Justin Murphy

Justin Murphy is an independent publisher and creator of comics and graphic novels. He is also a playwright and composer. He co-wrote a play which won most outstanding musical at the New York International Fringe Festival. He is now working independently on a traditionally animated feature film, Dawgtown, since late-2010. Southern Blood comic book His comics career began in 1992 when he self-published Southern Blood, a small press black and white series about the American Civil War. The book ran for 8 issues. Murphy discontinued the Southern Blood series and closed his company, JM Comics. After finishing a BFA at Jacksonville University, Murphy took a break from comics to write plays for the stage. His first collaboration was a musical based on the characters from Southern Blood called Eagle Song. He wrote the libretto and co-wrote all the music with composer Roger Butterley, a sometime musical director for artist Phoebe Snow. Together they produced and released a complete symphonic recording starring Jamie-Lynn Sigler and numerous other Broadway actors. Murphy and Butterley also sang lead roles on the recording, but the show could not find a producer to stage it. The duo continued to write however, and in 2006 produced the rock opera Fallen Angel at the New York International Fringe Festival. The musical tale of Lucifer's fall from Heaven won the Most Outstanding Musical Award at the festival that year.