Howard the Duck appeared as a newspaper comic strip for sixteen months from June 1977 through October 1978, consisting of eleven story arcs told through 511 individual strips. Authorized by Marvel Comics and syndicated throughout North America by the Register and Tribune Syndicate, the strip appeared in newspapers daily (i.e. Monday to Saturday) in black-and-white and Sundays in color.

Episode Guide

Ep. #  Episode Title [1] Writer Artist(s) Start End Daily
quantity 		Sunday
quantity
01. POP SYKE - THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SUCCESS Steve Gerber Gene Colan 1977-Jun-06 1977-Jul-31 48 8
02. THE CULT OF ENTROPY Steve Gerber Gene Colan 1977-Aug-01 1977-Oct-02 54 9
03. FRED FEENIX - THE SELF-MADE MAN Steve Gerber Gene Colan & Val Mayerik [2] 1977-Oct-03 1977-Dec-11 60 10
04. THE SLEIGH-JACKING Steve Gerber Val Mayerik 1977-Dec-12 1978-Jan-01 18 3
05. IN SEARCH OF THE GOOD LIFE Steve Gerber Val Mayerik 1978-Jan-02 1978-Feb-26 48 8
06. SLEEP OF THE JUST Steve Gerber [3] Val Mayerik & Alan Kupperberg [4] 1978-Feb-27 1978-Apr-22 48 7
07. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FOWL KIND Marv Wolfman Alan Kupperberg 1978-Apr-23 1978-Jun-13 44 8
08. THE TUESDAY RUBY [5] Marv Wolfman Alan Kupperberg 1978-Jun-14 1978-Sep-02 70 n/a
09. THE CLONE RANGER LIVES AGAIN! Marv Wolfman Alan Kupperberg 1978-Sep-04 1978-Sep-30 24 n/a
10. HOWARD HEADS HOME Marv Wolfman Alan Kupperberg 1978-Oct-02 1978-Oct-28 24 n/a
11. MISC. SUNDAYS & THE MYSTERY OF THE MALTESE HUMAN [6] Marv Wolfman Alan Kupperberg 1978-Jun-18 1978-Oct-29 n/a 20

Footnotes:
[1] Episode titles in italics appear in the strip itself and/or in publicity material from the syndicate. Non-italicized titles are fan creations.
[2] Gene Colan is the daily artist through Oct 9, then Sundays only through Nov 6. Starting Oct 10, Val Mayerik drew dailies, then dailies and Sundays from Nov 7 forward.
[3] This story is based upon Gerber's script from issue #4 of the Howard the Duck comic book.
[4] Val Mayerik is the artist on Sundays through March 26, with Alan Kupperberg as artist on the dailies. From March 27 forward, Alan Kupperberg is the sole artist on the strip.
[5] Starting with this storyline, Sundays were no longer a part of the Monday to Saturday continuity.
[6] Sundays from 1978-Jun-18 through 1978-Aug-20 are single-strip gags. Sundays from 1978-Aug-27 through 1978-Oct-29 comprise The Mystery of the Maltese Human storyline.


Newspaper Roll Call
"Howard is in approximately 75 papers at this writing with more being added regularly."
    Howard Leroy Davis, editor
    DVCOMICS: 3, 1977-Summer

"Howard is syndicated in close to 70 daily newspapers."
    Kenneth Turan, reporter
    The Washington Post, 1977-Dec-27

"Initially I got Howard the Duck into close to 100 papers."
    Denny Allen, President of the Register and Tribune Syndicate
    The Village Voice, 1978-Sep-04

"It began...in about 80 daily newspapers. We were down to some 20-odd papers when Gerber left."
    Marv Wolfman
    The Comics Journal, #44, 1979-Jan 		 

