howardtheduck1-MaincvrHoward the Duck is a goofy and unexpected Marvel character, on par with Deadpool in many ways, created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik. He first appeared in 1973, saw an unexpected movie in 1986, and surprised many in the after credit scene of last years Guardians of the Galaxy film. Now the character will continue to surprise all in a brand new on-going comic series by Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones this March. Marvel is looking for big success with this series, as seen by the large number of variants and ordering incentives offered to retailers. But perhaps the most unique variant offered is that of the Evolution of Howard The Duck cover, done in the style of Ant-Man’s Shrinking Variant.

In the case of Ant-Man’s Shrinking Variant, Marvel offered a number of exclusive variants equal to initial orders on the alternate cover, but with each one being 100% unique thanks to publishing the titular character at various sizes on the cover. Each cover would see Ant-Man slightly larger or smaller than any other cover, with unique numbering on the back cover to accompany. Now Marvel looks to do similar with various sizes of Howard the Duck in various stages of his life, slowly shifting from his hatching from an egg through his modern pants suit detective stage. You can see a video of this below:

 

 

This cover will accompany 6 other variant covers, not including what will likely be many store and convention exclusive variants. But this could be one of the rare variants to find at your local comic shop. That isn’t because each variant is unique, but more of a rarity because Marvel and Diamond Comic Distributors require you to order 150% of your order of Original Sin #8 on Howard the Duck #1 before you can order any of the Evolution variant. Keep in mind 0with a big event like Original Sin, particularly in the final issue, many stores ordered quite heavily. That means they’ll have to order rather big to also get the Howard the Duck Evolution variant. Some shows will unquestionably hit these numbers, but many wont have the opportunity. This is quite different from the easier goal of exceeding 150% of orders for Hawkeye Vs Deadpool #1, that both the Ant-Man #1 Shrinking variant saw and Howard the Duck’s blank variant is currently facing. How will this effect the scarcity and value of this variant? At this point it is hard to say, but I can fathom speculators contemplating it quite a bit.

Howard the Duck #1 hits stores on March 11th, with 6 main variants. Check those and more out down below: