Can Superman fly when he's wearing his business suit on the outside with the costume underneath? Pauline (ph), could you put a little brandy in this coffee?

When Superman undresses in a phone booth, how does he know his clothes will still be there when he gets back? I haven't the faintest idea, Jerry. Dumas goes on, why does Superman's cape swirl around him even when he's standing in an office? I really don't know, Jerry. And Jerry says, why does Superman have a cape? And Curt says, I don't know, Jerry. So this is a conversation between Curt Swan, who drew the 'Superman' comic, and Jerry Dumas, who with Mort Walker produced 'Sam's Strip' and 'Sam And Silo.' And the conversation opens with with Jerry Dumas. And it's great to be back with you again. Would you describe who's talking and then read us the conversation? I love this.ĬULLEN MURPHY: Sure, Terry. And this is between two comic book artists.

And I want you to read an excerpt of a conversation that you reprint from memory in your book. Unlike the kinds of conversations the adults in my neighborhood had, the adults in your community were talking about comics a lot of the time. And they're having such interesting conversations. It must have been so interesting to grow up with all these adults who are cartoonists and, you know, comic writers. They included the artists and-or writers behind 'Popeye,' 'Little Orphan Annie,' 'Blondie,' 'Hagar The Horrible' and 'Nancy.' In addition to writing 'Prince Valiant,' Cullen Murphy was the managing editor of The Atlantic magazine for 20 years and has been an editor at large at Vanity Fair since 2006.Ĭullen Murphy, welcome back to FRESH AIR. Cullen wrote 'Prince Valiant' while his father continued to draw it for the next 24 years until his father's death.Ĭullen Murphy's new memoir 'Cartoon County' is about his father and the surprising number of other cartoonists who lived near or in Fairfield County, Conn., where Cullen grew up in the 1950s and '60s. In 1980, Foster handed over the writing to Cullen. 'Prince Valiant' was created in 1937 by Hal Foster, who asked Colin's father to do the illustrations after Foster's arthritis got bad. His father, John Cullen Murphy, drew a comic about a prizefighter called 'Big Ben Bolt.' In 1970, he started drawing the popular comic strip 'Prince Valiant' about a Norse prince in the King Arthur era. In an era when kids looked forward to the Sunday newspaper comics, my guest Cullen Murphy lived in the world where those comics were created.

Cartoon County by Cullen Murphy