DEN Volume 4: Dreams and Alarums

Den #4

by Richard Corben, Cullen Bunn (illustrator)

The fourth volume presenting the long-out-of-print graphic novel masterpiece Den, by fantasy legend Richard Corben!

This special edition collects the fourth volume of the long out-of-print Den, and also features bonus material, art pages restored by long-time Corben collaborator José Villarrubia, re-lettered by Nate Piekos of Blambot, and an introduction by Cullen Bunn, all presented in a gorgeous hardcover with a dust jacket.

Several years after our last adventure, Den is battered and broken after Kath abandons him. Determined to get her back he transforms to muscular glory and fights his way back to Neverwhere on another bizarre journey.

Den Volume 4: Dreams and Alarums is the next book in a series of deluxe graphic novels from renowned creator Richard Corben’s library to be published by Dark Horse Comics.

FOR MATURE READERS

“The artist I most want to aspire to is Richard Corben. His style is visual and it tells the story just as you see it... ...my favorite is Corben. I love everything he does, I love his stuff ...he’s an amazing artist.”—Guillermo del Toro

"Richard Corben stands among us like an extraterrestrial peak. He has sat in his throne a long time, above the moving and multi-colored field of world comics, like an effigy of the leader, a strange monolith, a sublime visitor, a solitary enigma"—Moebius

“Mr. Richard Corben... a genuine giant of his chosen medium.”—Alan Moore

Well known for his legendary fantasy underground masterpieces published by Fantagor Press as well as Heavy Metal, Richard Corben’s work has been recognized internationally having been awarded one of the most prestigious recognitions in comics literature the Grand Prix at Angoulême as well having been inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine. He won the 2009 Spectrum Grand Master Award. In 2012 he was elected to the The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continuing adventures of Den following some time after the events of Volume 2.

Den is fat now! And Kathy is lost, perhaps dead. Den gets back on the adventure train after some fat jokes, and gets back in shape. There's some identity confusion in this one, that just like volume 3 creates more questions than it answers. At this point I'm just along for the ride, not trying to figure out all the twists and turns.

This one was pretty interesting, originally published in comics format with a more PG-13 style (no nudity this time around) and with a cowriter. The restoration by José Villarrubia with lettering by Nate Piekos is again fantastic. It was really cool to read this for what felt like the first time.

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I`m kind of tired with this series. I`m a big admirer of the Corben drawing talent, but the stories are kind of a mess from the point of view of the events and the evolutions of the characters.
I think that if you separate and publish them on their on like it was in the past they could have a bigger impact on the reader than in this form.
The covers are also amazing!
I feel that with a better writer Corben could have been definitely greater than it's considered to be at this time!

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth volume of the new Dark Horse Comics editions of Richard Corben's DEN series collects the stories originally issued as Den 4: Dreams and Den 5: Elements, which were collections of Den (1988) #1-7 from Fantagor Press. These stories marked a return to the series after a lengthy hiatus from Corben, and hence have a distinctively differentiated tone and and aesthetic to them. Gone was the copious nudity and shocking violence, for Corben now opted into a bit more mature storytelling. Even the coloring changed to a more subdued color palette, a sharp contrast to the Den strips found in Heavy Metal Magazine. Opening with an overweight and out-of-shape Den, the story works itself into returning our hero back to his iconic muscular build. The catalyst for this shift is Den's lover, Kath, having left him under some undisclosed circumstances. Spurred by the hope to reclaim her again, Den returns to his muscular form and arrives in Neverwhere for his next adventure. What follows is a series of bizarre events, though perhaps the most readable of Corben's frenetically paced series yet.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty epic, though often confusing, storyline has Den trying to find his lost love, Kath. Along the way, he encounters a race of fish people, gets involved in a dogfight on air scooters, and must do battle with the evil sorcerer, Scon. The art is a bit less elaborate than in previous volumes, plus it is more toned-down, since Corben was trying to reach a wider audience with this one. But it's still an artistic marvel and worth the read.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continuing adventures of Den as he searches for Kath. Some pieces of this are confusing as it's sometimes dreams or the like after long sequences. And Den gets fat. Along for his search for Kath though, he attacks air fighters, meets some fish people and then ghouls. There's still plenty to like. Plus, Den finally gets some clothes.

