Richard Corben facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Richard Corben |
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Corben working on the cover for
Jeremy Brood #1: Relativity (1982) |
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| Born | October 1, 1940 Anderson, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | December 2, 2020 (aged 80) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Penciller, Artist, Inker, Editor, Publisher, Letterer, Colourist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Gore, Corb, Harvey Sea |
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Notable works
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Den, Bloodstar, Rip in Time, Bat Out of Hell (album cover). |
| Awards | CINE Golden Eagle, 1968 Shazam Award, 1971, 1973 Spectrum Grand Master Award, 2009 The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame, 2012 Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême 2018 |
Richard Corben (born October 1, 1940 – died December 2, 2020) was an American artist. He was famous for drawing and writing comic books. Many of his comics appeared in Heavy Metal magazine. His most well-known series was Den. This series was even part of the Heavy Metal movie in 1981. Richard Corben won several important awards for his work. These include the Spectrum Grand Master Award in 2009 and the Grand Prix at Angoulême in 2018. In 2012, he was added to the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.
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The Life of Richard Corben
Richard Corben was born on a farm in Anderson, Missouri. He studied art at the Kansas City Art Institute. He earned a special degree in Fine Arts in 1965. During this time, he also trained in bodybuilding. However, he later stopped because he did not have enough time.
After college, Corben worked as an animator. He made cartoons for Calvin Productions in Kansas City. Soon after, he began writing and drawing for underground comics. These were independent comics not made by big companies. Some of his early works include Grim Wit and Slow Death. He also created his own comic collection called Fantagor.
Drawing for Horror and Sci-Fi
In 1970, Corben started drawing scary and science fiction stories. He worked for Warren Publishing. His art appeared in popular magazines like Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella. He also added color to some stories for Will Eisner's Spirit. Many of his works for Creepy and Eerie have been collected into special books.
Working with Heavy Metal Magazine
In 1975, a new magazine called Métal Hurlant started in France. Famous artists like Moebius and Druillet were involved. Richard Corben sent some of his stories to them. Later, this magazine came to America and was called Heavy Metal. Corben continued to create art for it.
One of his most famous creations for Heavy Metal was Den. This character first appeared in a short film called Neverwhere. The Den series is a fantasy story. It's about a young person who travels to a strange universe called Neverwhere. This world was inspired by other fantasy stories. The Den story was even made into a short part of the Heavy Metal animated movie. The voice of Den in the movie was done by John Candy.
Other Creative Projects
Richard Corben worked with many other writers. He created Rip in Time with Bruce Jones. He also worked with Harlan Ellison on Vic and Blood. Other projects included Mutant World and The Arabian Nights with Jan Strnad.
From 1986 to 1994, Corben had his own publishing company. It was called Fantagor Press. Through Fantagor, he published his own comics like Den and Rip in Time. However, the company closed in 1994. This was due to a difficult time for the comics industry.
Corben also created art for music albums. He designed the cover for Meat Loaf's famous album Bat Out of Hell. He also made the cover for Jim Steinman's Bad for Good. He even designed a movie poster for the film Phantom of the Paradise.
Later Comic Book Work
In the 2000s, Corben continued to work on many comics. He teamed up with writer Brian Azzarello for five issues of Hellblazer. He also adapted a classic horror story, The House on the Borderland, into a comic.
He worked with Marvel on several projects. These included Startling Stories: Banner and Cage. In 2004, he worked with Garth Ennis on The Punisher: The End. This story showed The Punisher's last days in a world changed by a big event. Corben also collaborated with rocker Rob Zombie and Steve Niles on a project called Bigfoot.
Later, Corben drew for Ghost Rider and created Haunt of Horror. This series turned classic horror stories by Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft into comics. He also illustrated parts of the Conan comic series. One of his most notable later works was drawing for the Eisner Award-winning Hellboy series.
In 2020, a live-action animated film called MEAD was announced. It is based on Corben's comic book Fever Dreams. The film features famous actors and voice actors. It premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in May 2022.
Richard Corben's Family Life
Richard Corben was married to Madonna "Dona" Marchant. His wife made a prize-winning film in 1964. Corben helped her with the special effects and animation for this film. They got married in 1965. They had a daughter named Beth. Beth is also an artist and often colored her father's comics.
Richard Corben passed away on December 2, 2020. He was 80 years old and died after heart surgery.
Awards and Recognition
Richard Corben's amazing work in comics and animation earned him many awards:
- He won the Shazam Award for Outstanding New Talent in 1971.
- He received another Shazam Award for Superior Achievement by an Individual in 1973.
- In 1973, he won a Goethe Award for "Favorite Fan Artist."
- His short film Neverwhere won a CINE Golden Eagle in 1968.
While working for Warren Publishing, he received several Warren Awards:
- 1973: Best Artist/Writer and a Special Award for "Excellence."
- 1976: Best Art for "Within You, Without You" and Best Cover for Eerie #77.
- 1978: Best Cover Artist.
Corben also won several Eisner Awards, which are very important in the comic book world:
- 2009: "Best Finite Series/Limited Series" for Hellboy: The Crooked Man.
- 2011: "Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)" for Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil.
- 2012: He was chosen for the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.
In 2015, Corben was added to the Ghastly Awards Hall of Fame. He had previously won Ghastly Awards for Best Artist in 2013. He also won for his Dark Horse Poe adaptations, including Edgar Allan Poe's The Conqueror Worm (2012), Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven & The Red Death (2013), and Edgar Allan Poe's Morella and the Murders in the Rue Morgue (2014).
In January 2018, he won the very important Grand Prix at the Angoulême festival in France. This award also made him the president of the 2019 festival. A large collection of his original artworks was shown at the Musée d'Angoulême starting in January 2019.
See also
In Spanish: Richard Corben para niños
