Bethany W Pope
Welcome to “The Pope’s Comics,” our regular column by award-winning novelist, poet, and Comic Watch contributor Bethany Pope! Bethany brings a wealth of knowledge on literature, LGBTQIA+ issues history, gender, comics, and so much more. We sincerely hope you enjoy!
This week I’m going to examine Howard the Duck via the lens of mythology. Howard was originally the star of a satirical series (created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik) Marvel released in the 1970’s, but he’s grown to be one of the more popular characters owned by the company. Ordinarily, I’d focus on the ways that a superhero fits one very particular mythic pattern — this one devised by Lord Raglan in 1936 and designed as a means of analyzing and classifying myths — but since Howard is a creature of (usually excellent) satire, I’ll be looking, instead, at the ways that this character blows the pattern apart.
As I said, this pattern is based upon The Hero: A study in Tradition, Myth and Dreams by Lord Raglan. Since this is a product of early twentieth century anthropological study, the original pattern is pretty danged sexist, so I’ve altered the language a bit. Here’s the whole, unadulterated pattern, for your delectation and enjoyment:
Incidents which occur with regularity in hero-myths of all cultures:
1. Hero’s mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king, and
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather to kill him, but
7. he is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster -parents in a far country.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and
13. And becomes king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill,
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchers.
And here’s how Howard blows the pattern apart:
1. Hero’s mother is a royal virgin;
Howard’s mother is the Duck version of June Cleaver, so she’s only ‘virginal’ (to the point of ludicrousness) in the sense that it’s nearly impossible to see her and think ‘sex’.
2. His father is a king,
This only flies if the title extends to pseudo-1950’s patriarchs (which it might) because Howard’s daddy is the duck version of Ward Cleaver.
3. Often a near relative of his mother,
I mean, they’re all ducks, and ducks are not exactly picky about who they’ll bone. So, maybe?
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual,
Howard’s conception was unusual for a human (ducks have seasonally detachable corkscrew penises and equally labyrinthine vaginas, both of which evolved because of all the duck rape that goes down) but even though he hatched from an egg, á la Castor and Pollux, the children of Leda and Zeus (a prominent rapist), these circumstances are only unusual because of his dimensional displacement.
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
For a brief time, Howard actually was the literal son of Satan. Being possessed by Damien Hellstorm will do that.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather to kill him,
Nope. By all accounts, the Duckson family was as loving as a 1950’s sitcom knock-off could be.
7. he is spirited away,
Howard did land in an alternate reality. Populated by hairless apes.
8. Reared by foster-parents in a far country.
Nope. Howard came to Earth-616 as an adult.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood,
This one actually flies (ahem) since we learn nothing about what happened to the character as a kid, aside from a few panels featuring his creepy parents.
10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom.
This one works if, by ‘kingdom’, you mean a shabby detective’s office in Cleveland.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
This happens several times. Howard is usually triumphant, usually via happenstance and/or Spider-Man.
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor
Howard never ‘marries’ Beverly Switzler, but they do spend an awful lot of time in bed. The image is easier to take if you know less about duck anatomy than I do.
13. And becomes king.
Aside from several Conan the Barbarian related sight gags, nobody has ever been foolish enough to make Howard the king of anything.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully
Nah, this never happens in a Howard story. He never goes more than a panel or two without Man-Thing showing up.
15. Prescribes laws,
Howard tried this once, in the home of Cain and Abel. It did not go well.
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
Howard’s Creator, Steve Gerber, definitely lost the favor of Marvel editorial. The character was shelved for a number of years after the end of his original series.
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
Howard has been kicked out of Cleveland, out of Duck World, out of the 616 universe, and he was even thrown out of hell (by ‘God’ himself).
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
Nope. Even his recurring characters (with the exception of Bessie the Hellcow) refuse to die.
19. Often at the top of a hill,
Nope.
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.
God save us from the prospective spawn of Beverly and Howard.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
Howard has been buried in a swamp, but it was only temporary.
22. He has one or more holy sepulchers.
God, I hope not. That would be one hell of a cult.
Howard the Duck, by nature, cannot easily fit into the Heroic mode. But that doesn’t mean we should try to cram him in there. Jamming him in, like a corkscrew penis into a bottle of Pinot Noir (a situation that our favorite manimal has almost certainly found himself in) results in chaos. But it also provides a good look at the structure of the myths that we hold most dear, and that’s going to be worth it every time.
Poet, novelist, fencer, pirate, Za-Za, and Comic Watch regular contributor Bethany Pope lives in China. They also hold an MA and PhD in creative writing. Their latest novel, The Hungry and the Lost, was released December 1, 2021 from Parthian Books. You can follow them on Twitter at @theMasqueWriter.