The Awakening and Other Stories

RICHARD CORBEN’S LEGENDARY UNDERGROUND WORK COLLECTED AND RESTORED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE AWAKENING AND OTHER STORIES! Dark Horse Comics continues its archival program with The Awakening and Other Stories, a new volume in the Richard Corben Library devoted to the artist’s most haunting and imaginative science fiction work. Few creators shaped the visual language of dystopian comics like Richard Corben. With his unmistakable painted technique and three-dimensional figures, Corben built futures that feel tactile, strange, and uncomfortably plausible. This collection focuses on his darker visions, stories depicting ecological disaster, technological overreach, and human folly. Drawn from Corben’s groundbreaking underground comics (from the legendary anthology Slow Death) and later independent comics, the volume showcases his gift for blending sharp social satire with pulp adventure and existential unease. These are not sleek utopias or remote galaxies but flawed futures populated by ordinary people, grotesque mutants, malfunctioning machines, and moments of surprising tenderness. Corben’s science fiction has always been less about technology and more about the consequences of humanity's actions. Featuring an introduction from science fiction author Jeff Vandermeer (Annihilation, Authority) and an essay and art restorations by project art director José Villarrubia, the book also highlights Corben’s rich creative partnerships with his friends and frequent collaborators, including writers Jan Strnad (The Last Voyage of Sindbad, Mutant World) and Bruce Jones (Rip in Time). In addition, readers will find Corben’s distinctive visual interpretations of classic prose science fiction by authors such as Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles). Collects "Going Home," "Encounter at War," "The Wreck of the Katerra-Dan, Donneman's Bluff," "Planetoid," "A Sound of Thunder," "Flys," "How Howie Made It in the Real World," "A Dumb Story," "Heirs of the Earth," "The Awakening," "Mangle, Robot Mangler," "Melton's Big Game," "Bug," "Night of the Monkey," "Garbage Man," and "The Small World of Lewis Stillman.”