Morphos the Shapechanger

by Burne Hogarth

From Off the Beaten Panel Every once in a while I stumble upon a comic that simply blows my mind. Count Morphos The Shapechanger as one of them. Morphos is co-written and drawn by Burne Hogarth, an artist that I consider among the highest of echelons in the world of art. Known for his beautifully detailed Tarzan strips in the 30's and 40's, Hogarth went on to become a teacher in illustration, and his Dynamic series of textbooks were highly regarded as some of the best instructional art books a student could hope to get their hands on. And in 1996 at 84 years old Hogarth was still drawing exceptional art. Together with long-time writing friend Harry Hurwitz, the two had planned to release a four-issue series featuring a complex story involving two scientist's quest for the evolution of man, with the help of the ghost of Merlin the sorcerer. But unfortunately Hogarth suffered a heart attack after completing the first issue and the series was never completed. Dark Horse released the first issue later that year, including the rest of the story script and extra Hogarth illustrations that would have been used in the forthcoming series. What remains is a very interesting story with amazingly detailed, captivating artwork that will have you wishing for more. The story begins with the tale of Merlin, the great wizard and advisor of King Arthur. Merlin gets trapped inside a Tower of Crystal after succumbing to devious treachery by the Lady of the Lake. Doomed to die entombed within the tower, Merlin's spirit has plenty of time to think about the evils of mankind and decides a change is in order.

Genres: Comics

Paperback

Published January 1, 1996

About the author

Burne Hogarth started young. Born in 1911, he was enrolled in the Chicago Art Institute at the age of 12 and an assistant cartoonist at Associated Editors' Syndicate at 15. At the age of 26, he was chosen from a pool of a dozen applicants as Hal Foster's successor on the United Features Syndicate strip, "Tarzan". His first strip, very much in Foster's style, appeared May 9, 1937. It wasn't long before he abandoned the attempt to maintain the original look of the strip and brought his own dynamic style to the Sunday comics page.

In 1947, Hogarth co-founded (with Silas Rhodes) the School of Visual Arts which became his new direction in life. He was able to pass his unique methods on illustration to his students in the classroom and, in 1958, to the readers of his first book, Dynamic Anatomy.

Hogarth retired from the SVA in 1970 but continued to teach at The Parsons School of Design and, after a move to Los Angeles, The Otis School and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. During his years teaching, Hogarth authored a number of anatomy and drawing books that have become standard references for artists of every sort, including computer animators. Dynamic Anatomy (1958) and Drawing the Human Head (1965) were followed by further investigations of the human form. Dynamic Figure Drawing (1970) and Drawing Dynamic Hands (1977) completed the figure cycle. Dynamic Light and Shade (1981) and Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery (1995) explored other aspects relative to rendering the figure.

After more than 20 years away from strip work and being hailed in Europe as "the Michelangelo of the comic strip," Hogarth returned to sequential art in 1972 with his groundbreaking Tarzan of the Apes, a large format hardbound book published by Watson Guptill in 11 languages. It marks the beginning of the sober volume of integrated pictorial fiction, what is currently understood to be a graphic novel.

Burne Hogarth passed away in 1996 at the age of 84.