Bill Murray (born 1955 in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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) is an American
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
.
[
]
Life and work
Bill Murray obtained a bachelor of fine arts degree in visual communications from the Art institute of Chicago, and served his art apprenticeship with Johnson Publishing Company
Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) was an American publishing company founded in November 1942 by African-American businessman John H. Johnson. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. JPC was privately held and run by Johnson until his d ...
, which publishes ''Ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...
'' and ''Jet'' magazines.[
In 2005 Murray became the seventh ]African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
to be nationally syndicated. His comic features are titled '' Jet News'' and ''The Golden Years''.[
In 1985 Murray created BAM Productions, a comic book company, and hired comic book artists ]Jerry Ordway
Jeremiah Ordway (born November 28, 1957) is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books.
He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining ''Crisis on Infinite Earths' ...
, Ben Dunn
Ben Dunn (born April 17, 1964) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed February 1, 2011.WebCitation archive/ref> is an American comic book artist and publisher.
Biography
Dunn was born i ...
, and Kevin Eastman
Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comics artist, 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 ...
(co-creator of 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 ...
'') to create the art for his comic books, ''Adam & Eve A.D.'', a series of comic books that are still sold on eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
and most comic book stores on the Internet.
Murray currently resides in Pennsylvania, where he writes a comic strip for the Real Times Media
Real Times Media LLC is the owner and publisher of the ''Chicago Defender'', the largest and most influential African-American newspapers, African American weekly newspaper, as well as five other regional weeklies in the Eastern United States, eas ...
, Inc. The Detroit-based company owns a chain of six African-American newspapers, which includes ''The Chicago Defender
''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...
'' and ''Pittsburgh Courier
The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States.
It was acqu ...
''. Murray has been employed by the company since 1981, drawing a comic strip entitled ''Sonny Boy''.
Murray's freelance editorial cartoons have appeared on CNN, FOX, USA TODAY, and he is represented by CSL Limited, which distributes his cartoons and illustrations around the world.
Murray is also a published children's book illustrator, with a series of books being published in July 2010.
References
External links
*
1955 births
Living people
American cartoonists
African-American comics creators
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people
{{US-cartoonist-stub