Gerber began work as a copywriter for a St. Louis advertising agency.[4] During this time he wrote short stories, some of which, such as "And the Birds Hummed Dirges," later appeared in Crazy Magazine during his stint as editor.[5]
In early 1972, Gerber asked Thomas, by this time Marvel editor-in-chief, about writing comics; Thomas sent him a writer's test – six pages of a Daredevil car-chase scene drawn by Gene Colan – which Gerber passed. He accepted a position as an associate editor and writer at Marvel Comics. Thomas said in 2007,
Steve and I had been in touch, off and on....I [eventually] got a letter from Steve saying, in essence, 'Help! I'm going crazy in this advertising job'....So I thought, 'Gee, he'd be a good person to get up here, so if he wants to make a change, let's give it a try'. He was brought in to be an assistant editor on staff. That didn't work out so well, because for whatever reason...he had trouble staying awake. At the time, he wasn't a staff kind of person, at least in terms of what Marvel needed, but he was a real good writer and did some interesting things...[6]
Gerber scripted one of his signature series, Man-Thing, about a swamp-monster empath, beginning in Adventure into Fear #11 (Dec. 1972).[10] On page 11 of that issue, he created the series' narrative tagline, used in captions: "Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch!" After issue #19 (Dec. 1973), Man-Thing received a solo title, which ran 22 issues (Jan. 1974 – Oct. 1975), of which issue #1 was originally intended for Adventure into Fear #20. Gerber and Mayerik introduced the original Foolkiller in issue #3 (March 1974).[11] In the final issue, Gerber appeared as a character in the story, claiming he had not been inventing the Man-Thing's adventures but simply reporting on them and that he had decided to move on.
With pencilerVal Mayerik, Gerber created Howard the Duck as a secondary character in a Man-Thing story in Adventure into Fear #19 and Man-Thing #1 (Dec. 1973 - Jan. 1974).[12] Howard graduated to his own backup feature in Giant-Size Man-Thing #4-5, confronting such bizarre horror-parody characters as Garko the Man-Frog and Bessie the Hellcow, before acquiring his own comic-book title with Howard the Duck #1 (Jan. 1976).[13] Gerber wrote 27 issues of the series, penciled initially by Frank Brunner and shortly afterward by Gene Colan.[14] The series gradually developed a substantial cult following, which Marvel helped to promote by Howard's satiric entry into the 1976 U.S. presidential campaign under the auspices of the All-Night Party.[15]
Marvel attempted a spin-off with a short-lived Howard the Ducksyndicatedcomic strip from 1977 to 1978, initially scripted by Gerber and drawn by Colan then Mayerik and finally Alan Kupperberg.[16] Gerber was replaced on the strip in mid-1978, by another comic book writer, Marv Wolfman, creating acrimony. Marvel's then editor-in-chief, Jim Shooter, blamed Gerber's chronic tardiness, saying the creative team was "producing strips within six days of their publication dates," which he said caused several newspapers to drop the strip.[17] Shooter added that while the syndicate threatened to drop the strip if a new writer were not brought in, "Steve can tell you a good number of horror stories – and they're all true – about the trouble we had getting artists."[17]
Gerber often revived forgotten characters. In The Defenders, he revived three pre-superhero-era characters, the Headmen.[21] He reintroduced the 1969 one-time feature Guardians of the Galaxy, first as guest stars in Marvel Two-in-One and The Defenders, then as a feature in Marvel Presents.[22][23]
In the first half of 1978, Gerber was fired from first the newspaper strip and then the comic book series for failure to meet deadlines.[17][24] On August 29, 1980, after learning of Marvel's efforts to license Howard for use in film and broadcast media, Gerber filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Marvel corporate parent Cadence Industries and other parties, alleging that he was the sole owner of the character.[24][25]
In 1981 he teamed with Jack Kirby at Eclipse to create Destroyer Duck, a satirical comic created to raise funds for his court case against Marvel.[32]
The lawsuit was settled on September 24, 1982. Gerber acknowledged that his work on the character had been done as work-for-hire and that Marvel parent Cadence Industries owned "all right, title and interest" to Howard the Duck and related material. On November 5, 1982, Judge David Kenyon approved the motion and dismissed the case.[24][25]
1980s and 1990s career
In the early 1980s, Gerber and Frank Miller made a joint proposal to revamp DC's three biggest characters, namely Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman;.[33] The proposal was not accepted.
