Murphy Anderson (1926- 2015) was a Silver Age DC Comics artist
whose precision drawing style instilled in me as a child a desire to
draw as diligently as I could, and as often as I could. Even today, more
than fifty years later, Anderson still inspires, and he remains one of
my all-time favorite comic book artists.
Known primarily as "everyone's inker" in the comic book industry, Murphy Anderson was also a forthright penciller and a skilled draftsman. His long-standing efforts and multifaceted skills have earned him numerous accolades in the field, including several Alley Award's for Best Inker and Best Novel, and inductions into both the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1999.
Anderson started his career almost immediately after graduating from high school in 1943, landing a job in the art department at Fiction House in New York City. Hired principally to be an interior artist for their pulp magazine lineup, he also worked on several of their science fiction comic books, including the Star Pirate. In 1948 he took over art chores on the syndicated Buck Rogers comic strip, a dream come true for him at the time.
In the 1950's Anderson started drawing full time for DC National Comics. One of his early collaborators was Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of Superman. Many years later he teamed up with the definitive modern era illustrator of Superman, the famed artist Curt Swan.
During Anderson's long stint at DC, his editor Julius Schwartz was instrumental in getting the most out of his skills, assigning him inking duty on nearly all of the pencil work submitted by other staff artists. As a result, Anderson is often credited with helping to build the modernized look of several major superhero characters, from Adam Strange and Batman, to The Flash, The Spectre, and of course even Superman, yet he was also eager to command a strip on his own. So after much solicitation Schwartz allowed him full pencil-and-ink reign on several science fiction projects that were published in a variety of comics. These included DC's House of Mystery, Tales of the Unexpected, Mystery in Space, and Strange Adventures.
The Atomic Knights, one of Anderson's most memorable solo efforts, originated as filler stories in Strange Adventures, beginning in June, 1960, and ending in January, 1964. Anderson's crisp, detailed drawing style and firm grasp of science fictional tropes were ideal for the Atomic Knight stories, and it helped make him one of the most sought after artists during the Silver Age of comics, even extending his duties well into the Bronze Age.
In the 1950's Anderson started drawing full time for DC National Comics. One of his early collaborators was Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of Superman. Many years later he teamed up with the definitive modern era illustrator of Superman, the famed artist Curt Swan.
During Anderson's long stint at DC, his editor Julius Schwartz was instrumental in getting the most out of his skills, assigning him inking duty on nearly all of the pencil work submitted by other staff artists. As a result, Anderson is often credited with helping to build the modernized look of several major superhero characters, from Adam Strange and Batman, to The Flash, The Spectre, and of course even Superman, yet he was also eager to command a strip on his own. So after much solicitation Schwartz allowed him full pencil-and-ink reign on several science fiction projects that were published in a variety of comics. These included DC's House of Mystery, Tales of the Unexpected, Mystery in Space, and Strange Adventures.
The Atomic Knights, one of Anderson's most memorable solo efforts, originated as filler stories in Strange Adventures, beginning in June, 1960, and ending in January, 1964. Anderson's crisp, detailed drawing style and firm grasp of science fictional tropes were ideal for the Atomic Knight stories, and it helped make him one of the most sought after artists during the Silver Age of comics, even extending his duties well into the Bronze Age.
As conceived by DC house writer John Broome, The Atomic Knights are founded after The Great Twenty-Day Atomic War of 1986, which devastated the United States, and quite possibly all of Earth. In the war's aftermath, military man Gardner Grayle has a chance encounter with another survivor, the school teacher Douglas Herald. Together, they discover some irradiated suits of medieval armor that have special abilities to safeguard wearers. Looming at large in this adverse new world are deadly radiation, mutated monsters, and a host of emerging, sadistic megalomaniacs. Quickly realizing the need to strengthen their alliance, the two men enlist the aid of four other good citizens: Herald's beautiful sister Marene; the stalwart twins Wayne and Hollis Hobard, and Bryndon, one of Earth's last remaining scientists. Thus is formed the chivalrous Atomic Knights, an organization whose primary purpose will be to protect and assist all those that are in need of help.
As our intrepid, armor clad heroes venture forth into a dangerous and permanently altered North American landscape perilous adventures become almost happenstance.
During the 1960's this type of grim adventure story attracted mostly science-fiction and comic book fans. Today, post-apocalyptic themes are readily accepted by mainstream audiences, with bestselling novels like Stephen King's The Stand, Cormac McCarthy's The Road, and Justin Cronin's The Passage providing legitimacy. The Atomic Knights were the first stories in this particular genre to be adapted to comic book format, followed closely by Gold Key's Mighty Samson.
Anderson's illustrations for The Atomic Knights are some of the best work he did in his long and productive career. He was clearly inspired by atmospheric setting, and pages like the one seen below from The Lost City of Los Angeles show him at his compositional and imaginative best.
I used to pour over Anderson's drawings for hours at a time, sometimes getting out paper and pencil and trying to imitate what I saw on the pages. Of course my attempts never looked quite like his, but it's not for lack of trying. Even now I occasionally sketch some of his panels for fun, after all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Below is a page from The Cavemen of New York, showing Anderson's exacting precision with proportion, scale and detail.
One interesting aspect of the Caveman story, and one that grabbed my psyche even as a child, was how Gardner Grayle utilized a closed-circuit television to deliver an impassioned speech directed at the cavemen (pictured below). Even in the 1960's, television was the perfect tool for delivering promulgation and propaganda.
I really appreciate the opportunity fans now have to own Silver Age comics in such convenient omnibus formats. It has been a publishing trend for more than a decade at both Marvel and DC Comics. Dark Horse Publishing has also been assembling Silver Age collections from Dell, Gold Key, and Jim Warren original source material. For many of us boomers who no longer have extensive comic collections (like the one your Mom threw out when you were away at college), or can't afford to start collecting the originals again, these archive editions provide an affordable way to rediscover the joy of comic book reading that we once had as kids.
My only complaint with the new Atomic Knights omnibus edition is with the editor's choice for font on the dustjacket and boards, which is dramatically different than what was used on the original splash pages. These days there's just way too much reshaping being applied to the artifacts from our past. I say we should keep these reproductions as pure as possible, with few exceptions. What I do admire about this edition is the non-glare, newsprint like paper that's used for the interior pages (an obvious cost-saving measure over slick paper), which is a real throwback to the classic comics of the past. If it wasn't for the feel of the glossy boards that frame the book, I would swear I was still reading one of my original 12 cent Strange Adventures! One thing's for sure, I still enjoy reading classic comic stories and will continue to do so in any format that is made available to us.
[July, 2010. © Revised in February, 2019]
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