Kurt Erichsen is an openly gay cartoonist and civil engineer, creator of the syndicated LGBT-themed

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

"Murphy's Manor," his most notable work, which ran for 1183 weekly strips from the 1980s until 2008 and through strip 1205 in 2019.

Biography

Erichsen was born on December 18, 1954, in

Coos Bay Coos Bay (Hanis language, Coos language: Atsixiis or Hanisich) is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon sta ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. He attended

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, receiving a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Civil Engineering. The following year he received a master's degree in Sanitary Engineering from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. In 1979 he moved to

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, where he became vice president of environmental planning for the

Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments The Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) is a voluntary organization of dues-paying members. TMACOG members include governmental and non-governmental organizations in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan: cities, counties, vill ...

Publications

"Murphy's Manor"

In 1980, he began producing "Murphy's Manor," a comic strip focusing on the lives of gay men living together in the titular manor, in the fictional town of Black Swamp, Ohio. The beginnings of "Murphy's Manor" were difficult. Erichsen's friend gave him a gay bar guide in which the publisher wanted someone to draw cartoons for two newspapers. This did not work out and so Erichsen decided to publish "Murphy's Manor" on his own. The series was carried in about 70 papers over the course of its run, which continued until 2008. In 2019 Erichsen published ''Murphy's Manor: the 30-Year Wedding''. The book covers gay relationships and the LGBT community's attempts at marriage equality over the years. The 22 new strips are about gay marriage as it finally became legal. "Murphy's Manor" cartoons and "Saboteur" from ''

Gay Comix ''Gay Comix'' (later ''Gay Comics'') is an underground comics series published from 1980 to 1998 featuring cartoons by and for gay men and lesbians. The comic books had the tagline "Lesbians and Gay Men Put It On Paper!" Much of the early con ...

'' no. 1 appear in '' La Revue des Bandes Dessinées LGBT''. Aside from the main series of "Murphy's Manor'',"'' there was a side series called "Murphy's Library," which ran from 1987 to 1990 and produced 16 comic strips. '' Lambda Rising Book Report'' was where the first 12 comic strips of "Murphy's Library" were published, with the remaining published in '' Meatmen.''

"The Sparkle Spinsters"

Another series he produced was "The Sparkle Spinsters" about a trio of gay friends, inspired by

Gilbert Shelton Gilbert Shelton (born May 31, 1940) is an American cartoonist and a key member of the underground comix movement. He is the creator of the iconic underground characters '' The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', '' Fat Freddy's Cat'', and '' Wonder ...

's ''

Freak Brothers ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' is an Underground comix, underground comic about a fictional trio of Cannabis culture, stoner characters, created by the American artist Gilbert Shelton. The Freak Brothers first appeared in ''The Rag'', an ...

''. There were four stories in ''

Gay Comics ''Gay Comix'' (later ''Gay Comics'') is an underground comics series published from 1980 to 1998 featuring cartoons by and for gay men and lesbians. The comic books had the tagline "Lesbians and Gay Men Put It On Paper!" Much of the early con ...

'' issues no. 6 (1985), no. 7 (1986), no. 8 (1986), and no. 12 (1988). The respective titles of the stories in the ''

'' are as follows: * "The Sparkle Spinsters: Stains on the Sofa," * "The Sparkle Spinsters: Home Movies," * "The Sparkle Spinsters: In Midsummer Night's Super Stud," and * "The Sparkle Spinsters: In the Ghetto." There was one story published in '' Meatmen'' issue 19 (1994) titled "The Sparkle Spinsters: Little Red Riding Crop."

GLiB Talk

He also produced a single-panel syndicated series called "GLIB Talk" from 2000 to 2006. These single-panel comics served as a platform for Erichsen to air his views on gay pride and gay rights.

Contributions

Erichsen's work has been published in eight issues of ''

'' and was a regular feature in '' Meatmen''.

