Stephen Murphy is an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, pla ...

and editor known for his work on the ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

'' series. With

Michael Zulli Michael Zulli is an American artist known for his work as an animal and wildlife illustrator and as a comic book illustrator. Career Michael Zulli's career in the comics industry began in October 1986 with ''The Puma Blues'', on which he collab ...

, he was co-creator of the critically acclaimed 1980s independent comic ''

The Puma Blues ''The Puma Blues'' was a comic book written by Stephen Murphy and drawn by Michael Zulli. It ran from June 1986 to early 1989, stretching over 23 regular issues and a single "half-issue" minicomic. In 2015 it was re-issued in a collected editio ...

''.

Education

Murphy graduated from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

with a BA in Communication Studies.

Career

Murphy wrote ''

'', which ran from 1986–1989, first published by Aardvark One International and later by

Mirage Studios Mirage Studios was an American comic book company founded in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in Dover, New Hampshire. The company was best known for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') comic book series and the subsequent franc ...

. In 1988, Murphy was an initial signatory of the

Creator's Bill of Rights The Creator's Bill of Rights (officially, A Bill of Rights for Comics Creators) is a document drafted in November 1988 by a number of independent comic book artists, writers, and publishers, designed to protect their rights as creators and publish ...

. Murphy's relationship with Mirage (operated by ''TMNT'' creators

Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book artist and writer best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine '' Heavy Metal ...

and

Peter Laird Peter Alan Laird (born January 27, 1954) is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with writer and artist Kevin Eastman. Early life and career Laird was born on January 27, 1954, in ...

) led to him coming on as a staff member at the studio, where he eventually became Managing Editor and Creative Director. Alongside fellow Mirage staffer

Ryan Brown Ryan Brown may refer to: Musicians * Ryan Brown (conductor) (born 1958), American conductor of Opera Lafayette * Ryan Brown, American rock musician, member of Papa Roach * Ryan Brown (born 1986), American musician, one of piano playing siblings The ...

, the two men revamped the ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures'' is a comic book series published from August 1988 to October 1995 by Archie Comics, based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It is mainly based on th ...

'' title for

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.,

Nova Posse A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

, Snake-Eyes, and

Sarnath Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar ...

; he united several of the series' recurring characters as a separate team, the

Mighty Mutanimals ''Mighty Mutanimals'' is a superhero team spin-off comic in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The team first appeared in the comic books series ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures'', where they formed as a team of mutant animals ...

. Murphy wrote the majority of his work on ''TMNT Adventures'' under the name "Dean Clarrain." Murphy (as "Dean Clarrain") also contributed to the ''

'' comic strip, which ran from 1990–1997. Murphy was a founding grant committee member of the

Xeric Foundation The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations. The Xeric Fo ...

from 1992–2006. Established by ''TMNT'' co-founder

, the Xeric Foundation awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators for 20 years until it shifted its mission. Murphy was a staff writer on the 2003 ''TMNT'' animated series. He has also written many children's books for the new series. Under Murphy's direction, a relaunch of ''

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', called ''Tales of the TMNT'' in its later Volume 2 incarnation, is an anthology comic book series published by Mirage Studios, starting in May 1987, presenting additional stories featuring the Teenag ...

'' began publication in January 2004. The new ''Tales of the TMNT'' focused on events that occur throughout the Turtles' lives, including some of the "lost" fifteen years occurring between ''TMNT'' Volumes 2 and 4. This revived title maintained the tradition of including a "Let me tell you a story" frontispiece at the beginning of every issue, in homage to its 1980s predecessor. In May 2010, the second volume ended its run with a total of 70 issues, ten times as many as its predecessor. Murphy would again occasionally reuse the pen name "Dean Clarrain" when collaborating on ''Tales of the TMNT'' issues with artist Chris Allan, who had previously illustrated issues of ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures'' that "Dean Clarrain" had written. In 2006, Murphy wrote the

hard-boiled detective Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violenc ...

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered * Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number ...

''Umbra'', illustrated by

Mike Hawthorne Mike Hawthorne is an American comic book artist known for his work on books such as ''Deadpool'', '' G.I. JOE: Origins'', ''Queen & Country'', '' Conan: Road of Kings'', and his own creator-owned book, ''Hysteria''. Career Hawthorne is the crea ...

and published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-o ...

. Murphy was nominated for a 2007

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

for Best Writer for ''Umbra'', and the series was a 2007 Harvey nominee for Best Continuing or Limited Series."2007 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners,"
Hahn Library. Accessed Feb. 6, 2016.

References

Inline citations

General references

External links

Murphy's blog
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Stephen Mirage Studios Living people American comics writers Year of birth missing (living people)