John Cullen Murphy

John Cullen Murphy (born May 3, 1919 in New York City , † July 2, 2004 in Greenwich , Connecticut ) was an American comic artist . From 1971 to 2004 he drew the series Prinz Eisenherz (original title: Prince Valiant ).

At the age of nine he attended courses at the Chicago Art Institute and later at the Grand Central School of Arts in New York. As a school boy, he occasionally made his living drawing and caricaturing boxers.

At the age of 15 he met the well-known magazine illustrator Norman Rockwell by chance, whom he served as a model. Professionally, Murphy originally aspired to a career as a baseball player. Once, when he was playing baseball at the age of 15, the Murphys' neighbor, painter Norman Rockwell , asked him if he would model him. The picture Starstruck , in which Murphy sits absentmindedly on the floor, looking at photos of movie stars, appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on September 22, 1934. Rockwell supported Murphy as a mentor in the years that followed. Rockwell recognized Murphy's talent and, after graduating from high school, placed him on a scholarship at the Phoenix Art Institute in New York City.

After retiring from military service, he first came into contact with comics. The comic strip writer Elliot Caplin offered him to draw his new series Big Ben Bolt . He also worked as a cover artist and illustrator.

John Cullen Murphy attended the Art Institute of Chicago and was soon working as a professional comic artist. From 1950 to 1978 he drew the daily comic strip Big Ben Bolt .

At the end of the 1960s, the order situation got so bad that he turned to Hal Foster , who lives in the neighborhood, for advice.

From 1970 he supported Foster in the weekly work on the pages of Prince Eisenherz and also began to draw himself. In 1971 he took over the series entirely, but over the years he was increasingly supported by his family and limited himself to pure drawing work. His son wrote the lyrics, his daughter did the lettering and coloring .

In March 2004, Gary Gianni took over the series, Murphy died a few months later at the age of 85 in his home in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Web links

• Going to Work - John Cullen Murphy