The Swinging Hog of Neverwhere
By RM Rhodes
Edited by Dave Kelly
American artist Richard Corben’s early professional comics work was published in horror and independent comics anthologies in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. These works generated buzz in France, so much so that a group of comics creators who were looking to create a new anthology magazine contacted Corben and asked if he would contribute something.
A few years later, that anthology, Métal Hurlant, became so notorious that an American magazine publisher picked up the option to publish a translated version. That magazine was, of course, Heavy Metal, and Corben’s story, Den, was the first story in the first issue. Surprising no one, it was an immediate hit.
Corben’s artwork had three things going for it: First, he was a really good draftsman. His real skill was the quality and realism he put into rendering characters and their environment; he had a clear understanding and mastery of the 3D space represented in each panel. Second, there was a psychedelic quality to the color palates of the stories, which came from an overlay process that was never properly documented. And third, the titular character of his most famous work was a naked bald man with an enormous penis.
To be fair, Den was not the only nudist in the strip. There were plenty of women with gravity-defying large breasts. It was the seventies, after all. Naked women running around was de rigueur for underground comics material at that time. But Den was different because Corben was presenting full-frontal male nudity. And that was genuinely transgressive, if only because in the mid-’70s, any depiction of full-frontal male nudity carried the automatic suggestion of homoeroticism.
Beyond the mere suggestion of homoeroticism, any cursory examination of Corben’s art shows the strong influence of Tom of Finland, the famed gay cartoonist from, believe it or not, Finland whose art was responsible for setting the leather aesthetic of gay culture that persists to this day. In addition to his idiosyncratic fetish for certain kinds of clothing, Tom of Finland was known for drawing hypermasculine men with prominent penises. Except for his apparent heterosexuality, Den would fit right in with Tom of Finland’s men, penis and all.
And we really should talk about Den’s penis. Corben put it front and center and he clearly wanted it to generate some conversation.
As it turns out, one of my best friends is a comics artist named Pan who I refer to as “The Dick Artist” because of how much they enjoy drawing dicks. Over the course of a decade or more, Pan and I have had multiple conversations about Corben in general and Den (and his penis, which Pan memorably referred to once as “a swinging hog”), in particular. Mission accomplished, Rich!
Pan’s take, as someone who enjoys drawing dicks, is that nobody puts that much time and energy into rendering a penis if they’re not into it. And Corben put as much time and energy into Den’s penis as he did with the rest of the strip; the penis is not dashed off, the way many other artists often do. Corben absolutely had no sense of shame about what he was drawing and it showed in the quality of the work.
The obvious construction is that Corben was somehow not entirely straight, especially when one considers the question of where he got the Tom of Finland reference material in the first place. The question becomes even more interesting with the added context that Corben was born in Southern Missouri but grew up and lived out his days in the Kansas City, Missouri metro area. The easy answer is that Kansas City is (and was) large enough to support a head shop or newsstand that carried comics and adult material where Corben could find both.
Still, there are at least two questions that I wish people had asked Richard Corben while he was still alive. The first is “Why was Den a shower and not a grower?” The second is “Where did you first encounter Tom of Finland?” Priorities, people.
Den is often idolized because of his musculature and aggression—hyper masculine traits. Ironically, Den starts as a young man who lands in a different dimension called Neverwhere, with a different body. The body that everyone knows about is, canonically, wish fulfillment. Which explains the penis, to be honest. But I also believe that the penis might be a reason for the idolization as well. It can be both.
Métal Hurlant was an expression of artistic rebellion. Among other things, it signaled that Moebius was leaving his superstar gig at Pilote to make his own fortune with his friends. Publishing Den as the first story in the first issue sent a message: This magazine gives no fucks. Heavy Metal did the same thing and sent the same message.
The primary cultural difference was that the French audience knew Moebius and his history, which meant that his material would always be the focus of whatever magazine he was published in for European audiences. Nobody in the United States knew who Moebius was, and he was introduced to American audiences at the same time that Corben was, in the pages of Heavy Metal. Technically, Corben was introduced first.
And it’s no wonder that Corben and Moebius became the two most recognizable artists of the early years of Heavy Metal. It wasn’t until Enki Bilal showed up and Druillet discovered color that the pressure was relieved from those two creators. But the influence of Corben was wide-ranging, to the point where Den’s storyline and macguffin were used as the foundation for the Heavy Metal movie in 1981.
