Sam N' Murphy © All rights reserved. No material may be reproduced in part or in whole without written consent of the holder.
As a young boy and an aspiring artist, I spent most keeping to myself. My best friends were comics, movies, music and any piece of paper that I could draw on. I loved the Sunday comics and as time went on some of the classics started growing on me like early B.C. and Garfield. My true inspiration came from the strips by Berkeley Breathed (Bloom County), Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbs) and Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows). This is when I decided I really wanted to create my own cartoon strip.
I started working for a major grocery chain in the advertising production department. This is where I developed my first strip. It was designed as part of an employee incentive program and it would come out sporadically. It lasted for several months until the program was dropped. There were no other chances to expand the strip so I put it to rest.
After nearly twenty years in advertising production, the never ending job one day came to an end. Several months passed in a blur during which time I sold my house in Annapolis, Maryland moved around trying to find answers. After several false starts, I decided to make a move to Florida when the offer to work for someone in the comic book industry came around.
This was a disaster of epic proportions. The person I had planned to work with was delusional about his status within the industry. He was bitter and envious of others talent within the field. If this is what comics did to a person I wanted no part of it. This left me with disdain for the comic book industry. Everything I had collected since the 80’s was thrown into the garbage. I was now living in 3-D, discouraged, disgusted and disillusioned. If not for Dave Lanphear, a wonderful and talented individual, I would have given up completely. Dave showed me the purity and fun part of the comics’ world. He proved that you could have longevity and not be bitter and jealous of others. So I worked for Dave and Artmonkeys Studios and comics were a thrill again but the pay was less than desirable.
Since I was in Florida until my lease ran out, I used the time to go to school. I graduated, passed my state exams and became a licensed x-ray technician. This would allow me to find regular paying work so I could continue my cartoon strip on my own terms.
So you have arrived at the most current point in my story. The journey still continues. If you’ve read this far then join me for the journey, if not, you don’t know what you are going to miss…
I started working for a major grocery chain in the advertising production department. This is where I developed my first strip. It was designed as part of an employee incentive program and it would come out sporadically. It lasted for several months until the program was dropped. There were no other chances to expand the strip so I put it to rest.
After nearly twenty years in advertising production, the never ending job one day came to an end. Several months passed in a blur during which time I sold my house in Annapolis, Maryland moved around trying to find answers. After several false starts, I decided to make a move to Florida when the offer to work for someone in the comic book industry came around.
This was a disaster of epic proportions. The person I had planned to work with was delusional about his status within the industry. He was bitter and envious of others talent within the field. If this is what comics did to a person I wanted no part of it. This left me with disdain for the comic book industry. Everything I had collected since the 80’s was thrown into the garbage. I was now living in 3-D, discouraged, disgusted and disillusioned. If not for Dave Lanphear, a wonderful and talented individual, I would have given up completely. Dave showed me the purity and fun part of the comics’ world. He proved that you could have longevity and not be bitter and jealous of others. So I worked for Dave and Artmonkeys Studios and comics were a thrill again but the pay was less than desirable.
Since I was in Florida until my lease ran out, I used the time to go to school. I graduated, passed my state exams and became a licensed x-ray technician. This would allow me to find regular paying work so I could continue my cartoon strip on my own terms.
So you have arrived at the most current point in my story. The journey still continues. If you’ve read this far then join me for the journey, if not, you don’t know what you are going to miss…
" The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences..."
-Christopher J. McCandless