STRANGEDUCK(Reality-80118)
STRANGEDUCK
(Reality-80118)
Real Name: Presumably Howard, surname possibly Duckson
Identity/Class: Extradimensional / Alternate Reality (Earth-80118; see comments)
Occupation: Sorcerer Supreme
Group Membership: Legion of Howards (The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Howard the Duck of
Earth-88011 (he had a sub-profile without a picture, but there's a whole new profile coming for him, so that's why there's no link!), Howard the Roboduck of
Earth-19171, Sister Howard the Duck of Earth-39251, the
Mjolnir-wielding Howard the Duck of Earth-20160, Duck-bill
costume wearing redheaded human woman Howard the Duck of Earth-89517 (presumably Beverly
Switzler?));
part of the succession of Sorcerer Supremes of Earth-80118;
possibly the Defenders
Affiliations: Reality-80118's Faltine and presumably the Vishanti (or at least Agamotto);
S.H.I.E.L.D. of Earth-616 (notably Leo Fitz and indirectly Jeremiah Warrick...and -- even less directly -- Phil Coulson);
Howard the Duck; (you know...not FROM -616, but lives there);
Known Relatives: Presumably the same as the "mainstream" Howard the Duck;
Base of Operations: Presumably mobile throught the universe and associated alien dimensions of Reality-80118;
possibly formerly his native reality (see comments)
First Appearance:
Howard the Duck II#8 (November, 1980)
Powers/Abilities: Beyond the standard abilities of the "mainstream" Howard the Duck, this Howard was the most powerful sorcerer on Earth-80118.
Strangeduck may have had any or all of the powers of Dr. Stephen Strange...maybe he even had greater powers.
This Howard certainly had the Cloak of Levitation, which facilitated flight (which is good, because Howard otherwise lacks wings and can't fly...for that matter, it could presumably allow him to fly out of water as needed, which is good, because Howard can't swim, either) and levitation and could wrap around and bind others.
Strangeduck demonstrated a healing spell, which involved his invoking the "Feathers of Faltine."
Strangeduck also possessed what appeared to be the Eye of Agamotto, which
presumably allowed him to project a blinding “all-revealing light” of
immeasurable mystic force,see through illusions, read minds, and track
mystical energies, as well as acting as a portal to other dimensions.
Like his mainstream counterpart, this Howard was increasingly annoyed when those surprised by his non-human appearance pointed out his obviously canard nature.
He reportedly had the ability to turn people
into kumquats (he generally reserved this punishment for people who
pointed out that he was a duck; further the Howard the Duck living on Earth-616 was the one describing this, and maybe he was just being hyperbolic).
Height: 2'7" (based on height of Earth-616 dwelling Howard)
Weight: 40 lbs. (based on height of Earth-616 dwelling Howard)
Eyes: Brown
Feathers: Light yellow (almost
white...Howard has been shown with whiter feathers in his more recent
stories, perhaps further attempts to distance him from Donald Duck, or
maybe he's just getting old)
Unusual Features: Howard is a humanoid duck, possessing
characteristics of both humans and ducks. He has webbed feet and
a bill (with upper and lower teeth), but doesn't have wings.
History:
(Howard the Duck II#8 (fb) -
BTS) - Presumably at some point after arriving on the world of hairless
apes (see comments), Howard the Duck became Sorcerer Supreme, gaining the Cloak of
Leviation and the Eye of Agamotto, at least.
(Howard the Duck II#8 (fb) - BTS) - Those who made the mistake of pointing out the obvious fact that Howard was "a duck," suffered the fate of being turned into a kumquat.
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10 (fb) - BTS) - Howard became known (to fowls, at least (see comments) as Strangeduck.
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10 (fb) - BTS) - Strangeduck helped form the Legion of Howards, a "cross-existential reality force" (group of alternate reality) Howard the Ducks that fought for "hyperjustice," including <at least> the Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Howard the Duck of Earth-88011, Howard the Roboduck of Earth-19171, Sister Howard the Duck of Earth-39251, the Mjolnir-wielding Howard the Duck of Earth-20160, and a Duck-bill costume wearing redheaded human Howard the Duck Howard the Duck of Earth-89517 (presumably Beverly Switzler?).
