Willy Murphy

For other people named Willie Murphy, see Willie Murphy (disambiguation).
Willy Murphy
Born 1937 (1937)
Died Feb. 1976 (aged 38–39)
Nationality American
Area(s) Editor, cartoonist
Notable works
 Arnold Peck the Human Wreck
Flamed-Out Funnies

William "Willy" Murphy[1] (1937–1976) was an American underground cartoonist and editor. Murphy's humor focused on hippies and the counterculture. His signature character was Arnold Peck the Human Wreck, "a mid-30s beanpole with wry observations about his own life and the community around him."[2] Murphy's solo title was called Flamed-Out Funnies; in addition, he contributed to such seminal underground anthologies as Arcade, Bijou Funnies, and San Francisco Comic Book, as well as the National Lampoon.

Murphy's work was of the "bigfoot" style of cartooning, with characters having long, droopy noses; and was characterizes by strong, humorous writing.[3]

Biography

Before becoming a cartoonist, Murphy worked for eight years as an advertising copywriter in New York City.[4]

In 1969, Murphy contributed to the all-comics tabloid Gothic Blimp Works. He was a key contributor to San Francisco Comic Book, and illustrated the cover of the fourth issue. (After his death, Murphy's work was posthumously published in issue #5 and #7, published in 1980 and 1983 respectively.)

Some time in the early 1970s, along with Larry Todd and Gary King, Murphy began hanging around the Air Pirates collective — Dan O'Neill, Shary Flenniken, Bobby London, Gary Hallgren, and Ted Richards — and contributing to their projects.

In early 1972, Murphy edited the comics section of Sunday Paper, the ambitious but brief-lived broadsheet section of underground comics published by John Bryan.

Murphy illustrated the convention program of Berkeleycon 73, the first comic convention that really highlighted underground comix.[5]

In 1973–1974, Murphy was part of Cartoonists Co-Op Press, a self-publishing venture with Jay Lynch, Kim Deitch, Bill Griffith, Jerry Lane, Diane Noomin, and Art Spiegelman. He also illustrated a number of stories by Harvey Pekar, some of which were published in Flamed-Out Funnies and later appeared in Pekar's own American Splendor.

In 1976, Murphy and Gary Hallgren worked closely with Gilbert Shelton and Ted Richards on Give Me Liberty: a Revised History of the American Revolution, Rip Off Press' comic about the hoopla surrounding the American Bicentennial.[6]

Death

After developing a cold, Murphy died suddenly of pneumonia over the Washington's Birthday weekend in 1976.[6] Ted Richards wrote a eulogy for Murphy which was published in Arcade #6 (Summer 1976).[7] That issue also featured a portfolio of Murphy's work.

Legacy

Murphy's work inspired later cartoonists like Gilbert Shelton, Paul Mavrides,[4] and Wayno.[3]

Bibliography

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 Murphy entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Accessed Oct. 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ Fox, M. Steven."Flamed-Out Funnies," ComixJoint. Accessed Oct. 21, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Forbis, Wil. "An Interview with Wayno!" Acid Logic (April 16th, 2003).
  4. 1 2 Murphy entry, Lambiek Comiclopedia. Accessed Oct. 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ Beerbohm, Robert. "Update to Comics Dealer Extraordinaire Robert Beerbohm: In His Own Words," Comic-Convention Memories (June 24, 2010).
  6. 1 2 Rip Off Press: Ted Richards
  7. ↑ Richards, Ted. "The Outline," Arcade, the Comics Revue #6 (Summer 1976).
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.