APARTMENT 3-G

I read 'Apartment 3-G' as a kid on Sundays. But we didn't get the paper with the dailies, so I never really knew what was going on. I probably wouldn't have read it even if we did, as it's a "soap opera" strip in the vein of 'Mary Worth'. So I'm not well-versed in the adventuers of Margo, Tommie and Lu Ann, but I'll try to give some background for the strip above. [click to enlarge]

'Apartment 3-G' began in 1961, written by Nicholas Dallis and drawn by Alex Kotzky. Dallis was a licensed psychiatrist who was by this time a strip veteran. He was already writing his co-creations 'Rex Morgan, M.D.' and 'Judge Parker', though under separate pseudonyms to protect his medical practice. By 1961 he had retired from medicine, so I guess that freed up time to create '3-G' with Kotzky.

Kotzky started out as a comic book artist, best known for his post-war work with Quality Comics. After the comic industry meltdown in the early 1950s, he moved on to advertising illustration (where the money was) as well as freelancing in comic strips. I'm not sure how Kotzky was picked for 'Apartment 3-G', but his ease at drawing beautiful, modern women must have been a factor. Dave Karlen as the story on Kotzky, along with some beautiful original art, over on his blog. Kotzky drew the strip for over three decades until his death in 1996. He was succeeded by his son, Brian, a paperback cover artist who illustrated over 100 Hardy Boys novels. He was succeeded in 1999 by Frank Bolle, another comic book veteran and contemporary of Kotzky's. The modern strip has its own fans, such as this blogger who views the ladies of Apartment 3-G as something of a 'Sex & the City' prototype. Here's a recent sample of Bolle's strip, a Sunday from 05/26/10 -

Kudos to Frank Bolle, something of an undersung artist who did most of his comic book work for Western Publishing. He's in his late '80s and still drawing a daily strip. Plus, he used to draw really cool stuff like this -