It was mentioned some weeks back that I scored a nice low-grade copy of Howard the Duck #1 at Phoenix-con for a dollar. Now, I wasn't even a fan of this comic when I was shortie. It was actually during adulthood that I acquired an appreciation for the adventures of the angst-filled fowl who was cursed by being "trapped in a world he never made!"
It's also been mentioned that I'm a big fan of the late artist Gene Colan. The majority of the books published under this title were illustrated by him, and it was mainly because of Colan that I ended up giving Howard the Duck a second 'gander'. In so doing, I came to understand how the book achieved cult-favorite status with older comic book readers in the 1970s.
Not only did Howard the Duck contain page after page of great illustration by artists like Val Mayerik, Frank Brunner and Gene Colan, the book also offered surprisingly intelligent story-telling by writer Steve Gerber, who co-created the character with Mayerik.
While flipping through the worn out copies of Subway Art and Spraycan Art in my studio, I was recently reminded of the impact that Howard the Duck comics also made on the first generation of graffiti artists. As illustrated here, a whole-car by Seen & PJay (1980) and a wall mural by Lee (1981) once served as spray-painted testaments to this cigar-puffing duck's popularity back in the day.
Click to enlarge
P.S. If you're wonderin' why the George Lucas produced Howard the Duck movie wasn't referenced here, it's because that movie sucked moo-goo-guy-ass™.
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