Richard Corben
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Richard Corben (born November 1, 1940) is an American comic book artist best known for his illustrated fantasy stories in Heavy Metal magazine. He was born on a farm in Anderson, Missouri. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute, graduating in 1965.
After a short stint as a professional illustrator, Corben started doing underground comics in 1970, when he started illustrating horror comics for Warren Horror Comics.
In 1975, when Moebius, Druillet, and Dionnet started publishing Métal Hurlant in France, Corben started submitting stories to them. He continued his work for the franchise in America, where the magazine was called Heavy Metal.
Among the stories drawn for Heavy Metal was one of his most famous, Den, a fantasy series about the adventures of a young underweight nerd who travels to the other world of Neverwhere, a universe taking inspirational nods from Robert E. Howard's Cimmeria and H.P. Lovecraft's horror dimensions. There, the boy becomes a naked muscleman who has erotic adventures in a world of outrageous dangers, hideous monsters and buxom naked women who lustfully throw themselves at him. This story was adapted in a highly abbreviated form in the animated film, Heavy Metal, where Den was voiced by John Candy.
Corben was interviewed by HM editor Brad Balfour in 1981 (vol V, issues 3-5, June - August), but was very dissatisfied with the interview. He felt it portrayed him as a repressed homosexual and a "petty, childish, borderline psychotic oaf". He wrote a letter in retort, which was published in September 1981 (vol V, issue 6).
External links
- Official web site of Richard Corben (http://www.corbenstudios.com)
- The Most Complete Comicography of Richard Corben (http://www.muuta.net)
- A Richard Corben fan site (http://www.lambiek.net/corben.htm)
- The Richard Corben Interview pt. 1 (http://www.muuta.net/Ints/IntCorbHM51.html)
- The Richard Corben Interview pt. 2 (http://www.muuta.net/Ints/IntCorbHM52.html)
- The Richard Corben Interview pt. 3 (http://www.muuta.net/Ints/IntCorbHM53.html)
- The Richard Corben Retort Letter (http://www.muuta.net/Ints/IntCorbHM54.html)fr:Richard Corben