"The Bodyssey"

Cross-reference:
| Karen Gilbertson |

5 pgs. A short story version called, "Pilgor, Dreams of a Magic Planet" [VERS.1]. Never printed in English!
Story: Starr Armitage. Color/Art: Richard Corben (in an Italian version, written signed as © 1982 Richard Corben).

FRA: as "Rêves de la planète magique", as a 5 pg short story in L'Echo des savanes [II] "hors série" #1 (1985).
Germany [GER]: as "Pilgor, The Plunderer [GER]", prob. as a short story in Der Dämon im Cockpit (1985).
ENG: No known printed version!
ITA: as "Pilgor, sogni di un magico pianeta", as a 5 pg short story [COLOR] in L'Eternauta #26 (1984).
Spain [SPA]: as "Pilgor the plunderer [SPA]", as a 5 pg short story [COLOR] in 1984 [SPA] #50 (1983).

Style: Fully Painted Colors.

Page 1 in B&W and page 9 in color.

48 pgs. The full feature adventure called, "The Bodyssey" [VERS.2]. Appeared first time [COLOR] in Heavy Metal #97 (1985) to #102 (1985). Reprinted [COLOR] in The Bodyssey [Catalan Album] (1986) and [COLOR] The Bodyssey [Fantagor Album] (1993).
Story: Simon Revelstroke. Color/Art: Richard Corben (in Heavy Metal version, signed as Richard Corben, © 1985). Lettered by hand (in Albums: Corben) (in Heavy Metal: unknown).

FRA: as "Pilgor [FRA]", as a 7 part serial in Spécial U.S.A. [II] #17 (1985) to #23 (1986), and as one in Pilgor [FRA] (1986).
Germany [GER]: as "Pilgor [GER]", as one in Die phantastische Welt des Richard Corben #7 (1993).
ITA: as "Pilgor [ITA]", as a serial in L'Eternauta #35 (1985) to #41.
NL: as "Pilgor [NL]", as one in Pilgor [NL] (1993).
Spain [SPA]: as "Pilgor (Bodyssey) [SPA]", as a 6 part serial in Zona 84 #7 to #10, and #12 to #13 (1984) [not in #11!], and as one in Richard Corben obras completas #10 (1990).

Style: Colored with overlays, except page 1 to 8 & : Fully Painted Colors. Genre: Humour/Fantasy. Time Span: Fantasy. Nudity: Full frontal, a lot of graphical symbolism.
Original Art Plate: Chapter 1: Full color using ink, acrylics, and oil paint on paper, size 11 1/2" x 16 1/2".
At least plates 1-4, and 6 were painted (most likely all 8 pages of Ch. 1). The rest of Chapters were colored with Corben's overlay technique.
Keywords: Sorcerer. Lizardman. Lovesickness. Transvetism. Giant girl. Phallus. Erected towers.
Synopsis: Pilgor travels through sexually erected, epic adventures on magic planet. He meets pink vulva/tit-monster, transvestite, manhater amazones, gigantic King Kong -girl, Phallus, fallos looking snakemonsters and to skys erecting towers. And everybody has lovesickness.
Comment: The story by Simon Revelstroke is so provocatively sexistic, that it takes quite a bit for me to measure is this funny or what. I rank it by myself as amusement. Comic is full of voluptuous girls and well hunged men, and all sexism serves humour. In Heavy Metal version they mixed order of pages: 7 & 8 were on a place of 5 & 6 and vice verse. In Heavy Metal version there was one oddity: on first three parts (Heavy Metal #97 to #99) there was saying, "© 1984 Richard Corben & Simon Revelstroke". Year "1984" was overwritten by "1985". Maybe comic was ought to be published starting from Oct. 1984 insted of April 1985.
Alternative, [VERS.1]: Before Mr. Corben and Revelstroke made the full feature lenght story, there was a 5 page short story version. This first comic version of the adventures of Pilgor is never published in English! Short story was made around 1982, some three years before the main adventures. Both stories are based on a portfolio Scenes from the Magic Planet (1979). Same portfolio was printed by Toutain under name Pilgor the Plunderer [SPA] (1981), both in English and Spanish. Toutain version's got Bruce Jones litteral versions of each plate! Pay attention Bruce Jones' story's plates are in different order than they appeared in The Bodyssey [Catalan Album] (1986).
Origins of the Bodyssey (The Bodyssey [Fantagor Album] (1993), pg 51): In 1979, portfolios were all the rage among fantasy and comic collectors. Corben thought this would be an opportunity to realize some images that had been cooking in the back of his mind based on his humorus pseudo Greek hero. Pilgor as these pictures developed. The characters became less Greek and more satirical of the popular barbarian heroes. Eight pictures were printed in gray tones and the portfolio. Scenes from the Magic Planet, was published by Fantasy Forum. But Corben wasn't through with Pilgor. Other ideas presented themselves and became covers for Marvel's Epic magazine and Kitchen Sink's Bizarre Sex. Finally in 1985, Corben and his cohort, Simon Revelstroke, struggled to flesh out a continuous narrative for Pilgor and the story ran as a comic series in Heavy Metal magazine Catalan Communications published a collected edition the following year. Is Corben finished with Pilgor at last? Perhaps. But new images keep forming and one, The Snake Women, finishes this volume.
Pilgor Art Plates: Portfolio plates and separately printed cover arts were included the "The Bodyssey" illustrated story:

