One Man’s Trash: Howard the Duck

There are those that argue that the modern era of Marvel movies began in 2008 with Iron Man. Some say, no, it happened in 2000 with the first X-Men movie. Self-proclaimed purists will glower over their Oakley Fours and make cutting comments about 1998’s Blade. But real ones know that it all started 12 years earlier with a cigar-puffing, hard-drinking, suit-wearing duck. Let’s be generous and say that Hollywood struggled to turn the four-color misadventures of the sardonic waterfowl – more Seinfeld than Fantastic Four – into a summer blockbuster, and almost killed Lea Thompson’s career. So let Eric Samaniego and Wright Sulek, hosts of the Trash in the Can podcast, convince you of the bizarre joys of this landmark in furry fiction. – Richard Whittaker