Howard The Duck MAX: The Fury #2 for MATURE READERS

Howard The Duck MAX: The Fury Part 2 Written by Erik Dee Fullmer

Edited by Alicen Hutcheson



The Duck Dreams.

Where am I? Oh yeah, I’m dead. I think... My name is Howard and I let my girlfriend talk me into quitting my job driving a cab, carting around stupid people to stupid places, all over a stupid city called Cleveland to move here to a little more stupid city, Manhattan in New York. Anyone here from Cleveland, Ohio reading my dream I’m having right now? Are you offended yet? Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t think YOU’RE stupid... Just Cleveland.

I’m a long way from home and I never fit in. I’m a “real” super hero. I’m no Sherlock Holmes. She thinks I can do anything. This whole New York thing and P.I. thing was her idea.

Wow! It sure is green in this dream. Beverly? Is that you standing by the giant man-frog?

I wish I can play more games with monsters. It’s going to eat you toots! HOLD ON!

So I’m going to play super hero and go save my girl! That’s how Spider-Man does it... right? Waaaaugh! I don’t have a cape and no web shoots from my butt... I mean hands. Most importantly, I have no clean underwear.

Hey where did it go? Where did the monster go? Beverly my sweets. Where’s that giant frog and why does it all of a sudden feel hot over here?

Are you getting all steamy getting ready to reward me for my awesome heroism, though I did nothing but rant? Beverly, are you there still there? I can barely make out your boobs. I mean face! It’s me your ducky! Did I ever mention that I like it when you call me that? I’m not the grouch I used to be. I’m still a little bitter but with righteous indignation. I still know how to have a good time.

What are you saying to me? I see your lips move. What’s that? What? What’s behind me? I don’t want to look. NO YOU CAN’T MAKE ME LOOK!

I said YOU---- “YOU LOOK PATHETIC!” A loud and gnarly voice snaps Howard out of his dream. He’s been unconscious for over an hour after fainting from the hysteria he’s suffered and everything he’s been through today.

Three men with guns. Check. Dead deli owner. Check. Three men with guns dead. Check. No idea why. Check. Beverly missing. Refuse to believe. “Waaaugh!”

“O.K. I’m giving you three seconds to get up off the floor, and on those stupid looking feet of yours, and do some explaining. I’ll have no problem filling you full of lead you choose NOT to cooperate.”

"There’s that nasty ass voice again." Howard thinks to himself as he slowly gets up still feeling dizzy, and also in fear of being shot by the five police officers whose guns are drawn on him.

“Detective Clubberfield! What brings you in my neck o’ the woods, toots?” He asks while starring at a pair of knees.

“As you can see, this may all look kind of funny. Me a duck. In an apartment with three dead humans mangled beyond recognition, covered in spinach. Yeah that’s what that is, it’s spinach! See us ducks eat LOTS AND LOTS of SPINACH before we KILL. Then we barf it all up on our prey! Are you getting all of this? Are you writing all of this highly useful information about mallards from outer space down?”

“Oh and guess what? MY GIRLFRIEND IS MISSING AND YOU’RE JUST FUCKING STANDING THERE LOOKING AT ME LIKE YOU WANT TO COOK ME!”

Clubberfield responds, “Put the guns down boys. And, YES he’s a duck and he talks.”

“Thank you for making that clear so I didn’t HAVE to for the one millionth time,” Howard says.

“Those men all jacked up over there were the ones at the deli I was chilling at, you see. I get that call from my girlfriend. You remember me taking that call. So we’re talking all lovey dovey... The next thing I know she’s terrified and tells me three masked hairless apes came busting in with guns and so she’s trying to---”

“Wait!” The detective interrupts, “Is she a human-duck too? Just asking.”

“NO!” Shouts Howard. “Look, here’s her picture.”

He removes his wallet from his trousers and proceeds to take out the only photo he has of Beverly at the moment, a beautiful redhead half-naked in a sexy leaf outfit. He’s not in the shot.

“O.K. what fashion mag did you clip that out of? You expect me to believe THAT’S who you’re sticking it to? Boys, I think we need to lock him up, then ship him off to a zoo somewhere on the other side of the world, ha ha ha ha.”

The police officers join the detective in laughter.

Howard says in defense, “She’s my girl and THIS is OUR place. We live here, I stick it to her here, and we work here TOGETHER! Get my drift toots?” He continues in an urgent tone, “I need to find her! You are wasting my time. I don’t have the time to waste here and explain. I did find this though.”

