A brilliant writer and talent, an entertaining dinner companion, and an all around great guy.
He will be missed.
PAD
54 comments on “RIP Steve Gerber”
oh no.
I have no words.
What??? What the hëll?
I had no idea he was this ill. 60 is too young.
Gerber was at his peak just about the time I seriously got into comics. He was one of the first writers I learned to look for when perusing issues on the racks and -probably my first hint that there could be something more to this comic book stuff than just slugfests.
So, so sorry to hear this.
Crap.
I knew he was in bad shape, but not this bad.
I was enjoying his Dr. Fate…
I mainly discovered Gerber through the Essential volumes. I bought Essential Howard the Duck on a lark and loved it. Similarly, I picked up the first two volumes of Essential Defenders at sales or with Christmas money and, when I finally decided to read volume 1, I devoured it and immediately moved on to volume 2. I think most of his stuff was in volume 2 (issue numbers aren’t coming to mind) but I was so thrilled with it, especially his issues, I ordered volume 3. Before starting that though, I’ve currently been reading Essential Marvel Two-in-One, which Gerber wrote the first nine issues of, and I loved them and his portrayal of Ben Grimm as the grumpy hero he is. As a child of the ’80s and a reader first of Essentials from the ’60s or the late ’70s, early ’80s X-Men, I’m just beginning to tap into the brilliance of ’70s Marvel, and Steve Gerber is one of the reasons I love it so much.
Thanks, Mr. Gerber.
My prayers to his family and friends.
“Plants are like people. Writers are like plants. Therefore, and this may come as a surprise, writers are like people. Given them light, water, nourishment, a comfortable pot and an encouraging world and they’ll grow.”
–Steve Gerber; Howard the Duck #16
Well said, Steve. Rest in peace. 😉
1
So sad
Such a terrific talent
Such a terrific loss
So glad I quit smoking
This is so horrible. Loved his Defenders especially. RIP. Steve.
I always wanted to talk to him, in person or in a phone interview. But he didn’t do that, and he didn’t go to conventions. I was curious about his early life. He attended Saint Louis University, as I did. Why would a Jew attend a Catholic university, run by priests, unless he was masochistic? I guess I’ll never know.
I know this; I had fun selling the issues of Son of Satan where his “Gateway U” was actually a drawing of Saint Louis U’s communications building, and the demon and the janitor were the department’s professors.
For years, whenever I read anything by Gerber, I thought and often said that he was determined to suicide. He apparently did that, by smoking like a chimney (as my father did), and committing suicide slowly and painfully.
I really liked his work. He was cynical but funny, and somehow he found a very human take on every situation. One of my favorites in animation; an episode of the Superman animated series that ran a few nights ago on Disney Channel, with the warrior queen Maxima. He was explaining to the insistent marriage-driven queen that men and women should respect one another. An old Bronx woman, eavesdropping on this, said “What planet is HE from?”
Much as I liked his work, I winced at the self-hatred within it. God knows I suffered from a lot of that myself, and it took me years to dig myself out of that pit. But it looks like the pit swallowed him.
I always wanted to talk to him, in person or in a phone interview. But he didn’t do that, and he didn’t go to conventions. I was curious about his early life. He attended Saint Louis University, as I did. Why would a Jew attend a Catholic university, run by priests, unless he was masochistic? I guess I’ll never know.
I know this; I had fun selling the issues of Son of Satan where his “Gateway U” was actually a drawing of Saint Louis U’s communications building, and the demon and the janitor were the department’s professors.
For years, whenever I read anything by Gerber, I thought and often said that he was determined to suicide. He apparently did that, by smoking like a chimney (as my father did), and committing suicide slowly and painfully.
I really liked his work. He was cynical but funny, and somehow he found a very human take on every situation. One of my favorites in animation; an episode of the Superman animated series that ran a few nights ago on Disney Channel, with the warrior queen Maxima. He was explaining to the insistent marriage-driven queen that men and women should respect one another. An old Bronx woman, eavesdropping on this, said “What planet is HE from?”
Much as I liked his work, I winced at the self-hatred within it. God knows I suffered from a lot of that myself, and it took me years to dig myself out of that pit. But it looks like the pit swallowed him.
I always wanted to talk to him, in person or in a phone interview. But he didn’t do that, and he didn’t go to conventions. I was curious about his early life. He attended Saint Louis University, as I did. Why would a Jew attend a Catholic university, run by priests, unless he was masochistic? I guess I’ll never know.
I know this; I had fun selling the issues of Son of Satan where his “Gateway U” was actually a drawing of Saint Louis U’s communications building, and the demon and the janitor were the department’s professors.
For years, whenever I read anything by Gerber, I thought and often said that he was determined to suicide. He apparently did that, by smoking like a chimney (as my father did), and committing suicide slowly and painfully.
I really liked his work. He was cynical but funny, and somehow he found a very human take on every situation. One of my favorites in animation; an episode of the Superman animated series that ran a few nights ago on Disney Channel, with the warrior queen Maxima. He was explaining to the insistent marriage-driven queen that men and women should respect one another. An old Bronx woman, eavesdropping on this, said “What planet is HE from?”
Much as I liked his work, I winced at the self-hatred within it. God knows I suffered from a lot of that myself, and it took me years to dig myself out of that pit. But it looks like the pit swallowed him.
I lost a big portion of my hearing when I was about 13. I felt, well trapped in a world I never made. By reading Howard the Duck– I realized I wasn’t alone. We all are.
Well, this just sucks.
I read very little of Gerber’s stuff back when he first wrote it, but (like an earlier poster) I’m discovering a lot of it now through the Essential volumes. Ðámņ, there was a lot of creativity there.
This may call for a 21-elf salute.
Regardless, he will be much missed.
TWL
Something most people forget, Gerber created Thundarr the Barbarian, which, as any male, mid-to-late 30 year old can tell you, was THE cartoon back in the 80’s.
If there isn’t a HOWARD THE DUCK tribute issue, I’ll be very disappointed in Marvel.
Marvel tried to screw Gerber over the rights to Howard, fat chance of seeing a tribute, in my opinion.
I think Marvel is a different beast today then what it was back then. Though it would be very cool to have a tribute book.
When people talk about how poor 1970’s comics were, they sure weren’t talking about Gerber’s stuff.
And where else but in a Gerber comic could you see a cute deer shooting flames out of its nose?
RIP.
Posted by BBayliss
Marvel tried to screw Gerber over the rights to Howard, fat chance of seeing a tribute, in my opinion.
May i refer you to the lyric from Shel Silverstein’s wonderfully sardonic “(Nashville is) Rough on the Livin’ (But Surely Speaks Well of the Dead)”:
the wife that they interviewed cried
is the same one who left him last fall
and the record producer who called him a hero
is the one who wouldn’t answer his calls
the ladies they sit over coffee
braggin’ bout sharin’ his bed
they didn’t want him around when he’s livin’
but he’s sure a good friend when he’s dead
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Huh. Making funny jokes in the “name” linse triggers moderation?
