INTERVIEW: comics legend Murphy Anderson
When 20th century pilot Buck Rogers found himself exploring the universe 500 years later, Murphy Anderson drew the ray guns.
Anderson, a science fiction fan, drew the syndicated newspaper strip during the late 1940s and then during the late 1950s, the first time succeeding original artist Dick Calkins shortly after leaving the Navy after World War II.
Anderson’s pencils and pens went on to help shape comics’ Silver Age, a comic book revival which started during the 1960s.
Perhaps best known for inking what became the iconic 1970s rendition of Superman with penciller Curt Swan — together, they were known as “Swanderson” to fans — Anderson also shaped the looks of characters such as Batman, Adam Strange, the Atomic Knights and the Justice League of America.
Now in his early 80s, Anderson will be among the featured guests at the Boston Comic Book, CD/Record & Pop Culture Spectacular this Sunday in Boston.
The show runs from from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel, 200 Stuart St. in the 6th floor Convention Center.
In advance of his appearance, Anderson sat down with me for a telephone interview on Thursday.
And he shared a suspicion he’s had connecting Ronald Reagan and Buck Rogers.
MIKE: How often do you do conventions? Are shows in Boston different than, say, New York or San Diego?
MURPHY: “These days, not too many. A couple a year.”
Anderson, who resides with his wife in New Jersey, said his daughter lives in the Boston area. He plans to visit her while in town this weekend.
He said he last did a Boston show about a year ago.
The accents and the geography are the biggest differences between comics conventions, he said.
As far as comics fans go, “San Diego is probably the primary show on the circuit,” he said.
MIKE: You were a science fiction fan before you turned pro. Fandom has evolved quite a bit since then. Has it been for the better?
MURPHY: “It’s hard to say. I think the sense of wonder is no longer there. When I was a kid, I grew up on Buck Rogers. That led me into the science fiction stories.”
Anderson said his first art job was as a cartoonist for Fiction House. He worked for them while stationed in Chicago with the Navy.
Then, after being discharged, he was hired to pencil and ink the Buck Rogers daily newspaper comic strip for the National Newspaper Service, the syndicate which published it.
“It was a dream come true for me,” Anderson said.
His father, who ran a taxi cab company, didn’t share his son’s dream initially.
“I think he felt the whole thing was a bad idea, but he came around eventually,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he had considered a newspaper career before becoming a cartoonist.
He was editor of his high school’s bi-weekly student newspaper in Greensboro, N.C.
“As a matter of fact, one of my friends was sports editor at the time. He became editor of the Greensboro Times,” Anderson said.
Instead of becoming a newsman, Anderson became associated with one: Clark Kent.
“It might’ve been an influence on me,” Anderson said of his high school days.
MIKE: You and Curt Swan defined Superman’s look for a generation. What influenced you as an artist?
MURPHY: “Curt more or less defined Superman before I was involved with it to any degree. I did a few covers when they needed to get a cover out.
“My instructions came from the art director for DC Comics, Sol Harrison,” who said, “When you work on this, just think of it as you own a football team. The ball is given to you, and you finish it the way you want to finish it.”
MIKE: The Dark Knight was a box office blockbuster this summer. You drew Batman a lot. In fact, one story you drew with Carmine (Infantino), “The Joker’s Happy Victims!” is in “The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told.” Have you seen the movie? Is that the same Batman you drew?
MURPHY: “It was good. Very good. No question about it.”
“Each generation of artists and editors changed the character a little bit. They were all, to me, respectful.”
Anderson also is known for his work on lesser-known characters as the Silver Age Atom, a scientist who can shrink.
Anderson shared some trivia that I’d heard, but had never confirmed.
The character’s alter ego, Ray Palmer, shares a name with a sci-fi writer-editor.
The real Palmer was “only 5-feet, 3-inches tall,” Anderson said.
“When (DC editor) Julie (Schwartz) and I were going over plans to revive the Atom, we decided it was an appropriate name,” he said.
(As an aside, guess who voiced the Atom on the Cartoon Network’s Justice League Unlimited? John C. McGinley, best known as Dr. Cox on “Scrubs.”)
Anderson said he has pitched an Atomic Knights coffee table book to DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz.
The book would reprint — annotated — some of the classic Knights adventures that Anderson drew for Strange Adventures during the early 1960s.
The Atomic Knights were a handful of survivors of World War III who unite to fight evil in radiation-proof suits of armor.
“Each story appeared in a different locale,” Anderson said.
“We made sort of a tour. They visited Washington after the nuclear war of 1986.”
Speaking of science fiction characters, Anderson thinks there’s a tie between Buck Rogers, the 20th century astronaut who awakens 500 years in the future, and America’s 40th president.
Growing up in his hometown of Dixon, Ill., Reagan played with the children of John Dille, president of the National Newspaper Service, Anderson said.
“I’ve often suspected that when they needed a name for the ray gun,” they dedicated it to Reagan, Anderson said.
“No one will verify that for me,” he said.
For a good primer on the Silver Age Atom, visit http://en.dcdatabaseproject.com/Raymond_Palmer_(New_Earth) .
