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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2023 18:06:24 GMT -5
I love watching old action cartoons, and last night had the Herculoids on. I always smile when I see Alex Toth's name in the credits because I associate so much beloved animation I grew up on with his character designs and art direction at Hanna-Barbera (Space Ghost, aforementioned Herculoids, Birdman, Sealab 2020, Super Friends, etc.).
And it also occurred to me that despite my strong familiarity with his animation-related work (including related design art that was produced in support of this), I couldn't really name any comic books I've read that he illustrated (I knew there had to be some, but not many and I had to check a list of his published works to figure out which ones). It seemed really odd to me that he is one of my favorite comic-booked related artists, and yet I've read so little of his traditional illustration.
So I ask the experts here...how would you summarize his historical importance overall specifically as a comic book artist, and what are considered his essential works/achievements? And would you say these have been overshadowed at all by the name he made for himself in animation?
While he was not the only comic book artist to work in both fields, he does seem to stand out as maybe a little more unique in terms of significant accomplishments in both areas, and hence my questions as I try to better understand his overall enduring legacy!
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Post by commond on Sept 30, 2023 18:20:17 GMT -5
I highly recommend Bravo for Adventure. It was considered his finest personal work and was the only comic where he kept all of the original artwork, which was collected in a beautiful artist's edition by IDW. The story is a homage to 1930s action-adventure stories with the lead character being inspired by Errol Flynn. If you haven't read it, it may be up your alley.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 30, 2023 18:50:10 GMT -5
Bravo for Adventure is great stuff. He did a lot of small assignments here and there, while also picking up work in animation, for some years and did more steady work earlier on. He did some work on All-Star Comics and the JSA; but also worked on Johnny Thunder, the western feature, in All-Star Western.
If you want to see a real thing of beauty, read his Zorro work, from Dell, in their licensed comic of the Disney Zorro tv series. That is a master class in storytelling.
He has some Black Canary back-ups in Action Comics #418-419, 425, 431, and 495-497. The First 3 issues of The Adv of Rex the Wonder Dog are great, too.
For the 50s, look at the five issues of Danger Trail, DC's spy/adventure comic, featuring King Faraday and others. Toth is featured in all five issues.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 30, 2023 19:01:16 GMT -5
Definitely Bravo For Adventure and Zorro, both of which are readily available. In a just world, Hot Wheels would be available, because that work is great. Creepy Presents Alex Toth is also easy to get ahold of.
His work in the 1980s for Red Circle in Black Hood used to be ubiquitous in quarter boxes, but I have no idea about that any more.
Adventure #461 will get you two masters for the price of one when Sheldon Mayer and Toth answer “Is a Serl Human?”
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2023 19:09:53 GMT -5
Thanks guys, appreciate all those mentions.
I'm still curious overall on how you would say those works stack up overall in comic book history. Did these titles establish him as one of the "comic book greats" if you will? Had he become a big name comic book artist who then went on to do really big things in animation?
Or did the animation work bring a lot more recognition?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 30, 2023 19:33:48 GMT -5
Thanks guys, appreciate all those mentions. I'm still curious overall on how you would say those works stack up overall in comic book history. Did these titles establish him as one of the "comic book greats" if you will? Had he become a big name comic book artist who then went on to do really big things in animation? Or did the animation work bring a lot more recognition? Toth's work on Green Lantern, Johnny Thunder, Rex, and, especially, Zorro clearly established Toth as one of the greats. The animation work was the icing on the cake. Keep in mind this is a guy who was able to ghost Casey Ruggles, one of the best drawn adventure strips, for Warren Tufts.
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Post by commond on Sept 30, 2023 21:22:50 GMT -5
If you decide to read the Zorro stories, I recommend the black and white collection. Toth's art works far better in black and white than color. Toth wasn't a fan of the TV series and disliked working from the scripts he was given, but did his best to inject some dynamism and action into the stories.
