Legendary comic artist and illustrator Richard Corben passed away on December 2 after heart surgery. He was 80 years of age.
Oh, man, that sucks. I freaking LOVED Corben in my teens. Ordered underground comics on the sly (often having to sign false age statements in order to do so), subscribed to Heavy Metal after discovering it was running Corben’s “Den” (praying my mom never took an interest in the contents), and bought endless Warren magazines with those breathtaking color sections featuring Corben stories. One of my touchstone pieces of fantasy/comic art to this day is his gobsmackingly gorgeous Eerie cover of a naked blonde woman treed by a Triceratops. Guy was a true original and a complete and utter genius. RIP, Rich.
Bleeding Cool has a collection of responses to the news of Corben's death by other greats of the comics industry like Mike Mignola, Liam Sharp, Jimmy Palmiotti, Adam Hughes, and Neil Gaiman, as well as publishers like (of course) Heavy Metal, Marvel, Fangoria, and Dark Horse.
I grew up with pretty much the same experience but I never paid attention to the names of the artists or writers the way I did with Marvel and DC titles. It's sad, but at 80 it's not unexpected. Seems like he had a good life and left behind a notable legacy of his work. I hope he ended up in a heaven of naked blonde women.
When I was in, I think, grade 9 or so, I was walking down my street one night and it was garbage day. I saw a bundle of magazines in front of one house. It was mostly Penthouse and a few Oui. I suddenly became far more popular with my mates. What really caught me was the comic series in Penthouse, "Oh Wicked Wanda" It also caught my mates who I shared the mags with as well. Have no idea who the writer and artist were, but along with Yvonne Craig and Dianna Rigg, Wanda pretty much nailed my sexuality all these years.
Rich Corben created art that was beyond belief. His paintings were amazing enough, but his artwork in the pages of magazines and comics seemed to exceed the physical limits of the medium. Modern computer printing and coloring can't match what his hands brought to life. And the guy seemed to have no learning curve-- his art appeared fully formed right from the start and never wavered in quality throughout his lifetime. RIP, Rich Corben.
I think I really only knew him through Den though his style was distinctive enough for me to recognize when something was done by Corben or someone in they style of.