Cool News
The True Master of Quack Fu is Gone... Steve Gerber passes away...
Hey folks, Harry here... As many of you know... I was born into geekdom. My parents owned the first Pop-Culture Memorilbia Store in Austin, Tx... N.E. MERCANTILE COMPANY. It sold movie posters, animation cels, original art, props and comic books, pulps and all sorts of paper ephemera. From the youngest of ages - I have loved talking duck characters. I knew the Disney Ducks, the Warner Brothers Duck... and from the world of comics... the cigar-chomping, master of Quack-Fu himself.... HOWARD THE DUCK.
My father used to read me Barks' Uncle Scrooge stories - but as a card carrying lover of kung fu... when I saw this issue of HOWARD THE DUCK... I fell in love. This was Steve Gerber's greatest creation. HOWARD THE DUCK - not that piece of shit movie that George Lucas created half-heartedly. HOWARD wasn't a "man in suit" he was meant to be brought to life via Stop-Motion... until CG came about - but Howard didn't need to be a little person in a feather suit. He came out looking like a retarded Donald Duck. And he was yellow... not white feathers.
Anyway - Gerber's HOWARD was satirically brilliant - hilariously given life - He was one of the first character creators to fight for his creation and to demand rights as its creator. He wrote on tons of characters - and more than that - he was a great characters in person. I met Steve about a dozen times at various conventions from when I was 7 to about 6 years ago. Everytime I met him - I was just a fan of Howard the Duck. And he was always kind and cordial. Even as he was in the hospital in what became his final days, he was working on a new DR FATE story - and had worked a deal with Marvel to pen more HOWARD THE DUCK stories. He had so many more stories he wanted to tell. Tonight we lost a really wonderful and creative soul. Our best wishes go out to his family and friends. Me... I'm going to dig up my copy of HOWARD THE DUCK#3 - I love that ish!
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FUCK!!!!!
Steve Gerber was one of the defining comics writers of the 1970s. Howard the Duck was his finest moment. As the pressure of being a hot comics writer and deadlines crunched Gerber, Howard dealt with being a celebrity under constant pressure. When Gerber had a nervous breakdown, so did Howard, who wrote a series of short essays in which he explained some of what he and Howard were experiencing. They were presented with pinups by several Howard artists. It's famous or infamous depending upon your opinion of Gerber. Mine was high, if the "fuck" doesn't communicate that.
Aw, hell. Now there will never be another really good duck story. -
Poor Steve. He'll be missed.
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RIP it up and start it again, Mr. Gerber.
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gerber was able to take underground comics sensibilities and bring them to the mainstream...he fought for creator rights before it became popular...the man was the curt flood of the comic book world and every creator owes him a debt of gratitude...and despite his illness and the meds he was taking, he never lost that great sense of humor...and using his blog, he allowed us fans to catch a glimpse into the mind of a creator and the heart and the pain of a human being...till this day i hate lucas for what he did to steve's creation...rip mr gerber, you can breathe easy now, you did your job and made a difference in the world
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...and now my feathers are all in a bunch. rest in peace, steve.
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Even though it has little to do with the actual comic. Still I liked it as a kid and thought that Jeffrey Jones rocked in it and the monster design was awesome.
The DVD comes out on Friday in the UK. -
IT SMELLZ LIKE EGGZ!!!
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has one less shaved ape. He will be missed. I loved the Howard b&w magazines with Golden drawing.
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i dont think gerber wrote those...he wrote the first 27 issues of the series, and the howards that appeared along with man-thing...oh, and if you guys have never read omega the unknown, find em, as well as his foolkiller mini, nevada and hardtimes...before there was alan moore, neil gaiman, frank miller and grant morrison, there was steve gerber
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and they're hairless apes not shaved apes. Hey whatdaya want....it's late and I'm in shock.
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Loved 'em as a kid and grew to love him more when I studied art with Gene Colan in the '80s.
A quick doodle of that Duck Gene did for me is still one of my most cherished possessions. R.I.P ! -
Loves Gerber's Howard and his other stories.
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I remember in ’89 when Mel Blanc died, he had the misfortune to die either on the same day or the day after Olivier… Blanket coverage for the Star of Wild Geese II and precious little for the man who made Billions laugh…. With Chief Brody sadly passing only yesterday I find it comforting the AICN still find space for the smaller guys…. Nice one.
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Oh brother...
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Like when Douglas Adams died. Rest in peace. Did anyone read the Marvel MAX Howard mini that came out a few years ago? It really reminded me, in tone, of those original 27 issues. I was hoping to see more of that.
