I know you guys don't cover that much euro stuff, but I hope you get to Sergio Toppi at some point. He had almost the same kind of mastery of negative space that Toth had, but he didn't have to work with the same restrictions on page layouts that were present in American comics. As a result you get these pages that are masterful marriages between graphic design and cartooning. An object might bleed out of the panels, or a giant close-up of a face might dominate the whole page. It's really inspiring stuff.
Brilliant books, if only for the trove of art. That Scorpion piece has a bit of a tangled history. The character was created and drawn by Howard Chaykin for Atlas/Seaboard and during that late period where Goodman dictated the work be more like Marvel, the Scorpion was updated to the present and given a Spider-Man style costume, drawn by Jim Craig. In the interim, Toth was asked to do his take on the character, perhaps as a backstop because there were deadline issues on Chaykin's second issue, which had a lot of his friends (Wrightson, Ed Davis, Kaluta, Simonson) helping out. Chaykin ended up taking the character to Marvel and renaming him Dominic Fortune, Toth took his version and named it the Vanguard, eventually appearing in Hot Stuf', and the Craig version was the last issue Atlas published before they went belly-up.
Almost everyone I know, who knew Alex Toth eventually had a falling out with him. Mostly really dumb reasons too. I think Toth told Bruce Timm that he needed to do the Superman show like the Fleischer Brothers, but Bruce had his own vision in mind. I only know one person that maintained a relationship with Toth to the very end and that guy has the patience of a saint. The guy is still working in animation today and has stories.
My copy of Bravo For Adventure Artist Edition, bought after watching your video about it, will always stay easily accessible for inspiration, and speaking of being inspired, thank you again for producing Cartoonist Kayfabe. Your work here has been a powerful, positive influence on my cartooning.
Absolutely excellent work, guys! I originally had the animated HC but last summer for my birthday I got the other books! They were just sitting there for years! A lot of people are foggy on Toth and I find that fn sad! Also pass this on about Toth documentary on the Space Ghost DVD! I binge watched it in the beginning of covid! 60’s cartoons/Toth& Doug Wiley was the door way to comics etc! Always look forward to your videos! Thanks again!
A look at the "Devil Tracks" and "Devi Eyes" stories from Wagner's GRENDEL through the Kayfabe lens is called for! A Shoot interview wouldn't hurt, either! 🖖♾
‘How To Murder Your Wife’ was one of my absolute favorite movies as a kid. When I saw that Toth had supposedly drawn the comic strip Jack Lemmon was doing in the film, I got really excited to rewatch it. Alas, I am sad to report that I did not detect a single line of Toth in the entire film. Regardless, you guys should view it ASAP, it’s soooo wrong yet strangely charming! PS~ Please, please pleaaaaase start doing episodes spreading the gospel of the work of Pat Oliphant, The Godfather of political cartooning and the only guy on the planet who can draw rings around Bill Watterson. Assuming he’s still living please consider trying to get an interview and (among other questions) ask him about drawing a band aid on Gerald Ford’s head with a marker. The guy is a legend among legends and it just kills me that nobody seems to know who he is.
Watching Comic Tropes newest video about the Fraction and Aja Hawkeye before this one really emphasizes the strong Toth influence on David Aja. Would be cool to see some coverage of some Aja comics along with other more modern comic artists which I've seen little coverage of on the channel. Would be interesting to see you guys look at something like Promethea by Alan Moore and JH Williams III. More for the amazing art than the magic lesson by Moore (although that is great, too).
Dear DC, This is what ya need to do. Hire these two to help build the best of Toth's DC work. The day you announced it, they drop a video telling people to order it. Then the week it comes out, you have other channels like Toth in Depth and Near Mint go through it. Doing this, you will see out of this book. I wish someone had this easy idea for me to make money. Signed A Freaking TOTH FAN.
