Murky World!

Murky World is one of the last expansive fantasy creations of the late Rich Corben. The series was originally produced for Dark Horse and appeared in Dark Horse Presents over the course of three issues. These issues were then collated and published as a one-shot. The color version appeared originally in the pages of the newer Heavy Metal. 

Later Corben took the concepts introduced in the series and expanded upon it. The original stories become part of the climax of a meandering tale which takes inside and out of the mind of our protagonist Tugat. 

The longer saga begins with Tugat as an older man, and we are introduced to narrator named Mag the Hag who seems know the secret of the story. But we are not to share it for a long time, if at all. We follow Tugat as he enters a strange angular building where he seems to encounter some strange females who turn out not to be what he or we first imagine them to be. Tugat is seemingly awakened from his dream by a woman named Moja, who it turns out seems to be a slave. Tugat himself turns out to be a young man. Moja is a slave and untrustworthy. In fact, none of the women in the story seem to be reliable. For that matter neither do the men. Even Tugat's horse Frix keeps getting taken by different people. Tugat ages as the story rolls along, suggesting that we of course are not seeing anything approximating reality. 

I'm not going to pretend I understand everything Corben was trying to get at in this tale. My favorite sequence comes near then end when for reasons which will make sense at the time, we find Tugat being served sand by two zombie servants, who dish up dirt in lieu of the water which has long ago vanished. But I can say that despite the myriad questions, the story is compelling if only because Corben's artwork is as always utterly fascinating. 

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