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Obviously, George Lucas is a much bigger name than Willard Huyck, director/co-writer of the Howard the Duck movie, but Lucas didn't write or direct it. If you can blame Lucas for the failure of the film, you might as well credit Danny DeVito with the success of Pulp Fiction.
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"Here it comes!" Sorry if I'm misquoting, it was a long time since I read them. I liked Howard, and the fact that a duck shared his bed with a hot chick, and then there was that mysterious killer elf storyline, and well, RIP Steve.
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Ah well. R.I.P gerber baby!
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He thought he could get a paycheck by registering as a hero. They turned him down and said he does not officially exist since he causes too many problems. She-Hulk sidekick visited Howard's world also which was funny. They don't use Howard very well in the Marvel U.
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Feb 12, 2008 7:06:04 AM CST
Love the 70's HTD stuff, Gerber , Colan, and Brunner were awesom
by killakane
Sad to hear of Gerber's passing, Howard the Duck was a great series of Marvel's 70's output; funny, satirical and subversive in many respects and a great cultivator of creative talent. RIP.
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I was fortunate enough to meet the man many years ago at a comic convention. He was witty, gracious and (to the oh so young comic book fan I was at the time) amazingly approachable. "Howard the Duck" ruled. But his "Man-Thing" rocked. I'm truly saddened by this news.
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I still think of the Sorcerer Supreme as Doctor Piano. I still remember the killer elf in The Defenders. I've always loved what Steve did with the idea of Kal-El's rocket landing in an uninhabited area, and the baby growing up in, essentially, a sensory deprivation chamber. I loved his Phantom Zone series. So much wonderful imaginative work he did.
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Saw it when it came it out and loved the shit out of it, and it still holds its charm. Most people can't look past the costume, but the head was always a pretty good animatronic... as if the aliens in the original
Star Wars movie (I'm looking at you, Wolf Head man) were so much more credible. The Dark Overlord was terrific and the horrific, great VFX...I admit though that the best thing about the Howard movie though was John Barry's amazing score. Never read Gerber's comics, but I guess I've been missing out on a wild and incisivie creatio that was apparently mishandled in am attempt to bring it to a wider wolrd. I take it Gerber washed his hands of the movie adaption, and his comics were the real deal. Well, rest in peace Steve, I know you'll be missed - sorry I didn't get to know your writing while you were with us, I will make amends... I'll still be buying the Howard DVD Friday regardless of the haters though! -
http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/4101344.html
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I loved Howard the Duck when I was a kid, even though most of the satire was lost on me. I guess I just liked a tough-talkin', cigar-chompin' duck who didn't take any guff from people three times his size. It wasn't until I picked up the entire series as a teen in the quarter bin that I fully understood the genius of Gerber.
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http://the-isb.blogspot.com/2005/12/christmas-special-marvel-comics_18.html
The craziest thing Gerber ever wrote, and he wrote a lot of crazy stuff, was the issue where Thing and Ghost Rider pose as Magi in a recreated version of bethlehem populated by Native Americans, who are under the control of Miracle Man, so that he can create a second Jesus Christ.
Yeah. It's insane. -
Feb 12, 2008 7:52:31 AM CST
NO!!! I wanted to read that Dr Fate story. It was tied into Fina
by messi
Fuck. FINAL CRISIS!
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...continues to live... Damn this sucks. Visiting AICN lately is like playing a goddamn Dead Pool. Gerber was great... the first comics writer that regularly wrote just mindblowingly, surreal parodies. The Grant Morrison of the 70's. And yes, I saw that MTIO story, complete with Thing and GR wearing Wise Men robes... a guy with a flaming skull for a head and a guy made of orange bricks looking like effed-up extras in a Christmas pageant... it was insane, hilarious and as a kid... I loved it! I hope Gerbers at peace now and living it up at the Nexus of the Multiverse.
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Chief Brody, Gerber and John Alvin. God I hate it.
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Loved his comics (not only nthe Howard ones), I am even a fan of the movie (sue me). I remember an e-mailconversation I had with him in the early days of the internet about how disappointed I was about how he finished Legion of Night. He gave me a very gently and polite response. May he rest in ... no not peace, in creative turmoil, seems to fit him most.
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Howard seems a little dated to me now. The Defenders, while still mildly silly, stands the test of time.
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Not afraid to admit it. Anyone else still 'quack up' when they see the duck condom? COME ON PEOPLE!! Fun stuff!!
http://tinyurl.com/ysm7hg -
Brilliant.
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Abe Vigoda will outlive everyone!! All hail the great Abe Vigoda!!
