“The Hero Within”

8 pgs. Appeared first time [COLOR] in Creepy #60 (1974). Reprinted [COLOR] in Comix International #1 (1975), [COLOR] in Heavy Metal Special: The Best of Richard Corben from Creepy & Eerie! (1998) [VERS.2], [COLOR] in Creepy Archieves Volume #13 (2012) [VERS.3], [COLOR] in Creepy Presents Richard Corben (2012) [VERS.3], and [COLOR] in Dark Horse Horror Sampler (2014).
Story: Steve Skeates. Color(prob. colored by overlays)/Art: Richard Corben (no signature). Lettered by hand (Warren).

Denmark [DK]: as “Helten indeni” in Total Metal #5 (1985).
Finland [FIN]: as “Sisäinen sankari” in Shokki tekijänä Richard Corben #1 (2013).
France [FRA]: as “L’histoire du brave petit Lucien” in Vampirella [FRA] #18 (1974), Vampirella [FRA] Album #5 (1975) and Profondeurs (1978).
Germany [GER]: as “Der Held im Inneren” in Die Aussergewöhnliche Welt des Richard Corben, Vol. 2 (1980).
Italy [ITA]: as “Eroe dentro” in Collana Umanoidi #6 (1982).
The Netherlands [NL]: as “Een Held in Gedachten” in Creepy [NL] #2 (1981), and as “Het mes met de hoge hakken” in Richard Corben #2 [NL]: Diepten (1981).
Serbia [SER]: as “The Hero Within [SER]” in Jeznovik #2: Ričard Korben (2013).
Spain [SPA]: as “Pánico mental” in Famosos “Monsters” del cine #6 (1975), and as “Héroe por dentro” in El extraordinario mundo de Richard Corben #2 (1981).

Style: Full color. Genre: Horror / Fantasy. Time Span: Modern time / fantasy. Nudity: Voluptuous girl.
Keywords: Orphan. Imagination. Angry dog. Dinosaur.
Original Art Plate: 35,7 x 46,6 cm [Source: Angoulême, 2019].
Synopsis: An orphan boy drifts from one family to another and he is never a welcome guest. During his punishment he escapes to the dreamworld where he can be a hero.
Comment: Brilliant color artwork. Interesting story by Steve Skeates. Coverstory for Creepy, cover by Sanjulian.
Alternatives, [VERS.2]: Poorly scanned from magazine.
Alternatives, [VERS.3]: Restored with piety by José Villarrubia.
Corben: “The Hero Within” was a story I had a lot of sympathy with. It concerns a young, mistreated child who retreats into a fantasy world where he is a muscular hero saving a beautiful woman from a fantastic dinosaur monster. This was a theme I would return to in some of my own writing. I think the story was written to fit a preexisting Sanjulián cover. [bloody-disgusting.com]