Rowlf and Other Fantasy Stories

The Richard Corben Library #8

by Richard Corben, Hayao Miyazaki (introduction), José Villarrubia (Art Restoration)

Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductee Richard Corben’s fantasy masterpiece inspired by Beauty and the Beast and long out-of-print finally collected as part of the new Richard Corben hardcover library.

The next volume of the Richard Corben Library is a trilogy of werewolf stories. Rowlf is a postmodern take of Beauty and the Beast that mixes high fantasy with dystopian science fiction. It is the first masterpiece in Corben’s long career. The Beast of Wolfton and its sequel The Spirit of the Beast are ironic love stories of a werewolf family saga. The book closes with a poignant free adaptation of one of the Japanese legends by Lafcadio Hearn called The Story of Oteg. All packaged in a beautiful new printing with meticulously restored artwork and featuring a new introduction by Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away). All presented in a gorgeous hardcover with a dust jacket!

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.

Collecting Rowlf, The Beast of Wolfton, The Spirit of the Beast, The Story of Oteg, and backup material.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Hardcover

Published August 5, 2025

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

[Luke John]

Beautifully illustrated collection of stories, linked loosely by theme. Rowlf is the strongest entry here, whilst the other stories have their charm but not perhaps the same finesse.

[Jack Waugh]

Great stuff never experienced Corben's original stories before getting this volume, I have seen his work in Hellboy though, but gotta say I do like his style and work

[Rick Ray]

Rowlf and Other Fantasy Stories collect four Richard Corben short comics: "The Story of Rowlf", "The Beast of Wolfton", "The Spirit of the Beast" and "The Story of Oteg". First published in publications like Grim Wit and Heavy Metal, most of these have been collected before in trades like Rowlf (Rip Off Press, 1971) and Werewolf (Catalan Communications, 1984). "The Story of Oteg" is the only Corben work here that I haven't previously read before, but nonetheless it's nice to get more Corben comics compiled in the handsome editions being published by Dark Horse Comics.

The stories here are all fantasy themed, with werewolf/anthropomorphic dog characters involved aside from the final one. The titular story features a dog named Rowlf who serves as the trusty companion to a princess who soon gets abducted. The dog is transformed into a hybrid dog-man to see if he can attest to where the princess is, but still incapable of speech, Rowlf heads out on his own to rescue the princess. Corben's imaginative prowess is on display here as the fantasy setting blends a standard swords-and-sandals setting with sci-fi and modernist elements. "The Beast of Wolfton" and its sequel, "The Spirit of the Beast", both detail out comical yet tragic love stories amidst a family plagued by a werewolf curse. Ending with "The Story of Oteg", Corben loosely adapts Japanese mythology with his own distinctive flair.

This collection in Dark Horse Comics' line of Richard Corben Libary volumes follows the five-volume set of Den and Dimwood, both of which featured Corben's unique use of colors to maximize the absurdity of his art. The stories collected in Rowlf and Other Fantasy Stories are Corben's black-and-white work, which provides a uniquely different visual appeal. The charm of Corben's gratuitous art can really be appreciated differently without color involved, particularly with Corben's creative shading and texturing process being made more apparent.

[Steven Latour]

Some of Corben’s earliest work, yet it still makes for startlingly gorgeous art and amazingly fun stories. Rowlf was a good boy, possibly the goodest boy of all, and anyone who has ever owned a dog has considered this sort of thing happening at one time or another. The other stories are more Eerie/Creepy themed but are still a lot of fun even for those who prefer their heroes more Den-like. The bonus of Corben’s first comics as an 8-year old are both impressive and hilarious, and gave me one of the best belly-laughs I have had in a while. Another great collection in this long-awaited series of Corben’s work.

[Luke]

I like my Corben stories best when they’re in SICKENING OVERSATURATED COLOR but still enjoyed his unmistakable style and obsessions. I have really enjoyed these Richard Corben reissues and am glad I finally got to read them but they are also really frustrating. He’s a great artist and has good story ideas but something is off about every single series. They all start off great and then nosedive and finish abruptly. I don’t know if he loses interest, or is too rushed, but without fail the art quality starts wavering and the plot gets muddled. I’m complaining but this was still worthwhile and a cool idea. Miyazaki would’ve crushed the the adaptation if he’d had the chance.

[Drew Canole]

I've read these stories before in various publications, but they've never looked this good!

I'm sure I've read the coloured versions in Heavy Metal - here the editor points out that HM requested that the comics be in colour. Odd since HM prints a lot of B+W material, but I guess they wanted it to match Corben's usual work. So what in HM looks like a poor imitation of DEN, in reality is some of Corben's greatest B+W artwork.

Hayao Miyazaki writes the forward and mentions after his first movie (Lupin) he wanted to adapt Rowlf. A shame that never happened. It's interesting, I can really see the influence Rowlf's artwork on on Miyazaki as shown in his Nausicaa manga. Plus the off the wall plot and strange mix of settings feels familiar in his work like Laputa.

The book ends with a sampling of Corben's childhood comics, which are all about his dog Trail showing a life-long passion for dogs. Super neat to see these.

I have to say again its a shame Dark Horse is publishing these books like this. Less than 100 pages of comics for $50. Great for die hards like myself, but it's hard to recommend this to someone. But I'm sure digital/library versions are out there.

[Christopher]

Corben's art is best enjoyed in oversaturated color using his custom and time intensive method of exposing different shades one at a time and then layering them over each other. There is none of that here, its true. However, these types of stories, and Rowlf in particular, are him at his best as a world maker- combining the mundane, the bizarre, and and the base all into one.

If someone were willing to make a 70s style short film adaptation of Rowlf with era specific style and sound cues (think Matthew Gafford's 'A Fox in Space') it would really rock.

[Craig]

I'd say this is for Corben completists only. I was thinking of buying a couple of these books for my library, but at $40, this is one you should check out from a public library. It includes 4 relatively brief tales, all in black and white, representing some of Corben's earliest work. As usual, the rest of the book is padded with cover art, scripts, work in progress, etc. There are some comics in the back that Corben did when he was just a kid, focusing on the family dog, Trail, that might be a highlight for some.

[Chad]

Three werewolf stories from Corben plus the adaptation of a Japanese legend. The first story, Rowlf, is actually about a dog who is turned into a dog man and it's wild because in addition to the fantasy stuff are demons driving tanks. This is known as one of first masterpieces and it is interesting as are the others. This collection is short, only about 80 pages of stories and then filled with other art including a comic Corben created as a kid.

[Andrew]

was interested because miyazaki wrote the intro and had a strong interest in turning this into a movie, but unfortunately it was not for me. i don't like the art, the stories didn't intrigue me, and good lord, the bloated balloon breasts look so painful.

[Al Capwned]

I can't believe that Hayao Miyazaki wanted to adapt Rowlf and wrote the introduction to this insane book.