''Destroyer Duck'' was an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

published by

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...

in 1982, as well as the title of its primary story, written by

Steve Gerber Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include '' Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight ...

and featuring artwork by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

and

Alfredo Alcala Alfredo P. Alcala (August 23, 1925 – April 8, 2000) was a Filipinos, Filipino comics artist, born in Talisay, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines. Alcala was an established illustrator whose works appeared in the ''Alcala Komix Magazine''. ...

. The book was published as a way to help Gerber raise funds for a lawsuit he was embroiled in at the time, in which he was battling industry giant

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

over the ownership of the character

Howard the Duck Howard the Duck is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber, based very loosely on his college friend Howard Tockman, and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck firs ...

, which Gerber created for the company in 1973.

Overview

The main story of the comic told of Louis "Duke" Duck, a resident of a typical

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

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 Duke's feet—but not before telling the tale of how he was exploited and destroyed by a thoughtless conglomeration, "Godcorp." Swearing revenge, Duke vowed to take down Godcorp no matter what the cost. Subsequent ''Destroyer Duck'' tales would reveal that the Little Guy who died at Duke'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) revealed 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 Wobblina Strangelegs, who nearly got her own one-shot. After five issues, Gerber gave up writing the title, but remained its

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

. 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. Issue #1 of the original ''Destroyer Duck'' series, labeled the "Special Lawsuit Benefit Edition", is notable for containing the first appearance of

Sergio Aragonés Sergio Aragonés Domenech ( , ; born 6 September 1937 in Sant Mateu, Castellón, Spain) is a Spanish-Mexican-American cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine and creating the comic book ''Groo t ...

’s Groo the Wanderer and also featuring additional stories by

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series '' Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book '' Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and ...

, Dan Spiegle, Shary Flenniken,

Martin Pasko Martin Joseph "Marty" Pasko (born Jean-Claude Rochefort; August 4, 1954– May 10, 2020) was a Canadian comic book writer and television screenwriter. Pasko worked for many comics publishers, but is best known for his superhero stories for DC Com ...

, and

Joe Staton Joe Staton ( born January 19, 1948) is an American comics artist and writer. He co-created the Bronze Age Huntress (Helena Wayne), as well as the third Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), Kilowog and the Omega Men for DC Comics. He was the artist o ...

. The rest of the series contained the back-up feature ''The Starling'', written by

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

co-creator

Jerry Siegel Jerome "Jerry" Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He was the co-creator of ...

, with art by Val Mayerik. In 1994, while Gerber was working at Image for Top Cow Studio on '' Codename: Strykeforce'', Gerber planned for issue #14 to include Destroyer Duck. At the last minute,

Marc Silvestri Marc Silvestri (born March 29, 1958) is an American comic book artist, creator and publisher. He is CEO of Top Cow Productions and Image Comics. Early life Marc Silvestri was born on March 29, 1958, in Palm Beach, Florida.Rosenberg, Aaron (M ...

declined, forcing Gerber and his editor, David Wohl, to revise the story. Destroyer Duck does not 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.

Notes

External links

Destroyer Duck
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on February 7, 2012. {{authority control 1982 comics debuts Characters created by Steve Gerber Characters created by Jack Kirby Comics about anthropomorphic ducks Comics by Steve Gerber Eclipse Comics characters Eclipse Comics titles Fictional ducks Image Comics characters Image Comics titles Satirical comics Action comics Anthropomorphic ducks Comics about talking animals Comics characters introduced in 1982