>So, as you may have noticed, the title above states that this is Part 1 of a series of blogs about my favorite comic adaptations. I’m hoping to make this an ongoing thing, with at least one post a month dedicated towards this thing… So, let’s get right to it. As I stated, this is about comic adaptations, meaning that this includes movies, cartoons, video games, toys, models, and so on. And this doesn’t just include mainstream American comics, but pretty much anything in a comic format which would include web-comics, manga, independent stuff, local stuff, and so on. Also… I’m pretty sure some of the things that I hold near and dear to my heart could potentially drop my credibility on certain subjects, but I’m not concerned. So, to start it off, I begin with 1986’s movie adaptation of the Marvel Comic, Howard the Duck.

Yes, Howard the Duck, the comic about the cigar smoking anthropomorphic duck, who happens to also be a Master of Quack-Fu. Apparently, sometime in the 70s George Lucas (Star Wars) had a conversation with his co-writers on American Graffiti about the comic, Howard the Duck. Fast-forward a decade and we get the the production of the movie. Produced by George Lucas and written by director Willard Huyck and his wife Gloria Katz, Howard the Duck made it to the Big Screen. It took something like $36,000,000 to make, and it grossed about somewhere around $16,000,000. Clearly, this was not a box office success. Critics hated it, and for the longest time, I couldn’t find anyone who’d even want to give the movie a chance. But why? There was a great cast that was found in Lea Thompson as Howard’s human love interest, Tim Robbins as self-titled scientist, and Jeffery Jones as the “real” scientist who was responsible for bringing Howard to Earth in the first place, and let’s not forget the actual stars, Ed Gale as the actual actor in the duck-suit and Chip Zien as the voice of Howard. As I understand it, the duck-suit was something that paved the way in terms of animatronics and full-body suits. And that’s just the tip of the special effects that were used in this movie. But I’ll get to that a little later.

The premise of the movie goes a little bit like this; Howard the Duck, inhabitant of Duckworld, is ripped from his quaint bachelor pad apartment and through a wormhole in space for what appears to be no reason. He lands in Cleavland, Ohio outside of a hole-in-the-wall club where a struggling all-girl rock band led by a woman named Beverly (Lea Thompson). As she leaves for the night, she’s mugged in a alley where she is saved by none other than Howard. This is the beginning of a wonderful friendship. They later go on to meet one of the band members’ boyfriend who claims to be a scientist (Tim Robbins), this was not eventful. Later on, we get to see the filmmakers play with the idea of a sexual relationship between Howard and Beverly. Then we meet a real scientist who claims to be able to send Howard home, in that attempt, instead of Howard going up and away, something evil comes down to play. And yes, I intended for that to rhyme. That’s essentially the first half of the movie, you could argue that it might pass as a romantic comedy up until this point… But the second half? The movie really lets loose with the second half. The Dark Overlord is the name of the being who comes to town, possessing the body of an innocent scientist, he mutates and grows in power. And I’ve got to say, the ideas that they put on film as far as the concepts of telekinesis and similar power types are vary impressive and way ahead of their time. I think the best examples of these visual feats were only being done in Japanese animation at the time, the majority of which weren’t even a blip on the American radar. And by the time The Dark Overlord absorbs the whole of a nuclear power plant, I was like, this can’t get anymore awesome, and then it does, like two more times. When it’s true form is revealed, it’s truly a sight to behold, both in imagination and execution. Remember, this is 1986, so stop-motion effects were well into play here, and considering that Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) were heading the effects, they hold up pretty well to this day. And so, when the climax is reached and you think there’s nothing left… BAM! Awesome theme song! Co-written by Thomas Dolby (A Big Synth-Artist of the 80s) and George Clinton (Awesome man and Master of Funk). What more could you want? I mean… Besides a more accurate portrayal of Howard and his story.

So it’s not the most accurate of comic book adaptations, but it does a good job of being fun. Sure, it temporarily ruined the careers of everyone involved with the movie, but I think they each recovered eventually. But more to the point, now-a-days, I’m finding more and more people who liked the movie and even loved the movie. In fact, it was recently released on DVD earlier this year and at my other job at a certain video chain, we received 2 copies of the movie and the last time I checked, one copy was stolen and the other pretty much stays checked out. As soon as it comes back, its out the door again. Even my niece loved the movie, and I can’t get her to watch anything with animatronic suits. And she hates the Ninja Turtles… ;( But yeah, Howard the Duck. One of my favorite comic book adaptations. And on a personal note, one of the greatest movies ever. Until next time.

-Fleet

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