History:(Howard the Duck I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Xavier Couture was a well-known and influential art critic who disguised his male pattern baldness beneath a toupee.
XAVIER COUTURE
Real Name: Xavier Couture
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Art critic
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Howard the Duck, Paul Same, Beverly Switzler
Enemies: Formerly Winky-Man
(Paul Same)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
First Appearance: Howard the Duck I#4 (July, 1976)
Powers/Abilities: Xavier Couture has no
superhuman powers but he is a skilled authority on art as an art critic.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'3")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 125 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Bald (with brown beard)
History:
(Howard the Duck I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Xavier Couture was a well-known and
influential art critic who disguised his male pattern baldness beneath
a toupee.
(Howard the Duck I#4) - Xavier
attended the one-man art show of artist Paul Same and Same noticed
Xavier's appearance, remarking to Beverly Switzler and Howard the Duck
how influential Xavier Couture was. Noting that Couture's assessment of
his work could launch a successful art career or leave him a painter at
Earl Scheib's, Same watched as Couture proclaimed Same's artwork to be
junk. Xavier accused Same's artwork of being "jungle rot on canvas"
before noting Same's absence of authority in his brush work. Beverly
asked if Same was going to let Couture get away with such harsh
criticism but the non-confrontational Same only began to feel drowsy.
Howard the Duck and Beverly got the dozing Paul Same to a nearby couch,
where Same dozed off and immediately assumed his sleepwalking alter-ego
of Winky-Man. Following Couture into the parking lot, Winky-Man tried
to attack him but Howard the Duck intervened, snatching up Winky-Man's
Roman Candle weapon before Winky-Man could kill Couture. When the Roman
Candle set off the sprinkler system, Paul Same was awakened by the
water and Xavier Couture made a quick exit with his friends. Before
Couture could completely get away, Howard goaded the awakened Paul Same
into expressing his feelings about Couture's criticism of his work. The
nervous Same (with help from Howard) quickly accused Xavier Couture of
being a phony but Couture argued back that he was an authority on art.
Same rebuffed Couture's claims, exclaiming that Couture was nothing
more than a bald guy as he snatched off Couture's toupee. Many of the
art show patrons commended Same for putting Couture in his place and
Couture, trying to find a way to save face, befriended Paul Same,
remarking that their "exhibition of life-as-art" provided a real
statement on man's inclination to artificiality. Acting as if the
entire situation was simply part of Paul Same's art show, Couture
walked off talking with Same and later that night, Same slept soundly
for the first time in a long while.
Comments: Created by Steve Gerber, Gene Colan and Steve Leialoha.
Paul
Same was intended partly as a self-parody by Steve Gerber.
Gerber physically resembles Paul, was artistically frustrated, and, at
least in the 1970s, suffered from sleep apnea or some other disorder
(which was originally diagnosed as narcolepsy). The art critic Xavier
Couture was a parody of Stan Lee.
--Continental Op
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Xavier Couture should be distinguished from:
Appearances:
Howard the Duck I#4 (July, 1976) - Steve Gerber (writer), Gene Colan
(pencils), Steve Leialoha (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
First posted: 09/22/2025
Last updated: 09/22/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!