Creator Profile: Murphy Anderson

Murphy Anderson was a comic book creator whose status among his peers was as iconic as that of the characters he worked on.

Known for his smooth, clean line as an inker and his strong, compelling sensibilities as a pencil artist, Anderson worked in comics as far back as the 1940s. Over the years his well-deserved reputation was forged through his work on Hawkman, Batgirl, Zatanna, and The Spectre, among many other comic book projects. He was also known for his great run on the Buck Rogers daily comic strip as well.

At DC Comics, where Anderson was a mainstay for decades, Anderson created visuals for Captain Comet at DC, one of the earliest Silver Age superheroes. He contributed to almost 600 covers over a 40-year span, some as penciller, some as inker, many as both. He is also created the visuals for Atomic Knights and Zatanna.

Anderson helped to define the look of DC comics in the Silver Age and his powerful image of Wonder Woman on Ms. Magazine #1 presented her as a feminist icon.

While Anderson worked with many other creators, he is widely remembered for long tenures at DC inking Carmine Infantino’s pencils and those of Curt Swan. Fans even coined the name “Swanderson” due to their high regard for their efforts. He also penciled and inked many projects on his own. He also played a huge role in the development of Captain Action, the action figure original produced by Ideal.