Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
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Howard the Duck #33
Issue(s): Howard the Duck #33
Cover Date: Sep 86
Title: "Material duck"
Credits:
Christopher Stager - Script
Christopher Stager and Val Mayerik - Plot
Val Mayerik - Penciler
Val Mayerik - Inker
Adam Phillips - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor
Review/plot:
Ah, the days of hope and innocence, when a big budget Howard the Duck movie produced by George Lucas was right around the corner. This issue is a prestige format, 30 page ad free $1.50 issue with thick paper and an essay from Jim Salicrup about how this issue came to be and how "This looks like it may just be the little guy's year!", with the possibility of a renewed series if this issue and Marvel's adaptation of the movie does well. This issue is drawn and co-plotted by Val Mayerik, Howard's original artist. But Steve Gerber is not here, "For reasons [Salicrup]'d rather not even attempt to explain" but which i discussed on the entry for last issue, which had a Jan 86 publication date. Instead Mayerik has brought in a friend named Christopher Stager, who "works at an advertising agency by day and makes films by night and on weekends".
Appropriately, this issue has Howard dealing with the complications of suddenly having a lot of money, albeit from winning a sweepstakes contest and not from being a movie star. Howard hires Ed McMahon, buys the Mansion in LA, etc...
...and gets corrupted enough that Bev wants nothing to do with him.
After that, Howard gives all his money to a mad scientist that creates the perfect love for him...
...except Ed McMahon gave the scientist the brain of "the spoiled, overindulged wife of an upwardly mobile personal injury attorney"...
...and so she's a money grubbing shrew.
The issue ends with Howard hitchinking a ride with a gay guy and riding into the sunset.
Tags: Not Funny, Offensive, Irrelevant
I guess we should be happy the movie bombed if we would have otherwise gotten more comics like this.
Quality Rating: D
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
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Comments
Wow...that gay guy scene. Is that some kind of record for the highest number of homophobic stereotypes and anti-gay slurs crammed into one page??
Its interesting that Marvel would make Howard, who is the 'hero' of the series, so openly homophobic.
Ugh, just ugh at the gay scene alone. IT'S FUNNY CUZ HE'S ONE OF THOSE GAYZ!
@Dermie- this was 1986. Surveys showed that most of the population thought homosexuality was wrong:
http://articles.latimes.com/1985-12-20/news/mn-4928_1_times-poll
It was only a few years later that the comic world would see the release of the AARGH comic book....
This story seems pretty embarrassing for Marvel.
Is the gay guy supposed to be modeled after Walt Disney? That would be ironic considering who owns Marvel now.
@Michael - I do realize it was a much more homophobic time...but still, at this point in time Marvel had Northstar as a regular character (and he was pretty clearly written as gay, despite not being officially 'out'), plus Captain America had a gay friend (Arnie Roth) as a supporting character in his book for a while, etc.
Even with the more homophobic attitudes of the time (and Jim Shooter's own issues in this area--such as his own homophobic HULK story with the attempted rape of Bruce Banner) this seems pretty over-the-top.
So over the top, in fact, that, as it isn't *funny* (even if someone were to believe that homosexuality was wrong, it fails on that basic score alone), it shouldn't even have been included. Odd that, whether the rumours are true or not, Marvel weren't officially allowing gay characters at the time (but Arnie Roth was sympathetic and not merely implied as being gay, so I have no idea what that means for those rumours), they would see fit to include someone here who basically has predatory designs on Howard because, you know, 'the gays are like that'.
@Dermie Let's not forget that DeMatties already had a gay character in his CAPTAIN AMERICA run potrayed positively and even made (not very subtle) point about how homophobia is wrong. So I don't really buy this excuse either.
That last sequence is really overkill, huh? Ugh. Pretty disgusting!
Gotta say I enjoy the MAD-style art here, but I really can't believe that Marvel was hitching their fortunes on this. Did they even believe it themselves?
A highlight of post-Byrne 'She-Hulk' will be the return of Gerber to Howard, not that far away in the chronology now...
The terrible gay caricature looks like John Waters.