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10 (fb) - BTS) - The Legion of Howards did not invite the Howard the Duck active on Earth-616 because, well, you know...
For the rest of the profile, I'm going with the 616-dwelling Howard for
conciseness/clarity/because I feel like it).
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10 (fb) - BTS)
- The Multiversal "Spider-Verse" conflict involving numerous alternate
reality Spider-beings fighting the spider-totem-eating Inheritors led
to progressive spatial anomalies that apparently threatened the entire
Multiverse.
After the "Zipper Unripper" was spat out by the chaos, Earth-616's S.H.I.E.L.D.
mystic agent Jeremiah Warrick determined that it could only be utilized
to mend the damage by a being from an alternate reality. It was
determined that Howard the Duck could be that being. 
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10 (fb) - BTS) - The Legion of Howards gathered to
oppose the threat of Ducanard of Earth-15110, who felt he was born to
create a perfect pate from the blended livers of one single duck who
existed in many forms across diverse realities.
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10 - BTS) - Warrick and fellow agent Leo Fitz summoned the 616-dwelling Howard the Duck and informed him of his role, after which Warrick magically transported Howard to an alternate Earth (or perhaps a location where realities were crossing-over) to utilize the Zipper Unripper...and then he accidentally transported Fitz there as well.
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10 (fb) - BTS)
- Divining/sensing/(or perhaps was told) that the 616-dwelling Howard had the device needed to save their universes, Strangeduckshared this information with the Legion.
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10) - The Legion of Howards encountered the 616-dwelling Howard and Fitz and introduced themselves. When the 616-dwelling Howard questioned the Legion's story, asking why he had never been invited to join their group, the other Howards all looked away awkwardly (presumably preferring to avoid voicing something like, "because you're a jerk.").
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10) -
Strangeduck levitated and cast some sort of spell as the Mjolnir-wielding Howard-20160
advised the 616-dwelling Howard that he needed to use the tool he had been
given to save all of their universes; however, Ducanard then impaled
Howard-20160 with his long fork deal, apparently killing him.
After Ducanard blew up the
Roboduck, explained his motives (in French, but there were
subtitles/translation boxes), and wounded Fitz with his fork-deal, Fitz
apparently modified pieces of Roboduck into a weapon he used to blast
and incapacitate Ducanard.
Strangeduck then initiated a spell to heal Fitz, who warned him about Ducanard's mentioning of a rival; as if on cue, a blast from the giant Liverer them apparently incinerated Ducanard. Seeing the giant, partially open zipper/warp on the Liverer, the 616-dwelling Howard drew the Zipper Ripper, but the Liverer grabbed the 616-dwelling Howard, causing him to drop the ripper. However, Sister Howard grabbed the ripper and, with Fitz on her back, used it to grab the zipper and pull it to reclose it. Howard ("Bev") noted that it was working and the zipper was closing, and Strangeduck urged them to keep pulling, "Bev" grabbed Fitz's foot and helped pull, Strangeduck grabbed Bev's foot, the Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Howard-88011 grabbed Strangeduck's foot and held the 616-dwelling Howard with his other hand.
As the zipper approached closure, Fitz noted that
everyone was headed back to their proper realities and they had to stay
together if they wanted to end up back home.
(S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10 - BTS) - Glimpsing
and considering multiple other realities, the 616-dwelling Howard
nonetheless completed the zipper's closure and returned to Earth-616
with Fitz.
Warrick noted that the Multiversal anomaly had vanished a second before Howard and Fitz had reappeared.
Strangeduck presumably returned to Earth-80118.
Comments: Created by Dave Sim.
The inside front cover of Howard the Duck magazine#8 had a featurettedone
by Cerebus-creator Dave Sims that had Howard musing to Bev (some
pillow talk) about how life might be different if he had
super-powers...he commented to the effect of his being on Earth might
allow him to get powers like so many on that world seemed to have.
