MARVEL MASTERWORKS: HOWARD THE DUCK VOL. 2

Steve Gerber (1947-2008) first came to attention writing Defenders, in which he gave the non-team a non-traditional outlook equaled by few. In Adventure of Fear, he introduced Howard the Duck. Gerber’s other 1970s contributions included scripts for Iron Man, Sub-Mariner and more. Elsewhere, he is equally well-remembered for DC’s Phantom Zone, Eclipse’s Destroyer Duck and others.

An award-winning writer since 1973, Marv Wolfman succeeded mentor Roy Thomas as Marvel’s editor in chief. Well-remembered for his Tomb of Dracula scripts, he also enjoyed runs on Dr. Strange, Fantastic Four and Nova, among other titles. New Teen Titans, his 1980s collaboration with George Pérez, became DC Comics’ biggest hit in years. Wolfman and Pérez literally rewrote DC history with Crisis on Infinite Earths. He subsequently penned episodes for such animated TV series as G.I. Joe, Transformers and others.

The unique, shadowy style of Gene Colan (1926-2011) most memorably appeared in long stints on Captain America and Daredevil, and all 70 issues of Tomb of Dracula — among the dozens of other Marvel titles he has drawn. His DC work on Detective Comics and Night Force is equally well remembered. During the Golden Age, he drew multiple war stories for Marvel and DC alike. Colan has earned several Eagle Awards and had professional art showings in New York City. His work on Ed Brubaker’s Captain America at the age of 82 drew well-deserved raves.

Not a traditional super-hero artist, Val Mayerik made his mark on other Marvel Comics titles starting with Chamber of Chills’ “Brak the Barbarian” in 1973. Mayerik worked on Supernatural Thrillers, Creatures on the Loose and Conan before taking over the “Man-Thing” feature in Adventure into Fear, helping introduce Howard the Duck. Since his tenure at Marvel during the 1970s, Mayerik has produced artwork for other comic-book publishers and roleplaying-game companies.

Following Golden Age work at Marvel predecessor Timely Comics — as well as at Fawcett, Hillman and others — Carmine Infantino (d. 2013) made history at DC Comics, helping usher in the industry’s Silver Age with the re-introduction of the Flash, within whose title he cocreated the Elongated Man and several members of the hero’s famed Rogues’ Gallery. His 1961 story “Flash of Two Worlds,” which literally reshaped the DC Universe by introducing the Earth-1/Earth-2 concept, won Infantino two of his eventual 12 Alley Awards. After serving as DC’s art director and publisher, Infantino returned to penciling on several titles; for Marvel he provided notable runs on Nova, Spider-Woman and Star Wars, along with brief stints on Daredevil, Ghost Rider and Iron Man. He also drew Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, the historic first Marvel/DC crossover.