I got to be a friend and colleague with my comics hero. Thanks for that little miracle, Steve.
Len Strazewski
I _grew up_ on Gerber’s comics. The very first comic books I ever read were an issue of Captain Marvel and an issue of The Defenders with them versus Scorpio. I also read Howard The Duck when I was just a sprout.
His work was weird and bizarre and always interesting. Much like the late Dave Cockrum and the late John Buscema, he was one of a kind. 🙁
Some years back, I sold off most of my comic book collection, keeping just a small number of the books I really liked. Now that I go back through my mental inventory, a fair number of those titles were written by Steve Gerber. His long stint on The Defenders was wildly creative and hugely fun (who else would creative an elf with a gun as a running story thread only to end it in a ridiculously anticlimactic fashion once he got his readers all riled up? I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy and Omega the Unknown, both of which should have gone on much longer.
But it was Man Thing and Howard the Duck that really grabbed me as a teenager. I loved the satire of Howard, which by the way also featured some gorgeous artwork and I can still remember how quickly those early issues sold out, long before the days when speculators moved in and ruined the collectors market. I can only guess how upset Gerber was by the film version, which was beyond awful.
And Man Thing? Despite the most unintentionally perverse title in comics(with the possible exception of Giant Size Man Thing of course) each issue blew me away. The book was totally unlike anything on the market at the time and to some extent, still is even today. I can still remember his ‘Song Cry of the Living Dead Man’ (I hope I got the title right; it’s been a long time since I read it) where Gerber wrote an entire diary in text form right in the middle of his story!
Finally, this is a question for Peter or any of the other industry professionals that were around at the time if they choose to address it. I seem to remember that Gerber had a major falling out in the seventies, at which point he left Marvel, but I was never really sure if it was because of his ongoing crusade for ownership or Howard, or for creator’s rights in general, or if there were other issues involved. I’m just curious if anybody who was around the time would be able to clarify the situation.
Howard was always engaing, even when the humor was hit and miss, the “humanity” of the character always kept the story alive.
And Man Thing, well Man Thing was a seminal comic. It was so unlike anything else Marvel or DC was publishing in terms of content. (Swampthing was a more straight forward book)
Each month we waited just to see what the hëll Steve Gerber was going to do in that book. The closest thing I can think of is the Spirit, where the main character is only a means to tell a story.
The book was not about the Man Thing, it was about the mind of Steve Gerber.
I seem to remember that Gerber had a major falling out in the seventies, at which point he left Marvel, but I was never really sure if it was because of his ongoing crusade for ownership or Howard, or for creator’s rights in general, or if there were other issues involved. I’m just curious if anybody who was around the time would be able to clarify the situation.
I wasn’t a working professional in the industry in the 1970s, so I have no inside knowledge to contribute. My guess is that Evanier would know because–well–he knows everything. Merely mentioning his name will likely cause him to show up. Although, just to make sure:
Mark Evanier.
Mark Evanier.
Mark Evanier.
PAD
His long stint on The Defenders was wildly creative and hugely fun (who else would creative an elf with a gun as a running story thread only to end it in a ridiculously anticlimactic fashion once he got his readers all riled up?
I agree that Gerber’s run on The Defenders was brilliant (and I was very sad when he was abruptly yanked off it). But while it was Gerber who started the tantalizing elf sub-plot, I’m pretty sure it was someone else who finished it in the anti-climactic way you mentioned.
My guess is that no one had any clue how to wrap up (or even continue) the elf sub-plot, and so one of the more creative writers to follow Gerber — Roger Stern, perhaps? — came up with something they thought wasn’t too far from his style. It didn’t take, and so some years later J. M. DeMatteis came up with a different continuation of the elf sub-plot. Neither attempt to wrap the elf story up was satisfying, and I’ve always wished that Gerber could return and continue the story himself. That seems rather unlikely to happen now.
I’m very sorry to hear that Steve Gerber has died. He deserved a long and happy life, in return for all the wonderful stories he wrote. Alas, the universe doesn’t seem to work that way.
People have mentioned his Marvel work (Defenders, Howard, Man-Thing, etc.), and his animation work, but his work for DC deserves remembrance and praise as well. His issue of the Metal Men revival, “Evil Is In The Eye of the Beholder” (issue # 45, April-May 1976), is one of my all-time favorite comics. And his issues of Mr. Miracle (where, as with the Defenders, he took over as writer following Steve Englehart) are also brilliant — indeed, they are my favorite take on the character, and I wish the series could have continued longer as Gerber was just getting warmed up when the series was cancelled.
There were rumors at one point (the 1980s?) that Gerber might take over as the new Wonder Woman writer, and I recall being very excited by that possibility. Alas, it never came about.
And now Steve Gerber is dead. And those of us who are still waiting, 30 years later, to find out what he would have done with the elf sub-plot will probably never know.
I’ve also always wondered what he had in mind for Omega the Unknown. Like the elf sub-plot, the Omega story-line was wrapped up by someone other than Gerber — and in a way which never really satisfied me as being true to what Gerber had in mind.
Steve Gerber always had a wonderfully twisted sense of humor. That’s one of the things I enjoyed most about his writing. Perhaps some day he’ll show up in Bete Noir, sit at a table in Furors, and have a good laugh as he remembers the stories he never got to finish and the fans who are still waiting to hear the end of them.
Hmmm. I guess Furors isn’t really that kind of bar. Well, maybe Munden’s, then. Just as long as Gerber shows up somewhere. The thought that he’s really gone is hard to take.
Nova, thanks for pointing out the resolution of the Elf storyline; obviously one’s memory plays a few tricks after a couple of decades. And I agree about Omega; I was convinced there was some really cool stuff in the offing and I’m sorry that we never got a chance to see it. I wonder if that was why Gerber so vehemently against somebody else reviving his character. Guess we’ll never know.
I seem to remember that Gerber had a major falling out in the seventies, at which point he left Marvel, but I was never really sure if it was because of his ongoing crusade for ownership or Howard, or for creator’s rights in general, or if there were other issues involved. I’m just curious if anybody who was around the time would be able to clarify the situation.
I recall that The Comics Journal did a cover story and interview with Steve Gerber concerning that. I don’t have the issues at hand, but from a quick Google search it appears to be issue # 41, August 1978. The cover text read (as best as I can recall): “Fired from Marvel and duckless, Steve Gerber speaks out.”
Back then TCJ was a lively and entertaining magazine, and they did a good job of covering this story; I recommend picking up a copy of this issue (if it’s available cheaply) to those who are curious to learn more about why and how Gerber was pushed out.
As I recall it, Howard the Duck had become quite popular, to the point that he even had a newspaper strip. There were some disagreements between Gerber and Marvel over the newspaper strip, with Gerber being replaced as writer on it — which I think preceded his being fired from Marvel, but was one of the flashpoints leading to it. Essentially, Howard the Duck had become a valuable property, especially after it had been optioned by Spielberg, and when Gerber asked for a fair share he was unceremoniously shown the door and pushed through it. It happened very abruptly, so that there was no time for him to wrap up the story-lines he was working on, or even do much in the way of a smooth transition, on the books he was handling.