Chapter 1, pg 8: the exact replica of "Ytgna and his Faithful Ammora" (Portfolio, Plate #2)
Chapter 2, pgs 3-4: a scene from "Pilgor Discusses Politics with his Friends" (Portfolio, Plate #3)
Chapter 3, pgs 2-3: a scene from "Pilgor and the Boonthas" (altered cover art of Epic #2 (1980), which were called then as "The Sword", originally not done for Pilgor)
Chapter 3, pg 8 to Chapter 4, pg 1: a scene from "Machola Seeks a Remembrance" (Portfolio, Plate #4)
Chapter 4: pgs 1-2: a scene from "Worship" (cover art of Bizzare Sex #6 (1977), originally not done for Pilgor)
Chapter 4, pg 5: the exact replica of "The Worm God [VERS.1]" (cover art of Bizzare Sex #5 (1976), originally not done for Pilogr, exists also a version with Pilgor figure in the background)
Chapter 5, pgs 3-4: a scene from "Uncle Hunghoul Collects a Titbit" (Portfolio, Plate #6)
Chapter 5, pgs 5-6: a scene from "Hunghoul's Guards" (Portfolio, Plate #5)
Chapter 5, pg 7-8: a scene from "Pilgor Works his Work" (Portfolio, Plate #1)
Chapter 6, pg 6: a scene from "Pilgor Drops in at Dinner Time" (Portfolio, Plate #7)
Chapter 6, pg 6: a scene from "Pilgor's and Ammora's Happy Ending" (Portfolio, Plate #8)
After "The Bodyssey" done Pilgor arts: "Snake Women" (apart from the main story)

Humour: Several references are made to past Corben works in here. Chapter 2, pg 1: A dog is barking, "Rowlf, Rowlf", and Ytgna's speech includes the word, "Densss", written bolder than the other words. On next page, a character says, "Harr! A'creep? C'Dopey!". Same chapter, pg 4: the other character, "I'll give you a girl - two girls - a boy and his dog...". [Thanks Plogg.]
Litteral version of Pilgor: Before Mr. Corben ended up the illustrated version of Pilgor with the author Simon Revelstroke, there exists a verbal version of portfolio plates by Bruce Jones printed in Pilgor the Plunderer (Toutain). Plates were differently ordered in that story than in "The Bodyssey". Biggest diffrences with the story was, that Ammora was a dancer Pilgor met in a bar and was then kidnapped by Ytgna. In "The Bodyssey" Ytgna and Ammora were lovers and she was kidnapped by her Amazonian tribe, the Sisterhood of the Glowing Bud. In the Jones' version, Pilgor survived the execution of his very member by raising his head at the last moment, but in "The Bodyssey" he's spared that he can use his entire body as a dildo to satisfy the giant Queen. In the Jones version Hunghoul was killed by rain, not unlike the Wicked Witch of the West. In "The Bodyssey" Hunghoul was killed accidentally by Succulus. [Thanks Plogg, again.]

1) "Pilgor, Dreams of a Magic Planet"

2) "The Bodyssey"