Howard hands Clubberfield a folded piece of paper and motions her to read it.

As she’s reading it she is peering up at him and with that same smirk that seems to have never left her face since the moment he met her, she reads out loud.

“Beverly, included in this package is 100 pages of the script I want you to check out. As soon as you read them please call me and tell me what you think. I would like an answer if this is right for you or not as soon as possible. I believe it’s THE ONE you have been looking for. You can reach me on my cell at anytime. It’s signed, The Only Agent You’ll Ever Need, Phil McBead.”

Howard looks stunned and exclaims, “What the hell are you reading? Let me see that!”

His already white feathered face just got a little whiter as his beak drops. Glancing and mumble-reading it aloud, he proceeds to recheck the bathroom where he had fainted.

“It was right here! On the counter! Same note... Same size FUCKING note, but it was typed in red ink and it said...”

He pauses for a second trying to remember.

“Oh dammit! What did it say? OH! It was something along the lines of... they got the love of my life!”

In a frantic state he continues “... they were going to kill her. The Fury! The FURY! They called themselves The Fury!”

Loretta jumps in, “The Fury? Hmm... Anyone you know? I know of a Nick Fury.”

Then Howard jumps in, “NO! Not THAT Fury! What the fuck would he have anything to do--”

He stops in mid-sentence and remembers, “The script... Phil! That’s her agent. He sent her a script to look over! She was going to show it to me when I got back. Where is it? It’s gotta be around here somewhere. Why is there no threatening letter? I’m not crazy! Am I?”

As Howard is about to make his way around the large detective to search for the script that the agent sent to Beverly, he is stopped.

“Whoa whoa,” Loretta grabs Howard by the back of his neck collar. “OH, no you don’t. Look Duck-Man, or whatever you call yourself, you are not going anywhere and you are not touching anything! There is an investigation going on here and I am leading this investigation. Until YOU can provide me some answers and paint me a nice little picture that doesn’t put you at the scene of, and the cause of, these lifeless bodies here... then I am placing you under arrest.”

Clubberfield continues, “Officer Palido, place Mr. Duck in custody and even though he ain’t all that human, read him his rights.”

The officer moves toward Howard and reaches for his cuffs. Howard swiftly does a knee slide in between the detective and other officers. On the other side of the room he turns towards them all then gets into a Dip-Bo like stance. This gets their attention.

“That’s not going to happen, toots... because I’m about to go all Quack-Fu on your monkey asses!” Howard exclaims.

Without hesitation the men in blue rush him as Clubberfield stands by in awe of the balls this feathered figure oddity must have equipped under those trowsers.

Howard crouches, and then leaps up way above their heads and in mid-air shoots the detective a wink of his eye before crashing down to the floor dead center of the police.

They don’t know what hit them. Howard fixes his eyes on his opponents surrounding him and still in awe of what they are witnessing. He squats down, chest to the floor to finish them off with a full 360 degree round about. It looks like a pentacle hurling all of NYPD’s finest into the walls head first. Not a single man is getting up.

“BACK UP! THIS IS DETECTIVE CLUBBERFIELD AT 65 EAST 79TH STREET! I NEED SOME FUCKING BACK UP NOW! I can’t fucking believe this!"

Howard says to Loretta, “I’m going through that door and there’s no way to stop me. You bag o' beef of a lady!”

As she's about to reply, he moves faster than her eyes could allow to follow. She doesn’t even try to get in his way as she’s confident he will be greeted by more police before he gets to the bottom of the stairs.

Howard the Duck just went from a victim of a violent crime, to suspect of a violent crime, to now fugitive. All of this, and Manhattan hasn’t even hit its peak in rush hour for the day.

“Oh man, waaaagh! I really want that cigar baaaad!” He complains, as he scurries down the flight of stairs leading to the front door. A destination he now has to avoid. He’s having a life conundrum. He reaches the bottom of the stairwell and trying to catch his breath, he takes a quick look outside the glass window of the double doors.

“DAMN! That was fast!" He’s referring to the 3 police cars that just pulled up to the building, followed by sirens in the distance... more are on their way.

Howard turns around to notice the small hallway that leads to the south east end of the building. "There has to be another way out," he thinks. He books it. Panting along the way, he spots the emergency exit sign above the door that must lead to the back of the building.

“I am so outta’ here! See ya’ coppers!” He pushes the door open and sounds the alarm.

