The Dark Horse Comics collection, an oversized deluxe format hardcover containing over 300 pages of essential ‘Hellboy’ stories, celebrates the legacy of the iconic horror artist; goes on sale in 2024.
In 2024, Dark Horse Comics will celebrate the late iconic horror artist Richard Corben’s legacy with the publication of Hellboy Artists Collection: Richard Corben, which collects—for the first time in one volume—every Hellboy story Corben illustrated. This oversized, 8" X 12" deluxe format hardcover features cloth spine and foil cover treatments and features more than 300 pages of essential Hellboy stories, including Hellboy: The Crooked Man by Mike Mignola, which is the basis for the forthcoming Hellboy film from director Brian Taylor.
Corben created some of the most unforgettable and unnerving comics of all time, inspiring and horrifying generations of readers around the world. The artist’s comics career spanned five decades, with seminal stories in Heavy Metal, Creepy, and Eerie, as well as his legendary fantasy underground masterpieces, like Den and Murky World, which were first published by Fantagor Press. He passed away in 2020 at the age of 80.
“Corben was a genius,” said Mignola. “I was a fan from the first moment I saw his work in Heavy Metal magazine way back when. I never in a million years thought I’d get a chance to work with him, but I did and it remains a highlight of my career. I wrote The Crooked Man specifically for him and it remains my favorite Hellboy story.”
The upcoming project collects every Hellboy story by Mignola and Corben, including multiple one-shot specials (Hellboy: Being Human, Hellboy in Mexico, Hellboy: The Bride of Hell, and Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil), the short story Hellboy: The Mirror, Hellboy: Makoma issues 1 and 2, all three issues of Hellboy: The Crooked Man, and the original graphic novel Hellboy: House of the Living Dead. All stories are colored by Eisner award-winning colorist Dave Stewart and lettered by Clem Robins and the hardcover features a cover by Corben.
Corben was the winner of the Spectrum Grand Master award in 2009 and was elected to The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2018, he received the Grand Prix de la ville d’Angouleme, which is awarded every year to a comics creator for their career achievement. He remains one of few Americans who have been honored with this prestigious award. Corben also created the cover art for Meat Loaf’s album Bat Out of Hell and a movie poster for Brian De Palma’s cult classic film Phantom of the Paradise.
Dark Horse Comics currently celebrates the 50th anniversary of Corben’s masterpiece Den: Neverwhere with new deluxe editions of the long out-of-print classic. Volume 1, now on sale in comic shops and bookstores, featuring bonus material, art pages restored by long-time Corben collaborator José Villarrubia, new lettering by Nate Piekos of Blambot, and an introduction by Patton Oswalt.
Hellboy Artists Collection: Richard Corben goes on sale from Dark Horse in 2024.
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