Corben’s Den influenced generations of artists, some of whom inevitably worked for Heavy Metal. Den provided a good portion of the magazine’s aesthetic, with its unapologetically naked bodybuilder main character. The vast majority of sexual imagery in Heavy Metal was naked women, but Den’s penis served as the counterweight to the argument that the magazine was misogynistic.
Despite this, Heavy Metal still gained and retained a reputation as a hyper macho boys club. This reputation absolutely had a lot to do with the kinds of swords and sorcery material Corben was serving with Den and his later works with Jan Strnad. The art in the magazine—including work by Corben—also inspired a lot of paintings on the sides of vans and on the hood of a car in The Road Warrior. There was an audience for this kind of material, which is why Corben became so popular.
One of the points that has been made about the Beatles is that they were listening to and influenced by Little Richard’s music, but they were not gay, black, religious men in the American South. They lacked the cultural context that Little Richard brought to his work. But they were inspired by him and injected their own cultural context, and the results are very different. That’s how these things are meant to work.
The Corben situation is similar. He took at least some visual inspiration from Tom of Finland, but he was not a gay man in Finland during the German occupation of World War II. Corben was a straight man in Middle America who was interested in certain kinds of artwork. Both were drawing for the male gaze, but for completely different reasons. But it is interesting that Tom of Finland is mixed into the hyper masculinity that’s baked into Heavy Metal’s foundation, courtesy of Richard Corben.
I just find that fabulous.
For more of RM Rhodes’ work, check out his authoritative Heavy Metal blog:
https://heavymetalmagazine.wordpress.com/
The Swinging Hog of Neverwhere
By RM Rhodes
Edited by Dave Kelly
American artist Richard Corben’s early professional comics work was published in horror and independent comics anthologies in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. These works generated buzz in France, so much so that a group of comics creators who were looking to create a new anthology magazine contacted Corben and asked if he would contribute something.
A few years later, that anthology, Métal Hurlant, became so notorious that an American magazine publisher picked up the option to publish a translated version. That magazine was, of course, Heavy Metal, and Corben’s story, Den, was the first story in the first issue. Surprising no one, it was an immediate hit.
Corben’s artwork had three things going for it: First, he was a really good draftsman. His real skill was the quality and realism he put into rendering characters and their environment; he had a clear understanding and mastery of the 3D space represented in each panel. Second, there was a psychedelic quality to the color palates of the stories, which came from an overlay process that was never properly documented. And third, the titular character of his most famous work was a naked bald man with an enormous penis.
To be fair, Den was not the only nudist in the strip. There were plenty of women with gravity-defying large breasts. It was the seventies, after all. Naked women running around was de rigueur for underground comics material at that time. But Den was different because Corben was presenting full-frontal male nudity. And that was genuinely transgressive, if only because in the mid-’70s, any depiction of full-frontal male nudity carried the automatic suggestion of homoeroticism.
Beyond the mere suggestion of homoeroticism, any cursory examination of Corben’s art shows the strong influence of Tom of Finland, the famed gay cartoonist from, believe it or not, Finland whose art was responsible for setting the leather aesthetic of gay culture that persists to this day. In addition to his idiosyncratic fetish for certain kinds of clothing, Tom of Finland was known for drawing hypermasculine men with prominent penises. Except for his apparent heterosexuality, Den would fit right in with Tom of Finland’s men, penis and all.
And we really should talk about Den’s penis. Corben put it front and center and he clearly wanted it to generate some conversation.
As it turns out, one of my best friends is a comics artist named Pan who I refer to as “The Dick Artist” because of how much they enjoy drawing dicks. Over the course of a decade or more, Pan and I have had multiple conversations about Corben in general and Den (and his penis, which Pan memorably referred to once as “a swinging hog”), in particular. Mission accomplished, Rich!
Pan’s take, as someone who enjoys drawing dicks, is that nobody puts that much time and energy into rendering a penis if they’re not into it. And Corben put as much time and energy into Den’s penis as he did with the rest of the strip; the penis is not dashed off, the way many other artists often do. Corben absolutely had no sense of shame about what he was drawing and it showed in the quality of the work.
The obvious construction is that Corben was somehow not entirely straight, especially when one considers the question of where he got the Tom of Finland reference material in the first place. The question becomes even more interesting with the added context that Corben was born in Southern Missouri but grew up and lived out his days in the Kansas City, Missouri metro area. The easy answer is that Kansas City is (and was) large enough to support a head shop or newsstand that carried comics and adult material where Corben could find both.