"Hmm... I don’t think I remember ever seeing back here. It's like something out of a third world country. Had I seen it before, I probably would have changed my mind about moving into the place." Howard says out loud. The alley is a grimy and dim place, even though it’s daylight. “Oh well," he continues, "I can’t be nit pickin’ 'bout that shit. I need to lay low and think.”

He makes a temporary residence behind two dumpsters, tucked in between two buildings. He knows he can’t stay here for long. Asode from it's stench, it’s only a matter of time before the police start searching the outer premises. For now, all he needs is a moment to figure this out.

He pulls out the letter from his inner pocket and is still baffled by it. It says exactly what the detective read back to him. Not a word had changed. It is unlike before when he clearly read it as a threat to kill Beverly, from somebody calling themselves The Fury. The game has changed. He now knows where he has to start in his search for his girlfriend. He must find this Phil McBead.

***************
Three days have gone by since a young man by the name of Benjamin Sallis stepped off a plane at J.F.K. where he met and wandered off with two mysterious men. Before his departure he kissed his girlfriend goodbye and said he would be back by Monday. It is now Monday... and he is a long way from home.

“Wh-where am I?” Sallis thinks. His mind races, he can’t see a thing as he wakes in a cold darkness with a foul scent of damp concrete all around him. He feels around for some walls. Trying to get some kind of idea as to where he is.

“Where are my clothes?” He says out loud, aware of his exposed flesh. “I’m fucking naked? I can’t see anything! What the hell happened?”

He remains as calm as he can be, but reaches his breaking point. “HELP!” he yells.

He struggles, trying to lift his body up. His 157 pound frame all of a sudden feels like a ton. He can barely stand before a rush of nausea sends him back to the cold damp floor of his prison.

The 23 year old film maker arrived here from the small town of Citrusville near the Florida Everglades. Last Thursday night he received a phone call from a casting agent out of Manhattan by the name of Phil McBead. He told the young director of his “striking redhead of a beaut” client that would be perfect for the role Sallis is seeking to fill for his latest project. Sallis's script is based on legendary scientist Ted Sallis, the mystery of his legendary disappearance, and the connection to the monster of the swamps... Man-Thing.

He had wanted to make this film for over three years. Writing and researching to no end. Working odd jobs, and having his girlfriend put in relentless hours to get contacts and investors to help fund the film 'Haunter of The Swamp.' Now all that is needed to complete this work of a lifetime is to find the right actors.

When Phil McBead called that Thursday evening, he knew right then that fate was on his side. Fate has funny ways of playing with mortals. He is of no relation to the infamous Ted Sallis. That’s where the irony begins for young Benjamin. So one last piece of toast Friday morning and he’s off to fly to New York and meet Mr. McBead and this actress he holds such high regards to. He packs a light luggage including his script and heads to The Big Apple. That was three days ago.

Now, he struggles to his knees, shivering and wet, and he finds a small hole that seems to peer out into more darkness. He shouts again hoping this time to make a sound.

“HELP! SOMEBODY! PLEASE HELP ME!” The slight echo from his cries gives him a sense that an empty space is just on the other side of these walls.

“What the fuck?! Am I even in America? I can’t even remember how I got here or where I was before." He thinks to himself.

Then a woman’s voice emerges from the dark. “Is that you making all of that noise? If you can, please shut up. I’m trying to sleep. Ugh!”

Stunned at what he just heard, Sallis begins to feel his way around with his hands in the blackness.

“Who’s there?” He asks, excited that he’s not alone. “Where are you Mrs.?”

“Over here. Where you dropped me asshole,” the woman replies.

“What do you me where I dropped you?” Sallis asks, coming into contact with warm flesh.

The woman shouts, “Hey what the hell are you doing? You can’t touch me there!”

“Oh sorry, I can’t see a damn thing and you just... showed up. Excuse me if I offended you.”

At this point Benjamin’s embarrassment is overruled by curiosity. “Who are you woman? Where are we?” It’s freakin’ dark in here. I’m wet and I smell. You’re still wearing your clothes and I’m fucking stark naked. WHY?!”

She makes a shuffling sound and says, “Hold on. I have my boyfriend's lighter in my jeans. Damn! Why are they so tight. Did I gain weight since I got here? Mmmmph! Uhgh... THERE!"

