HOWARD THE DUCK MAKES NO SENSE DIVORCED FROM CONTEXT

[breakinglight11]

Apparently they're going to be making a Howard the Duck TV series? Really, Marvel? You don't have enough going on that you have to go to THAT well too? UGH.

I've never been a fan, but that's not why I think it's a dumb idea. I was so annoyed when he showed up in that Guardians of the Galaxy stinger. I grouse about this any time anybody talks about the idea of the character being brought back in a modern work.

Howard the Duck is designed to be a parody, specifically of the "Funny Animal" genre of comics, of which characters like the Looney Tunes are examples. Llike many parodies, the central conceit of Howard relies on having that very specific cultural context in order for the satire to "read" or make any kind of sense. But we have so little presence of "Funny Animals" of the style Howard references in our current media— it's very much OUT of style now —I don't think most people are still familiar enough with it. The only real presence it currently has in modern pop culture is Mickey Mouse and his crew; in fact, I think Donald is the most direct inspiration for Howard. But even they've grown past a lot of the old conventions of their genre such that I don't think most people really recognize them.

Maybe the resurgeance of the new Duck Tales show will re-ground people in it. Though again, everything in present pop culture that grew out of the "Funny Animal" genre has changed a LOT. What the fuck would Howard even be about without that element of parody? I mean, a HUGE chunk of the joke was mocking the convention of "why is this person randomly an animal and nobody thinks that's weird" you so often found in the old comics? My guess is that it'll become a generic parody of children's cartoon media, like Duckman kind of was. But that seems dull to me; Howard isn't that interesting a character, and that just seems like a recipe to play up the crassest aspects, falling back on "Haha, isn't it funny that this guy who looks like a children's character is horny and swears and smokes cigars?"

So I really don't know what artistic perspective they could have for the character that's going to make sense. Do enough people really like fucking Howard the Duck to make it worth doing as a cash thing? Because I can't imagine what VISION somebody would have for him at this point. Comedy is the fastest of all forms to age, and parody goes with it once people forget what's being parodied. (See: Gilbert and Sullivan's "Patience," which if you've never understood that musical, that's why.)