Duck Amuck

Howard the Duck #1

Yet another new #1 issue of a series that debuted less than a year ago. Get a grip on yourself, Marvel.

Howard is back in the detective biz, with his shapeshifting friend Tara Tam, with Aunt May Parker as his office manager. But he’s got a bad case of existential blues, and he’s decided he’d like to return to his home — his original home, the world full of ducks. Dr. Strange reveals that the previously discovered Abundant Glove has the power to transport him back to his home. So Howard takes Tara on a trip to the Florida swamps, looking for the Nexus of All Realities. Unfortunately, it’s not being guarded by the Man-Thing, which has given the Wizard and Titania the opportunity to turn it into a weapon. Can Howard and Tara stop a couple of supervillains all by themselves? And what happens when Howard passes through the Nexus? On top of that, we get a short segment at the end introducing a character called Gwenpool. She’s like a cross between Deadpool and some other recently popular character…

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s very much like the Howard the Duck of the previous series — funny and clever and sarcastic. There are lots of fun details to enjoy here, from Tara’s shapeshifted hat to the glimpse we get of alternate realities inside the Nexus. I really don’t know what to think of Gwenpool. Let’s hope the character doesn’t end up being terrible.

Harley Quinn and Power Girl #5

Our heroes have defeated the evil Oreth Odeox — but not before he summoned the fantastically immense Harvester of Sorrow! He’s a giant floating head who specializes in creating sorrow and hate everywhere he goes and then sucking away all the psychic energies left behind — and he’s far too powerful for anyone to stop. Harley manages to get inside his massive brain, planning on blowing it up, but she gets captured instead, and the Harvester prepares to drain her brain dry of all negative emotions. Unfortunately, accessing her memories of the Joker ends up infecting the Harvester with a virus and transforms the entire head into a giant Joker — which is probably worse than the regular Harvester of Sorrow. And Harley’s now gone full-on crazy. Can anyone survive? Even more importantly, can Vartox’s mustache survive?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s a whole lot of crazy, and a decent amount of low-class funny. Always a nice bonus to go along with the action.

Today’s Cool Links:

• The iTunes Terms and Conditions graphic novel is just amazing, especially if you love comics and cartooning.
• “Unbreakable” always was a fantastic movie, no matter what the haters say.
• Why are some Christians so angry about the Starbucks holiday cups? Because — spoiler alert — Christianity in America is a dead religion. It’s been taken over almost completely by people who worship their own sense of rage, outrage, and hatred and think empathy and compassion are for chumps and losers. Sorry you missed it. No, it probably won’t be coming back either.