Country State/Province City Newspaper Start
(bold if matching the strip's debut)		 End
(bold if matching the strip's finale)		 Sunday comic section* Sunday HtD strip format Notes
CAN Alberta Edmonton Edmonton Sun 1977-Nov-27 1978-Jan-22 TAB tab Printed HtD Sundays only. Did not print HtD dailies.
CAN Manitoba Winnipeg Winnipeg Tribune 1977-??-?? < 1977-Sep-24 TAB ?
CAN Ontario Ottawa Ottawa Journal 1977-Jun-06 1977-Oct-09 TAB half/third HtD Sundays start 77-Jun-26. Dailies dropped after 77-Jul-30. Sun comics pub on Sat.
CAN Ontario Toronto Toronto Star 1977-Jun-06 1978-Jun-18 TAB half/third/tab HtD dailies dropped after 77-Sep-10. Sunday comics published on Sat.
USA Arizona Tucson Arizona Daily Star 1977-Jun-06 1977-Nov-06 BRD quarter HtD dailies dropped after 77-Oct-01. Dailies on news page rather than comics page.
USA California Los Angeles Herald-Examiner 1978-Feb-27 1978-Oct-01 BRD third/quarter HtD Sundays start 78-Mar-26.
USA California Oakland Oakland Tribune 1977-Jun-06 1977-Oct-23 BRD third/quarter HtD dailies dropped after 77-Oct-01.
USA California Sacramento Sacramento Union 1978-Apr-24 1978-Oct-29 BRD third HtD Sundays start 78-Jul-16.
USA California Vallejo Times-Herald 1977-Jun-?? 1977-Nov-06 BRD third HtD Sundays start 77-Jun-??. HtD dailies start 77-Sep-19.
USA D.C. Washington Washington Star 1977-Jun-06 1978-Oct-29 BRD third/quarter
USA Florida Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale News 1977-Jun-06 1977-Oct-23 BRD third/quarter
USA Florida Jacksonville The Florida Times-Union < 1977-Nov-11 > 1977-Dec-31 ? ?
USA Florida Lakeland The Ledger 1977-Aug-01 1978-Feb-04 BRD n/a Printed HtD dailies only. Did not print HtD as part of their Sunday comics.
USA Georgia Macon The Macon Telegraph 1977-Jun-20 1977-Dec-10 BRD n/a Printed the first 12 dailies altogether on 77-Jun-19. Did not print HtD Sunday strips.
USA Iowa Des Moines Des Moines Tribune 1977-Oct-06 1977-Dec-01 n/a n/a Re-printed 6 dailies every Thurs. within "The Datebook" section. Started w/77-Aug-01 & ended w/77-Oct-01.
USA Illinois Chicago Chicago Daily News 1977-Jun-06 1978-Mar-05 BRD half/third/quarter Sunday comics published on Saturday.
USA Illinois Chicago Sun-Times 1978-Mar-06 1978-Oct-29 TAB third/quarter
USA Louisiana Shreveport The Shreveport Journal 1977-Jun-06 1977-Sep-01 n/a n/a Did not publish a Sunday edition/comics.
USA Massachusetts Boston Boston Herald American 1977-Jun-06 1977-Nov-06 BRD third/quarter HtD Sundays start 77-Jun-19. HtD dailies dropped after 77-Oct-21.
USA Michigan Detroit Detroit News 1977-Jun-06 > 1978-Jan-15 BRD half/third Sunday edition titled "The Sunday News."
USA Michigan East Lansing The State News 1977-Oct-03 1978-Feb-17 n/a n/a Did not publish on: weekends, 77-Nov-24, 77-Nov-25, 77-Dec-12 thru 78-Jan-04.
USA Missouri St. Louis St. Louis-Post Dispatch 1977-Jun-07 1977-Aug-21 BRD third HtD Sundays start 77-Jul-10. HtD dailies dropped after 77-Aug-06.
USA Nebraska Lincoln Lincoln Journal 1977-Jun-06 1978-Jul-02 BRD third Sunday edition titled "Sunday Journal and Star." Dailies dropped after 78-Jun-17.
USA New Mexico Albuquerque Albuquerque Tribune 1977-Jun-06 1977-Oct-01 n/a n/a Did not publish a Sunday edition/comics.
USA New York New York New York Post 1977-Jun-06 1978-Aug-08 n/a half Did not publish a Sunday edition, but did publish HtD Sunday strips in black & white on Saturday.
USA Ohio Cleveland Cleveland Plain Dealer 1977-Jun-06 1977-Aug-28 BRD third/quarter
USA Ohio Dayton Dayton Daily News 1977-Jun-06 1978-Oct-29 BRD third
USA Ohio Willoughby Lake County News-Herald < 1977-Dec-25 1978-Oct-29 TAB/COM half Sunday section changes format from tabloid to comic book on 78-Sep-10.
USA Pennsylvania Greensburg Tribune-Review 1977-??-?? ? ? ?
USA Pennsylvania Philadelphia The Bulletin 1977-Jun-26 > 1978-Jul-23 BRD third "The Sunday Bulletin" starts HtD on 77-Jun-26 by reprinting 77-Jun-12. Sundays are printed 75% page width.
USA South Carolina Columbia The State 1977-Jun-27 1977-Aug-01 ? ?
USA Tennessee Nashville The Tennessean 1977-Jun-12 1978-Aug-13 BRD half/third HtD dailies dropped after 78-Jun-24.
USA Texas San Antonio San Antonio Evening News 1977-Jun-06 > 1977-Dec-31 ? ? Saturday and Sunday edition titled "San Antonio Express-News"
USA Washington Seattle Seattle Post-Intelligencer 1978-??-?? 1978-Oct-29 ? ?
USA Washington Seattle Seattle Times 1977-Jun-06 1977-Oct-01 BRD third/quarter
USA Washington Spokane Spokane Daily Chronicle 1977-Oct-10 1978-Jun-10 n/a n/a Did not publish a Sunday edition/comics.
USA Wisconsin Madison Capitol Times 1977-Aug-01 1978-Oct-28 n/a n/a Did not publish a Sunday edition/comics.