… thanks for pointing out the resolution of the Elf storyline
You’re welcome.
… obviously one’s memory plays a few tricks after a couple of decades.
Too true! I can’t believe how much stuff I misremember these days. (That’s why I usually stick an “as I recall” or two onto any attempts I make to describe things I think I remember.)
And I agree about Omega; I was convinced there was some really cool stuff in the offing and I’m sorry that we never got a chance to see it. I wonder if that was why Gerber so vehemently against somebody else reviving his character. Guess we’ll never know.
I think you’re right about why Gerber didn’t want other people writing the character. But you may be wrong about our never knowing what he had in mind.
As I recall (there’s that phrase again), Gerber co-created the Omega series with Mary Skrenes, so she likely knows what the two of them had in mind. It’s not especially likely that Marvel will ever hire her to finish the book off in the way she and Gerber originally intended, but it doesn’t hurt to dream.
I’m sorry to hear of Steve Gerber’s death. As a writer and story editor, he worked on some of my favourite cartoons when I was a kid – “Dungeons & Dragons,” “G.I. Joe,” “Transformers” (although I am a little curious – these shows were all produced by Marvel Entertainment Group, the cartoon division of Marvel. How did Steve end up working for Marvel in the early 80s after they had unceremoniously pushed him out in 1979?)
Mark Evanier has written an obituary for Steve Gerber on his blog:
I never cottoned to Gerber’s Defenders, simply because I loved Valkyrie as a character and he had very little interest in using her (always sidelining her one way or another). I think I may have to go back and look at them again sometime to judge the actual writing.
But I’m not so sure he didn’t kill off the elf–a later writer did do stuff with the elf to rationalize and make sense of it, maybe that’s the finish people are thinking of? Though I can’t swear to it.
Having worked through the Essential Howard last year I was impressed that even when the satire fell flat, the tongue-in-cheek adventure and the characters worked marvelously. And of course, at the time it came out, political satire of that sort was something I’d never seen in mainstream comics–that still impresses me.
Omega the Unknown, always interesting. Son of Satan ditto.
Oh, and A. Bizarro the series he did for DC a few years ago. It gave me great pleasure to read that and learn he hadn’t lost his ability to write with a skewed sense of humor.
Posted by: Fraser
Having worked through the Essential Howard last year I was impressed that even when the satire fell flat, the tongue-in-cheek adventure and the characters worked marvelously. And of course, at the time it came out, political satire of that sort was something I’d never seen in mainstream comics–that still impresses me.
Being probably a tad older than thou, i would compare “Howard the Duck”‘s political satire to that of Walt Kelly’s “Pogo”, though (no disrespect to Steve Gerber) not so sophisticated or (often) vicious.
After all, “Howard” didn’t, to the best of my knowledge, gift us with a new (and very apt) catchphrase, as did “Pogo”:
We have met the Enemy, and he is Us.
originally posted by Fraser: “I never cottoned to Gerber’s Defenders, simply because I loved Valkyrie as a character and he had very little interest in using her…
That’s an interesting example of two people having an almost opposite reaction. Gerber took over the Defenders comic from Steve Englehart, and I was a big Steve Englehart fan so I was prepared to dislike the new guy. Gerber’s treatment of Valkyrie was one of the things which quickly won me over to his writing on Defenders.
Englehart’s take on Valkyrie was to give her a crush on the then-statuified Black Knight — which I enjoyed when Englehart was writing the book, simply because I wanted to see more female characters in comics and this was at least putting a female character in the spotlight. But once Gerber took over and began going in other directions with the character, I realized how much better I liked Gerber’s take. Instead of defining a female character in terms of which male character she had a crush on — which was SOP at Marvel and DC back then — he defined Valkyrie in her own terms. What Gerber did with her may not seem noteworthy today but it was ground-breaking back then.
My memory is of Valkyrie being one of the strongest characters in the book while Gerber was writing it — which was one reason I was so disappointed when Gerber was yanked off the book and others took over. (Memo to self: I have to dig those issues up and re-read them soon, to see if they’re still as good as I remember.)
“But I’m not so sure he didn’t kill off the elf–a later writer did do stuff with the elf to rationalize and make sense of it, maybe that’s the finish people are thinking of? Though I can’t swear to it.”
There were two finishes to the elf story-line. I was trying to avoid being too specific in my previous post, since I didn’t want to spoil the story and don’t know how to do spoiler tags here. But here is a more detailed account of how Marvel wrapped up the story. Anyone who doesn’t want to read these details, please skip the next 6 paragraphs.
Gerber had a continuing sub-plot where this elf would pop up unexpectedly in the lives of characters we had never met before and abruptly (and for no apparent reason) shoot them. This seemed to have no connection to anything else that was going on in the book. The elf’s never met or interacted with any of the continuing character’s in the book. He seemed to be moving across the country, and it was assumed there was a reason why he was showing up at these different locales but no one had a clue what that reason was.
For the first few issues after Gerber was taken off the book, the new writer(s) ignored this sub-plot. Fans who had been intrigued by the elf and who were dying to know what had been going on wrote in, begging for the sub-plot to be continued. Marvel obliged; in the what to look forward to next month box at the end of the letter-column, it was announced that the elf sub-plot would return in the next issue…
And he did — SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!! — although in extremely frustrating fashion. The elf showed up, the way he had in past issues, and was walking along a road when he was hit unexpectedly by a car and killed.
That was it! No explanation of who he was, what he’d been doing, or why. — END OF FIRST SPOILER.
Fans howled, but Marvel pretty much ignored them and soon people gave up. I think people eventually realized that only Gerber could wrap up the elf story properly, and that he wasn’t going to be able to since he’d been fired so there was no point demanding what we couldn’t have.
Several years later, J. M. DeMatteis was given the Defenders book, and he did a storyline which brought the elf back and created an explanation of who he was and what he’d been doing. I never cared for that story, so have only vague memories of it, but essentially — SPOILER # 2 — the elf was the servant of some tribunal which conducted HUAC-like hearings — END SECOND SPOILER.
PS: I vaguely recall having read an interview with Gerber in which he indicated he himself had no idea where he was going with the elf sub-plot — that he was trying to include something the artist he was working with would enjoy drawing, since the artist wasn’t crazy about the main story-line, and the elf scenes were what he came up with. I can’t think of where I read that, though. Does anyone else recall ever reading something like that?
I am stunned. I loved “Howard The Duck” and the action figure of Howard (which came packaged with the Silver Surfer a few years back) sits on a shelf above the very computer I’m using to write these words. A bit of my youth has died.
A few posts up the page I mentioned that TCJ # 41 had extensive coverage of Gerber’s forced departure from Marvel in 1978. Here is an excerpt from a letter by Steve Gerber which appeared in that issue (as quoted over at The Comics Reporter web site):
“In a letter that appeared in The Comics Journal #41, Gerber explained [the situation]: ‘I was dismissed from the Howard the Duck newspaper strip in a manner which violated the terms of my written agreement with Marvel. Marvel was advised that I was contemplating legal action which would likely result in my ownership of the Howard the Duck character and all rights therein. As a consequence of the notice given Marvel by my lawyers, the company chose to terminate my contract on the comic books as well. Marvel’s action was not unanticipated, and my only regret is that, for a while at least, the Duck and I will be traveling separate paths.'”