She flicks the lighter, revealing enough light to see both of their faces. Moving the lighter down slowly from his face to his chest to... “FUCK! YOU ARE NAKED! Eeeeew! Get away from me you fucking perv!” She pushes him away.

“Wait, wait!” Sallis says emphatically, “No, no, you got me all wrong honey. I woke up here naked on the floor, wet and cold, I had no idea whatsoever that anyone was even in here with me.

“Here." The woman takes off her blouse, still modestly covered by her bra, and throws it his way. "Since you’re not packing much, cover up with this for now.”

“So, man with the not so big thingamajig, what’s your name?” she asks with a barely visible smile.

“First, before I tell you my name, I want to know who you are and where the HELL am I?” Ben says while covering his nudeness.

“My name is---” the woman begins to reveal who she is, but gets interrupted momentarily by Sallis.

“What did you mean when you said I dropped you here?” He asks curiously.

She introduces herself and answers his question, “My name is Beverly. Beverly Switzler. Actress, model, and famous for clever ringtones. Well, when you brought me here you weren’t you. You know what I mean?”

“No! No, I don’t. Please explain,” he retorts.

“You’re Man-Thing. You and my boyfriend go back a ways. You busted in my home, rescued me from those men that were about to shower me with bullets...”

She continues with, “You really laid into them. You saved my life. My boyfriend would have done it too, but you were there first. I fainted and woke up here. Even I don’t know how we got from you saving my life, to us both being held prisoners in this smelly place.” She then pauses and says "Howard. Oh man I bet he's losing his mind right about now."

She flicks on the lighter again, which is now running low on butane. The small flame revealing confusion on Benjamin’s face.

Then he says, “O.k. Now I’m fucking tripping here woman, er.. Mrs. Switzler.”

“Beverly, call me Beverly.”

“Beverly. O.k. So I don’t know what kinda’ shit you and your boyfriend smoke in your off time, but me... Man-Thing? You and me? Me rescuing you? Umm... look, my name is Benjamin. Benjamin Sallis. I came here to meet a guy, a casting agent of sorts, to meet an actress for my upcoming film that ironically is about The Man-Thing.”

“Wait!” She cuts in. “What the fuck?! Phil? That’s my agent! He gave me a script to read on Saturday and I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I went home today after my boyfriend ruffled my feathers, so to speak, so I could check the script out and that’s when I was attacked. Phil told me of a great film project in the works and that I would fit the leading lady.”

Sallis interrupts, “Oh my! So you’re the actress I was supposed to meet. Here we are, meeting in the most unusual of circumstances. This doesn’t make any sense. The last thing I do remember is meeting two guys at the J.F.K. airport, who I thought were there to pick me up and bring me to the McBead guy and meet... I guess you. WOW! O.k. Now this is getting weird. All I remember is getting into their car. AND THAT’S IT! I draw a complete blank.”

At this point the lighter dies out for good. Beverly tries to flick on one last spark. Nothing.

Sallis continues speaking, “What do you know about the Man-Thing? He’s not even from New York. I’m making a movie based on the creature from the Swamps of Florida and his ties to Dr. Ted Sallis. He's the man responsible for creating a copy of the Super Soldier Serum.”

Beverly tosses the lighter and a small echo stops Sallis for a moment. Long enough for her to finally be able to speak.

“All I know is that Man-Thing and my life partner Howard, Howard the Duck, are kinda like friends. Ever heard of him?” She continues, ignoring any chance of response, “We don’t know much about the troubled beast. We do know that he isn’t bad, and that he has had it rough. I believe he has control of, and is the guardian of The Nexus to All Realities. He is able to go where he wants when he wants, and it didn’t surprise me to see you in New York. Of course if you’re as good of a filmmaker as Phil made you out to be you’d already know that about Man-Thing.”

Sallis interjects, “But that’s where I’m lost. How is it that I---"

All a sudden Ben lets out a cry of agony as he crouches to the floor. Beverly can’t see a thing but she hears him rustling around the ground. She tries to feel for him in the blackness. She hears flesh ripping and stretching. Benjamin’s skin is changing and judging by his screams it is utterly painful. She knows that much for sure.