He seemed to be at-least partially motivated to want to
be able to punish anyone who annoyed him by pointing out..."You're a
duck!"
Regardless, in the infinite Multiverse, every
reality exists, and a daydream can be considered a glimpse into the
reality that mirrors it...
And then a cool writer like Mark Waid might just confirm this...
The Sorcerer Supreme Howard the
Duck's appearances to date SEEMED (to me) to have consisted of a single
panel...but apparently that was only true in the
standard dimensions, perhaps beyond the third dimension, it branched
out into a multitude of adventures. I tried looking at the page
tangentially but almost got a papercut on my eye, so I gave up.
And then it (they) hit me. A pair of e-mails of from HBK123
In reviewing this page, based on
discussion of other powers/forms he could possess, Howard presumably
diverged after leaving his native
world (like Kang the Conqueror), meaning Earth-80118 is a reality where
Howard the Duck arrived in humanoid duck form before becoming Sorcerer
Supreme...so his native reality isn't changed.
But, of course,
Howard's home is complex anyway, as he was native to Earth-47920, but then the
reality warp with Chireep overlapped his reality with Duckworld/"Earth-791021." Don't get me started...
In S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10, he
says, "Fowls know me as Strangeduck," which would seem to imply that he
was back on Duckworld...perhaps he was instead native to yet another
Duckworld variant where he was the Sorcerer Supreme rather than Duktor
Strange...perhaps some day a story will clarify the matter, but the
original appearance/intent carries the most weight to me, so I'm
ASSuming Howard became Sorcerer Supreme AFTER traveling to the world of
Hairless Apes.
Or maybe Strangeduck is not the same characters as the one seen in Howard the Duck II#8?
It is interesting (to me) to speculate on when Howard might have become Dr. Strange.
In Reality-616:
(Marvel Treasury Edition#12) - After Howard inadvertently wandered into Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum and encountered Strange and the Defenders, they were ambushed by Dr. Angst and his Band
of the Bland, who had been hired to assassinate Howard (then a presidential candidate).
After Stange was knocked out by several tennis balls
to the head, Strange released his astral self and temporarily
granted Howard his own Cloak of Levitation and Eye of Agamotto,
promising to guide him telepathically against the Band. Angst eventually placed a Mask
of Concealment about Strange's thoughts and then summoned a giant
needle and thread to bind Howard. However, Howard broke free and ultimately bound Angst in the Cloak and punched him out.
The
other Defenders defeated the Band of the Bland, and that was the end of
that threat. Strange told Howard he had a natural aptitude
for magic and offered to tutor him, but Howard declined.
BUT, WHAT IF...?
What if Angst somehow -- intentionally or accidentally -- slew Dr.
Strange...maybe stabbing him through the chest with his giant sewing
needle. Howard could have felt obligated to accept the role of Sorcerer
Supreme, and in perhaps he legitimately earned the title over time...or
maybe it was taken away from his for turning people into kumquats.
And, another twist, Strange's spirit may have been
trapped in Howard's form, leading to some "Odd Couple"
dynamics...hijinx ensue...
OR...
What if Howard accepted Strange's offer to tutor him, for whatever
reason, such as to prevent the whims of fate from tossing him across
dimensions again in the future. And then maybe Strange died, retired,
quit, or was fired, etc., and Howard succeeded him in the role.
"Why kumquats?" you may ask.
"Why not?" I may answer.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Howard the Duck should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
Howard the Duck II#8, inside cover, panel 2 (black and white image);
SHIELD #10, pg. 10, panel 4 (mostly full, color);
pg. 14, panel 2 (healing spell);
Appearances:
Howard the Duck II#8 (November, 1980) - Dave Sim (writer/artist), (Lynn Graeme (editor)
S.H.I.E.L.D.III#10 (November, 2015) - Mark Waid (writer), Evan "Doc"
Shaner (artist) Jon Moisan (assistant editor), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First posted: 08/01/2020
Last updated: 08/03/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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