Still, there are at least two questions that I wish people had asked Richard Corben while he was still alive. The first is “Why was Den a shower and not a grower?” The second is “Where did you first encounter Tom of Finland?” Priorities, people.
Den is often idolized because of his musculature and aggression—hyper masculine traits. Ironically, Den starts as a young man who lands in a different dimension called Neverwhere, with a different body. The body that everyone knows about is, canonically, wish fulfillment. Which explains the penis, to be honest. But I also believe that the penis might be a reason for the idolization as well. It can be both.
Métal Hurlant was an expression of artistic rebellion. Among other things, it signaled that Moebius was leaving his superstar gig at Pilote to make his own fortune with his friends. Publishing Den as the first story in the first issue sent a message: This magazine gives no fucks. Heavy Metal did the same thing and sent the same message.
The primary cultural difference was that the French audience knew Moebius and his history, which meant that his material would always be the focus of whatever magazine he was published in for European audiences. Nobody in the United States knew who Moebius was, and he was introduced to American audiences at the same time that Corben was, in the pages of Heavy Metal. Technically, Corben was introduced first.
And it’s no wonder that Corben and Moebius became the two most recognizable artists of the early years of Heavy Metal. It wasn’t until Enki Bilal showed up and Druillet discovered color that the pressure was relieved from those two creators. But the influence of Corben was wide-ranging, to the point where Den’s storyline and macguffin were used as the foundation for the Heavy Metal movie in 1981.
Corben’s Den influenced generations of artists, some of whom inevitably worked for Heavy Metal. Den provided a good portion of the magazine’s aesthetic, with its unapologetically naked bodybuilder main character. The vast majority of sexual imagery in Heavy Metal was naked women, but Den’s penis served as the counterweight to the argument that the magazine was misogynistic.
Despite this, Heavy Metal still gained and retained a reputation as a hyper macho boys club. This reputation absolutely had a lot to do with the kinds of swords and sorcery material Corben was serving with Den and his later works with Jan Strnad. The art in the magazine—including work by Corben—also inspired a lot of paintings on the sides of vans and on the hood of a car in The Road Warrior. There was an audience for this kind of material, which is why Corben became so popular.
One of the points that has been made about the Beatles is that they were listening to and influenced by Little Richard’s music, but they were not gay, black, religious men in the American South. They lacked the cultural context that Little Richard brought to his work. But they were inspired by him and injected their own cultural context, and the results are very different. That’s how these things are meant to work.
The Corben situation is similar. He took at least some visual inspiration from Tom of Finland, but he was not a gay man in Finland during the German occupation of World War II. Corben was a straight man in Middle America who was interested in certain kinds of artwork. Both were drawing for the male gaze, but for completely different reasons. But it is interesting that Tom of Finland is mixed into the hyper masculinity that’s baked into Heavy Metal’s foundation, courtesy of Richard Corben.
I just find that fabulous.
For more of RM Rhodes’ work, check out his authoritative Heavy Metal blog:
https://heavymetalmagazine.wordpress.com/
By RM Rhodes
Edited by Dave Kelly
American artist Richard Corben’s early professional comics work was published in horror and independent comics anthologies in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. These works generated buzz in France, so much so that a group of comics creators who were looking to create a new anthology magazine contacted Corben and asked if he would contribute something.
A few years later, that anthology, Métal Hurlant, became so notorious that an American magazine publisher picked up the option to publish a translated version. That magazine was, of course, Heavy Metal, and Corben’s story, Den, was the first story in the first issue. Surprising no one, it was an immediate hit.
Corben’s artwork had three things going for it: First, he was a really good draftsman. His real skill was the quality and realism he put into rendering characters and their environment; he had a clear understanding and mastery of the 3D space represented in each panel. Second, there was a psychedelic quality to the color palates of the stories, which came from an overlay process that was never properly documented. And third, the titular character of his most famous work was a naked bald man with an enormous penis.
To be fair, Den was not the only nudist in the strip. There were plenty of women with gravity-defying large breasts. It was the seventies, after all. Naked women running around was de rigueur for underground comics material at that time. But Den was different because Corben was presenting full-frontal male nudity. And that was genuinely transgressive, if only because in the mid-’70s, any depiction of full-frontal male nudity carried the automatic suggestion of homoeroticism.
