Meet Howard the Duck, the Marvel Universe's Unlikeliest Hero

Howard the Duck never wanted to be a hero—but after falling into the Marvel Universe, Howard Duckson found himself fighting alongside Marvel’s finest heroes. Even though his combat skills are limited to his mastery of the avian martial art Quak-Fu and some magical talents, Howard has saved the world from all kinds of bizarre and offbeat threats, thanks in no small part to his sarcastic and cynical sense of humor. 

Howard may not think he’s all that special, but he still took on the Marvel Zombies, became one with Deadpool, wielded the cosmic power of the Phoenix Force, and ran an unlikely campaign to become the President of the United States. From his early days on Duckworld to his misadventures in the strange realm of Cleveland, let’s break down how Howard waddled his way across the Marvel Universe.

WHO IS HOWARD THE DUCK?

Howard the Duck was born on Duckworld, a planet where waterfowl evolved to create an Earth-like culture. Although he could have been one of his world’s most intelligent residents, Howard was bullied as a duckling and chose to try to live a normal life instead. 

Howard arrived in the Marvel Universe thanks to a demon called Thog the Nether-Spawn. When the Hell-Lord tilted the Interdimensional Cosmic Axis, Howard fell into the Nexus of All Realities, a dimensional crossroads, in ADVENTURE INTO FEAR (1970) #19 by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik. In his debut, Howard teamed up with Man-Thing, the sorceress Jennifer Kale, and another dimensional traveler named Korek the Barbarian to take on Thog. 

While traveling back to Earth, Howard the Duck fell off an interdimensional steppingstone and landed in Cleveland, Ohio. As soon as he landed back in the Marvel Universe, Howard fought Garko, the murderous Man-Frog. 

Around this time, Howard also faced one of his most noteworthy foes, Bessie the Hellcow, in a GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING (1974) #5 story by Gerber and Frank Brunner. After Dracula bit her, Hellcow turned into a vampire and traveled to America, where Howard seemingly slew her in an unsuccessful attempt to earn a job with the Cleveland police.

HOWARD THE DUCK ON EARTH

As his adventures on Earth began in earnest, Howard the Duck met a model named Beverly Switzler in HOWARD THE DUCK (1976) #1 by Steve Gerber and Frank Brunner. After saving her from a financial wizard called Pro-Rata, Howard and Beverly began living together and battled offbeat foes. 

Following his nomination by a minor political organization called the All-Night Party, Howard briefly staged a campaign to become the President of the United States. Although Doctor Angst and his Band of the Bland tried to assassinate him, Howard lost the election because no one took him seriously as a candidate. Shortly after, Howard met Doctor Bong, a bell-themed villain who briefly turned Howard into a human and forced Beverly to marry him. 

Throughout his adventures with Beverly, Howard encountered several Marvel heroes and villains. During Howard and Beverly’s first meeting, Spider-Man helped Howard take down Pro-Rata. Howard also met the Defenders, reunited with Man-Thing, got captured by Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime, and was bitten by Dracula. In one battle against Doctor Bong, Howard even donned an “Iron Duck” suit of Iron Man-esque armor. Howard even briefly returned to Duckworld during one of his later adventures with Beverly.

HOWARD MEETS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE

Following his first round of solo adventures, Howard the Duck became a frequent partner to the heroes of the Marvel Universe. After the Critic—a laid-back member of the Watchers—pulled him through a wormhole, Howard worked with She-Hulk to take down Doctor Angst and his followers in SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK (1989) #13 by Steve Gerber and Bryan Hitch. 

While driving, Howard picked up Skin and Chamber, two young members of Generation X, as they hitchhiked in GENERATION X (1994) #20 by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo. After taking the mutants back to their school, Howard reluctantly befriended Franklin Richards and two young Morlocks, Artie and Leech. Howard saved the young mutants from Black Tom Cassidy by fleeing with a nearby Man-Thing into the Nexus of All Realities.

With the alien Tana Nile, Howard and this group briefly adventured across dimensions as the Daydreamers. Howard the Duck also teamed up with Ben Reilly’s Spider-Man, as well as Danny Ketch during his time serving as Ghost Rider. 

