Marvel Team-Up #96
Panic in the Park
Howard the Duck, now working as a taxicab driver, has driven a customer to New York all the way from Cleveland. This man, calling himself Status Quo was a mild-mannered librarian when the constant advent of new fads drove him into a madness. Wanting to destroy all fads, Status Quo began studying how the media and advertisers help encourage fads and now has come to New York in order to speak to people and convert them to his anti-fad group.
This eventually leads to a giant demonstration in Central Park where surprisingly, Status Quo manages to gather a large crowd and earn himself a legion of followers. These followers are armed with gimmicked fads (rocket powered skateboards, exploding frisbees etc.) and sent out to attack anyone who supports any kind of fad.
The chaos brings the attention of Spider-Man who tries to quell the mob and prevents them from spreading beyond Central Park, while Howard is chased after by some anti-fad goons who think he's trying to perpetuate a fad himself. Spider-Man eventually teams up with Howard and the two manage to expose Status Quo a hypocritical terrorist in front of live news cameras, discrediting him and causing his followers to break up. Afterward, Howard and Spidey split up, and Howard returns to his cab where he finds a police officer waiting for him to write him up on a number of traffic violations.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Howard the Duck
Continuity Notes
References to Lou Grant and Floyd Vivino should be considered topical per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
Peter Parker recognizes Howard the Duck, as they met back in Howard the Duck #1.