There are a number of Toth collections out there. There's one that collects the work he did for Creepy, and another good one that includes a lot of his car stories.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2023 21:57:12 GMT -5
Thanks guys, I was just researching some of the work you mentioned. B&W Zorro was actually something I was just looking at. It's so tough for me, I love the quality of his art here so much: But what I think I'd rather read is something more like this:
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2023 22:44:05 GMT -5
Not that I intended this thread to be all about my tastes (I'm hopelessly superhero, I admit it), but this is rather killer: Back to legacy though. This helps me think "beyond Space Ghost" if you will, and of course I was not completely oblivious to his comic book stature, but definitely murky on what those defining works were. Just looking at a list of published works did not quite get me there. Knowing there ARE of course people (including folks posting here) that really appreciate more diverse genres than me, I suspect there may be more depth of appreciation to his larger body of work. But everything that people have been suggesting here, and I've been checking out previews of, most certainly keeps affirming my love for his art (though perhaps still "developing" somewhat with his earliest material which is of course to be expected). I think another factor with his animation is simply he has had enduring (to use the word again) very identifiable original character designs. DC has used them even in recent times with stuff like Future Quest and whatnot. Or something like Super Friends that was youth-based but top tier DC properties that was broadcast for years and very memorable at least for people of a certain age.
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Post by commond on Sept 30, 2023 22:59:32 GMT -5
Toth didn't do a ton of superhero stuff, but off the top of my head, his Black Canary stuff, the Flash/Atom Brave and the Bold team-up, the issue of Detective Comics he drew, and Superman Annual #9 are all things you might enjoy, along with that Green Lantern issue from the 80s.
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Post by berkley on Sept 30, 2023 23:55:48 GMT -5
If you decide to read the Zorro stories, I recommend the black and white collection. Toth's art works far better in black and white than color. Toth wasn't a fan of the TV series and disliked working from the scripts he was given, but did his best to inject some dynamism and action into the stories. There are a number of Toth collections out there. There's one that collects the work he did for Creepy, and another good one that includes a lot of his car stories.
What's the title of the one with the car stories - I assume it includes the Hot Wheels stuff?
I might buy the Bravo collection one of these days, though it seems a bit pricey for less than 100 pp. And I see there,s a Black Canary collection, not sure how good the colours are in it.
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Post by commond on Oct 1, 2023 1:08:08 GMT -5
If you decide to read the Zorro stories, I recommend the black and white collection. Toth's art works far better in black and white than color. Toth wasn't a fan of the TV series and disliked working from the scripts he was given, but did his best to inject some dynamism and action into the stories. There are a number of Toth collections out there. There's one that collects the work he did for Creepy, and another good one that includes a lot of his car stories.
What's the title of the one with the car stories - I assume it includes the Hot Wheels stuff?
I might buy the Bravo collection one of these days, though it seems a bit pricey for less than 100 pp. And I see there,s a Black Canary collection, not sure how good the colours are in it.
There's no Hot Wheels in it. It's a bunch of stuff he did for Pete Millar's Drag Cartoons, Hot Rod Cartoons and Big Daddy Roth comics. A lot of drag racing stuff. Cartoonist Kayfabe did a video about it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2023 2:56:50 GMT -5
Love this as well. What style! I feel like he still had a lot to offer towards the end of his career.
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Post by berkley on Oct 1, 2023 3:05:13 GMT -5
Love this as well. What style! I feel like he still had a lot to offer towards the end of his career. Yes, it looks like he kept his firm, sure line right to the end, not loosening up in the least, as so many artists tend to do. I love his style, but somehow none of the series he worked on really grab me conceptually - it's always his artwork that's the main attraction. But this is from seeing samples or an individual story here and there; perhaps I'll feel differently if I immerse myself in something like Bravo or the One for the road collection.
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Post by commond on Oct 1, 2023 4:24:27 GMT -5
I think it speaks to Toth's strengths as an artist that he was equally adept at crime, war and romance comics. He could also draw horror strips and Westerns. He excelled at drawing cars and airplanes. He could do humour and cartoony stuff. And he could even do superheroes. There are a lot of guys from the same era where folks say their superhero stuff wasn't that great but they excelled at romance. Toth excelled at everything.
One of his most acclaimed story is Dirty Job, a four page short story written by Bob Haney that featured in an issue of Our Army at War. The pages are widely available on the internet. It's a powerful piece of storytelling for a 16 panel story.
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