Nova, thanks for clarifying on the fate of the elf.
I never thought of Valkyrie’s crush on the Black Knight as the core of her character under Englehart: What struck me was that she was strongminded and frequently angry in much the same way male comics characters are strongminded and frequently angry (as opposed to women characters who either never got mad or just had little Lois Lane-style hissy fits).
Under Gerber, after the first couple of issues, I don’t remember him doing much with her at all. And he established the idea she was magically hindered from striking women (in her first appearance with the team Val had said she couldn’t hit a woman, but given her personality I took it as a form of solidarity rather than an actual inability), then kept throwing her against alien women, robot women, human women with the enthusiasm of throwing kryptonite against Superman, so she was rarely effective in combat.
I never met the guy, but his writing touched my life. Howard the Duck was amazing. The first HtD story I read appeared in a Giant Size Man-Thing, weird scene about vampire cows. Blew my mind.
Gerber used HtD (#21) to trash-satire conservative culture icon Anita Bryant’s standing for traditional virtue. (In a later work, Stewart the Rat, the protagonist really came out of the closet.)
page 27 – panels 2-5
Soofi: “I believe in the justness of the Soofi cause. The idea of the Blanditron came to me in — a vision. The Almighty appeared to me on Miami Beach, and instructed me to carry the prevailing community standards of Dade County to the whole world.”
Howard the Duck: “*Heh* Great kidder, that guy — ! *Ulp*”
Soofi: “‘Decency isn’t just for breakfast anymore,’ He said!”
Howard the Duck: “He said that??”
Soofi: “Yes! And then handed me the schematics for the Blanditron. Would you question the good Lord’s judgement, fowl?”
Howard the Duck: “Nuh-uh — ‘Specially if He sued ya for slander!”
Page 31 – panels 4-5 Howard goes through (the wash cycle?) of the Blanditron, which looks like a washing machine.
Soofi: “There now — Was that so bad? You’ve been reborn, duck! Rejoice — and come out smiling!”
Howard the Duck: [punches Soofi, breaking her mask] “You should’a used a pre-soak, chum. I’m the same duck I always was — ‘Cept maybe nastier.”
Soofi: “B-but … I can’t have failed … not with HIM on my side.”
Howard the Duck: “Holy crud … You’re a female hairless ape … an’ I know that face, but …!
Soofi: “And what’s a girl from the Sunshine state doing in the trenches, you ask?”
Howard the Duck: “Skip it, Sweets! I’d rather not — “
Soofi: “No!! Don’t go! Please! I need you! A day without imposing my morality on someone else is like a day without — Well, you know!”
Howard the Duck: “In that case, Hon, you just keep on tryin’ — an’ I’ll just keep on resistin’ — an’ we’ll both have a lotta cloudy days ahead. *Waaaugh*”
End
Here we have a story that deals with, among other things, the topic of conversion. What!? Amazing!
In using HtD to engage controversial current events in a partisan way, Gerber was closer to the feel of underground comics (aka head comix) than mainstream comics. But there he was, appearing in mainstream comics.
Gerber’s was a unique voice.
R.I.P.
Hmmmm. I can honestly say that one of the reasons why I still read comics at my advancing middle aged years is due to writers like Steve Gerber. As I hit my teen-age years, Marvel started to have comic writers that took their writings to the next level: Steve Englehart, Don McGregor and Steve Gerber. When I should have been giving up on comics in favor of spending my money on other items, these three writers kept me buying.
Gerber was amazing in those days, Man Thing, Defenders, Howard the Duck, on and on. The great thing about Gerber was that he could still type up a classic. HARD TIMES was brilliant.
His recent COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY gave a look at the inner redemption of a soul in pain.
He will be missed.
I must confess I didn’t know he was ill.
The industry has lost another great at far too early an age. My sincerest condolences to his family, friends, and co-workers.
David, I see the Soofi story as a good example of Gerber’s talent, but in a different way: It’s still an entertaining read today, and I think would be for someone way younger than us, even though they’d have no idea what the hëll the story is satirizing (Anita Bryant having been consigned the dustbin of history).
The way some parodies live on when their prototypes are forgotten has fascinated me for a long time.
Regarding a comment I made up above, when I said I hadn’t seen satire in the comics before, I meant comic books–I know Pogo preceded Howard by a long time in the strips.
Posted by: Fraser AM
David, I see the Soofi story as a good example of Gerber’s talent, but in a different way: It’s still an entertaining read today, and I think would be for someone way younger than us, even though they’d have no idea what the hëll the story is satirizing (Anita Bryant having been consigned the dustbin of history).
I find that much of “Pogo” (which i mentioned earlier) functions that way.
The way some parodies live on when their prototypes are forgotten has fascinated me for a long time.
Like most of “Alice in Wonderland” – i suspect that the only reason anyone much today remembers a piece of moralising Victorian tripe entitled “The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them” (or something like that) because Carroll parodied it as “You Are Old, Father William”.
Regarding a comment I made up above, when I said I hadn’t seen satire in the comics before, I meant comic books–I know Pogo preceded Howard by a long time in the strips.
Sorry; it’s sometimes a little hard to tell whether someone is one of the (unfortunately large) part of the fan crowd who thinks that he history of comics begins about thirty-two minutes before he discovered them…
David: “Sorry; it’s sometimes a little hard to tell whether someone is one of the (unfortunately large) part of the fan crowd who thinks that he history of comics begins about thirty-two minutes before he discovered them…”
Understood, and yes.
You’re right, Carroll’s mockeries of then-contemporary, now-forgotten moralizing poetry are a good example of what I meant.
Another example is Monty Python’s “Attila the Hun Show.” It’s funny even for people who don’t recognize it as specifically parodying the Debbie Reynolds Show from the early seventies (and the nonrecognition factor is probably about 99 percent, I suspect).
When I was a kid just beginning my lifelong love affair with comics, Steve Gerber was the first writer I really discovered. I started buying everything he wrote—not for the character or the story but because Steve wrote it.
My favorite issue of Howard the Duck? #16, “The Deadline Doom.” I consider it one of the finest—if not *the* finest—comics on the 70s. Hëll, it’s one of the finest comics of the 20th Century.
I was reading the second issue NEVADA when I realized that the main character debuted in the obligatory fight scene in HTB #16. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
I was going to pick up the Essential HTD but decided to wait for the HTD hardcover Omnibus (which has just been delayed until summer, hopefully to include a better tribute to this groundbreaking author)
Posted by Fraser
Another example is Monty Python’s “Attila the Hun Show.” It’s funny even for people who don’t recognize it as specifically parodying the Debbie Reynolds Show from the early seventies (and the nonrecognition factor is probably about 99 percent, I suspect).
