Howard The Duck

A duck wearing a blue hat and blazer holding a lit cigarette, over a white background, with curved red text above. 

Howard the Duck is an anthropomorphic duck published by Marvel Comics and created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik. He first appeared in Adventure to Fear #19 in December, 1973 as a secondary character. The bold-faced Howard became a cult-hit and graduated to his own ongoing series in 1976 and a spin-off newspaper strip in 1977. 

Eventually, Howard attracted the attention of Disney who claimed that there was too much of a likeness to Donald Duck. With the threat of a lawsuit from Disney hanging over Marvel's head, Howard the Duck had to be redesigned. Disney laid out an agreement with specifics of what Howard could physically look like, including that the character must always wear pants. In 2009, the Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel entertainment and now owns most Marvel characters including Howard the Duck.