Willy Murphy

Willy Murphy (October 2, 1936 –March 2, 1976) was an American underground cartoonist. 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." 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 characterized by strong, humorous writing. Before becoming a cartoonist, he worked for eight years as an advertising copywriter at J. Walter Thompson The upheaval of the late 1960s, including experimenting with drug use and opposition to the Vietnam War, led Murphy to leave that world behind and dedicate himself to social commentary though his cartooning.

In 1973–1974, Murphy helped co-found the self-publishing venture Cartoonists Co-Op Press, with Jay Lynch, Kim Deitch, Bill Griffith, Jerry Lane, Diane Noomin, and Art Spiegelman.

Murphy illustrated three early stories by Harvey Pekar, which were published in Murphy's own Flamed-Out Funnies #1 (Keith Green, 1975) and later appeared in one of Pekar's American Splendor collections (although not in the actual comic book series 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.

Cartoonists at Murphy's funeral included Ted Richards, Melinda Gebbie, and Justin Green. Richards, who was Murphy's best friend, wrote a eulogy for him which was later published in Arcade #6 (Summer 1976). That issue also featured a portfolio of Murphy's work.

Flamed-Out Funnies #2 was published posthumously by Rip Off Press in November 1976. Some of Murphy's comics were also posthumously published in San Francisco Comic Book issue #5 and #7, released in 1980 and 1983 respectively.

Legacy Murphy's work inspired later cartoonists like Gilbert Shelton, Paul Mavrides,