Richard Corben was born in Missouri and grew up in Sunflower, Kansas, a work force community of Sunflower Ordinance Works, which made bombs for World War II. He's been drawing comics all of his life. An early effort was a series of comics about the adventures of TRAIL, the family dog. Later he moved to imitations of Tarzan and Brothers of the Spear.

Corben also showed a keen interest in animation by turning many pads of paper into animated flip books. In art college he concentrated on basic drawing and painting. Developing these skills would become vital in creating his chosen realistic style. His school offered no courses for animation, but Corben nevertheless produced a 5 minute animated film highlighting the labors of Heracles, u...