 * BRD = broadsheet, TAB = tabloid, COM = comic book

Sunday Spotting Log
Own a Howard the Duck Sunday clipping and wonder from which newspaper it originated? View the Sunday Spotting Log to see if you can find a match.
If you don't find a match, then e-mail info about your clipping and we'll add it to the Log. Even if you can't identify the newspaper, any info is helpful (especially what appears on the reverse side).
Confused by the various Sunday strip formats? View this guide for help.


On Television
When the Cleveland Plain Dealer dropped the strip at the end of August 1977, fans working at local television station WJKW decided to pick up the torch and carry on by televising the strip on a nightly basis. Their ad campaign: "Howard the Duck will not be denied. They can take away his comic strip but not his dignity."

On December 15th 1977, the Plain Dealer published a negative review of the WJKW broadcasts. Ironically the author, television critic William Hickey, seems oblivious to the fact that the comic strip was being broadcast in protest over the Plain Dealer's decision to no longer publish it.

  
    The Times-Reporter
    Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio
    1977-Nov-11


Vintage Reprints
      
When Howard the Duck debuted as a newspaper comic strip, it was already an extremely popular comic book issued monthly by Marvel Comics. However, despite popularity in the comic book world, few newspapers decided to pick up the syndicated strip. This caused a supply/demand problem for much of the fan base (i.e. many who purchased the monthly comic book were not lucky enough to have access to the strip in their local newspaper). In an effort to fill the distribution gap, a few small-press publishers seized the opportunity to reprint the strip.
Publication Title
(w/link to the Grand Comics Database)		 Issue # Issue Date Publisher  Dates of Reprinted Strips Strip Qty Reprint Summary Sundays in color? Strips from Ep. #
Amazing Fantasy Gazette  1 1979 Summer Garrett Press 1978-Apr-24 to 1978-Jun-13  (dailies only) 44 7 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 7
Comic Reader, The  149 1977 Oct STreet Enterprises  1977-Aug-28 1 1 Sunday Yes 2
Comic Reader, The  164 1979 Jan STreet Enterprises  1977-Aug-29 to 1977-Sep-04 7 1 week Yes 2
Comic Reader, The  165 1979 Feb STreet Enterprises  1977-Sep-05 to 1977-Sep-11 7 1 week Yes 2
Comic Reader, The  166 1979 Mar STreet Enterprises  1977-Sep-12 to 1977-Sep-18 7 1 week Yes 2
Comic Reader, The  167 1979 Apr STreet Enterprises  1977-Sep-19 to 1977-Sep-25 7 1 week Yes 2
Comic Reader, The  168 1979 May STreet Enterprises  1977-Sep-26 to 1977-Oct-02 7 1 week Yes 2
Comics Journal, The 37 1977 Dec Fantagraphics 1977-Jun-12, 1977-Jun-19, & 1977-Jun-26 3 3 Sundays No 1
Comics Journal, The 38 1978 Feb Fantagraphics 1977-Jul-03, 1977-Jul-10, & 1977-Jul-17 3 3 Sundays No 1
Comics Journal, The 39 1978 Apr Fantagraphics 1977-Jul-31 1 1 Sunday No 1
Comics Journal, The 40 1978 Jun Fantagraphics 1977-Jul-24 1 1 Sunday No 1
Compass v2 n11 1977 Jul Midgard Publications 1977-Jun-06 to 1977-Jul-02  (dailies only) 24 4 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 1
