I honestly can't think of any other practical way Howard could have been done live action in 1986. Man in a (duck) suit was really the only way to go. There was also a puppet used for some shots. Howard's Marvel comic origin story was too convuluted to work as a movie, (in the pages of Man-Thing no less) but the movie could have used more of the zany villians and everyday loons Howard encountered in his daily life.