GRIM WIT
Grim Wit
Rip-Off Press (1972-73)
Richard Corben has enjoyed a long and successful career as a comic illustrator, but his success did not come quickly or easily. He was nearly thirty years old before he was published in small-circulation publications and eventually by underground comic publishers. Before that, Corben worked in construction with his father and for many years at Calvin Studios, a Kansas City commercial animation company. His first published work appeared in the fanzine Voice of Comicdom in 1968. In 1970, he had finally saved enough money to self-publish three sci-fi stories in the first issue of Fantagor, which started as a magazine-size fanzine. He expected great success, but the book sold poorly through mail order.This is one I really like a lot personally, good stories and the art is evocative and dark. I like the medieval stuff especially, swords and sorcery.