Beyond the mere suggestion of homoeroticism, any cursory examination of Corben’s art shows the strong influence of Tom of Finland, the famed gay cartoonist from, believe it or not, Finland whose art was responsible for setting the leather aesthetic of gay culture that persists to this day. In addition to his idiosyncratic fetish for certain kinds of clothing, Tom of Finland was known for drawing hypermasculine men with prominent penises. Except for his apparent heterosexuality, Den would fit right in with Tom of Finland’s men, penis and all.
And we really should talk about Den’s penis. Corben put it front and center and he clearly wanted it to generate some conversation.
As it turns out, one of my best friends is a comics artist named Pan who I refer to as “The Dick Artist” because of how much they enjoy drawing dicks. Over the course of a decade or more, Pan and I have had multiple conversations about Corben in general and Den (and his penis, which Pan memorably referred to once as “a swinging hog”), in particular. Mission accomplished, Rich!
Pan’s take, as someone who enjoys drawing dicks, is that nobody puts that much time and energy into rendering a penis if they’re not into it. And Corben put as much time and energy into Den’s penis as he did with the rest of the strip; the penis is not dashed off, the way many other artists often do. Corben absolutely had no sense of shame about what he was drawing and it showed in the quality of the work.
The obvious construction is that Corben was somehow not entirely straight, especially when one considers the question of where he got the Tom of Finland reference material in the first place. The question becomes even more interesting with the added context that Corben was born in Southern Missouri but grew up and lived out his days in the Kansas City, Missouri metro area. The easy answer is that Kansas City is (and was) large enough to support a head shop or newsstand that carried comics and adult material where Corben could find both.
Still, there are at least two questions that I wish people had asked Richard Corben while he was still alive. The first is “Why was Den a shower and not a grower?” The second is “Where did you first encounter Tom of Finland?” Priorities, people.
Den is often idolized because of his musculature and aggression—hyper masculine traits. Ironically, Den starts as a young man who lands in a different dimension called Neverwhere, with a different body. The body that everyone knows about is, canonically, wish fulfillment. Which explains the penis, to be honest. But I also believe that the penis might be a reason for the idolization as well. It can be both.
Métal Hurlant was an expression of artistic rebellion. Among other things, it signaled that Moebius was leaving his superstar gig at Pilote to make his own fortune with his friends. Publishing Den as the first story in the first issue sent a message: This magazine gives no fucks. Heavy Metal did the same thing and sent the same message.
The primary cultural difference was that the French audience knew Moebius and his history, which meant that his material would always be the focus of whatever magazine he was published in for European audiences. Nobody in the United States knew who Moebius was, and he was introduced to American audiences at the same time that Corben was, in the pages of Heavy Metal. Technically, Corben was introduced first.
And it’s no wonder that Corben and Moebius became the two most recognizable artists of the early years of Heavy Metal. It wasn’t until Enki Bilal showed up and Druillet discovered color that the pressure was relieved from those two creators. But the influence of Corben was wide-ranging, to the point where Den’s storyline and macguffin were used as the foundation for the Heavy Metal movie in 1981.
Corben’s Den influenced generations of artists, some of whom inevitably worked for Heavy Metal. Den provided a good portion of the magazine’s aesthetic, with its unapologetically naked bodybuilder main character. The vast majority of sexual imagery in Heavy Metal was naked women, but Den’s penis served as the counterweight to the argument that the magazine was misogynistic.
Despite this, Heavy Metal still gained and retained a reputation as a hyper macho boys club. This reputation absolutely had a lot to do with the kinds of swords and sorcery material Corben was serving with Den and his later works with Jan Strnad. The art in the magazine—including work by Corben—also inspired a lot of paintings on the sides of vans and on the hood of a car in The Road Warrior. There was an audience for this kind of material, which is why Corben became so popular.
One of the points that has been made about the Beatles is that they were listening to and influenced by Little Richard’s music, but they were not gay, black, religious men in the American South. They lacked the cultural context that Little Richard brought to his work. But they were inspired by him and injected their own cultural context, and the results are very different. That’s how these things are meant to work.
The Corben situation is similar. He took at least some visual inspiration from Tom of Finland, but he was not a gay man in Finland during the German occupation of World War II. Corben was a straight man in Middle America who was interested in certain kinds of artwork. Both were drawing for the male gaze, but for completely different reasons. But it is interesting that Tom of Finland is mixed into the hyper masculinity that’s baked into Heavy Metal’s foundation, courtesy of Richard Corben.
I just find that fabulous.
For more of RM Rhodes’ work, check out his authoritative Heavy Metal blog:
https://heavymetalmagazine.wordpress.com/
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