Alfred Andriola

Alfred James Andriola was born on May 24, 1912, in New York City, and passed away on March 29, 1983. He is best remembered as the creator of the long-running newspaper strip *Kerry Drake*, a hard-boiled detective feature that earned him the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award in 1970. Raised in Rutherford, New Jersey, Andriola originally studied at Cooper Union and Columbia University with plans to become a writer. His path shifted after he sent a fan letter to Milton Caniff, who took him on as an assistant. Andriola worked on *Terry and the Pirates* and the aviation strip *Scorchy Smith*, learning the craft under Caniff’s influence. He occasionally used the pseudonym Alfred James. *Kerry Drake* debuted in 1943 and ran for decades, with Andriola writing and drawing the strip until his death. The series was collected in comic books and translated internationally, appearing in titles such as *Seriemagasinet* and *Kerry Drake Detective Cases*. His style combined clean, dramatic linework with a flair for suspense and character-driven storytelling. Andriola’s legacy rests on his sustained, award-winning run with a single iconic strip, and his work is cataloged across 76 issues spanning from 1939 into the 2020s.