Compass v2 n12 1977 Aug Midgard Publications 1977-Jul-04 to 1977-Jul-30  (dailies only) 24 4 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 1
Compass v3 n1 1977 Sep Midgard Publications 1977-Aug-01 to 1977-Aug-27  (dailies only) 24 4 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 2
Compass v3 n2 1977 Oct Midgard Publications 1977-Aug-29 to 1977-Sep 24  (dailies only) 24 4 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 2
Compass v3 n3 1977 Nov Midgard Publications 1977-Sep-26 to 1977-Oct-22  (dailies only) 24 4 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 2 & 3
Compass v3 n4 1977 Dec Midgard Publications 1977-Oct 24 to 1977-Nov 19  (dailies only) 24 4 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 3
Compass v3 n5/6 1978 Jan/Feb Midgard Publications 1977-Nov-21 to 1978-Jan-14  (dailies only) 48 8 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 3, 4 & 5
Compass v3 n7 1978 Mar Midgard Publications 1978-Jan 16 to 1978-Feb 11  (dailies only) 24 4 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 5
Compass v3 n8 1978 Apr Midgard Publications 1978-Feb 13 to 1978-Mar 11 (dailies only) 24 4 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 5
FOOM  17 1977 Mar Marvel Comics Group 1977-Jun-06 to 1977-Jun-09 4 4 dailies n/a 1
Howard the Duck (convention program) n/a 1977 Nov Delaware Valley Comicart Consortium  1977-Oct-10 to 1977-Oct-29  (dailies only) 18 3 weeks w/o Sundays n/a 3
It's Adventure Time with… 1 1978 Nov John Zawadzki  1977-Jun-06 to 1977-Jul-31 56 8 weeks No 1
Menomonee Falls Gazette, The 227 1977 Jun 15 STreet Enterprises  1977-Jun-06 to 1977-Jun-19 14 2 weeks No 1
Menomonee Falls Gazette, The 228 1977 Jun 30 STreet Enterprises  1977-Jun-20 to 1977-Jul-03 14 2 weeks No 1
Menomonee Falls Gazette, The 229 1977 Oct 15 STreet Enterprises  1977-Jul-04 to 1977-Jul-17 14 2 weeks No 1
Menomonee Falls Gazette, The 230 1977 Oct 30 STreet Enterprises  1977-Jul-18 to 1977-Jul-31 14 2 weeks No 1
Menomonee Falls Gazette, The 231 1977 Dec 15 STreet Enterprises  1977-Aug-01 to 1977-Aug-14 14 2 weeks No 2
Menomonee Falls Gazette, The 232 1978 Mar 03 STreet Enterprises  1977-Aug-15 to 1977-Aug-28 14 2 weeks No 2
Week's Worth of Comics, A  1 1977 Dec 21 Tyson Blue  1977-Dec-12 to 1977-Dec-18 7 1 week No 4
Week's Worth of Comics, A  2 1977 Dec 28 Tyson Blue  1977-Dec-19 to 1977-Dec-25 7 1 week No 4
Week's Worth of Comics, A  3 1978 Nov Tyson Blue  1977-Dec-26 to 1978-Jan-01 7 1 week No 4
Week's Worth of Comics, A  4 1978 Dec Tyson Blue  1978-Jan-02 to 1978-Jan-08 7 1 week No 5
Week's Worth of Comics, A  5 1979 Jan/Feb Tyson Blue  1978-Jan-09 to 1978-Jan-15 7 1 week No 5
Week's Worth of Comics, A  6 1979 Mar Tyson Blue  1978-Jan-16 to 1978-Jan-22 7 1 week No 5
Week's Worth of Comics, A  7 1979 Apr Tyson Blue  1978-Jan-23 to 1978-Jan-29 7 1 week No 5
Week's Worth of Comics, A  8 1979 May/Jun Tyson Blue  1978-Jan-30 to 1978-Feb-05 7 1 week No 5
Week's Worth of Comics, A  9 1979 Jul Tyson Blue  1978-Feb-06 to 1978-Feb-12 7 1 week No 5
Week's Worth of Comics, A  10 1979 Aug Tyson Blue  1978-Feb-13 to 1978-Feb-19 7 1 week No 5
Week's Worth of Comics, A  11 1979 Sep Tyson Blue  1978-Feb-20 to 1978-Feb-26 7 1 week No 5

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Contact Info

Mark Taylor
mark_nems at yahoo dot com
www.nemsworld.com