After Marvel had cancelled his contract in May 1978,[34] he returned to Marvel in 1983 with the short-lived Void Indigo.
Gerber was slated to write a new Spectre series in 1986, but he missed the deadline for the first issue so that he could watch the last day of shooting on the Howard the Duck film and DC assigned another writer to the series in response.[33][35]
In 2002, he created a new Howard the Duck miniseries for Marvel's MAX line.[38] For DC, he created Nevada for the Vertigo imprint in 1998 with artist Phil Winslade and Hard Time with long-time collaborator Mary Skrenes, which outlasted the short-lived imprint DC Focus, but slow sales led Hard Time: Season Two to be cancelled after only seven issues.[39]
Later, Gerber wrote the Helmet of Fate: Zauriel one-shot and continued writing the Doctor Fate serial in the Countdown to Mystery limited series for DC Comics up to the time of his death, working on stories in the hospital. Gerber died before being able to write the concluding chapter of the serial; in his honor, four separate writers (Adam Beechen, Mark Evanier, Gail Simone, and Mark Waid) provided their own conclusions to the story.
In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Gerber's run on The Defenders first on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels", while Omega the Unknown was 10th on the same list.[40]
Gerber's posthumous Man-Thing story "The Screenplay of the Living Dead Man", with art by Kevin Nowlan, originally planned as a 1980s graphic novel before being left uncompleted by the artist,[41] was revived in the 2010s and appeared as a three-issue miniseries cover-titled The Infernal Man-Thing (early Sept.-Oct. 2012).[42] The story was a sequel to Gerber's "Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man" in Man-Thing #12 (Dec. 1974).[41]
Death
In 2007, Gerber was diagnosed with an early stage of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and was eventually hospitalized while continuing to work. He had gotten onto the waiting list for a lung transplant at UCLA Medical Center. On February 10, 2008, Gerber died in a Las Vegas hospital from complications stemming from his condition.[43][44] His final comics work was writing Countdown to Mystery: Doctor Fate for DC Comics, having briefly worked with a version of the character in 1982.
At the time of his death, Gerber was separated from his wife, Margo Macleod.[3] He had a daughter, Samantha Gerber.[3]
One of Gerber's working pen-names, Reg Everbest, was the inspiration behind the first Foolkiller's real name, which was revealed as Ross G. Everbest. Gerber used the anagrammatic Reg Everbest pseudonym for Marvel-published Hanna-Barbera stories after he was banned from Marvel by Jim Shooter. Roger Stern named the original, deceased Foolkiller "Ross G. Everbest" in The Amazing Spider-Man #225, in homage to Gerber,[45] using Gerber's middle name as the character's first name, the middle initial restoring the anagram save for a silent e. The character's real name never appeared in the two Gerber stories, but is seen on a computer screen in the second Foolkiller's van, next to the face of the original user of that identity.
1977: Also nominated for same award for Howard the Duck #1: "Howard the Barbarian", with artist Frank Brunner[48]
1977: Nominated for Eagle Award for Favourite Comicbook Writer[48]
1977: Nominated for Eagle Award for Favourite Continued Comicbook Story for The Defenders #31–40 and The Defenders Annual #1, with artist Sal Buscema[48]
1977: Eagle Award for Howard the Duck as Favourite Comicbook – Humour[48]
1977: Eagle Award for Howard the Duck as Favourite New Comic Title[48]
1977: Howard the Duck nominated for Eagle Award for Favourite Comicbook Character[48]
Marvel Two-in-One #1–9 (1974–1975) (tying in with his Man-Thing, Sub-Mariner, Daredevil/Shanna the She-Devil and Guardians of the Galaxy/Defenders storylines; plus Ghost Rider and Thor)
^Roy Thomas interview, Alter Ego #70 (July 2007), p. 55
^Sanderson, Peter; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1970s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 157. ISBN978-0756641238. Writers Carole Seuling and Steve Gerber crafted Shanna's origin story with artist George Tuska.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Shayer, Jason (December 2008). "Steve Gerber in the Marvel Universe". Back Issue! (#31). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 33–40.
