Howard The Duck Omnibus (Hardcover)

by Steve Gerber (Author), Val Mayerik (Illustrator), Gene Colan (Illustrator), Frank Brunner (Illustrator), John Buscema (Illustrator), Carmine Infantino (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Get down, America! Vote Howard the Duck in 2008! That's right, folks. It's an election year, and what better way to celebrate than to cast your vote for the one candidate who'll tell it like it is. Born on a planet populated by talking waterfowl, Howard the Duck found himself trapped in a world he never made: ours! Howard was the archetypal outsider, able to see through the absurdities of human society in the 1970s with uncanny accuracy and an acerbic wit. His adventures presented writer Steve Gerber with a platform from which to engage in an ongoing critique of contemporary fools and pretenders, from power-mad capitalist wizard Pro-Rata to cult leader Reverend Joon Moon Yuc to the dreaded Doctor Bong! Experience for yourself the complete comic adventures of Howard in this Omnibus collection, reprinting his first appearances and the entire run of his first series. Collecting stories from Adventures Into Fear #19, Man-Thing #1, Giant-Size Man-Thing #4-5, Howard the Duck #1-33, Marvel Treasury Edition #12, and Marvel Team-Up #96.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 808 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics (August 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785130233
• ISBN-13: 978-0785130239
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 7.7 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #506,483 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get down, America!, September 3, 2008

By	Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This big fat book reprints most of the Howard the Duck comic books published in between 1973 and 1986. Notably missing are the stories from the Howard the Duck black and white magazine published from October 1979 to March 1981. The story of Howard the Duck concerns an anthropomorphic duck who ends up on our planet. He has trouble fitting in, of course, and has many misadventures. Howard's original writer, the late Steve Gerber, used Howard as an alter ego. Howard would rail against the things in society that irked Gerber. Pretty heavy stuff for a comic book, but it was done with a humorous touch and was frequently brilliant. The comic was fortunate enough to have several terrific artists work on it, with Gene Colon being the definitive Howard artist (Frank Brunner was great, too, but wasn't with the comic for very long). Alas, Gerber got into a dispute with Marvel Comics over the rights to Howard the Duck, and other people took over the writing of the comic. Some of these non-Gerber stories were downright awful. Still, they are here for the sake of completeness. I would recommend this book, but be perpared for the quality to drop near the end.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Howard the Duck Gerber's Masterwork, January 3, 2009

By	M. B. RENTZLER (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As another viewer had mentioned I too had bought the Marvel Essentials Black and White reprints of Howard the Duck, and while a great buy for the money; something was lacking, and that was color (though I will contradict myself before I am through).

All Howard the Duck appearances in his own title are present, including his first appearances in Man-Thing; the Marvel Treasury new Material and the Foom Issue which went over his candidacy for President. The run is enjoyable as is the art. Kiss makes an appearance, as does Spider-Man; the Defenders,and the Son of Satan. However towards the end of the first run it starts to peter out; mainly after the divine Star Wars parody. Issues #32 and #33 are for the completists to read (if they must).

Physically the Omnibus series is a joy to read; it stays open flat and the colors on the paper are fantastic. The cover I have (as there are two for this edition) has Howard; Man-Thing; and a cheesecake shot of Beverly.

Glaring Omissions are the Black and White Magazine (due to nudity and adult content?) and the newspaper strip. These as they are in black and white would probably be better in the essentials format (see I did it).

I rate this a buy to be able to read this quirky and still relevant series, written by Steve Gerber the divine satirist is worth it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Omnibus in color (Essential in black and white), October 31, 2008

By	Clark Supporter (Oakland CA) - See all my reviews

I purchased the Essential Howard the Duck and was bummed that the book ended before the story played out, and the art was black and white. So I ordered Howard The Duck Omnibus and got the whole story in color. If you want to read Howard The Duck, get the Omnibus.