While still in the final year he started working as a comic book artist on horror titles such as Slash and Cold Blooded.
He was soon noticed by Marvel, who employed him on titles such as Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider 2099 and two Carnage one-shots.
In 2000 he co-created the Marvel supervillain The Hood with writer Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated two eponymous series.
[3] Hotz has said to be influenced by the works of Kelley Jones (an artist to whom he is often compared), Armando Gil, Michael Golden, Bernie Wrightson, Jack Davis, Moebius and Nestor Redondo.
In addition to them he has also expressed admiration for Eric Powell (with whom he collaborated several times), Tony Moore, James O'Barr and Simon Bisley.