Moments later the room lights up, revealing four stone walls, and from ceiling to the floor Beverly is staring up at the enormous creature with crimson glowing eyes and covered in green moss, and she isn’t even scared. Why would she be? Beverly has been through it all with her ducky. Nothing at this point in her life fazes her. This is good because Man-Thing’s very nature is empathic and the single thing The Man-Thing loathes is fear. He can “read” the emotions of others. He feels what they feel. What he feels now is pain and confusion. This Man-Thing is new to this “once-man." The man that used to be, now feels agony. The one feeling that he doesn’t feel in the room is the one emotion that could set him off in a violent rage. Beverly doesn’t have an ounce of fear in her and makes her exempt from the destruction this beast displayed to the three men that tried to kill her.

Instead Man-Thing senses her calmness and is now coming to a feeling of serenity.

Beverly grabs his hand and says. “It’s going to be o.k. I know you can’t understand me, the words I speak, but I know you’re in there Ben and I know you can feel me when I say we are going to get out of here and get things back to normal." Underneath the confident tone of words, she sighs."Whatever normal is these days.."

His state of confusion soon shifts to a sense of clarity.

Alarms sound from outside the stone walls of the cell. Beverly and the creature hear what sounds like running. Men shout words that are incomprehensible from inside the thick walls. The door of the cell swings open. Standing in the doorway are about ten men dress in yellow plastic raincoat like garb. They look like HAZMAT, aside from their helmets, which are actually worn by A.I.M. agents. If this were Ted Sallis’s swamp creature, then he’d easily remember this group from past encounters, but this is a new stranger in a strange land.

Benjamin Sallis knows nothing of this. He feels fear. He reacts to fear. These men show fear. “The fucker is up and he’s pissed,” one agent yells. “Hit him with everything we've got! Remember! He HAS to remain alive! The woman too!”

Man-Thing stands in front of Beverly to block any shots of photons from the stun-guns of the A.I.M. agents. These men are relentless. They are 300 feet below the city of Manhattan, but of course the beauty and the beast are unaware of this. Man-Thing is only concerned with taking down what is trying to destroy him. He picks up two agents one in each hand. Fear erodes from these men into the eyes of the monster and the flesh around their necks burn. Their screems will forever echo through Beverly's mind.

Beverly is almost about to lose her breakfast from the stench of burning flesh. She tries to remain calm as she witnesses Man-Thing’s mottled hands crush and burn his prey.

Frenzy moments later, all ten men are out and Man-Thing grabs Beverly. They head out of their former place of imprisonment and dash though the barely lit tunnel. More men are coming. More photonic beams fly over the slime crawler’s massive head. There is no way out. So it appears.

A.I.M. also known as Advanced Idea Media brought the young film maker here to this underground facility under the instruction of a very powerful client with plans that have not truly been revealed. Yesterday, they strapped an unconscious Benjamin Sallis to a chair and injected him with the newly revised version of the Super Soldier Serum. The serum that made Captain America the force he is today... The same serum developed by scientist Ted Sallis that was slightly altered by dark forces of a shadow-haunted swamp.

The Sallis Papers were believed to be lost and like Ted Sallis, dead and buried.

A.I.M. through their powerful client gained access to the formula and this organization of brilliant scientists of their own put their twist in it. A new Man-Thing was born and his first mission was laid out. Seek out and recover target Beverly Switzler and bring her in until further instruction from above.

Which brings us to...

**************

It’s a late afternoon in the middle of July in Manhattan, and the heat wave has hit an all time high. It’s felt by every citizen throughout the city and the entire state of New York. Statewide power outages are eminent. Psychological stress leads to violent crimes.

All of this has no effect on the two individuals meeting on the top floor of a 120 story skyscraper called The Nexus Building. The office in which they occupy is only lit by the partially opened blinds to the large widow.

“You killed my men you fool.” A sinister voice of displeasure from across the long table in the center of the room says. His face is loomed within the shadows.

“Your men were fools Pro-Rata!” Hidden in total darkness, another demonic voice shouts across the room. “My creature got you what you wanted. Those idiots were in its way. The way they were handling their mission it was just a matter of time before they met their demise by way of a paper cut. HA HA HA HA! They died with little sense of respect.” The demon laughs hysterically!

“ENOUGH!” Pro-Rata bellows, followed by his fist smashing through the floating orb-like object, which explode into tiny beams of multi-colored photons flowing in the direction of the demon called Thog.

“Your stupid pet tricks don’t bother me you imbecile,” says Thog the Nether-Spawn.

Thog is now the infamous leader of the demon cult 'The Six Fingered Hand' replacing Mephisto after being defeated by The Defenders. He is a master of disguise and has been playing quite the role to bring this show to the stage. As casting director/producer Phil McBead.

