Howard the Duck is one of the weirdest Marvel Comics heroes of all time, and he has a villain who is even stranger. It has been 51 years since Howard the Duck got his own solo comic book series, and it wasn’t long before his rogues’ gallery began to form. Originally, Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik introduced Howard the Duck in Fear #19, and then he got his own series from Gerber and Frank Brunner with Howard the Duck #1 in 1975. His greatest villain then debuted in the 15th issue of the series.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In Howard the Duck #15 (1977) by Gerber and Gene Colan, Doctor Bong made his first appearance in Marvel Comics. Not only was he a perfect choice for a Howard the Duck villain, but his name ended up a giant joke that most Marvel fans couldn’t get past, making him a meme years before that word was even an actual term.
Howard the Duck’s Main Enemy is Named Doctor Bong
Doctor Bong is a man named Lester Verde, and he grew up as an overweight child who was the victim of constant bullying as a child. Thanks to words from his mother, he decided to become a journalist so he could use words to fight back against his tormentors. He started doing this in college when his professor questioned Lester’s ethics, so Lester got revenge by writing an exposé for the student paper about how his teacher was involved in illegal drugs, and it not only got the professor fired, but it also cost him his pension and his wife. Lester then became a sensationalist investigative journalist.
What brought him into Howard the Duck’s life was Lester’s infatuation with Beverly Switzler, whom he met in a life drawing class in college. While Beverly always rejected him, Lester became more and more obsessed. There was no word on how Lester became Doctor Bong or how he gained the knowledge of genetic engineering and sonics, but the hows and whys don’t really matter in Howard the Duck comics. He attacked Howard the Duck and captured Beverly while she and Howard were on a cruise. He turned Howard into a human and then forced the sea captain to marry him to Beverly.
In a completely ridiculous moment, after Doctor Bong beat a revived Howard the Duck in a fight, it was Beverly who defeated her stalker. She used Bong’s scientific laboratory to create five infant clones by using Bong’s nail clippings. These infants, known as the Bong Quintuplets, were then used by Beverly, who threatened to publicly accuse Bong of being a negligent father to these children. Since Bong was more interested in his public image, he gave up and let Beverly and Howard go.
Since that time, he has used his mysterious scientific knowledge to do more, including transforming normal animals into sentient, semi-humanoid beings similar to the High Evolutionary’s New Men. He has also created clones and developed a device that allows people to transport anything across vast distances.
Doctor Bong Has Become a Popular Marvel Meme
Doctor Bong never stood a chance. First, Bong’s costume was ridiculous, with a bell-shaped helmet on his head and a large metal ball in place of his severed left hand, which he lost while working as a music journalist and getting involved in a tragic accident at a concert that ironically involved giant bells. He became one of Howard the Duck’s most dangerous villains thanks to his relentless obsession with Beverly. However, he also fought She-Hulk and Deadpool, which fits well with the idea that he was known mostly as a joke character.
It wasn’t just how he looked, but his name brings up way too many connotations. With his name having multiple meanings, there is the joke that his existence might have been the result of Marvel’s creative team making use of his namesake. Over time, Doctor Bong became even more of a joke villain, as he later joined a Villains Anonymous support group in the pages of the brilliant Superior Foes of Spider-Man #11 (2014) by Tom Peyer and William Sliney. This included Doctor Bong with other joke villains like Hippo, Porcupine, Grizzly, Looter, Mirage, and the highly underrated Spider-Man villain Boomerang.
In easily the biggest example of his name becoming a joke, Doctor Bong formed another group of villains to fight Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3 (2014) by Jai Nitz and Ron Salas. The ultimate goal here was to create a Cosmic Bong to conquer the Multiverse. This team included names like Angar the Screamer, Shrunken Bones, Gorilla-Man, Ruby Thursday, and Chondu the Mystic.
More Comics
-
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics Marvel
13 hours agoThe Original X-Men’s Richest Member Became Its Deadliest Hero, and the MCU Needs to Tell His Story
-
Movies
15 hours agoStar Wars Already Has the Perfect Story for Darth Vader’s Rumored Solo Movie
-
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics Comics
1 day agoMarvel Canceled This Modern Classic Before Its Biggest Twist and the Avengers May Finish the Story
-
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics Collectibles
1 day agoThis Copy of Gambit’s First Appearance Is a Perfect Ten, But That Might Not Be Enough for Some Collectors