''
Gay Comix ''Gay Comix'' (later ''Gay Comics'') is an underground comics series published from 1980 to 1998 featuring cartoons by and for gay men and lesbians. The comic books had the tagline "Lesbians and Gay Men Put It On Paper!" Much of the early con ...
''

The issues of ''

'' Erichsen published stories in were issues:
no. 1
(1980) "Saboteur,"
no. 3
(1982) "Weekend Revolutionaries,"
no. 6
(1985) "The Sparkle Spinsters: Stains on the Sofa,"
no. 7
(1986) "The Sparkle Spinsters: Home Movies,"
no. 8
(1986) "The Sparkle Spinsters: In Midsummer Night's Super Stud,"
no. 12
(1988) "The Sparkle Spinsters: In the Ghetto," * no. 20 (1993) "Gender Bender," * no. 22 (1993) "Honeymoon," and * no. 25 (1998) "I've Got a Secret."

'' Meatmen''

The works he contributed to '' Meatmen'' were in issues:
no. 12
(1991) "Robot Love,"
no. 15
(1993) "The Nine Billion Names of Penis,"
no. 19
(1994) "The Sparkle Spinsters: Little Red Riding Crop,"
no. 20
(1997) "A Wedding in the Family,"
no. 21
(1997) "Link-Up," and
no. 22
(1997) "Straight Man's Burden."

Fanzines

Erichsen has been working in

science fiction fanzine A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" ...

s since the late 1960s. His own fanzine is ''Taciturn'', which has had three issues. His work also appears in other fanzines such as ''Challenger'', ''Mimosa'' and ''

Argentus ''Argentus'' was a science fiction fanzine edited by Steven H Silver. It won the Chronic Rift Roundtable Award for Best Fanzine in 2009 and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine three times (2008–2010). The magazine ended publicatio ...

''.

Other works

He also drew commissioned illustrations for ''

Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to me ...

'' magazine, '' Lambda Rising Book Report'', and ''Fairy Flicks''. In 1989, he and cartoonist

Bruce Billings Bruce Billings may refer to: * Bruce Billings (baseball) (born 1985), American baseball player * Bruce Billings (cartoonist), American cartoonist * Bruce H. Billings (1915–1992), American physicist {{hndis, Billings, Bruce ...

co-produced a

tête-bêche In philately, ''tête-bêche'' (French language, French for "head-to-tail", lit. "head-to-head") is a joined pair of Postage stamp, stamps in which one is upside-down in relation to the other, produced intentionally or accidentally. Like any pa ...

book – a single bound volume with both covers formatted as the "front" – as ''Under the Covers'' (Erichsen's cover) and ''Between the Sheets!'' (Billings').

Awards and accomplishments

For comics and art

Erichsen won the Gay/Lesbian Press Association award for Outstanding Achievement in Illustration in 1985 and 1987. Erichsen has long been active in

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of Fan (person), fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...

, producing a great deal of

fan art Fan art or fanart is artwork created by Fan (person), fans of a work of fiction or celebrity depicting events, Character (arts), character, or other aspect of the work. As fan labor, fan art refers to artworks that are not created, commissione ...

, and in 2002 he received the

Rotsler Award Charles William Rotsler () was an American artist, cartoonist, pornographer and science fiction author. Rotsler was a four-time Hugo Award winner and one-time Nebula Award nominee. Rotsler's papers including dozens of matted color drawings, un ...

for his work fro
SCIFI Inc
In May 2015, he was a featured panelist at the first Queers & Comics conference, as one of the "Pioneers of Queer Men's Comics". During this conference, Erichsen discussed his thoughts, feelings, and motivations behind his various works.

For civil engineering

While working at the TMACOG, Erichsen aided in restoring the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

and the

Maumee Bay State Park Maumee Bay State Park is a public recreation area located on the shores of Lake Erie, five miles east of Toledo, in Jerusalem Township, Lucas County, Ohio, United States. Major features of the state park include a lodge and conference center, ...

. Another of Erichsen's accomplishments at the TMACOG was to improve the Stormwater Coalition of Wood and Lucas County which led to the aid of the farming community by managing the stormwater in the region. Many at the TMACOG credit and acknowledge the work that Erichsen did on the 208 plan, a plan on how to manage sewer lines, wastewater treatment, and septic systems in five counties in Ohio and Michigan. In 2009, he received the National Association of Regional Councils' John Bosley Award for his work with the TMACOG.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erichsen, Kurt Living people American comic strip cartoonists American comics writers American comics artists American science fiction artists American magazine illustrators Artists from Oregon American LGBTQ artists LGBTQ comics artists LGBTQ people from Oregon People from Coos Bay, Oregon Oregon State University alumni Michigan State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)