He continues his spiel. “Pro-Rata, it is simple. You wanted your precious Beverly back as your princess to stand by your side once more, along with your revenge on the duck-man who stole her from you.”

Pro-Rata explains, “Well, he didn’t exactly steal her... I kinda threw them out of my realm with a simple task to bring me the key elemental to my taking over the world financial institution. I am the world accountant. And AS you can see, I did quite well.”

“Yes, yes you have,” Thog agrees then says, “But! And there is that BIG BUT. Ha ha, oh I crack myself up. I have my agenda as well and that is to produce my own Man-Thing or Man-Things if you will. Able to live in extreme conditions and don't need a swamp for survival. Judging by the success of my first creation in that young man, I can control these creatures at my will and do what I want when I want. I brought the young man Benjamin Sallis here to be just that. It was I that found the lost Sallis Papers to get the formula that turned Ted into the original monster. With the help of our friends over at A.I.M., I or WE made the serum whole again. The same serum that Dr. Ted Sallis produced to mimic the stuff that made Captain America a super soldier, is now the stuff that will make this wretched city, and soon the whole world a wasteland!

Pro-Rata is slightly impressed. Behind a false voice of enthusiasm he says, “O.k. Thog. That is nice. I commend you on a job well done, but how did you exactly pull this all together, and that letter with the trick ink? That made Howard the Duck out to be a fool amongst the law enforcement and hopefully a criminal! What made you come up with The Fury scenario? If you’d be so kind to fill me in with this madness. I only wanted Beverly back by my side and to make that waterfowl suffer like never before. What is ‘The Fury?'"

“Oh my foolish accountant friend.” Thog says as he walks towards the huge double doors at the end of the massive office. “You have been so patient with me and quite generous with your constant cash flow to fund this project, or agenda if you will. I brought in a specialist. I want you to meet my one man crew and master of special effects.”

The door swings open and a tall figure decked out from a dome shaped head to toe in all black garb and long flowing cape enters the room.

“Pro-Rata, I’d like you to meet Mysterio. I’ll turn the mic over to him and he can tell you all about The Fury and better yet, the BIG PICTURE!”

To be continued...
..

I love how you have Howard getting caught up in a mess that would be a match for any team of super heroes.

lol. Cool! Yeah as a matter of fact he may get a small hand from a famous super hero. The funny thing about the three villians I put together was that even though they're working together, they're not working very smart together and may eventually end up turning on each other. It's like they all three have different agenda's and one common goal and Howard get's thrown into all three of them. When I thought of doing this I had no idea that there was a story in the 70's with Howard the Duck called Five Villians Without a Plot. And thought that was ironic and hilarious at the same time. I may play on that a little more. It keeps the whole wackiness of what Howard represented in his comics early on. The more I read Steve Gerber's stuff I realize how great of a writer he is. He's out there too.lol

The POV of your stories keeps throwing me. I keep thinking it's Howard telling the story to some unseen person (or perhaps the reader), but it isn't. The first scene is in Howard's head and clearly his narration, but then we get to "A loud and gnarly voice snaps Howard out of his dream. He’s been unconscious for over an hour after fainting from the hysteria he’s suffered and everything he’s been through today."

I don't know who is saying this. I think it might be your use of present tense for all the verbs ("snaps" instead of "snapped," "says" instead of "said," etc.). Is this from the POV of the Watcher? Am I missing something?

lol. I think it's both. I'm totally new to the writing thing and though I think I'm getting better I know I need a lot of improvement and will hopfully nail it more and more as I go on. I totally need this kind of feed back and will take another look at how I write the POV. What you said really helps me to see where I need to improve and I can totally appreciate your feed back. ThanX Nik!

OMFG Erik I cannot stop laughing. Between the pacing and the dialogue you got me chuckling at the start and tears running down my face at the end. Man Thing is Awesome.

LOL! Way cool. Yeah I actually find myself cracking up on it this time around. I think I'm getting better at his dialogue. And reading the old issues from the 70's helps. I still got some improvements to make on my over all writing but hopfully I'll get better as I go. I think that's usually how it works! ThanX for the feedback bro!

You make this as entertaining as even the best "A-team" Superhero comic, I like how you are able to put Howard in a plot involving villains that even the big guys have trouble with.

Keep it up Erik.

ThanX Jared! Yeah I'm chuggin' along.lol The villians are definitely going to give him and good run for his duck dollars!