^ abAushenker, Michael (December 2008). "Gerber's Gruesomes: The Quirky Wordsmith's Beastie Books". Back Issue! (#31). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 23–32.
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 165: "Writer Steve Gerber made his own comment on the rise of 'grim and gritty' vigilantes when he and artist Val Mayerik created the Foolkiller in Man-Thing #3."
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 161: "December [1973] saw the debut of the cigar-smoking Howard the Duck. In this story by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik, various beings from different realities had begun turning up in the Man-Thing's Florida swamp, including this bad-tempered talking duck."
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 174: "Gerber and artist Frank Brunner quickly brought Howard back...in his own comic book."
^Ash, Roger (December 2008). "Steve and Howard: A Boy and His Duck". Back Issue! (#31). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 3–13.
^Daniels, Les (1991). Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 174. ISBN9780810938212. Stan Lee...recalls that the duck received thousands of write-in votes when he ran for President of the United States against Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in 1976.
^DeAngelo, Daniel (July 2013). "The Not-Ready-For-Super-Team Players A History of the Defenders". Back Issue! (#65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 7–8.
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 175: "The Guardians of the Galaxy finally received their own ongoing series in Marvel Presents #3, written by Steve Gerber and penciled by Al Milgrom."
^Buttery, Jarrod (July 2013). "Explore the Marvel Universe of the 31st Century With...The Guardians of the Galaxy". Back Issue! (#65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 25–26.
^Wells, John (December 2008). "Gerber's Metal Men". Back Issue! (#31). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 54–56.
^Kingman, Jim (December 2008). "The Miracle Messiah: Steve Gerber's Short-Lived Take on Mister Miracle". Back Issue! (#31). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 57–59.
^Eury, Michael (December 2008). "Steve Gerber Discusses The Phantom Zone". Back Issue! (#31). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 60–63.
^Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 196. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. DC once again shone the spotlight on Superman's alien past in this four-issue miniseries by writer Steve Gerber and artist Gene Colan.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Riley, Shannon E. (May 2013). "A Matter of (Dr.) Fate Martin Pasko and Keith Giffen Discuss Their Magical Flash Backup Series". Back Issue! (#64). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 64–68.
^Sanderson, Peter (September–October 1981). "Comics Feature interviews Steve Gerber". Comics Feature (#12/13). New Media Publishing: 119. [Editor Jack C.] Harris sent me a copy of the writers' guide he had prepared for Time Warp...I stared at that piece of paper for a day or two, then threw it away without showing it to anyone I knew out there. I was too embarrassed by it.
^"Steve Gerber and Jack Kirby Collaborate on the 'Manslaying Mallard of Vengeance'". Comics Feature (#12/13). New Media Publishing: 14. September–October 1981.
^ abCronin, Brian (April 1, 2010). "Comic Book Legends Revealed #254". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on November 7, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2011. Gerber and Frank Miller pitched DC on revamps of the "Trinity." The three titles would be called by the "line name" of METROPOLIS, with each character being defined by one word/phrase… AMAZON (written by Gerber); DARK KNIGHT (written by Miller); and Something for Superman – I believe either MAN OF STEEL or THE MAN OF STEEL, but I'm not sure about that (written by both men).
^Weiss, Brett (December 2008). "Remembering Thundarr the Barbarian". Back Issue! (#31). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 64–69.
^Gagnon, Mike (December 2008). "Sludge Steve Gerber's Muck-Monster With a Difference". Back Issue! (#31). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 71–74.
^Christiansen, Jeff (July 21, 2013). "Steve Gerber". Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014.
^Shooter, Jim (July 16, 2011). "More Strange Tales – JimShooter.com". jimshooter.com. Retrieved April 12, 2022. Stewart Cadwall was the name. Originally it was "Gadwall." A Gadwall is a duck. Mike Hobson advised going to "Cadwall," so as to leave ducks — obviously a sore spot — out of it. It wasn't an "anti-Steve Gerber caricature," though it was meant to poke some fun at Steve. Steve loved it. He even sent me a rave fan letter.