Steve Gerber
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Steve Gerber (born 20 September, 1947) is an American writer of comic books.
Gerber got his start at Marvel Comics in 1972, where he initially penned fairly standard superhero stories for titles such as Daredevil and Sub-Mariner. He soon developed a more individual voice, which mixed adventure stories with social satire and absurdist humour. In one issue of The Defenders, for example, a group of super-villains tired of always being beaten by the good guys seek out a self-help guru to motivate them.
Besides a lengthy run on The Defenders, Gerber is most noted for scripting Man-Thing (a quasi-horror title); Omega The Unknown (which explored the strange link between a cosmic superhero and a small boy); and Howard the Duck, probably his best-known work. He was also responsible for the short-lived but unique Marvel comic based on the band KISS.
Steve Gerber is noted for his memorable supporting or guest characters who become almost cult favorites in their own right. His best known such characters are probably the born loser Richard Rory, who has appeared off and on in most of the Gerber books, and the Foolkiller, a psychopathic vigilante who inspired several different individuals to adopt his identity over the years and acquired his own 10-issue limited series in 1990.
Gerber left Marvel in 1979, and launched a lengthy legal battle for control of Howard. During the late 1970s and 1980s he did some work for DC (including a 1981 Superman mini-series, The Phantom Zone) and for independent comic companies. In 1982 he teamed with Jack Kirby to create Destroyer Duck, a satirical comic which was intended to raise funds for his court case and Kirby's similar legal battles against Marvel. Gerber and Marvel reached a settlement on the case, and he has since worked sporadically in comics, writing several miniseries for Marvel and Vertigo; in 2002 he created a new Howard the Duck miniseries for Marvel's MAX line. He then created Hard Time, which has outlasted the short-lived imprint DC Focus.
He has also worked in television animation, working as story editor for G.I. Joe and Dungeons and Dragons, creating Thundarr the Barbarian, and winning an Emmy Award for his scripting of The Batman/Superman Adventures.