For a good primer on the Atomic Knights, visit http://conelrad.com/books/flyleaf.php?id=230_0_1_0_M .
Anderson, a science fiction fan, drew the syndicated newspaper strip during the late 1940s and then during the late 1950s, the first time succeeding original artist Dick Calkins shortly after leaving the Navy after World War II.
Anderson’s pencils and pens went on to help shape comics’ Silver Age, a comic book revival which started during the 1960s.
Perhaps best known for inking what became the iconic 1970s rendition of Superman with penciller Curt Swan — together, they were known as “Swanderson” to fans — Anderson also shaped the looks of characters such as Batman, Adam Strange, the Atomic Knights and the Justice League of America.
Now in his early 80s, Anderson will be among the featured guests at the Boston Comic Book, CD/Record & Pop Culture Spectacular this Sunday in Boston.
The show runs from from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel, 200 Stuart St. in the 6th floor Convention Center.
In advance of his appearance, Anderson sat down with me for a telephone interview on Thursday.
And he shared a suspicion he’s had connecting Ronald Reagan and Buck Rogers.
MIKE: How often do you do conventions? Are shows in Boston different than, say, New York or San Diego?
MURPHY: “These days, not too many. A couple a year.”
Anderson, who resides with his wife in New Jersey, said his daughter lives in the Boston area. He plans to visit her while in town this weekend.
He said he last did a Boston show about a year ago.
The accents and the geography are the biggest differences between comics conventions, he said.
As far as comics fans go, “San Diego is probably the primary show on the circuit,” he said.
MIKE: You were a science fiction fan before you turned pro. Fandom has evolved quite a bit since then. Has it been for the better?
MURPHY: “It’s hard to say. I think the sense of wonder is no longer there. When I was a kid, I grew up on Buck Rogers. That led me into the science fiction stories.”
Anderson said his first art job was as a cartoonist for Fiction House. He worked for them while stationed in Chicago with the Navy.
Then, after being discharged, he was hired to pencil and ink the Buck Rogers daily newspaper comic strip for the National Newspaper Service, the syndicate which published it.
“It was a dream come true for me,” Anderson said.
His father, who ran a taxi cab company, didn’t share his son’s dream initially.
“I think he felt the whole thing was a bad idea, but he came around eventually,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he had considered a newspaper career before becoming a cartoonist.
He was editor of his high school’s bi-weekly student newspaper in Greensboro, N.C.
“As a matter of fact, one of my friends was sports editor at the time. He became editor of the Greensboro Times,” Anderson said.
Instead of becoming a newsman, Anderson became associated with one: Clark Kent.
“It might’ve been an influence on me,” Anderson said of his high school days.
MIKE: You and Curt Swan defined Superman’s look for a generation. What influenced you as an artist?
MURPHY: “Curt more or less defined Superman before I was involved with it to any degree. I did a few covers when they needed to get a cover out.
“My instructions came from the art director for DC Comics, Sol Harrison,” who said, “When you work on this, just think of it as you own a football team. The ball is given to you, and you finish it the way you want to finish it.”
MIKE: The Dark Knight was a box office blockbuster this summer. You drew Batman a lot. In fact, one story you drew with Carmine (Infantino), “The Joker’s Happy Victims!” is in “The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told.” Have you seen the movie? Is that the same Batman you drew?
MURPHY: “It was good. Very good. No question about it.”
“Each generation of artists and editors changed the character a little bit. They were all, to me, respectful.”
Anderson also is known for his work on lesser-known characters as the Silver Age Atom, a scientist who can shrink.
Anderson shared some trivia that I’d heard, but had never confirmed.
The character’s alter ego, Ray Palmer, shares a name with a sci-fi writer-editor.
The real Palmer was “only 5-feet, 3-inches tall,” Anderson said.
“When (DC editor) Julie (Schwartz) and I were going over plans to revive the Atom, we decided it was an appropriate name,” he said.
(As an aside, guess who voiced the Atom on the Cartoon Network’s Justice League Unlimited? John C. McGinley, best known as Dr. Cox on “Scrubs.”)
Anderson said he has pitched an Atomic Knights coffee table book to DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz.
The book would reprint — annotated — some of the classic Knights adventures that Anderson drew for Strange Adventures during the early 1960s.
The Atomic Knights were a handful of survivors of World War III who unite to fight evil in radiation-proof suits of armor.
“Each story appeared in a different locale,” Anderson said.
“We made sort of a tour. They visited Washington after the nuclear war of 1986.”
Speaking of science fiction characters, Anderson thinks there’s a tie between Buck Rogers, the 20th century astronaut who awakens 500 years in the future, and America’s 40th president.
Growing up in his hometown of Dixon, Ill., Reagan played with the children of John Dille, president of the National Newspaper Service, Anderson said.
“I’ve often suspected that when they needed a name for the ray gun,” they dedicated it to Reagan, Anderson said.
“No one will verify that for me,” he said.
For a good primer on the Silver Age Atom, visit http://en.dcdatabaseproject.com/Raymond_Palmer_(New_Earth) .
For a good primer on the Atomic Knights, visit http://conelrad.com/books/flyleaf.php?id=230_0_1_0_M .
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