Bill Kresse

Bill Kresse was an American cartoonist best known for co-creating the comic strips "Super" Duper and *Scratch* with writer Rolf Ahlsen, often signing their work under the joint pen name Krahlsen. Born William Joseph Kresse on June 17, 1933, in New York City, he attended the High School of Art and Design before starting his career at the Terrytoons animation studio in New Rochelle, New York. After a brief stint designing conveyor belt systems, he joined the Associated Press art department, then worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for the *New York Daily News*, the *New York Herald-Tribune*, and other newspapers. His "Super" Duper strip ran in the *Daily News* during the 1960s and 1970s. Kresse also contributed to comic books, primarily as an artist, inker, and letterer on Archie titles such as *Archie's Madhouse*, *Archie's Joke Book Magazine*, and *Madhouse Comics Digest* between 1965 and 1981. He received the National Cartoonists Society's 1974 Advertising and Illustration Award. Married to Lorraine Kresse, an active community board member in Queens, he lived in Jackson Heights. Kresse died on January 21, 2014, at New York Hospital Queens in Flushing.