Howard the Duck #6
Howard the Duck #6 delivers the first appearances of two of Steve Gerber's most pointed satirical creations: the Reverend Joon Moon Yuc — a thinly veiled send-up of Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon — and his cult followers the Yucchies, as well as the Gingerbread Man, a giant animate cookie whose Gothic-horror origin parodies the Frankenstein archetype. The issue arrives at the exact moment the series was gaining cultural momentum during the real-world 1976 presidential election cycle, embedding its new characters directly into that satirical framework, as Howard's encounter with the Yucchies sets him on a path toward his own presidential candidacy in the very next issue. As a piece of mainstream comics history, the issue illustrates just how far Gerber was willing to push social commentary in a Big Two superhero imprint — lampooning organized religion, cult culture, and Gothic literature in a single 17-page story — at a time when most Marvel comics were aimed squarely at younger readers.
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The issue was written by Steve Gerber with a plot assist from Mary Skrenes — a collaboration that was not credited in the issue itself but was confirmed via the letters page of Howard the Duck #10. Gene Colan, who had become the series' regular penciller starting with issue #4, handled the art, inked by Steve Leialoha; the book was edited by Archie Goodwin, a veteran Marvel editor with whom Colan had worked extensively going back to their Warren Publishing days. The story was published cover-dated November 1976, timed to coincide with the real U.S. presidential election and the height of what observers at the time called 'Howard-mania,' when the duck's fictional All-Night Party campaign was generating genuine write-in votes.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of the Reverend Joon Moon Yuc and his cult followers the Yucchies — explicit satirical stand-ins for Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church 'Moonies,' who were a prominent cultural flashpoint in 1976.
- First appearance of the Gingerbread Man, a giant animate cookie brought to life by young Patsy Dragonsworth in a sequence deliberately structured as a Gothic/Frankenstein parody.
- Story title: 'The Secret House of Forbidden Cookies!' — part one of a two-part arc concluded in Howard the Duck #7 (December 1976), in which the Gingerbread Man is destroyed.
- Written by Steve Gerber with plot assistance from Mary Skrenes; Skrenes's contribution was not credited in the issue but was documented retroactively on the letters page of issue #10.
- Art by penciller Gene Colan (his third consecutive issue on the title) and inker Steve Leialoha; cover by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer; edited by Archie Goodwin.
- The issue is set in rural Pennsylvania as Howard and Beverly Switzler are hitchhiking; a fight causes them to separate temporarily before reuniting at Dragonsworth Manor — a key moment in their ongoing relationship dynamic.
- Rev. Joon Moon Yuc returned in Howard the Duck #7 and went on to appear in issues #13–14 and the Howard the Duck magazine series, making him one of the more durable recurring antagonists in the Gerber run.
- The story has been reprinted in Essential Howard the Duck Vol. 1 (2002), the Howard the Duck Omnibus (2008), Howard the Duck: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 (2015), and Marvel Masterworks: Howard the Duck Vol. 1 (2020).
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Reprints
↩ Reprints [Marvel Hostess Ads] #10 (1976)
Reprinted in Comic Reader #134 (1976), Essential Howard the Duck #1 (2002), Howard the Duck Omnibus #[nn] (2008), Howard the Duck: The Complete Collection #1 (2015), Die offizielle Marvel-Comic-Sammlung #29 (2016), Marvel. Официальная коллекция комиксов #130 (2018), Marvel Masterworks: Howard the Duck #1 (2020), Χάουαρντ Ντακ [Howard the Duck] #6
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