Here's a quick story guide to major events that have happened so far in Crazy Duck's storyline. You know, in case you don't have time to read the 400+ strips in the archive but still want to know what's going on. I suggest you go ahead and just read all the comics, but it's up to you, pal!
Obviously, SPOILERS AHEAD! So read ONLY if you WANT SEVERAL PLOT POINTS TO BE SPOILED FOR YA.
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Mike Swifter is a lonely and depressed twenty-something living in a small Indiana town. His best friends are his room mate Ted, a mean spirited fuzzball of unknown origin, and a lady-killer guitarist in a local band named Gunther. Mike works as the mascot for a fast food restaurant, Crazy Duck, which is owned by his father, Mr. Bernie Swifer. For as far back as he can remember, Mike and his dad have had a terrible relationship, and nothing Mike does seems to help the situation. For whatever reason, Mr. Swifter apparently just does not like his son.
One day, a man named Gary Stalone shows up at Mike's door, claiming to be his guardian angel. Ted takes a liking to the stranger, but Mike believes him to be mentally deranged, despite Gary knowing several things about him. Unsettled, Mike sends Gary away and returns to his uneventful life. Sooner than expected though, Gary comes crashing back into Mike's life when he saves him from being ran over by a car. Now in debt to Gary, and beginning to wonder if maybe there is more to him than he thought, Mike allows him to stay at his apartment. Mr. Swifter decides to visit Mike at the hospital, but just cannot get himself to let Mike know he's there.
Even though Gary continues to claim he's dead, his appetite manages to increase Mike's grocery bill considerably. Running low on cash, Mike decides to find another new room mate to help cover rent. The offer is quickly accepted when Gunther's recently unemployed sister moves in after breaking up with her boyfriend. Ted is forced to give up his room to Jill and share with Gary, much to his annoyance, and for this reason he continues to hold a grudge against her. Until she gets back on her feet, Jill gets a job at Crazy Duck as a fry cook, a position she manages to hold onto despite how terrible she is at it.
Mike has had a crush on a girl named Judy. The two have barely spoken to each other since they were lab partners in high school, but remains convinced she is truly the girl of his dreams. The fact they work together at Crazy Duck only helps reaffirm his feelings for her. Because of this attachment, Mike fails to notice when Jill begins to have feelings for him, even though the two become fast friends.
Another Crazy Duck employee, nick named Douche McKenzie, likes to harass Mike. One afternoon, he decides to give Mike a wedgie and hang him from a tree branch. This action greatly angers Gunther who decides the best way to retaliate against Douche McKenzie is to vandalize his car. Gary finds himself wrapped up in the plan and gets blamed for the vandalism. He is then arrested. Though he escapes, the local sheriff, Ed Parker, decides to look into Gary's past and discovers an old police file claiming Gary died fifty years ago.
Mike, meanwhile, still doesn't believe Gary is his guardian angel or dead, so he confronts him with questions about his life. Gary can't remember much about his time among the living or his life in heaven, but he does remember his mother and that he died choking on a sandwich. Mike decides he thinks Gary might be a bit confused about his past, which upsets Gary. The two don't talk for a few weeks until they both find themselves Christmas shopping at the mall and are detained by mall security.
After Ed Parker discovered Gary's secret, his obsession with figuring out how it was possible cost him his job as sheriff, forcing him to take on being the head of mall security. Unfortunately, our boys stumbled right into his path. Ed Parker demands to know how Gary was still alive despite supposedly dying in 1956, revealing Gary's file to Mike. The two manage to escape once again, Mike now beginning to wonder if maybe he should believe Gary after all.
Mike continues to fawn after Judy, oblivious of Jill's feelings for him. Deciding to give up on winning Mike's affection, Jill finds a boyfriend in a random emo guy named Mark. No one seems to like Mark even though he seems perfectly pleasant, particularly Ted who can't stand seeing Jill happy. Mike starts to think he may actually have feelings for Jill after all.
For twenty-three years Mike has wondered where his mother could be. Mother's Day rolls around and he attempts to ask Mr. Swifter if they could talk about his mom. Mr. Swifter won't have anything to do with it though, as expected, so Mike decides to live vicariously through Gary by reuniting him with his own mother. The two set off to Gary's old house, despite the fact it's been over half a decade since Gary lived there and the chance that his mother might be dead. After crossing a massive, rusty bridge, the two arrive to find Gary's mother alive. Sadly, Gary decides it would be too much of a shock for his mother to see him after all this time, and the two return home.
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