From my 10/7/15 posting “Adventures in Arnoldia”, on Arnold as a name:
Wikipedia also has a list about Arnold as a given name. Real people [a list that, of course, doesn’t include me]: Arnold Stang [the actor], Arnold Palmer [the golfer], Arnold Scharzenegger [the bodybuilder and politician]. [add: Arnold Bennett the novelist, Arnold Schoenberg the composer, and Arnold Toynbee the historian] And fictional Arnolds: Arnold Rimmer (a hologram character in Red Dwarf), Arnold Ziffel (Fred Ziffel’s pig on Green Acres), Arnold Zeck (the villainous character in the Nero Wolfe books). Imagine them together as the Three Arnolds — a singing group, or a comedy team, or a gang, or whatever. Arnold Stang, Palmer, and Schwarzenegger, together for your listening enjoyment. Arnold Rimmer, Ziffel, and Zeck, the dreaded Enforcers for the Mob.
And now Arnold Peck the Human Wreck:
(#1) The fictional Arnold Peck, as drawn by Willy Murphy
On the cartoonist, from Wikipedia:
Willy Murphy (October 2, 1936 – March 2, 1976) was an American underground cartoonist. Murphy’s humor focused on hippies and the counterculture. His signature character was Arnold Peck the Human Wreck, “a mid-30s beanpole with wry observations about his own life and the community around him.”
… Murphy’s work was of the “bigfoot” style of cartooning, with characters having long, droopy noses; and was characterized by strong, humorous writing.
I was drawn to Arnold Peck by the recent publication of this big volume (much admired by cartoonist friends of mine):
Flamed Out: The Underground Adventures and Comix Genius of Willy Murphy, edited by Nicki Michaels, Ted Richards, and Mark Burstein (Fantagraphics Underground, 2024)
(#2) The cover
From the publisher’s blurb:
One day, Willy Murphy, a rising young star at a prestigious Madison Avenue advertising agency, whipped off his tie, cast away his suit, and said goodbye to a high-pressure, high-profile, high-paying career. All just to draw ― not comics ― but comix.
What followed was the flowering of a sharp comedic sensibility paired with a terrific ear for dialogue that delighted his friends, tickled the funny bones of his readers, and earned him the respect and admiration of virtually every other underground cartoonist.
Flamed Out traces Willy’s quirky comix career written and edited by those who knew him best. This book is bursting with personal reminiscences, Willy’s playful sketches and drawings, never-before-seen photographs, and a cornucopia of the comix ― most newly scanned from his original art [AZ: including the one panel in #1, somewhat perilously scanned from the huge volume]. With such recurring characters as Arnold Peck (the Human Wreck), Henry Henpeck, and the unsavory Beasley Boys, Willy’s clever cartoons regularly punctured pomposity, poked fun at politicians, and promoted peace and love through his peerless, fearless pen.
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