The biggest threat of all...the Elderly.
Recap:
OK, Wow. So the third issue of Howard the Duck begins with a mugging by Aunt May. She got away with the necklace. If the Collector wasn't bad enough... now things get really dangerous. He has to delve into the city's dark seedy underbelly to wrestle it away from a gang of the elderly. There is a lot more to it than that (like full nudity), but everybody needs to go buy it and read it right now. There is also an amazing mini-story right after about Howard taking a job for a Wolverine look alike who wants Howard to find the real Wolverine so his gigs won't dry up (Spoiler alert: turns out he's dead.) And umm Punisher lookalike is a serious method actor.
Thoughts:
Overall, the story is pretty silly but it works perfectly for Howard the Duck and I laughed out loud several times. I was at work when I read it so I had people looking at me. I love the interaction between Jen and Howard and really wish they would team up. But since a She-Hulk & Howard the Duck run isn't likely, we have Tara, who is a nice second place. She's really entertaining herself and works well with Howard, bringing in a couple of the big laughs this book. Sorry to spoil it, but the villain this book is Ringmaster. A pretty D-List villain, but Howard is a D-list hero so it works out. And he's written in such a way he fits perfectly with the theme. The downside is that tone of the book was basically "ha ha old people" and that was kinda annoying, but luckily very little was mean spirited (there was some, though). The mini-story was amazing. Short and sweet, and I wish there really was a "replicapes" company. Just a tip, be sure to read the newspaper at the end. The art is as good as the previous two books. Really easy to follow, nice and colorful, and Joe Quinones really does a great job with Howard's expressions. I did like the stylized art in the Mini-story a little more, but probably just because it was so short, I might tire of it if it was longer, while the main story's art has staying power.
Notes:
- Zdarsky just loves messing with Spider-man. I really really hope it's a running gag. I usually hate running gags, but Peter thinking someone has died and breaking down needs to continue throughout the series.
- Seeing Howard naked on his hands and knees pretending to be a regular duck is probably one of the funniest things in the world.
- I wasn't joking before. I want a Howard and She-Hulk series. Please? Anybody?
- Maybe that guy was the real Punisher...
- Aunt May just accepted everything way too easily in my opinion.