Trapped in a world he never made… trapped in a world he’s grown accustomed to… trapped in Cleveland. No matter where he’s trapped, Howard the Duck (or Howard: A New Breed of Hero for our UK readers) has fallen into oblivion as one of the worst movies ever made. I, on the other hand, feel differently.

I grew up watching Howard the Duck, never understanding the many adult references barely hidden throughout this PG movie. To this day I believe the only reason parents let their young children watch this movie in the late ‘80s was that it involved a talking duck, therefore nothing could be bad about it. Howard continues to be one of my favorite movies of all time, never losing its touch as I grew older.  The character’s attitude toward many aspects of life is much the same of most of us – too much work to do, never enough time to enjoy life, the only place he wants to be is anywhere but here, and the next text message he gets better be from Spiderman because that’s who he’s waiting to hear from.

In the movie, Howard is a hard-working marketing copywriter on Duckworld (an Earth shaped like an egg) who gets unwillingly pulled through the universe by an interdimensional laser to a back-alley on our planet in Cleveland, Ohio. After being thrown around by several groups of skinheads, he winds up saving leader of the band the Cherrybombs, Beverly Switzler (Lea Thompson), from being attacked. Saving Beverly leads to their friendship, and his introduction to Phil, a janitor working with scientists at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. As it turns out, on the same night Howard fell to Earth, Dr. Walter Jenning was working on a secret laser that would help them communicate with other planets.

In a second trial while preparing to send Howard home, Jenning’s body is abducted by the Dark Overlord of the Universe (all really bad space aliens must have long names apparently). Just as it did earlier, instead of merely communicating, the laser trapped a lifeform in its grasp. The Dark Overlord captures Beverly, and it’s up to Howard and Phil to save her and prevent the Dark Overlord from reaching the laser and calling down more of his species. The only question is, by preventing this, will it also prevent Howard from getting back to his home, apartment, and family?

One of the many complaints about this movie is that nobody was aware this was a Marvel movie. As well, the characters and villain were so confusing that nobody was sure what was happening in the second half of the film. After reading some of the original Howard the Duck comics predating the movie, I can safely say the Dark Overlord of the Universe is a much better villain than who could have been introduced. For instance, in 1977, Howard fought against a villain named Doctor Bong, whose helmet was shaped like a bell and gloves shaped like drug paraphernalia, and his main use of combat was libelous headlines. Given the possibilities, I vote for the alien that fits with Howard’s arrival.

Overall, despite bad costuming, ridiculous special effects, and utterly horrible creation of the Dark Overlord’s true form (which looked faker than the rancor in the ‘90s special edition of Return of the Jedi), I feel that this is one of the best Marvel movies ever made (second only to Guardians of the Galaxy). Sadly, others’ opinions on this movie and the original comic have not fared well for present-day Howard. While a badly produced CGI version of the character appeared at the end of Guardians, the comic series has since been canceled (just as the series keeps getting better, of course). Perhaps one day a remake will be made, but I will never like it as much as this original masterpiece.

Next week I will discuss a film not from my time, but which I was introduced to as teenage: Omega Man. Meanwhile, I will end this week’s post with one of my regular listens, sung by Lea Thompson herself.