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Man, this news SUCKS!!! HTD was a short-lived but memorable part of my childhood... Kept the Logan's Run-inspired 'Sand Duck Howard 7' full-page in my locker through 7th & 8th grades...
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Gerber is legendary. I don't know much about the comics. I only have the Kiss appearances and the team up with Spiderman. But Foolkiller. That was one awesome character and that 10 issue limited series was one of the best limited series I have ever read. R.I.P. Steve and thanks.
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Of course, HOWARD was a masterpiece. Mr. Gerber working with Gene Colan or Val Mayerik or Frank Brunner.Harry was right, by the way. Lucas/Hyuck HOWARD should have been stop motion. I remember seeing photos of an unpainted model in STARLOG or something, then when the movie finally came out (with a hotline in which you could call Howard) it was a midget in a suit.But, yeah, Gerber and Buscema's DEFENDERS were my favorite version. From Nighthawk's girlfriend losing her arm in an explosion to the Badoon vs. the Guardians of the Galaxy (Steve did some excellent GOG scripts too) to the whole, beautiful Nighthawk's brain/Headmen/Nebulon/Bozos mess. And he introduced the Elf With a Gun. I'm sure Marvel resolved that subplot somehow, but don't tell me. I want it the way Mr. Gerber left it.Lots of great Marvel work. One of my favorite issues of THE INCREDIBLE HULK, in which Hulk and Rhino are trapped on a spacecraft and land of Counter Earth. They separately join a group of New Men (Hulk's would be the Martin Luther King and Rhino's would be the Malcolm X of the High Evolutionary's animal people). Hulk also meets Bruce Banner, who was married to Betty Ross, and Banner's seven year old son. All capped off with Hulk grabbing Rhino by his horn, hefting him overhead and slamming him into the pavement in such a powerful panel by Herb Trimpe that you'll get bruised just looking at it.The pornographically named MAN-THING (which introduced Howard) was another milestone. OMEGA THE UNKNOWN was a brilliant attempt to do something genuinely different with a Marvel superhero comic in the 1970s (so naturally, excellent as the work by Mr. Gerber and Jim Mooney were, it tanked). Mr. Gerber also did great work on DAREDEVIL & THE BLACK WIDOW, TALES OF THE ZOMBIE and the Thing's team-up book MARVEL TWO IN ONE.I was a Marvel Zombie as a kid, but in did read Mr. Gerber's run on THE METAL MEN from DC.Steve can also be praised for standing by Jack Kirby, another visionary who tried to elevate the artform at the time, when many in the young Bullpen were treating him dispicably. They worked together on DESTROYER DUCK to raise money for creator's rights. Man, would I love to have a copy of that.
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A shame that was never finished. I was a big fan of that as a youngster.
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"When do I want to kill you? All the time." I can't believe anyone remembered that story!! No continuing characters, just a black&white horror like a thousand others...except it's not. You're a true Gerber fan, dude. Do you remember the b&w Dracula story he did set in the Vatican? Dani's Eyes, Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man, the Kidney Lady, "Hunter killed Bambi's mother! Hulk smash!", "It's an elf." "With a gun!", Nikki & Vance making love through the Topographical Man...if you're a Morrison fan & haven't read Gerber, than you're missing out on something you'll love. So many memories..."--but the kid died a butterfly."
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was an awesome series from Gerber that came out a couple years ago. Check it out if you can find it.
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...maybe it WAS more than just "mildly silly"...
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Feb 12, 2008 1:12:48 PM CST
second time a death outside my real life has affected me...
by zombieslayer
The first being Douglas Adams. Gerber is the reason I buy back issues of comics, I hunted down the original Howard, Leonard the Duck and Omega the unknown comics because i loveed his writing so much... I was really anticipating the new howards. this sucks.
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The next writer on The Defenders (Gary Conway maybe?) had the elf run over. The End. It was maddening, but (I hate to say it)--there was something about it I liked. He came out of nowhere; he went back to nowhere, leaving no answers. Sometimes, that's just the way it happens.
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...to the wisdom of those who know and respect the original content, but as a kid growing up in the '80s with a pair of fairly staunchly traditional artists for parents, I was watching Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now by the age of five, but under no circumstances was to be exposed to comic books or cartoons, for fear they would spoil my sense of taste. Howard the Duck was given a pass because my parents were Lucas converts after they begrudgingly saw Star Wars, and to my hungry eyes it was pure, unapologetic delight. I still await the DVD.
If not for HBO, I would have missed all the Arnold Schwarzennegger movies as well, although visiting my cousin Bill always meant Conan or Jaws on his VCR, or, more likely, both. -
That story was riddled with ill structured sentences and grammatical errors. Long live marijuana, down with alcohol!
