John Cullen Murphy dies: The Hartford Courant (registration required) reports on the death of legendary artist John Cullen Murphy, who was best known for drawing the Prince Valiant comic strip for 34 years, until his retirement in March. Murphy died July 2 of natural causes; he was 85.

Murphy was tapped by Prince Valiant creator Harold Foster to take over the strip in 1970. Prince Valiant appears every Sunday in more than 300 newspapers nationwide.