Previously, I’d mentioned Europe’s fascination with Rich Corben’s incredible Den arc of sustained storytelling.
Personally, I greatly enjoyed the Denz stories as published in Penthouse Comics in the mid-90’s, and that was well after seeing Heavy Metal, the movie [sample clip], years earlier as a laddie in 1981. (note: the story & art are merely licensed from Corben; likely he hated how it was represented)
Now, one of the most fascinating aspects about Corben’s mid-90’s art is the question of-- just how ‘organic vs. digital’ it was, actually. I mean-- just look at it. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, was producing art, nor comics art like that, at the time. So how the hell did Corben do it…?
“On the DENZ comic and a few covers and illustrations, I rendered some scanned art work and went over the forms in PAINTER, especially with a couple of specific brushes: BRUSHY, that creates a painterly texture and another one that I can’t remember the name of, that creates the paint texture without adding any other color.
These are both from very old versions of PAINTER and may not be present in later versions” --Richard Corben.
To be clear, Corben first created the art by hand, then scanned it, then fiddled with it via mid-90’s computer tools.
Richard Corben passed away at 80yo in 2020. [WP link]
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To be clear, Corben first created the art by hand, then scanned it, then fiddled with it via mid-90’s computer tools.
Fascinating! I have always wondered how he created his magical textures that give the bodies this unique and almost 3-dimensional look.
I have always known the series as “Den” what is “Denz” and how is it different? confused
Edit: So Den has a brother called Denz? I had no idea🤯
Oh my🐐! Did you see that GIANT MOLE on page ten?!? It even has a naked face!
I have always wondered how he created his magical textures that give the bodies this unique and almost 3-dimensional look.
AFAIK this is one of the unique cases where he used digital tools to aid his work. Otherwise, my guess is that it was his fine arts training that helped make him such an amazing artist.
I have always known the series as “Den” what is “Denz” and how is it different? confused Edit: So Den has a brother called Denz? I had no idea🤯
Brother, or nephew. Something like that?
Also, reading across the various series (and the movie), it’s not always clear that “Den” is consistently the same person. A bit like Jim Woodring’s Frank character, if you’re familiar.
AFAIK this is one of the unique cases where he used digital tools to aid his work. Otherwise, my guess is that it was his fine arts training that helped make him such an amazing artist.
Ah, I see, so it was not his standard procedure.
A bit like Jim Woodring’s Frank character, if you’re familiar.
No I´m not but Woodring´s surrealistic style looks totally mind boggling. I like his style, good stuff!
![Denz part III, by Richard Corben and Jan Strnad [NSFW] [12 pages]](https://i.imgur.com/elPRPlu.jpeg){kind=link}