Heck, *I* wouldn’t recognise it – and i was *there* during the 70s
• 
oh no.
I have no words.
What??? What the hëll?
I had no idea he was this ill. 60 is too young.
Gerber was at his peak just about the time I seriously got into comics. He was one of the first writers I learned to look for when perusing issues on the racks and -probably my first hint that there could be something more to this comic book stuff than just slugfests.
So, so sorry to hear this.
Crap.
I knew he was in bad shape, but not this bad.
I was enjoying his Dr. Fate…
I mainly discovered Gerber through the Essential volumes. I bought Essential Howard the Duck on a lark and loved it. Similarly, I picked up the first two volumes of Essential Defenders at sales or with Christmas money and, when I finally decided to read volume 1, I devoured it and immediately moved on to volume 2. I think most of his stuff was in volume 2 (issue numbers aren’t coming to mind) but I was so thrilled with it, especially his issues, I ordered volume 3. Before starting that though, I’ve currently been reading Essential Marvel Two-in-One, which Gerber wrote the first nine issues of, and I loved them and his portrayal of Ben Grimm as the grumpy hero he is. As a child of the ’80s and a reader first of Essentials from the ’60s or the late ’70s, early ’80s X-Men, I’m just beginning to tap into the brilliance of ’70s Marvel, and Steve Gerber is one of the reasons I love it so much.
Thanks, Mr. Gerber.
My prayers to his family and friends.
“Plants are like people. Writers are like plants. Therefore, and this may come as a surprise, writers are like people. Given them light, water, nourishment, a comfortable pot and an encouraging world and they’ll grow.”
–Steve Gerber; Howard the Duck #16
Well said, Steve. Rest in peace. 😉
1
So sad
Such a terrific talent
Such a terrific loss
So glad I quit smoking
This is so horrible. Loved his Defenders especially. RIP. Steve.
I always wanted to talk to him, in person or in a phone interview. But he didn’t do that, and he didn’t go to conventions. I was curious about his early life. He attended Saint Louis University, as I did. Why would a Jew attend a Catholic university, run by priests, unless he was masochistic? I guess I’ll never know.
I know this; I had fun selling the issues of Son of Satan where his “Gateway U” was actually a drawing of Saint Louis U’s communications building, and the demon and the janitor were the department’s professors.
For years, whenever I read anything by Gerber, I thought and often said that he was determined to suicide. He apparently did that, by smoking like a chimney (as my father did), and committing suicide slowly and painfully.
I really liked his work. He was cynical but funny, and somehow he found a very human take on every situation. One of my favorites in animation; an episode of the Superman animated series that ran a few nights ago on Disney Channel, with the warrior queen Maxima. He was explaining to the insistent marriage-driven queen that men and women should respect one another. An old Bronx woman, eavesdropping on this, said “What planet is HE from?”
Much as I liked his work, I winced at the self-hatred within it. God knows I suffered from a lot of that myself, and it took me years to dig myself out of that pit. But it looks like the pit swallowed him.
I always wanted to talk to him, in person or in a phone interview. But he didn’t do that, and he didn’t go to conventions. I was curious about his early life. He attended Saint Louis University, as I did. Why would a Jew attend a Catholic university, run by priests, unless he was masochistic? I guess I’ll never know.
I know this; I had fun selling the issues of Son of Satan where his “Gateway U” was actually a drawing of Saint Louis U’s communications building, and the demon and the janitor were the department’s professors.
For years, whenever I read anything by Gerber, I thought and often said that he was determined to suicide. He apparently did that, by smoking like a chimney (as my father did), and committing suicide slowly and painfully.
I really liked his work. He was cynical but funny, and somehow he found a very human take on every situation. One of my favorites in animation; an episode of the Superman animated series that ran a few nights ago on Disney Channel, with the warrior queen Maxima. He was explaining to the insistent marriage-driven queen that men and women should respect one another. An old Bronx woman, eavesdropping on this, said “What planet is HE from?”
Much as I liked his work, I winced at the self-hatred within it. God knows I suffered from a lot of that myself, and it took me years to dig myself out of that pit. But it looks like the pit swallowed him.
I always wanted to talk to him, in person or in a phone interview. But he didn’t do that, and he didn’t go to conventions. I was curious about his early life. He attended Saint Louis University, as I did. Why would a Jew attend a Catholic university, run by priests, unless he was masochistic? I guess I’ll never know.
I know this; I had fun selling the issues of Son of Satan where his “Gateway U” was actually a drawing of Saint Louis U’s communications building, and the demon and the janitor were the department’s professors.
For years, whenever I read anything by Gerber, I thought and often said that he was determined to suicide. He apparently did that, by smoking like a chimney (as my father did), and committing suicide slowly and painfully.
I really liked his work. He was cynical but funny, and somehow he found a very human take on every situation. One of my favorites in animation; an episode of the Superman animated series that ran a few nights ago on Disney Channel, with the warrior queen Maxima. He was explaining to the insistent marriage-driven queen that men and women should respect one another. An old Bronx woman, eavesdropping on this, said “What planet is HE from?”
Much as I liked his work, I winced at the self-hatred within it. God knows I suffered from a lot of that myself, and it took me years to dig myself out of that pit. But it looks like the pit swallowed him.
I lost a big portion of my hearing when I was about 13. I felt, well trapped in a world I never made. By reading Howard the Duck– I realized I wasn’t alone. We all are.
Well, this just sucks.
I read very little of Gerber’s stuff back when he first wrote it, but (like an earlier poster) I’m discovering a lot of it now through the Essential volumes. Ðámņ, there was a lot of creativity there.
This may call for a 21-elf salute.
Regardless, he will be much missed.
TWL
Something most people forget, Gerber created Thundarr the Barbarian, which, as any male, mid-to-late 30 year old can tell you, was THE cartoon back in the 80’s.
If there isn’t a HOWARD THE DUCK tribute issue, I’ll be very disappointed in Marvel.
Marvel tried to screw Gerber over the rights to Howard, fat chance of seeing a tribute, in my opinion.
I think Marvel is a different beast today then what it was back then. Though it would be very cool to have a tribute book.
When people talk about how poor 1970’s comics were, they sure weren’t talking about Gerber’s stuff.
And where else but in a Gerber comic could you see a cute deer shooting flames out of its nose?
RIP.
Posted by BBayliss
Marvel tried to screw Gerber over the rights to Howard, fat chance of seeing a tribute, in my opinion.
May i refer you to the lyric from Shel Silverstein’s wonderfully sardonic “(Nashville is) Rough on the Livin’ (But Surely Speaks Well of the Dead)”:
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Never trust one of those song lyric sites 100% – they’r epsoting what someone *thought* he heard.
“the wife that they interviewed cried”
should read
“the wife that they interviewed cryin'”
Huh. Making funny jokes in the “name” linse triggers moderation?
I got to be a friend and colleague with my comics hero. Thanks for that little miracle, Steve.
