Alex Kotzky (September 11, 1923 – September 26, 1996) was a cartoonist best known for his three decades of work on the comic strip ''
Apartment 3-G
''Apartment 3-G'' is an American newspaper soap opera comic strip about a trio of career women who share an apartment in Manhattan. Created by Nicholas P. Dallis with art by Alex Kotzky, the strip began May 8, 1961, initially distributed by t ...
'', originally distributed by
Publishers Syndicate
Publishers Newspaper Syndicate was a syndication service based in Chicago that operated from 1925 to 1967, when it merged with the Hall Syndicate. Publishers syndicated such long-lived comic strips as '' Big Chief Wahoo/Steve Roper'', ''Mary Wort ...
.
Biography
Early life and education
Born in New York City, Kotzky studied at
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...
and attended the
Art Students League on a 1941 scholarship. While still a student, he answered a newspaper ad for a comic book artist and worked in 1940 with Chad Grothkopf on features for
National/DC Comics, including such characters as
Johnny Quick,
Sandman, Three Aces and
Detective Chimp.
[Alex Kotzky]
at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...
Comics
While working on ''
Blackhawk'' and ''Espionage'', he drew backgrounds for
Will Eisner's ''
The Spirit''. He worked on ''
Plastic Man'', ''
Doll Man'', ''
Kid Eternity'' and ''
Manhunter'' for
Quality Comics from 1946 to 1951. He drew
horror
Horror may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Genres
*Horror fiction, a genre of fiction
** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction
**Korean horror, Korean horror fiction
* Horror film, a film genre
*Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...
,
Western, and
war comics for
Ziff-Davis Comics
Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...
.
Freelancing in 1954, he did illustrations for medical magazines and the Johnstone and Cushing ad agency. He also did at least two booklets for Will Eisner's American Visuals, the General Motors Informational Rack Booklet GM-IR-56-35: "The Story of the Olympics," and American Trucking Association's "Heroes of the Highways." With
Allen Saunders, he did a
Philip Morris Phil(l)ip or Phil Morris may refer to:
Companies
*Altria, a conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the tobacconist
**Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group
**Philip Morris Inter ...
comic strip advertisement series, ''Duke Handy'' (from March 30, 1958, to at least October 12 of the same year), while also ghosting for newspaper strips (''
Steve Canyon
''Steve Canyon'' is an American adventure comic strip by writer-artist Milton Caniff. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, '' Terry and the Pirates'', ''Steve Canyon'' ran from January 13, 1947, until June 4, 1988. It ...
'', ''
The Heart of Juliet Jones'', ''
Big Ben Bolt
''Big Ben Bolt'' is a comic strip that was syndicated from February 20, 1950 to April 15, 1978. It was drawn by John Cullen Murphy, written by Elliot Caplin, and distributed by King Features Syndicate. The strip followed the adventures of boxer ...
'').
[
In 1955/56 he did interior illustrations for the Ziff-Davis science fiction magazines '' If'' and '' Amazing Stories''.
Kotzky and writer ]Nicholas P. Dallis
Nicholas Peter Dallis (December 15, 1911 - July 6, 1991), was an American psychiatrist turned comic strip writer, creator of the soap opera-style strips '' Rex Morgan, M.D.'', ''Judge Parker'' and '' Apartment 3-G''. Separating his comics caree ...
launched ''Apartment 3-G'' in 1961. Kotzky, who drew and inked in a tight and crisp realistic style, was the artist of ''Apartment 3-G'' for more than 30 years. When Dallis died in 1991, Kotzky began writing the strip.
After a struggle with kidney disease, Kotzky died in 1996.
Awards
Kotzky received the National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
Story Comic Strip Award for 1968 for his work on ''Apartment 3-G''.
References
External links
NCS Awards
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*
*
American comics artists
American comics writers
American comic strip cartoonists
1923 births
1996 deaths
{{US-cartoonist-stub