Multiversity’s history column returns with new coverage of past events. This column, themed around the month of February, will explore the debut of Destroyer Duck, the state of comic distribution in the mid 1990s, and the first Marvel Studios film.
In late 1973, Steve Gerber introduced Howard the Duck in the pages of “Man-Thing.” Fans loved the duck and demanded more. In 1976, Gerber and Marvel gave them “Howard the Duck” #1, an instant sell-out hit. In 1977, Marvel and Gerber pushed Howard to a larger audience through a syndicated newspaper strip. In May 1978, Marvel canceled Gerber’s contract citing failures to meet deadlines and replaced him on both the “Howard” comic book and strip. Gerber disputed Marvel’s ownership of Howard, and in August 1980 he filed suit for copyright infringement when Marvel licensed a radio show based on the character. (A pilot for the show was recorded but never aired.)
Lawsuits like Gerber’s are David & Goliath matches. Marvel wasn’t part of the Disney conglomerate at the time, but it was still part of a well-funded corporation and could use its deep pockets to stall until Gerber ran out of financing. The strategy was working, and Gerber needed help by late 1981. Fortunately, just like David in his biblical fight, Gerber wasn’t alone on the battlefield.
Eclipse, one of the first independent publishers, rallied to Gerber’s cause. A benefit comic was assembled using some of the biggest name talent in the industry, and many of them came with their own frustrations at how they had been cheated by vague work-for-hire rules. Gerber’s lead story in the anthology, “Destroyer Duck,” was illustrated by Jack Kirby, the co-creator (at least) of countless characters for DC and Marvel. Kirby also provided the cover with assistance from Neal Adams, an outspoken proponent for creator rights. Sympathetic creators Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier contributed the first appearance of <a href= Groo, who was about to debut in his own series from Eclipse. Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, contributed a backup story titled “The Starling” beginning with the second issue. Gerber also got an assist from the fan press, which was developed enough to spread the word about the purpose of the book. Released to comic book shops in February 1982, “Destroyer Duck” #1 sold 80,000 copies at $1.50 each. Gerber received 100% of the profit, which totaled several thousand dollars.
Not all of Gerber’s peers supported him. Some held to the philosophy of keeping their heads low to avoid rocking the boat. Some felt the publishers deserved ownership because the comics were printed with their financial support and the creators were taking little risk themselves. Others liked the idea of corporate ownership because it was the only way they could “play with the toys” and tell a Spider-Man or Batman story.
Gerber was able to continue his legal battle at a total cost of about $150,000 until reaching an out-of-court settlement in 1984. The terms were confidential, but Gerber later assured interviewers that he was very happy with the outcome and that all his concerns had been addressed. He worked with Marvel’s Epic Comics imprint later that year and did freelance work for Marvel through the 1990s. In 1996, Gerber wrote an issue of “Spider-Man Team-Up” that co-starred Howard and served as a stealth crossover with an issue of “Destroyer Duck” published by Image. Under Joe Quesada’s creator-friendly Marvel of 2001, Gerber returned to write a new “Howard the Duck” series for the mature readers MAX imprint.
Aside from the benefit to Gerber, “Destroyer Duck” was an important milestone in comics history for other reasons. It had a professional appearance despite being printed by a small outfit. It was the first color comic from Eclipse and one of the first from an independent publisher. Combined with its solid sales, “Destroyer Duck” was a proof of concept, showing everyone that the growing network of comic book specialty shops could support a comic book that was like a Marvel or DC, but not from a big company.
February 1995, 1996
In December 1994, Marvel bought Heroes World, a regional distributor. Rumors had been swirling about Marvel doing this for about a year, but there was general agreement that it was a bad idea and everyone had been hoping Marvel wouldn’t move on it. Although Marvel didn’t announce plans for exclusive distribution through HW until March (effective in July), everyone knew it was coming and the effects began immediately.
Capital City Distribution was the second largest distributor with 40% of the market. In response to Marvel’s move and the anticipated losses, it laid off 53 members of its 550 person workforce on February 17, 1995. At the same time, Capital’s management pursued a strategy of Nash Equilibrium in a coordination game, taking a stance that would benefit the whole industry if other distributors would do the same. Specifically, they refused to consider signing publishers to exclusive agreements that would further segment the product base. Capital’s chief competitor, Diamond Distribution, chose to seize an opportunity to improve its own standing and actively pursued exclusive deals with major publishers. As Diamond succeeded, other distributors saw their product lines shrink.
Fast forward to February 1996, and Diamond was rearranging its monthly “Previews” catalog to emphasize its exclusive deals. Where items were previously listed alphabetically publisher name, a new “premier” section was created at the front to let retailers order material from Diamond, Dark Horse, Acclaim, Image, and Wizard before going through all the small publisher riff raff. On the Marvel/Heroes World side, their service was improving drastically and retailers were not nearly as unhappy as they had been a few months earlier. That was a low bar, of course, and there was still quite a bit of ill will toward Marvel for the unnecessary disruption of a functional system.
Marvel Studios has existed in some form since 1993. In its younger days, its purpose was to work with licensees who were adapting Marvel properties to other media. After the success of X-Men and Spider-Man, there was a push for Marvel to take a stronger hand and produce its own content. Plans for the live action Marvel Cinematic Universe were announced in 2005, but the first project to be released was actually a direct-to-DVD animated movie done in concert with Lionsgate.
Ultimate Avengers was a 72-minute movie released on February 21, 2006 that roughly adapted the popular 12-issue series “The Ultimates” by Mark Millar and Brian Hitch. It was the first installment in a deal for eight to ten total animated films. Marvel Studios and Lionsgate put together an animation studio, MLG, whose sole purpose to was create these projects. Marvel Studios was behind the story work and Lionsgate served mainly as the distributor, much like Paramount and Universal would later do for Iron Man and Incredible Hulk.