10 Superheroes The World Needs Right Now
2. Howard The Duck
Forget the character from the misfired 1986 movie – the Howard The Duck from Steve Gerber’s short-lived comic has much to teach us about enduring in difficult times.
Abducted from his home planet by the villainous Thog The Overmaster, Howard found himself “trapped in a world he never made” where talking hairless apes in uniforms arrested him for disturbing the peace. Released because the police feared he might have destructive mutant powers similar to the X-Men, he eventually fell in with the All Night Party who put him up him as their candidate in the 1976 Presidential election, prompting the headline, “Carter Cries Fowl!”
Promising that “even the bozos who just look at the pictures will know what I stand for”, Howard proposed cutting military spending, housing his opponents in caves (“it’ll suit your temperament!”) and teaching children something other than arson and bad manners. He said, “Why a duck, you ask? I say, why not a duck! You’ve had turkeys running this country for 200 years!”
Obviously he didn’t win, so an endless succession of turkeys took his place over the next four decades, but if he’s up for a second crack at the White House then there’s always 2020.