Len Strazewski
I _grew up_ on Gerber’s comics. The very first comic books I ever read were an issue of Captain Marvel and an issue of The Defenders with them versus Scorpio. I also read Howard The Duck when I was just a sprout.
His work was weird and bizarre and always interesting. Much like the late Dave Cockrum and the late John Buscema, he was one of a kind. 🙁
Some years back, I sold off most of my comic book collection, keeping just a small number of the books I really liked. Now that I go back through my mental inventory, a fair number of those titles were written by Steve Gerber. His long stint on The Defenders was wildly creative and hugely fun (who else would creative an elf with a gun as a running story thread only to end it in a ridiculously anticlimactic fashion once he got his readers all riled up? I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy and Omega the Unknown, both of which should have gone on much longer.
But it was Man Thing and Howard the Duck that really grabbed me as a teenager. I loved the satire of Howard, which by the way also featured some gorgeous artwork and I can still remember how quickly those early issues sold out, long before the days when speculators moved in and ruined the collectors market. I can only guess how upset Gerber was by the film version, which was beyond awful.
And Man Thing? Despite the most unintentionally perverse title in comics(with the possible exception of Giant Size Man Thing of course) each issue blew me away. The book was totally unlike anything on the market at the time and to some extent, still is even today. I can still remember his ‘Song Cry of the Living Dead Man’ (I hope I got the title right; it’s been a long time since I read it) where Gerber wrote an entire diary in text form right in the middle of his story!
Finally, this is a question for Peter or any of the other industry professionals that were around at the time if they choose to address it. I seem to remember that Gerber had a major falling out in the seventies, at which point he left Marvel, but I was never really sure if it was because of his ongoing crusade for ownership or Howard, or for creator’s rights in general, or if there were other issues involved. I’m just curious if anybody who was around the time would be able to clarify the situation.
Howard was always engaing, even when the humor was hit and miss, the “humanity” of the character always kept the story alive.
And Man Thing, well Man Thing was a seminal comic. It was so unlike anything else Marvel or DC was publishing in terms of content. (Swampthing was a more straight forward book)
Each month we waited just to see what the hëll Steve Gerber was going to do in that book. The closest thing I can think of is the Spirit, where the main character is only a means to tell a story.
The book was not about the Man Thing, it was about the mind of Steve Gerber.
I seem to remember that Gerber had a major falling out in the seventies, at which point he left Marvel, but I was never really sure if it was because of his ongoing crusade for ownership or Howard, or for creator’s rights in general, or if there were other issues involved. I’m just curious if anybody who was around the time would be able to clarify the situation.
I wasn’t a working professional in the industry in the 1970s, so I have no inside knowledge to contribute. My guess is that Evanier would know because–well–he knows everything. Merely mentioning his name will likely cause him to show up. Although, just to make sure:
Mark Evanier.
Mark Evanier.
Mark Evanier.
PAD
His long stint on The Defenders was wildly creative and hugely fun (who else would creative an elf with a gun as a running story thread only to end it in a ridiculously anticlimactic fashion once he got his readers all riled up?
I agree that Gerber’s run on The Defenders was brilliant (and I was very sad when he was abruptly yanked off it). But while it was Gerber who started the tantalizing elf sub-plot, I’m pretty sure it was someone else who finished it in the anti-climactic way you mentioned.
My guess is that no one had any clue how to wrap up (or even continue) the elf sub-plot, and so one of the more creative writers to follow Gerber — Roger Stern, perhaps? — came up with something they thought wasn’t too far from his style. It didn’t take, and so some years later J. M. DeMatteis came up with a different continuation of the elf sub-plot. Neither attempt to wrap the elf story up was satisfying, and I’ve always wished that Gerber could return and continue the story himself. That seems rather unlikely to happen now.
I’m very sorry to hear that Steve Gerber has died. He deserved a long and happy life, in return for all the wonderful stories he wrote. Alas, the universe doesn’t seem to work that way.
People have mentioned his Marvel work (Defenders, Howard, Man-Thing, etc.), and his animation work, but his work for DC deserves remembrance and praise as well. His issue of the Metal Men revival, “Evil Is In The Eye of the Beholder” (issue # 45, April-May 1976), is one of my all-time favorite comics. And his issues of Mr. Miracle (where, as with the Defenders, he took over as writer following Steve Englehart) are also brilliant — indeed, they are my favorite take on the character, and I wish the series could have continued longer as Gerber was just getting warmed up when the series was cancelled.
There were rumors at one point (the 1980s?) that Gerber might take over as the new Wonder Woman writer, and I recall being very excited by that possibility. Alas, it never came about.
And now Steve Gerber is dead. And those of us who are still waiting, 30 years later, to find out what he would have done with the elf sub-plot will probably never know.
I’ve also always wondered what he had in mind for Omega the Unknown. Like the elf sub-plot, the Omega story-line was wrapped up by someone other than Gerber — and in a way which never really satisfied me as being true to what Gerber had in mind.
Steve Gerber always had a wonderfully twisted sense of humor. That’s one of the things I enjoyed most about his writing. Perhaps some day he’ll show up in Bete Noir, sit at a table in Furors, and have a good laugh as he remembers the stories he never got to finish and the fans who are still waiting to hear the end of them.
Hmmm. I guess Furors isn’t really that kind of bar. Well, maybe Munden’s, then. Just as long as Gerber shows up somewhere. The thought that he’s really gone is hard to take.
Nova, thanks for pointing out the resolution of the Elf storyline; obviously one’s memory plays a few tricks after a couple of decades. And I agree about Omega; I was convinced there was some really cool stuff in the offing and I’m sorry that we never got a chance to see it. I wonder if that was why Gerber so vehemently against somebody else reviving his character. Guess we’ll never know.
I seem to remember that Gerber had a major falling out in the seventies, at which point he left Marvel, but I was never really sure if it was because of his ongoing crusade for ownership or Howard, or for creator’s rights in general, or if there were other issues involved. I’m just curious if anybody who was around the time would be able to clarify the situation.
I recall that The Comics Journal did a cover story and interview with Steve Gerber concerning that. I don’t have the issues at hand, but from a quick Google search it appears to be issue # 41, August 1978. The cover text read (as best as I can recall): “Fired from Marvel and duckless, Steve Gerber speaks out.”
Back then TCJ was a lively and entertaining magazine, and they did a good job of covering this story; I recommend picking up a copy of this issue (if it’s available cheaply) to those who are curious to learn more about why and how Gerber was pushed out.
As I recall it, Howard the Duck had become quite popular, to the point that he even had a newspaper strip. There were some disagreements between Gerber and Marvel over the newspaper strip, with Gerber being replaced as writer on it — which I think preceded his being fired from Marvel, but was one of the flashpoints leading to it. Essentially, Howard the Duck had become a valuable property, especially after it had been optioned by Spielberg, and when Gerber asked for a fair share he was unceremoniously shown the door and pushed through it. It happened very abruptly, so that there was no time for him to wrap up the story-lines he was working on, or even do much in the way of a smooth transition, on the books he was handling.
… thanks for pointing out the resolution of the Elf storyline
You’re welcome.
