The X-Men Recruit Howard the Duck In New Marvel Preview

Marvel releases a preview of Howard the Duck's 50th anniversary one-shot.

By Timothy Adams - November 27, 2023 09:33 am EST

Howard the Duck gets a compelling offer from the X-Men in a preview of his new comic. Marvel is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Howard the Duck in style with a 40-page one-shot. Some of his recent creators like Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones are back to tell Howard's anniversary tales, but these will be slightly different since each short story is going the "Whaugh If?" route, a play on the popular What If? themes. And there's no better "Whaugh If?" scenario than Howard the Duck joining the X-Men.

Marvel released a preview of Howard the Duck #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Joe Quinones, Jordan Gibson, Stacey Lee, Daniel Kibblesmith, Annie Wu, Ian Herring, VC's Travis Lanham, Merritt K, Will Robson, Pete Pantazis, and more. There are four previews in total, and they range from a meeting with the X-Men to Howard the Duck replacing Peter Quill as Star-Lord and leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. As far as the X-Men side of things goes, Professor X says Cerebro has detected a new mutant, which is of course Howard the Duck. He sends the X-Men to meet Howard, and the team consists of Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Rogue, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Kitty Pryde.

Howard mentions something about Proteus and his "weird magic," which could possibly be how the X-Men believe Howard to be a mutant. Other stories take Howard and his Skrull private investigator friend Tara Tam to the year 2025 and in the middle of another superhero civil war, Howard as President of the United States, and Howard aboard the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship.

How is Marvel celebrating Howard the Duck's 50th anniversary?

The synopsis for Howard the Duck #1 reads, "Meet Howard. He's a hard-boiled P.I. with problems by the duckload. But a cosmic, all-seeing friend(?) known as the Peeper(!) is giving him a chance to see what his life COULD be! The joys he COULD have! All the ways his life COULD suck way less than it does now! In other words: 'Whaugh If?'"

Below is a rundown on the stories found in the Howard the Duck 50th anniversary one-shot comic:

Emmy-nominated writer and comedian Daniel Kibblesmith and acclaimed artist Annie Wu put Howard in the Oval Office! Inspired by a classic tale from Steve Gerber and Gene Colan's 70s run, Howard the Duck has been sworn in as President. Find out how gutsy he is as Commander in Chief when the Earth is invaded by aliens in this startling political satire!
Popular video game designer and writer Merritt K makes her Marvel Comics debut alongside artist Will Robson with a cosmic comedy that sees Howard the Duck leaving the chaos of Earth behind to take over as leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy! Playing Star-Lord is all fun and games for Howard until some of his most iconic classic villains band together to take him out once and for all!

The preview of Howard the Duck #1 is below. The issue goes on sale Wednesday, November 29th.