Officer Carl

Today, I’m here to talk to you about yet another figure in Sunnyville.  Even this small hamlet needs someone to enforce the law.  For that, we have…Officer Carl Murphy!

Officer Carl Murphy

Officer Carl is the local sheriff of Sunnyville.  Lucky for him (and everyone else), it’s usually quiet.  The only real problem Officer Carl has to deal with are none other than the local bandits, the Weasel Brothers.  

Officer Carl Murphy started out life not knowing what he wanted to do.  He toyed with many ideas, such as becoming a construction worker, an engineer, and an architect.  It wasn’t until Carl took a trip to the movie theater in his 20s.  This intrepid bulldog saw hsi life changed forever when he bought a ticket to the 1971 movie Dirty Harry.  The movie enamored him so much that he made his choice: young Carl was going to become the next sheriff.

The present sheriff of Sunnyville wasn’t thrilled about Carl wanting to take his job, but admired the kid’s spirit.  After Carl passed a grueling and demanding municipal police training course held over in Oak City, Carl became the deputy sheriff.  After six years, the old sheriff retired and Carl became the official sheriff of the town.

Carl is also happily married to a collie named Karen, a former fashion model.  He’s had three sons of his own, all of which who’ve grown up and gone out into the world.  I heard the youngest son works as a private investigator and we may just meet him (or the other sons) in a future story.

Episode 4 page 4 pencilsEagle eyed readers out there might recall that Officer Carl Murphy made his first appearance in the third episode of the series.  When we first meet him, he is in his office, watching Gumby on his portable television.

Officer Carl Murphy makes yet another appearance in episode 4, albeit a brief one.  You might remember this pencilled page here – in fact, it does tie in with the previous story on how Officer Carl’s favorite TV show is Gumby!

The character will be making a brief appearance in the fifth story.  I am planning slightly bigger roles for him in episodes six and seven, due out in 2012.  In fact, wherever the Weasel Brothers are, you can bet that Officer Carl is right behind…running after them with handcuffs!

The inspiration for the character as well as concept sketches are in the Sunnyville Sketchbook (also available from the nice people at Indy Planet).  The idea of course was the character of Sheriff Barney Bulldog from Maple Town.  His sidearm is based on Dirty Harry’s famous Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver.  The character’s design and mannerisms was largely influenced by 1960s Terrytoons character, Deputy Dawg.  Some of you out there may actually be old enough to remember that character.  It’s a shame they don’t run Terrytoons on TV anymore.

That does it for this post.  Don’t forget to subscribe via RSS or email.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here.

Remember that you’re always welcome here in the town of Sunnyville – I was told that myself by Officer Carl Murphy!

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About Max West

I am a freelance artist and the creator of Sunnyville Stories, an independent slice-of-life comics series.
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