This story from Epic Illustrated #27 (December 1984) not only is “dedicated to the memory of Roy G. Krenkel” but also includes a lovely tribute to Jeffrey Jones, whose girl sculpture — see also below — according to comic-book creator, film-maker, and friend of Al Williams, Kevin VanHook, typically sat behind Williams at his drawing board around the time the story was created. Also, in the comments section of this post, regular participant on this site, Chris A, astutely points out that Williamson based the character of Kirth on Stewart Granger (1913 – 1993), a British actor with whose work I myself am almost entirely unfamiliar. Williamson has made Kirth’s nose somwhat shorter and more rounded than Granger’s, but Granger is definitely Williamson’s model here. Enjoy!
Al Williamson used photo reference of British actor Stewart Granger (from the 1950s) in a few shots. What I’ve found are not perfect matches, but very close. Compare page 1, panel three’s face with this photo:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3410/3255611999_33fb639f3b.jpg
And page 4, panel 4 with this one:
http://imagecache6.allposters.com/LRG/27/2770/PCXTD00Z.jpg
Once again, thanks for the input. And once again, I’ve added your findings to the post.
BTW, don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve located and posted an image that is even closer than the very close match you found to the drawing at page 4 panel 4.
I’ve also posted a near match to page 5 panel 5. Notice how Williamson rounded off Granger’s rather slim, pointy nose.