I find it likely that Sim read this issue, and was inspired by it.

We'll take a break from Howard for now, but we'll return to him soon. More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1250: Howard the Duck #11, April 1977

As with yesterday, I'm going to have to come back to this when my hands are better. Howard's breakdown continues, and the Kidney Lady returns! Sort of!

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1249: Howard the Duck #10, March 1977

I'm afraid I have to beg wrist pain again today. Howard's having a breakdown. Mr. Gerber is meta-satiric, in that he satirizes himself in the title of today's story, which apes the title of one of his more famous Man-Thing tales.

I'll try to come back and have something to say about this when my hands are feeling better.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1248: Howard the Duck #9, February 1977

You know all this talk of Russia meddling in the U.S. election? Fake, obviously, right? Except there's a precedent for it, a little known plot in the 1976 election by a foreign government to discredit a presidential candidate.

The culprit?

You guessed it. That den of insidious rogues known as...CANADA!!!

I told my son this earlier, and he asked why, why would anyone in Canada try to discredit the American electoral system. Well, the Beaver, our villain, wants to prove to the world that American politics and popular culture is completely and utterly toxic. Now, I'm not saying I agree, but there are definitely some toxic bits to the cultural production of the United States. But then, isn't Howard, and Howard, a product of that same pop cultural machine? Don't worry - Gerber's well aware of this. Good satire is always aware.

Despite some dodgy geography, the story's pretty funny. I love that beavers are the animal most associated with Canada. They're such unwieldy creatures, much like my beloved country itself.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1247: Howard the Duck #8, January 1977

Howard leaves behind his adventure with the Defenders and ventures back into the much more frightening realm of politics.

Of course, Howard's rise toward the White House is cut short, sabotaged by big industry (represented by munitions, steel, automobiles, and gas), and perhaps by something more sinister...

But I think I'll let Howard speak for himself as far as the issues go. I'd vote for him.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1245: Howard the Duck #7, December 1976

Howard and Bev's neo-gothic adventure ends as these kinds of adventures often do, with flames, death, and cookies. I wrote about a pseudo-gothic renaissance in comics from this era. Should I ever revisit the topic, I'll have to keep this strange little tale in mind.

The second chapter, really a story on its own, begins one of the great arcs in Howard's career - his path to the presidency. In a time where the idiocy of politicians in on full display for all to see, it'll be interesting to see if Howard's satire seems quite as biting as it once might have. What if all the things he tries to point out to us are things of which we, sadly, are all quite aware?

What's nicely solidified in this and the previous issue is Howard and Bev's relationship. Howard says it himself, that it's love and destiny, and that they probably shouldn't fight it.  Though it has had its ups and downs, theirs is a love that has lasted much longer than most do in comics universes. Maybe Reed and Sue, Scott and Jean. At least, until the latest few series. It's going to be interesting, as I read through Howard's oeuvre, seeing at what point it was decided that Bev wasn't necessary to the story anymore. I just can't imagine it.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1244: Howard the Duck #6, November 1976

Let's get back to the Duck, shall we?

This weekend I picked up some underground comix. I've decided that it's perhaps time to expand the collection not so much in size, but in...depth, perhaps? I have a few comics that are considered either rare or valuable, but I've never made much effort to go after them. With the decided exception of The Doom Patrol. But I'm developing a liking for the undergrounds - they're so much more raw than other comics. And more expensive.

(I will say that it's nice to actually be at a point financially where I feel like I can do that, spend a bit more on single issues. It's been a while.)

But what I really want to say about Howard is that it reads in a lot of ways like an underground that's being published by a mainstream company. The parodic figures that Howard and Bev encounter (the Reverend Joon Moon Yuc, taking on the Moonie cult, a prime example) are exactly the sorts of commentaries that we see in the undergrounds. Though there's decidedly less swearing and nudity, much of the action (like the horse-riding real estate agent Heathcliff Rochester entering a battle) is over the top and very much, in both written and visual composition, seeming underground somehow. Of course, I find it very likely that much of the Marvel bullpen of the Seventies was consuming undergrounds. Perhaps Howard is one way that their influence filters through.

The aforementioned Reverend gets the best line of dialogue today, one that says so very, very much about fundamentalist belief systems: "Shield your eyes with your good books -- and join me in prayer!"

*sigh*

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1239: Howard the Duck #5, September 1976

(Apologies for the delays. It's marking season.)

It's fitting that today's issue is the last of the series I'll be looking at for a bit, and Howard and Bev finally get sick of Cleveland and hit the road. But not before Howard engages in an attempt at becoming some kind of star. He tries radio, television, and, finally, wrestling. I think a contemporary telling of this would see Howard trying to become a YouTube star, or start his own Bachelor-style reality show. Inevitably, nothing works, which perhaps should have been seen as a prophetic moment for the producers of the film version of Howard in the 1980s.

The impetus for this brush with celebrity is the strange couple's poverty. They can literally only afford a single chocolate bar at the beginning of today's story. It's not something we very often see treated in mainstream comics, especially superhero ones, the struggle to make ends meet in contemporary(ish) culture. Howard and Bev wrestle with this throughout the run, and perhaps are our first real jab in HtD at the state of the United States. Mr. Gerber is quite angry about a lot of things. He's going to use this duck to tell us all about them.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1238: Howard the Duck #4, July 1976

One of the great things about this series and Man-Thing is the supporting cast that Mr. Gerber develops. Today we are introduced to Paul Same, who becomes the somnambulent Winkyman. Howard and Bev struggle to keep him out of trouble, even though he's doing some good.

There's a weird cognitive dissonance that I think most people who encounter Howard undergo. While the running gag is the random "You...you're a duck!" from a stranger, most people simply look and then continue on with their lives. Let's remember, of course, that HtD is firmly ensconced in the Marvel Universe, albeit a very, very weird part of it. For me, this is where Steve Gerber begins telling the Howard stories he wants to - he's done the guest star, he's done the parodies of his fellow writers. Now is time to get on to being strange, and being an astute cultural critic too, of course. Indeed, today's issue takes aim at the arrogance of art culture, something well on the minds of many comics creators in the 70s.

Howard and Bev are victorious, Paul is cured of his nighttime heroics, and life returns to...normal. More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 603: The Tomb of Dracula #34, July 1975

Of all the 70s Marvel horror titles, The Tomb of Dracula is the most lauded, boasting a great creative team in Wolfman, Colan, and Palmer, and a great pedigree in Stoker's undead protagonist. I think it's because Wolfman understands that the book Dracula isn't about the creature himself, but about the people around him, who are sucked into his orbit, and about how his evil impacts those people. Dracula appears only briefly in this issue, the rest of it devoted to the lives of those who have come within his sphere of influence. Some react by joining him, or thinking they can exploit him, and some react by trying, in vain, to stop him. Though a character himself (which is evident in the brief moments we get with him), it is as a catalyst for change, for declaration of one's good or evil intent, that the character functions as, at least in this comic. Or, it seems that way anyway, given that I'm coming in part way through a story, and leaving before it ends.

One of these days, I should actually read the novel, I guess.

Onward.