Richard Corben "Bloodstar"- Page C

Published by Ariel Books September 1979

Corben takes Howard's story and adds a pathos not found in the source material. 'Bloodstar' is more than just a Howard anti-hero, but is a man struggling to survive while also meeting the responsibility of family. This in itself transports the plot line beyond what is typically contained in a 'barbarian' fantasy of this kind.

One of the particular things about Corben's artwork is that he uses a sensibility about rounding his forms using blacking and shadows. This in itself is not unknown in comics, but Corben uses the shadows to demonstrate the weight of objects, and he combines this with the attention to detail and the use of embellishment to create a complete picture that makes the reader's eye see both size, weight, and visual characteristics. Many comic book artists use heightened embellishment (especially in superhero comics) but they also leave the projection of form weight to coloring. Corben uses darkness to demonstrate this. Corben doesn't just "fill in" outline drawings, he makes complete forms in a manner that is more often the domain of painting versus line illustration.