… obviously one’s memory plays a few tricks after a couple of decades.
Too true! I can’t believe how much stuff I misremember these days. (That’s why I usually stick an “as I recall” or two onto any attempts I make to describe things I think I remember.)
And I agree about Omega; I was convinced there was some really cool stuff in the offing and I’m sorry that we never got a chance to see it. I wonder if that was why Gerber so vehemently against somebody else reviving his character. Guess we’ll never know.
I think you’re right about why Gerber didn’t want other people writing the character. But you may be wrong about our never knowing what he had in mind.
As I recall (there’s that phrase again), Gerber co-created the Omega series with Mary Skrenes, so she likely knows what the two of them had in mind. It’s not especially likely that Marvel will ever hire her to finish the book off in the way she and Gerber originally intended, but it doesn’t hurt to dream.
I’m sorry to hear of Steve Gerber’s death. As a writer and story editor, he worked on some of my favourite cartoons when I was a kid – “Dungeons & Dragons,” “G.I. Joe,” “Transformers” (although I am a little curious – these shows were all produced by Marvel Entertainment Group, the cartoon division of Marvel. How did Steve end up working for Marvel in the early 80s after they had unceremoniously pushed him out in 1979?)
Mark Evanier has written an obituary for Steve Gerber on his blog:
http://www.newsfromme.com/
I never cottoned to Gerber’s Defenders, simply because I loved Valkyrie as a character and he had very little interest in using her (always sidelining her one way or another). I think I may have to go back and look at them again sometime to judge the actual writing.
But I’m not so sure he didn’t kill off the elf–a later writer did do stuff with the elf to rationalize and make sense of it, maybe that’s the finish people are thinking of? Though I can’t swear to it.
Having worked through the Essential Howard last year I was impressed that even when the satire fell flat, the tongue-in-cheek adventure and the characters worked marvelously. And of course, at the time it came out, political satire of that sort was something I’d never seen in mainstream comics–that still impresses me.
Omega the Unknown, always interesting. Son of Satan ditto.
Oh, and A. Bizarro the series he did for DC a few years ago. It gave me great pleasure to read that and learn he hadn’t lost his ability to write with a skewed sense of humor.
Posted by: Fraser
Having worked through the Essential Howard last year I was impressed that even when the satire fell flat, the tongue-in-cheek adventure and the characters worked marvelously. And of course, at the time it came out, political satire of that sort was something I’d never seen in mainstream comics–that still impresses me.
Being probably a tad older than thou, i would compare “Howard the Duck”‘s political satire to that of Walt Kelly’s “Pogo”, though (no disrespect to Steve Gerber) not so sophisticated or (often) vicious.
After all, “Howard” didn’t, to the best of my knowledge, gift us with a new (and very apt) catchphrase, as did “Pogo”:
We have met the Enemy, and he is Us.
originally posted by Fraser: “I never cottoned to Gerber’s Defenders, simply because I loved Valkyrie as a character and he had very little interest in using her…
That’s an interesting example of two people having an almost opposite reaction. Gerber took over the Defenders comic from Steve Englehart, and I was a big Steve Englehart fan so I was prepared to dislike the new guy. Gerber’s treatment of Valkyrie was one of the things which quickly won me over to his writing on Defenders.
Englehart’s take on Valkyrie was to give her a crush on the then-statuified Black Knight — which I enjoyed when Englehart was writing the book, simply because I wanted to see more female characters in comics and this was at least putting a female character in the spotlight. But once Gerber took over and began going in other directions with the character, I realized how much better I liked Gerber’s take. Instead of defining a female character in terms of which male character she had a crush on — which was SOP at Marvel and DC back then — he defined Valkyrie in her own terms. What Gerber did with her may not seem noteworthy today but it was ground-breaking back then.
My memory is of Valkyrie being one of the strongest characters in the book while Gerber was writing it — which was one reason I was so disappointed when Gerber was yanked off the book and others took over. (Memo to self: I have to dig those issues up and re-read them soon, to see if they’re still as good as I remember.)
“But I’m not so sure he didn’t kill off the elf–a later writer did do stuff with the elf to rationalize and make sense of it, maybe that’s the finish people are thinking of? Though I can’t swear to it.”
There were two finishes to the elf story-line. I was trying to avoid being too specific in my previous post, since I didn’t want to spoil the story and don’t know how to do spoiler tags here. But here is a more detailed account of how Marvel wrapped up the story. Anyone who doesn’t want to read these details, please skip the next 6 paragraphs.
Gerber had a continuing sub-plot where this elf would pop up unexpectedly in the lives of characters we had never met before and abruptly (and for no apparent reason) shoot them. This seemed to have no connection to anything else that was going on in the book. The elf’s never met or interacted with any of the continuing character’s in the book. He seemed to be moving across the country, and it was assumed there was a reason why he was showing up at these different locales but no one had a clue what that reason was.
For the first few issues after Gerber was taken off the book, the new writer(s) ignored this sub-plot. Fans who had been intrigued by the elf and who were dying to know what had been going on wrote in, begging for the sub-plot to be continued. Marvel obliged; in the what to look forward to next month box at the end of the letter-column, it was announced that the elf sub-plot would return in the next issue…
And he did — SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!! — although in extremely frustrating fashion. The elf showed up, the way he had in past issues, and was walking along a road when he was hit unexpectedly by a car and killed.
That was it! No explanation of who he was, what he’d been doing, or why. — END OF FIRST SPOILER.
Fans howled, but Marvel pretty much ignored them and soon people gave up. I think people eventually realized that only Gerber could wrap up the elf story properly, and that he wasn’t going to be able to since he’d been fired so there was no point demanding what we couldn’t have.
Several years later, J. M. DeMatteis was given the Defenders book, and he did a storyline which brought the elf back and created an explanation of who he was and what he’d been doing. I never cared for that story, so have only vague memories of it, but essentially — SPOILER # 2 — the elf was the servant of some tribunal which conducted HUAC-like hearings — END SECOND SPOILER.
PS: I vaguely recall having read an interview with Gerber in which he indicated he himself had no idea where he was going with the elf sub-plot — that he was trying to include something the artist he was working with would enjoy drawing, since the artist wasn’t crazy about the main story-line, and the elf scenes were what he came up with. I can’t think of where I read that, though. Does anyone else recall ever reading something like that?
I am stunned. I loved “Howard The Duck” and the action figure of Howard (which came packaged with the Silver Surfer a few years back) sits on a shelf above the very computer I’m using to write these words. A bit of my youth has died.
A few posts up the page I mentioned that TCJ # 41 had extensive coverage of Gerber’s forced departure from Marvel in 1978. Here is an excerpt from a letter by Steve Gerber which appeared in that issue (as quoted over at The Comics Reporter web site):
“In a letter that appeared in The Comics Journal #41, Gerber explained [the situation]: ‘I was dismissed from the Howard the Duck newspaper strip in a manner which violated the terms of my written agreement with Marvel. Marvel was advised that I was contemplating legal action which would likely result in my ownership of the Howard the Duck character and all rights therein. As a consequence of the notice given Marvel by my lawyers, the company chose to terminate my contract on the comic books as well. Marvel’s action was not unanticipated, and my only regret is that, for a while at least, the Duck and I will be traveling separate paths.'”