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Damn, $25 cents?!?! What do they cost now? Like $4.00 a pop? Shit, that's one of the reasons I stopped reading comics. I remember thinking that if they kept selling at $1.95 - $2.50, I wouldn't bitch, especially if all the great artists back then kept putting stuff out (ie., McFarlane, Lee, Silvestri, Charest, Hughes).
Sadly, I went to a comic store recently and now pretty much all the artists at Marvel and DC are amateurish at best. The cover artists are awesome for the most part and consist of some of the guys that I mentioned, however, the art inside leaves a lot to be desired and I have none to spend that kind of money for a 20 page comic.
As for Mr. Gerber, I am vaguely familiar with his work but I hear great things about Howard the Duck, and yes, I loved the movie when I was a kid, what did I know? I think I read a Wildcats one-shot that was written by Gerber with some kick ass art by Travis Charest back in the day. Prayers go out to his family. -
it was great to be given a few bucks and come home with an armful of comix...what was even better was going to used bookstores and getting back issues at 5-10 cents a pop...these guys didnt know what they had...
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Feb 12, 2008 3:21:52 PM CST
If only HOWARD had gotten delayed like other Marvel movies...
by lettersoftransit
..it might have been good, or even great. Kick-A CGI and a better script might have captured what the comic and newspaper strip had. Things the 1986 movie didn't even seem half-interested in trying to capture. The quack-fu story was typical. This duck was no donald or daffy. He was a cross between groucho marx and bruce campbell. And doing him right would've made a cool movie. Then or now.
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...a strange, cult-like self help movement in the '70s called EST. I was a kid then, so the only thing I know about EST is that they had these day long seminars and they wouldn't let you out to go to the bathroom. Might have also been a spoof of Scientology, although I don't know much about Scientology (and don't tell me, I don't want to know).
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The Howard The Duck movie wasn't Howard The Duck, that's not to dismiss those that like the movie, but it really wasn't Gerber's Howard. And I think if you really want to honor Gerber and his passing, try hunting down some of his Howard comics and read them, they still work, they still kick ass, and they'll show to you that Howard The Duck, the true Howard The Duck, has never been put on screen. Rest in peace Mr Gerber, your place in comicdom's hall of greatness has been well assured.
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http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=146444
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I've got the DVD on pre-order, thankfully it's finally being released. Shame there's no extras like commentaries, but at least it will be better than my old VHS tape.
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Steve Gerber, 60, pulmonary fibrosisWriter Stephen Ross Gerber died 2/10/08 in Las Vegas of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis - a condition that was turning his lungs to scar tissue. A lifelong smoker, he had recently been added to a lung transplant list.Steve Gerber is best known for his comic book work - and among that, for his creation "Howard The Duck".His other creations included Omega The Unknown, Stewart The Rat and Destroyer Duck and the shanna the She-Devil supporting character/villainess Nekra. He created The Exiles for malibu comics. He also wrote The Defenders, Man-Thing, Son Of Satan , Foolkiller, She-Hulk and Morbius for Marvel and Phantom Zone, A.Bizarro and Nevada for DC. He wrote the Void Indigo graphic novel and two issues of a spin-off comic for Marvel's creator owned imprint Epic Comics - the series was promptly canceled when Marvel's editors realized how brutally violent the series was - and the fact that one of the lead characters was a prostitute. Television animation fans may know him better as the co-creator and story-editor on "thundarr, The Barbarian". he also worked on Plastic Man, GI Joe and Dungeons & Dragons. Movie lovers - especially fans of films that are critically regarded as failures or "bad movies" - will again know him from his most popular creation, "Howard The Duck". He also spun Howard The Duck off into a short lived syndicated comic strip.And comics industry insiders regarded him a hero for his lawsuit against Marvel Comics over ownership, credits and enhanced revenues regarding his creations - again, specifically Howard The Duck.One always popular trivia note - Howard The Duck originally appeared as a one panel sight gag in a Man-Thing story. The character's appearance proved so popular with vocal fans that he developed the character, whose first solo story apeared in an issue of the comic with the best name ever: "Giant Sized Man-Thing".Because of Howard The Duck's love affair with a human woman, Beverly Switzer, the property may be the best known and most popular example of bestiality in pop culture.In addition to Gerber's suit against Marvel, Howard the Duck was the subject of another threatened lawsuit: the Walt Disney corporation claimed that Marvel's white duck in a blue suit jacket was a bit too similar to their white duck in a blue sailor tunic and Marvel obliged by tousling Howards feathers and forcing him to don trousers.Napoleon.Park
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In his Defenders/Howard the duck crossover treasury edition, he introduced some really lame supervillains, including The Black Hole, a guy with a chunk of a black hole stuck in his chest. At one point he uses his "superpower" and the caption box read "THE BLACK HOLE SUCKS!"
