Destroyer Duck
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Destroyer Duck was an anthology comic book published by Eclipse Comics in 1982, as well as the title of its primary story, written by Steve Gerber and featuring artwork by Jack Kirby.
The book was published as a way to help Gerber raise funds for a lawsuit he was embroiled with at the time, in which he was battling industry giant Marvel Comics over the ownership of the character Howard the Duck, which Gerber created for the company in 1973.
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[edit] Overview
The main story of the comic told the story of Duke “Destroyer” Duck, a resident of a typical anthropomorphic comic-book world, who had witnessed his best friend, identified only as “The Little Guy” or “TLG,” vanish into thin air before his eyes. Some years later, TLG reappeared only to die at Destroyer’s feet—but not before telling the tale of how he was exploited and destroyed by a thoughtless conglomeration, “Godcorp.” Swearing revenge, Destroyer vowed to take down Godcorp no matter the cost. The strong implication, of course, is that The Little Guy was in fact Howard the Duck (though the character was never depicted clearly enough for a positive identification), which would make Godcorp the stand-in for Marvel.
Subsequent Destroyer Duck tales would reveal that the Little Guy who died at Destroyer’s feet was in fact a clone, and the original was still held captive by Godcorp; eventually, Gerber (by that point on better terms with Marvel, the lawsuit having long since been settled) would reveal that The Little Guy’s real name was actually “Leonard”—a new duck character that, for all intents and purposes, was identical in every way (except in name and character ownership) to Howard.
The stories introduced sentient scented dolls and Wobbelina Strangelegs, who nearly got her own one-shot.[citation needed] After five issues, Gerber gave up writing the title, but remained its editor. Buzz Dixon wrote the last two issues, about a STD-infected parody of Gilligan’s Island. Frank Miller drew the cover of the final issue. The seven issues of the comic were published very sporadically.
The original Destroyer Duck comic was also notable in that it contained the first appearance of Sergio Aragonés’s character Groo the Wanderer.
In 1994, while Gerber was working at Image for Top Cow Studio on Codename: Strykeforce, Gerber planned for issue 14 to use Destroyer Duck. At the last minute, Marc Silvestri categorically refused, forcing Gerber and his editor, David Wohl, to revise the story. Destroyer Duck doesn't appear as such in the story, but Gerber introduces Specimen Q, a mysterious character imprisoned in his armor, who is Destroyer Duck as readers will learn in the Savage Dragon/Destroyer Duck one-shot in 1996.[citation needed]
Destroyer Duck and The Savage Dragon both made cameo appearances in Spider-Man Team-Up #5, which brought together Howard, Peter Parker (the original Spider-Man), and Parker’s clone, Ben Reilly, who was at the time using the Spider-Man identity. Destroyer Duck and Savage Dragon do not appear directly, and are thus never identified by name; however, Destroyer Duck is clearly obvious to those who remember the character as is Dragon. Destroyer met Howard in a brief panel of the book, in which only their faces were partially shown in darkness.
[edit] Collection
"Destroyer Duck", About Comics, July 2007 [1]
