Muuta

Muuta is one of "Den's women". She's second best from Kath, a replacement while Kath is out. But Muuta is an exceptional woman of three of them: she appears in the Adventures of Den just once. You can find her just from a story "Den II". Even Wyn, the daughter of Zandor, who also was introduced first time in the story "Den II", reappeared later in the story "DenSaga". And Wyn never got into "Den's women".

Muuta was never really Den's girlfriend, though she might though about it in the end of "Den II". Yes, she put her eye on Den from the very beginning of the story (by doing so made her boyfriend, Tarn, jealous), but she never won Den's heart. She reached him only halfaway.

Muuta is the ruler of Muutaron. That we get to know only in the end of the story "Den II". Tarn is Muuta's betrothed, though Muuta has got her lust on Den. Tarn is the son of Scon and the grandson of Zeg, who used to be in thouch with the Red Queen ("Den's Farewell" in the end of story "Den"). Scon, Zeg and Tarn are friends with Den, which makes Muuta likewise. But there is no record weather Muuta ever met the Red Queen.

In the beginning of the story "Den II" Den and Kath have become bored with each other. Kath does not prefer nakedness, which is why Den and Kath are all dressed up. Den, then again, does not like that way, and in the end of the arguement he undresses himself. Worried Tarn pays attention to Muuta's desire and does not want her to see Den undressing; Muuta though has made up her mind. She has never seen Den nude before and when she does, "Wuff", she cannot keep her eyes off of him. Poor Tarn.

After almost lethal Nar stone rescue party, where both Tarn and Den partisipate, Muuta finally asks Den privatly into a garden, where she proposes her body to Den. Den of course prefers Kath instead and they go back to Earth, as a Kath's wish.

Tarn, who saw Den's and Muuta's garden episode, leaves to the desert land and gets lost, only to ends up to the hands of Dramites. Muuta haunts his mind and he even gets cheated by the vison of Muuta and became trapped forever with Dramites.

Den cannot stay out of Neverwhere and returns without Kath, because she wants to stay the Earth. Well, Neverwhere is more his kind of place (in the Earth he was just a miserable skiny boy). But while he was away the Red Queen, after Nar stones, made complete destruction what worried Den has to face first on his return. Den finds his way on a trails of Tarn, and meets young Wyn, who fell in love with him.

Muuta reaches Den in deserted Dramite hive. She says (while kissing him!), she's after Tarn, her betrothed, she does not love. Muuta asks Den to travel with her on her airship, and proposes to sleep on open air.

Really Muuta is after Den. She doesn't care much about Tarn; he's just an excuse. She even seduces Den ("Close your eyes and I'll be Kath for you... for now") at night. This time Den does not resist at all, and they make love.

It's Dramites terotory and suddenly creatures attack on them, but small group survives. After fighting against Dramites Muuta feels like the real girlfriend of Den. They rides to Muutaron and there Mistress Muuta appears only with the presense of Den. Okay, Den feels reponsible for her safety, Dramites have surrounded them. But Muuta visibly likes the situation. Even when Dramite infected Tarn appears and asks her, "I love you Muuta. You are mine.", Muuta stays at the warm protection of Den.

Tarn is now the new King of Dramites. He wants to expand his kingdom over Muutaron, but actually he is after his ex-beloved Muuta. He kidnaps her and the mating of Dramite-Tarn and Muuta is a surprising end for her. She is dismissed forever from the Adventures of Den. She cannot come back.

Den remembers Muuta only once after the story "Den II" (single frame). He hardly remembered it was Muuta. That happened in "Den 4: Dreams", Second Chapter: "Reveries in Cragor, The City of Sounds", in the middle of the story. He was recalling all memories with Kath - and found out most of them were actually with somebody else. The Red Queen cheated him often for good, while "in the blue jungle" it was Wyn, and "before the Dramite hive" Muuta. But all those women were only sexual milestones on a search for Kath, though mostly the Red Queen pretending to be Kath (Richard Corben does not revealed that until in "Den 4: Dreams"! - even readers have been cheated like this for all these years by the Red Queen).

If Den is the alter ego of Richard Corben (it even rhymes, "Den" - "Corben"), is Kath Donna? If Kath is Donna, who is the Red Queen? Donna's "never existing" bad site? Or better, her "fantasy side" invented by Richard Corben? If Den is after Kath, who are young Wyn and Muuta? Richard Corben's "imaginary fantasy lovers"? This leap of thinking leads nowhere. If there is a real life equivalent for all Den's women it's not relevant here to discuss about.

But Den is alter ego of Richard Corben. He revieled that in his Heavy Metal interview. Richard Corben was always interested of bodybuilding, but never, by himself, succeed with it like he wanted. There was never enough time to do it really. So he invented Den as a replacement (not known David Ellis Norman from countryside was drawn into imaginative world and became fully muscular developed hero - well, that happened almost literally to Richard Corben himself on a comic scene; dream come true).

The special fate of Muuta in the story "Den II" bugs my mind for eternity. Richard Corben expanded his stories during Fantagor Press period. He combines old stories and characters, and made a strong coherence between them. And now separate individuals have become part of the bigger picture. Zeg, for example, is a very old character of his short stories from his underground period, and Zeg keeps reappearing on the Adventures of Den. Wyn, as I told, was a side character in the story "Den II", and she reappeared later on the story "DenSaga". What else Richard Corben has got in his mind, but had to leave out, because his personal world (that is Fantagor Press) did not pay out enough well. What an ever growing universe we readers catched just a glimpse of.

But for Muuta, one of "Den's Women", there was no continuity. Except now. That 's why this new web site for "The Most Complete Comicography of Richard Corben" is labelled after her, www.muuta.net. I'm from Finland (the Northern Exposure of Europe), and my mother tongue is Finnish. We also has got a word in Finnish as "muuta". It means "something else" or "to change". It is time to give "something else", time "to change" Muuta's fate through this web site. I hope you enjoy my ever growing web site. There is so much I want to share with you, but so little time to go through all of them. Internet has got limitless possibilities.