Kurt Erichsen

Kurt Erichsen is an openly gay cartoonist and civil engineer, creator of the syndicated LGBT-themed comic strip "Murphy's Manor," his most notable work, which ran for 1183 weekly strips from the 1980s until 2008 and through strip 1205 in 2019.

Biography Cover of Under the Covers by Kurt Erichsen|frame Erichsen was born on December 18, 1954, in Coos Bay, Oregon. He attended Oregon State University, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. The following year he received a master's degree in Sanitary Engineering from Michigan State University.

Publications

"Murphy's Manor" In 1980, he began producing "Murphy's Manor," a comic strip focusing on the lives of gay men living together in the titular manor, in the fictional town of Black Swamp, Ohio. The beginnings of "Murphy's Manor" were difficult. Erichsen's friend gave him a gay bar guide in which the publisher wanted someone to draw cartoons for two newspapers. This did not work out and so Erichsen decided to publish "Murphy's Manor" on his own. The series was carried in about 70 papers over the course of its run,

Contributions Erichsen's work has been published in eight issues of Gay Comix and was a regular feature in Meatmen.

Gay Comix The issues of Gay Comix Erichsen published stories in were issues:

no. 1 (1980) "Saboteur," no. 3 (1982) "Weekend Revolutionaries," no. 6 (1985) "The Sparkle Spinsters: Stains on the Sofa," no. 7 (1986) "The Sparkle Spinsters: Home Movies," no. 8 (1986) "The Sparkle Spinsters: In Midsummer Night's Super Stud," no. 12 (1988) "The Sparkle Spinsters: In the Ghetto," no. 20 (1993) "Gender Bender," no. 22 (1993) "Honeymoon," and no. 25 (1998) "I've Got a Secret."

Meatmen The works he contributed to Meatmen were in issues:

no. 12 (1991) "Robot Love," no. 15 (1993) "The Nine Billion Names of Penis," no. 19 (1994) "The Sparkle Spinsters: Little Red Riding Crop," no. 20 (1997) "A Wedding in the Family," no. 21 (1997) "Link-Up," and no. 22 (1997) "Straight Man's Burden."

Fanzines Erichsen has been working in science fiction fanzines since the late 1960s. His own fanzine is Taciturn, which has had three issues. His work also appears in other fanzines such as Challenger, Mimosa and Argentus.

Other works

He also drew commissioned illustrations for Instinct magazine, Lambda Rising Book Report, and Fairy Flicks. In 1989, he and cartoonist Bruce Billings co-produced a tête-bêche book – a single bound volume with both covers formatted as the "front" – as Under the Covers (Erichsen's cover) and Between the Sheets! (Billings'). In May 2015, he was a featured panelist at the first Queers & Comics conference, as one of the "Pioneers of Queer Men's Comics".

For civil engineering While working at the TMACOG, Erichsen aided in restoring the Ottawa River and the Maumee Bay State Park. Another of Erichsen's accomplishments at the TMACOG was to improve the Stormwater Coalition of Wood and Lucas County which led to the aid of the farming community by managing the stormwater in the region. Many at the TMACOG credit and acknowledge the work that Erichsen did on the 208 plan, a plan on how to manage sewer lines, wastewater treatment, and septic systems in five counties in Ohio and Michigan. In 2009, he received the National Association of Regional Councils' John Bosley Award for his work with the TMACOG.