Richard Corben was born on a farm in Anderson, Missouri, and went on to get a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1965. After working as a professional animator, Corben started doing underground comics, including Grim Wit, Slow Death, Skull, Rowlf, Fever Dreams, and his own anthology Fantagor. In 1970 he began illustrating horror and science-fiction stories for Warren Publishing. His stories appeared in Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, 1984, and Comix International. He also colored several episodes of Will Eisner's Spirit. In 1975, when Mœbius, Druillet, and Jean-Pierre Dionnet started publishing the magazine Métal Hurlant in France, Corben submitted some of his stories to them. He continued his work for the franchise in America, where the magazine was called Heavy Metal. In 1976 he adapted a short Robert E. Howard story in Bloodstar. In 2012 he was elected to the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.