Nova, thanks for clarifying on the fate of the elf.
I never thought of Valkyrie’s crush on the Black Knight as the core of her character under Englehart: What struck me was that she was strongminded and frequently angry in much the same way male comics characters are strongminded and frequently angry (as opposed to women characters who either never got mad or just had little Lois Lane-style hissy fits).
Under Gerber, after the first couple of issues, I don’t remember him doing much with her at all. And he established the idea she was magically hindered from striking women (in her first appearance with the team Val had said she couldn’t hit a woman, but given her personality I took it as a form of solidarity rather than an actual inability), then kept throwing her against alien women, robot women, human women with the enthusiasm of throwing kryptonite against Superman, so she was rarely effective in combat.
I never met the guy, but his writing touched my life. Howard the Duck was amazing. The first HtD story I read appeared in a Giant Size Man-Thing, weird scene about vampire cows. Blew my mind.
Gerber used HtD (#21) to trash-satire conservative culture icon Anita Bryant’s standing for traditional virtue. (In a later work, Stewart the Rat, the protagonist really came out of the closet.)
page 27 – panels 2-5
Soofi: “I believe in the justness of the Soofi cause. The idea of the Blanditron came to me in — a vision. The Almighty appeared to me on Miami Beach, and instructed me to carry the prevailing community standards of Dade County to the whole world.”
Howard the Duck: “*Heh* Great kidder, that guy — ! *Ulp*”
Soofi: “‘Decency isn’t just for breakfast anymore,’ He said!”
Howard the Duck: “He said that??”
Soofi: “Yes! And then handed me the schematics for the Blanditron. Would you question the good Lord’s judgement, fowl?”
Howard the Duck: “Nuh-uh — ‘Specially if He sued ya for slander!”
Page 31 – panels 4-5 Howard goes through (the wash cycle?) of the Blanditron, which looks like a washing machine.
Soofi: “There now — Was that so bad? You’ve been reborn, duck! Rejoice — and come out smiling!”
Howard the Duck: [punches Soofi, breaking her mask] “You should’a used a pre-soak, chum. I’m the same duck I always was — ‘Cept maybe nastier.”
Soofi: “B-but … I can’t have failed … not with HIM on my side.”
Howard the Duck: “Holy crud … You’re a female hairless ape … an’ I know that face, but …!
Soofi: “And what’s a girl from the Sunshine state doing in the trenches, you ask?”
Howard the Duck: “Skip it, Sweets! I’d rather not — “
Soofi: “No!! Don’t go! Please! I need you! A day without imposing my morality on someone else is like a day without — Well, you know!”
Howard the Duck: “In that case, Hon, you just keep on tryin’ — an’ I’ll just keep on resistin’ — an’ we’ll both have a lotta cloudy days ahead. *Waaaugh*”
End
Here we have a story that deals with, among other things, the topic of conversion. What!? Amazing!
In using HtD to engage controversial current events in a partisan way, Gerber was closer to the feel of underground comics (aka head comix) than mainstream comics. But there he was, appearing in mainstream comics.
Gerber’s was a unique voice.
R.I.P.
Hmmmm. I can honestly say that one of the reasons why I still read comics at my advancing middle aged years is due to writers like Steve Gerber. As I hit my teen-age years, Marvel started to have comic writers that took their writings to the next level: Steve Englehart, Don McGregor and Steve Gerber. When I should have been giving up on comics in favor of spending my money on other items, these three writers kept me buying.
Gerber was amazing in those days, Man Thing, Defenders, Howard the Duck, on and on. The great thing about Gerber was that he could still type up a classic. HARD TIMES was brilliant.
His recent COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY gave a look at the inner redemption of a soul in pain.
He will be missed.
I must confess I didn’t know he was ill.
The industry has lost another great at far too early an age. My sincerest condolences to his family, friends, and co-workers.
David, I see the Soofi story as a good example of Gerber’s talent, but in a different way: It’s still an entertaining read today, and I think would be for someone way younger than us, even though they’d have no idea what the hëll the story is satirizing (Anita Bryant having been consigned the dustbin of history).
The way some parodies live on when their prototypes are forgotten has fascinated me for a long time.
Regarding a comment I made up above, when I said I hadn’t seen satire in the comics before, I meant comic books–I know Pogo preceded Howard by a long time in the strips.
Posted by: Fraser AM
David, I see the Soofi story as a good example of Gerber’s talent, but in a different way: It’s still an entertaining read today, and I think would be for someone way younger than us, even though they’d have no idea what the hëll the story is satirizing (Anita Bryant having been consigned the dustbin of history).
I find that much of “Pogo” (which i mentioned earlier) functions that way.
The way some parodies live on when their prototypes are forgotten has fascinated me for a long time.
Like most of “Alice in Wonderland” – i suspect that the only reason anyone much today remembers a piece of moralising Victorian tripe entitled “The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them” (or something like that) because Carroll parodied it as “You Are Old, Father William”.
Regarding a comment I made up above, when I said I hadn’t seen satire in the comics before, I meant comic books–I know Pogo preceded Howard by a long time in the strips.
Sorry; it’s sometimes a little hard to tell whether someone is one of the (unfortunately large) part of the fan crowd who thinks that he history of comics begins about thirty-two minutes before he discovered them…
David: “Sorry; it’s sometimes a little hard to tell whether someone is one of the (unfortunately large) part of the fan crowd who thinks that he history of comics begins about thirty-two minutes before he discovered them…”
Understood, and yes.
You’re right, Carroll’s mockeries of then-contemporary, now-forgotten moralizing poetry are a good example of what I meant.
Another example is Monty Python’s “Attila the Hun Show.” It’s funny even for people who don’t recognize it as specifically parodying the Debbie Reynolds Show from the early seventies (and the nonrecognition factor is probably about 99 percent, I suspect).
When I was a kid just beginning my lifelong love affair with comics, Steve Gerber was the first writer I really discovered. I started buying everything he wrote—not for the character or the story but because Steve wrote it.
My favorite issue of Howard the Duck? #16, “The Deadline Doom.” I consider it one of the finest—if not *the* finest—comics on the 70s. Hëll, it’s one of the finest comics of the 20th Century.
I was reading the second issue NEVADA when I realized that the main character debuted in the obligatory fight scene in HTB #16. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
I was going to pick up the Essential HTD but decided to wait for the HTD hardcover Omnibus (which has just been delayed until summer, hopefully to include a better tribute to this groundbreaking author)
Posted by Fraser
Another example is Monty Python’s “Attila the Hun Show.” It’s funny even for people who don’t recognize it as specifically parodying the Debbie Reynolds Show from the early seventies (and the nonrecognition factor is probably about 99 percent, I suspect).
Heck, *I* wouldn’t recognise it – and i was *there* during the 70s