'Hope Hazard' (Detective Comics #3, 1937).
Alex Lovy was an American artist and animator, who worked for several major animation pioneers in his career, including Van Beuren, Walter Lantz, Columbia Pictures and Hanna-Barbera. Among the characters he created were the short-lived Looney Tunes stars Merlin the Magic Mouse and Cool Cat (both who debuted in 1967). Between 1936 and 1937, Lovy drew some adventure comics for National Comics (nowadays DC Comics).
Early life and comic career
Alexander Lovy was born in 1913 in Passaic, New Jersey. Between 1936 and 1937, he was active as an artist for the comic books published by National/DC Comics. He drew features like 'Slim and Tex', 'Dale Daring', 'Lieutenant Leeds' and 'Hope Hazard G-Women', published in comic books like New Comics, More Fun Comics, Detective Comics and New Adventure Comics.
Animation career
In 1933, Lovy became a staff animator for the Van Beuren Studios, eventually joining Walter Lantz Productions in 1938, where he co-designed Lantz' first durable star, 'Andy Panda', a year later. He also directed the character's debut cartoon 'Life Begins With Andy Panda' (1939) and various other 'Andy Panda' and 'Woody Woodpecker' shorts until 1948. Between 1942 and 1945, Lovy was drafted when the United States entered World War II. During his absence, Shamus Culhane replaced him in the studio.
After World War II, Lovy joined Columbia Pictures in 1948, working on the 'Fox & Crow' series, but after directing five shorts the studio closed down. Lovy returned to Lantz in 1953, directing mostly cartoons starring the penguin Chilly Willy. Tex Avery briefly worked at Lantz between 1954 and 1955, but when he left again, Lovy finished some of his cartoons that had been in pre-production.
In 1959, Lovy joined Hanna-Barbera as a producer, a storyboard artist, director and supervisor of the voice recordings. When Warner Brothers re-opened its animation department in 1967 after closing it down five years earlier, Lovy took his chances there. For about a year, he directed cartoons which teamed up Bob McKimson and Friz Freleng’s Speedy Gonzales with Tex Avery’s Daffy Duck. Lovy also created two characters who were the last official new stars of the classic 'Looney Tunes' series: Cool Cat (1967) and Merlin the Magic Mouse (1967). Cool Cat, despite his name, is a smooth tiger. Merlin is a mouse who is a failed stage magician. His voice was based on film comedian W.C. Fields. After Lovy left Warner Brothers in 1968, Bob McKimson directed a few more 'Merlin' and 'Cool Cat' cartoons. However, the characters were never all that popular and when Warner Brothers closed down their animation studio in 1969, they quickly faded into obscurity.
In 1968, Lovy returned to Hanna-Barbera. In 1984, he was responsible for moving John Kricfalusi to the lay-out design team behind 'The Jetsons', where Kricfalusi would acquire the necessary skills and experience that came in handy when he later launched 'Ren & Stimpy' (1991-1995). Lovy remained active at Hanna-Barbera until his passing in 1992.
Alex Lovy and Ray Jacobs at the Lantz Studios around 1958.