Comicography of Richard Corben

This site is dedicated to Richard V. Corben and his brilliant comic art. He was born in first of October 1940 in Missouri, but his life was later quite a bit guided by certain Virginian guy in Arizona cave.
Richard Corben's main character(istic) is a sword and sorcery Den Adventures. "Den" was created as an animation, and as a loose sequal a short story in comic book format. Later he enlarged the comic as a full feature length adventure, Neverwhere. And with a big success he went on and on, enlarging adventures to seven continuous stories. For the present Den's, David Ellis Norman (sic!), last adventure appeared in Penthouse Comics under name "Denz". Den's world is clearly inspirated by an another science fiction/fantasy world: Barsoom. Though Edgar Rice Burroughs' world of John Carter in Barsoom (Mars) does have only a minor sexual extent.
In Burroughs' Barsoom main weapon is sword; in Neverwhere people manage they problems with sword (and sorcery) too, but specially with kickboxing. He puts his interest into kicking choreography so passionly that it makes his style even more inimitable and exotic.
As well as in Barsoom people in Neverwhere are mostly naked, but in Richard Corben's world guys are as well a well hunged musculars and girls voluptuous at their best age, to not to talk about their hairless crotches. Corben uses fysically extralarged stereotypes, even up to humoristic dimensions. And still his fantasy is drawn in most realistic style. For a contrast to these beautiful American ideal heroes, he uses a lot of ugly and violent beasts and monsters.
Girls in Mr. Corben's stories are extra femine (male sovinistic dreams), but remember that they are anyway more stronger and active than guys in his stories. If somebody is under shoe out there, it is a guy.
Animation background puts trademarks all over in his comics arts. His skillful montage technique combines successfully action, movement and mood making it's cinematic quality high, professional and unique.
Richard Corben is better comic maker than storyteller. He uses along a way some regular writer, such as Jan Strnad, Richard Marcopolous, Simon Revelstroke, and Bruce Jones. During his different periods he's got stories also from Doug Moench, Clark Ashton Smith, and William F. Nolan among others. His adaptions includes several horror classics by Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, William Hope Hodgson, and fantasy/science fiction by Robert E. Howard, and Ray Bradbury.
During underground period Richard Corben made rare collaborations with other comic artists, he mostly does it by himself. For color work he has used help, mostly Herb Arnold. In the end of his Fantagor publishing period he lets Beth Corben to do the color work. Nowadays he is doing a lot of limited projects, which have different guy for script/art/letters/colors, among the best is a colorist José Villarrubia.
There was never problem for Corben in a division of B&W or color Comic Arts. He is at his best in both techniques. Still, I by myself, think that his most memorable works are B&W art with zipatone. And his originally B&W works for me, such as "Bloodstar" or "Rowlf", are not that impressive in colors.
B&W or color, his magical fantasy with a little eroticism is stunning to enjoy.

Thanks: the basics of this site lays on The Official Undergorund and Newave Comix Price Guide (1982) by Jay Kennedy and Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (several) by Robert M. Overstreet. I thank also Rick Obermeyer, the Corben fan who has the biggest and most covering Richard Corben lists I've ever seen (mainly because of him, I've got now Books section). Thanks also for all Corben fans around the world who helpped me to build up Others section. In the Heavy Metal section I have to thank Kimmo Isokoski (early items), Paula Heinonen (item later than my collections) and most recent ones by Heavy Metal Comics Index -site by Lakoma (see Links#Finland). And last but not least comic shops, like Kukunor and Fennica-Comics. Thanks for all of you.