Howard the Duck has had an interesting history in the Marvel Universe. Created back in 1973 he got his first ongoing series in 1976, and since has had a love hate relationship with Marvel itself, especially after his disastrous movie. In recent years, he’s been embrace again a bit, mostly hanging around other characters like She-Hulk, Machine Man, or Man-Thing. But, with Marvel seemingly willing to try most anything, they’ve given the quacktastic character his own series again, this time under the guidance of writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Joe Quinones.

The first issue is rather interesting, and not quite the goofy out there comic I was expecting from Zdarsky. Instead, the character sticks to his roots, and we get an existential tale focused on Howard…. the duck. The humor is just in the every day moments, much like creator Steve Gerber intended.

Howard here is a detective, struggling to make his next dollar, as any good detective story seems to contain. The first issue sees him attempting to retrieve an stolen item which has him dealing with She-Hulk, Spider-Man, and eventually Black Cat. The plot is just ok, and what’s really the focus is Howard, his attitude, and his place in the world, which much like his publisher, is still being figured out.

It’s all much more calm, and normal, versus the slapstick/gonzo story I was expecting based on Zdarsky’s online persona. The humor here is muted and subtle

Joining Zdarsky is artist Quinones who adds a fun look to it all, and it’s nice to see him take his art style which is usually relegated to covers, and bring it to the interior. It’s a nice match of tone and style.

Overall, the first issue isn’t quite what I expected. It’s not a bad first issue, but also didn’t quite blow me away either, and seems to really take a left turn towards the end. We’ll see where the series goes, and I’m willing to give it at least the first trade to see how it pans out. While it’s an entertaining throwaway read, it’s also not quite the superstar debut of the next big thing.

Story: Chip Zdarsky Art: Joe Quinones
Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read