When the U.S. government made America’s superhumans register under the Super-Hero Registration Act during CIVIL WAR (2006), Howard the Duck learned that the government did not officially recognize his existence. With legal help from She-Hulk, Howard had his legal status restored after he fought M.O.D.O.T., a Mental Organism Designed Only for Talking, in a battle that started in HOWARD THE DUCK (2007) #1 by Ty Templeton and Juan Bobillo. 

HOWARD THE DUCK VS. MARVEL ZOMBIES

Howard the Duck eventually joined the fight to keep the Marvel Zombies from spreading their undead hunger across the Multiverse. After Morbius recruited him into a Multiverse-protecting organization called A.R.M.O.R., Howard partnered up with X-51, the Machine Man, in MARVEL ZOMBIES 5 (2010) #1 by Fred Van Lente and Kano. Howard successfully retrieved samples from multiple zombified realities to help Morbius cure an infected Werewolf by Night. 

Around this time, Howard also brought She-Hulk, Nighthawk, and Frankenstein’s Monster together as the Fearsome Four to stop a rampaging Man-Thing and Psycho-Man. Along with Beverly, Howard the Duck was brainwashed into joining a group of censorship-themed villains called S.O.O.F.I. in SPIDER-MAN: BACK IN QUACK (2010) #1 by Stuart Moore, Mark Brooks, and Ray-Anthony Height. 

After completing those missions, Howard was drafted to lead another squad of A.R.M.O.R. zombie-fighting heroes, Ducky’s Dozen, in MARVEL ZOMBIES DESTROY! (2012) #1 by Frank Marraffino and Mirco Pierfederici. Although the team included veteran heroes like Dum Dum Dugan and Battlestar (Lemar Hoskins), most of the team died as they tried to stop the zombies of this World War II-inspired reality from spreading to other parts of the Multiverse.

HOWARD THE DUCK: PRIVATE EYE

Following his Multiversal adventures, Howard returned to the Marvel Universe and opened up Howard T. Duck Private Investigations in HOWARD THE DUCK (2015) #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones. With his shape-shifting assistant Tara Tam, Howard was hired to recover a necklace that the Black Cat had stolen. However, the Collector kidnapped him and he teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to escape. 

Howard also faced Talos the Untamed, a Skrull who wanted the necklace to finish building a much less powerful version of the Infinity Gauntlet called the Abundant Glove. After becoming a living Nexus of All Realities and wielding the Power Cosmic, Howard and his allies freed the remaining creatures in the Collector’s collection and sent them back to their homes. 

While working on a case for actress Lea Thompson, Howard learned his life had been turned into a reality show by Mojo, an interdimensional tyrant who rules a media-obsessed world, in HOWARD THE DUCK (2015) #9 by Zdarsky and Quinones. To keep the show’s ratings up, Mojo hired two reality-warping Sparkitects, Chipp and Jho, to keep Howard’s life interesting. Although Chipp briefly killed him, Howard ultimately defeated the reality-warpers and had them use their powers to ensure Beverly could successfully become a veterinarian.

HOWARD THE DUCK AND DEADPOOL

As Howard the Duck returned to his role as a frequent team-up collaborator, he got particularly close to Deadpool in DEADPOOL THE DUCK (2017) #1 by Stuart Moore and Jacopo Camagni. When Deadpool and Howard both investigated something that had crashed to Earth, they found Rocket Raccoon, who had seemingly been infected with a strain of “space rabies” that was actually malfunctioning Roxxon nanotechnology. 

When Rocket bit Deadpool’s teleporter, he and Howard merged into one entity: Deadpool the Duck. While Deadpool controlled their body, the spirit of Howard advised him as a floating disembodied head. After a fight with Doctor Bong, Howard and Deadpool ultimately separated themselves. 

When the Phoenix Force staged a tournament between numerous heroes and villains to determine its next wielder, Howard briefly possessed a portion of its cosmic power until the Red Widow knocked him out. More recently, an alternate reality version of Howard the Duck looked at how his life could played out across the Multiverse in HOWARD THE DUCK (2023) #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Joe Quinones, Daniel Kibblesmith, Annie Wu, Jason Loo, Derek Charm, Merritt Kopas, and Will Robson. He also briefly tried to join the web-slingers of the Multiverse as a member of the Spider-Society, but he eventually admitted he only did it for free food.

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