Origin

While sitting in his hot tub, movie celebrity Byrd Rentals was suddenly struck by a piece of a meteor, orchestrated by the villainous Starro the Conqueror. The collision caused him to be endowed with amazing stretching powers, finding that he could reach great distances in any direction and also squeeze through any space, regardless of how small he altered his form. He soon discovered other animals who were struck by fragments of the same meteor, the first being Rova Barkitt (Yankee Poodle), the famous gossip columnist who was interviewing him at the time of the incident.

Creation

Rubberduck is a DC character created Roy Thomas and Scott Shaw. His first appearance was in New Teen Titans #16, issued in 1982.

Character Evolution

Byrd Rentals (a play on the name Burt Reynolds) was already a famous duck in his own right as a celebrated movie star before the meteor fragment changed his life. With his new found powers, he went from a care-free play-boy to a heroic play-boy -- always willing to share his wealth with fellow team mates and always ready to join the battle. The destruction of his planet by Starro the Conqueror led him to become a regular duck when he entered Earth's atmosphere, but Rubberduck was returned to normal by a powerful Monitor..

Major Story Arcs

Captain Carrot (Rodney Roger Rabbit) brought together the six individuals who had been struck by the piece of meteor, one of which was Byrd Rentals. Superman had been abducted by Starro, having entered their dimension determined to find out what was behind the plague affecting his own Earth's Universe. The group with newly acquired super powers were successful in rescuing Superman and defeating Starro in the process. Soon after, at the suggestion of Captain Carrot, they agreed to form the superhero team Zoo Crew, which is comprised of Pig-Iron from Piggsburgh, Alley-Kat Abra from Mew Orleans, Fastback from Kornsas, and Rubberduck and Yankee Poodle. While Rubberduck and Yankee Poodle shared celebrity status, their attitudes were vastly different, Rubberduck having a much more relaxed and friendly demeanor as compared to his fellow Follywood resident Yankee Poodle, who much preferred the upper crust of society for company.

Rubberduck and Pig-Iron worked together after the team disbanded, living in a much more darker and dangerous world to parody the prevalent trend of the serious and grittier story-lines found in mainstream comics at the time.

Countdown to Final Crisis

A war was brewing between the animals who lived in the water and those who lived on land, a situation instigated by Starro. Banding together, Rubberduck and his fellow Zoo Crew members attempted to bring Starro to justice, but were instead, hypnotized by the villain into thinking they no longer had their powers. Pig-Iron however, remained unaffected as he was not with his team-mates at the time. Starro flooded the planet and the Zoo Crew in desperation gathered up a portion the Earth's survivors into a large ocean-liner as their world was destroyed. However, they were rescued by Just'a Lotta Animals, a team created by Captain Carrot for his comic, but yet existed in another dimension. An attempt to transfer the vessel named Boa's Ark into their dimension failed, instead sending the refugees to New Earth. The Justice League intercepted the vessel, ensuring it landed safely, but were surprised to find only animals as passengers. Unfortunately, by entering this new dimension they were no longer anthropomorphic, becoming like other animals on this new planet. The Zoo Crew did eventually have their powers restored by a Monitor named Nix Uotan.

Powers and Abilities

Rubberduck can squeeze through any space - no matter how small as well as stretch to incredible distances. His stretchable body can absorb a lot of kinetic energy, and he can inflate parts of his body (fists being the most common example).