[Luke John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The longest entry in the Den series, this volume covers more ground but still feels surreal and bizarre, even if at times the art is not of the same quality as previous entries. The loss of full frontal nudity and sexual activity is also felt, as is clear from the numerous angry correspondents in the reprinted letters pages from the time.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is the first volume to fully forgo both the nudity and (labor intensive) art style that really makes the series, and that is sad, it also has the best story, scene composition, and is the most engrossing of the volumes. What the hell is even going on? Who cares, strap in for the ride.

[Moonglum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird and self aware enough so that I can ignore the deliberate young teen age male perspective, Den suffers ontological confusion worthy of a Philip K. Dick story. Also, there are lots of great things to riff on for D&D.

[Shawn William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phantasmagoric!

The 3D color effect and hallucinogenic storyline returns in this new, over the top addition to the inimitable Den series!

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume provides something like an ending to the storyline begun back in the first book so I'll use it to write my review of the series as a whole. Vol 5 begins a new story arc that looks at Den and his uncle's past, one which Corben would never finish.

Den's plot is almost beside the point. The meat of what Corben is doing is in his delirious hypersexual images. Den is Corben's giddy and sensual exploration of the links between the sexual and artistic drives, a playground for him to indulge his erotic fixations and let them push his artistic abilities to new heights, heights few others in comics could reach.

But starting with Vol 2 and continuing to this volume's final pages and Den's surprising yet inevitable choice between Kath and the Red Queen/Kil, Corben began to acknowledge the drawbacks of indulging every fantasy, turning a wry critical eye on himself. Den, Corben's musclebound, big-dicked alter ego, the adolescent male power fantasy rendered in fleshy three-dimensional glory, proved unable to handle Kath's feminist awakening and the complications it brought to their relationship. Kil and Mal, Den's predecessor, simultaneously indulge in and rebel against the biological essentialist roles thrust upon them by their exposure to radiation (but really, Corben's pen): Kil's transformation from sexless warrior caste prodigy to buxom childbearer/hive queen, Mal's from skeletal drone to Adonis/stud/martial master. In Vol 4 Den, missing Kath, becomes a bloated parody of himself. But part of him knows it isn't complicated Kath he pines for, but the evil Queen, who like him is endlessly intrigued and exhilarated by sex and combat. When he gets the chance to rejoin her he regains his chiseled physique but it isn't until the final moments of the storyline, when he's presented with a choice between Kath and the Queen, that Den admits to himself what he really wants: the alluring dream, not messy reality. So too, Corben seems to admit with resignation, with his creator.

[Amanda Majasaari · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time i did read this from Den magazines 1-3 and second time from the album Den 4 Dreams. The album contains three stories:
Den - Dormilon - Dreams and Alarums, mag 1
Den, Reveries in Cragor (The City of Sounds), mag 2
Den, The House of Silence, mag 3

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know if it was a publisher demand but the sex and violence is toned way down in this volume, and I miss both. This was still a lot of fun because Corben is such a strange artist and this was a better adventure story than the last volume.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Cuarto tomo de Den, la saga de Richard Corben. Según una publicidad de la editorial, se trata de "El comic que ha agotado mayor número de ediciones".

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición española. Colección Obras Completas #4.
Estado del ejemplar: bueno pero con encuadernado endeble.

[Todd Kornick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revelstroke fleshes out the narrative and Corben's art is more consistent then the multiple mediums, levels of sharpness, and, frankly, sloppiness, that you get in Den 3.

[Reyel2107 · Rating 4 out of 5]

still fun !!!!

[Jeik Dion · Rating 4 out of 5]

No the best of The Den books, but it’s still Corben, so I enjoyed it!