Den - Muvovem!

Rich Corben heads back to the weird and wild territory of Neverwhere in this second volume of Den from Dark Horse. The actual title of the book is Den Volume 2 - Muvovem, referring to another land which is adjacent to Neverwhere. The story opens with Den and Kath fully dressed and looking wildly out of place. In many ways their nudity was a key feature and because Kath has grown a bit weary of wandering around naked all the time and being treated like a sex object, she's hankering to return to Earth. And opportunity to head home becomes available when the leader of the sky city they have taken refuge in seeks the "Nar Stones", the basis for the magic sceptre the Queen was so desperate to capture and use in the first volume. They get the stones and both Den and Kath head home. 

But things haven't been all that cut and dried, a woman from a distant city named Muuta has her eye on Den and has been trying her best to bed him. When he rejects her, she heads home much to the chagrin of her supposed fiance Tarn, the grandson of Zeg the leader and son of Scon. When Den leaves, Scon sees opportunity and Tarn gets himself lost seeking Muvovum to implore Muuta to come back. And that's when the real trouble starts. Dramites are human sized creatures who function much like ants and there are uncounted numbers of them. They destroy everything and everyone in the path. 

I found the adventure a bit less incendiary than the first volume, but there are plenty of great Corben pages to savor as the story rumbles along. In addition, we get an introduction by Walt Simonson, an epilogue by Jose Villarrubia, a lengthy discussion of Corben's earliest work by Dana Marie Andra, and a vintage introduction by Maurice Horn for the 1983 edition. There's some great additional art by Corben and sweetest of all, a map of Neverwhere. 

Next up is Children of the Fire. 

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