How much was the 80s flick based on the comics? Besides a Civil War tie in I never really read much with the character.
Even though I enjoyed the 80's film as a kid, here's what wikipedia said about the adaptation ;
"The film was originally intended to be an animated film based on the character created by
Steve Gerber and quoting scripts by
Bill Mantlo. In particular, the "Duckworld" story of
Howard the Duck magazine #6 was going to serve as a basis for the script. Huyck and producer
Gloria Katz strayed significantly in their adaptation. A contractual obligation required Lucas to provide a distributor with a live action film, so he decided to make the film using
live actors and to use special effects for Howard.
The script significantly altered the personality of the title character, chose to play the story straight instead of as a satire, removed the surrealist elements, and added supernatural elements that could highlight special effects work done by Lucas'
Industrial Light & Magic. The adapted version of the main character is an alien named Howard who lives on a planet populated by
anthropomorphic ducks that evolved from birds instead of primates. His world is almost identical to Earth but is filled with bird-related
visual puns. Howard is transported to Earth by an accident involving an experimental laser. He arrives on Earth near a punk rock club, where he meets Beverly (the only other character from the original comics). As Howard attempts to find a way to return to his planet, he helps Beverly in her singing career, develops a romance with her, then saves humanity from a scientist who is possessed by an alien."
I didn't get a chance to read any of Howards comics until I bought the Marvel Essentials Howard the Duck trade paperback 2 years ago. The only difference I've seen between the movies and the comics is the movie is more sci/fi, while the comics are basically satire, with a little weird light slapstick an exists within the regular marvel universe ( Spider-man and Man-thing showed up in a coupe of issues), and Howard's origin is different ( According tohis creator Steve Gerber, Howard didn't come from a planet of alien anthromorphic ducks, but a dimension that featured a variety of funny cartoon animals.)