THE INNER DUCK

Steve Gerber, creator of the “Howard the Duck” book and comic strip in the 1970s, kept his suggestions largely to himself when Universal was filming Howard. Now, with critics and audiences crying fowl, Gerber told us, “I wonder if I should have screamed and yelled a little more.”

His capsule review: He enjoyed the human stars (Jeffrey Jones, Lea Thompson, Tim Robbins) and Thomas Dolby’s songs; wasn’t crazy about the abundance of chase scenes, John Barry’s musical score or the duck’s voice--”a mix of Rodney Dangerfield and Burgess Meredith’s Penguin” from the Batman TV series; felt the duck should have been less of a “jokester” and a lot nastier, more in the vein of the original.

“Howard is like a a very well-read dockworker who’s capable of razor-sharp comments on the behavior of humans,” Gerber explained. “The film doesn’t go into the character’s depth. I guess ducks with inner struggles don’t play on screen.”