Artist Richard Corben passed away on December 2 after heart surgery, according to a post by his wife on his Facebook page.  He was 80 years old.

We first became aware of Corben’s revolutionary work in underground comics of the 60s and 70s, including Slow Death, Grim Wit, Rowlf, Fever Dreams, and Fantagor, his own anthology.  He also did work for Warren magazines in the 70s, including Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, 1984, and Comix International.

In the mid-70s, Corben began an association with Heavy Metal, first with the original Metal Hurlant in France, and then in the American version, Heavy Metal, beginning with the first issue.

Corben was also involved in the creation of a new format; he adapted a Robert E. Howard story into one of the first graphic novels, Bloodstar, in 1975.

He operated his own publishing company to sell his work, Fantagor Press, from 1986 to 1994; did the album cover for Meat Loaf’s album Bat Out of Hell, which sold 43 million copies worldwide; and did comic work for Vertigo, Marvel Comics, IDW Publishing, and Dark Horse Comics, including work on Hellboy.

Hellboy creator Mike Mignola eulogized Corben on Twitter.  "I discovered him way back when (alongside Moebius) in an early issue of Heavy Metal magazine and instantly became a fan--His work was larger than life (in every way) and totally unique," he wrote.  "I never in a million years could have guessed that one day we would work together but we did.  I wrote The Crooked Man specifically for him and to this day it remains my favorite Hellboy story."