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Everyone remembers that right before DC launched the "new" Byrne/Wo;fman/Ordway version of Superman, Alan Moore wrote the final issues of Superman and Action featuring the Silver Age superman. What some people forget is that Steve Gerber also wrote a Superman story that month: the final issue of DC Comics Presents, in which Mr. Mxyzptlk shed his comical appearance and revealed himself as the malicious demon he really was.
(Why does spell check say I misspelled Mxyzptlk. That's correct, dammit.) -
Are we sick of obituries yet? Because Ron Leavett, the creator of "Married With Children" and "Unhappily... Ever After" also died today. Also at age 60. Also of lung cancer.
Today really sucks, don't it? -
turned fox into a real network....
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turned fox into a real network....
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No studio would touch it, even now that you can do it in CG
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My Mother brought me Howard. Saved my sanity. R.I.P.
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The line: "Trapped In A World He Never Made". What does that mean? Someone please help me
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Feb 12, 2008 6:14:33 PM CST
Yes no studio would make it as a full-on film -- BUT --
by lettersoftransit
-- Howard could be tested as a cameo/mini character in a project, then IF it got good response, tested again in a slightly larger way (backup story) and then, IF that worked, expanded once again.... That approach has worked with other characters and is being tried with other, lesser, Marvelites, such as Nick Fury.
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its a take on all those pulpy 50s sci fi mags...."trapped in a land that time forgot"...and so on...it also kinda reflects on how gerber viewed the comix world around him...he so wanted to break out and really push the limits...but that was impossible to do in the 70s
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Remember the two-parter "There's No Place Like Springfield"? Shipwreck wakes up years in the future, he's married that water-breathing chick from an earlier episode, has kids, a house, neighbors who are retired other characters ... and has "amnesia" and doesn't remember any of it? But things seem suspicious -- it's not quite right. Then -- with absolutely no real warning -- people start just flat out dissolving in front of him? And while he screams in terror (wouldn't you?), the dissolved people creep together into a creeping blob thing, engulf him, and roll down a hole and down a ramp and out of sight ... ...TO BE CONTINUED???!? The craziest cliffhanger I've ever seen. The animation was very inconsistent (Marvel anim was really bottoming out at the time) ... but God, that episode blew my mind.
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episodes.
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Gerber created Thundarr and wrote a bunch of Defenders... I didn't even realize this was the same guy whose work had such a huge impact on me as a kid! RIP Steve, thanks for all those stories, and the inspiration they provided.
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Man, that was some good stuff. Remember Nebula? Oh, oh, remember the end of the Sons of the Serpent storyline? Remember The Headmen? Man, that was creepy. And Val goes to college? I have GOT to dig that stuff out.
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In addition to having the name of my 11th grade English teacher, that's one of the few G.I. Joe eps I remember quite distinctly. Creeped the hell out of me and blew my 5 year old mind. Granted, there was something similar in the My Little Pony Movie, but that was just downright twisted. I saw that he worked on some of my old favorite cartoons and now I'm thrilled Mr. Gerber made such an impact on my young psyche!Also, is anyone reading Countdown to Mystery that's out from DC right now? Gah... I wish the Dr. Fate story could've been an ongoing..soooooooo goooooodd....
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...as a kid. And mixed with nostalgia and an appreciation for bizare misfire cult flicks, I still love it. Having read the comic though, its a real shame to see such great source material pissed away. Sort of like The Running Man.
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Can't remember which one.
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Every few years I re-read the Howards. They still get better with each reading. It's time to get them out again. R.I.P.
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Feb 12, 2008 10:24:32 PM CST
You're all forgetting the best part of the Howard movie...
by osmosis jones
SEXY LEA THOMPSON WITH 80'S HAIR!
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It was Gerber's idea to bring in writters who also wrote for comicbooks. As a story editor/consultant Steve and Marvel Productions had some memorable eps during GIJoes 1st season: Sytnthoid conspiracy,The invaders,at world's end,Money to burn,cobra captives,Phantom Brigade and No place like springfield.Thanks for stealing my childhood and R.i.P.
YO JOE!! -
The line, aside from what bacci40 said, is also a riff on a famous quote from an A.E.Housman poem--"I, a stranger, and afraid/In a world I never made."
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oh yea...that too...but shit, im a comic book reader...what the fuck do i know about good literature...gerber did tho
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