I know you guys don't cover that much euro stuff, but I hope you get to Sergio Toppi at some point. He had almost the same kind of mastery of negative space that Toth had, but he didn't have to work with the same restrictions on page layouts that were present in American comics. As a result you get these pages that are masterful marriages between graphic design and cartooning. An object might bleed out of the panels, or a giant close-up of a face might dominate the whole page. It's really inspiring stuff.
Brilliant books, if only for the trove of art. That Scorpion piece has a bit of a tangled history. The character was created and drawn by Howard Chaykin for Atlas/Seaboard and during that late period where Goodman dictated the work be more like Marvel, the Scorpion was updated to the present and given a Spider-Man style costume, drawn by Jim Craig. In the interim, Toth was asked to do his take on the character, perhaps as a backstop because there were deadline issues on Chaykin's second issue, which had a lot of his friends (Wrightson, Ed Davis, Kaluta, Simonson) helping out. Chaykin ended up taking the character to Marvel and renaming him Dominic Fortune, Toth took his version and named it the Vanguard, eventually appearing in Hot Stuf', and the Craig version was the last issue Atlas published before they went belly-up.
Almost everyone I know, who knew Alex Toth eventually had a falling out with him. Mostly really dumb reasons too. I think Toth told Bruce Timm that he needed to do the Superman show like the Fleischer Brothers, but Bruce had his own vision in mind. I only know one person that maintained a relationship with Toth to the very end and that guy has the patience of a saint. The guy is still working in animation today and has stories.
My copy of Bravo For Adventure Artist Edition, bought after watching your video about it, will always stay easily accessible for inspiration, and speaking of being inspired, thank you again for producing Cartoonist Kayfabe. Your work here has been a powerful, positive influence on my cartooning.
Absolutely excellent work, guys! I originally had the animated HC but last summer for my birthday I got the other books! They were just sitting there for years! A lot of people are foggy on Toth and I find that fn sad! Also pass this on about Toth documentary on the Space Ghost DVD! I binge watched it in the beginning of covid! 60’s cartoons/Toth& Doug Wiley was the door way to comics etc! Always look forward to your videos! Thanks again!
Awesome vid. I was lucky to get a copy of the three volumes. Beautiful books worth every penny.
I got my copy of Red Room The Antisocial Network, with Ed’s signature. Keep it up, you’re killing it! Just waiting on my FCBD issue.
Thank you.
This man it's still not given the recognition he truly deserves! His Hanna-Barbera work alone is far and beyond other artists!
Shout out North Hollywood, a balmy 90 degrees here in the Valley
columbus ohio 38 degrees and snowing, yuck.
I was introduced to both Sears and Eclipso together on his 90s series.
Then his Wizard drawing.columns
No idea he came from Toth
Had to pick this one up before the kayfabe effect kicked into full swing!
im binge watching you guys stuff hard
Great video, thank you so much.
A look at the "Devil Tracks" and "Devi Eyes" stories from Wagner's GRENDEL through the Kayfabe lens is called for! A Shoot interview wouldn't hurt, either! 🖖♾
10:44 lol I cracked up
Toth was supposed to play Jack Lemmon's hands in that movie until they realized Lemmon was a righty and Toth was a lefty.
‘How To Murder Your Wife’ was one of my absolute favorite movies as a kid. When I saw that Toth had supposedly drawn the comic strip Jack Lemmon was doing in the film, I got really excited to rewatch it. Alas, I am sad to report that I did not detect a single line of Toth in the entire film. Regardless, you guys should view it ASAP, it’s soooo wrong yet strangely charming!
PS~ Please, please pleaaaaase start doing episodes spreading the gospel of the work of Pat Oliphant, The Godfather of political cartooning and the only guy on the planet who can draw rings around Bill Watterson. Assuming he’s still living please consider trying to get an interview and (among other questions) ask him about drawing a band aid on Gerald Ford’s head with a marker. The guy is a legend among legends and it just kills me that nobody seems to know who he is.
I hope you do the two other books.
Watching Comic Tropes newest video about the Fraction and Aja Hawkeye before this one really emphasizes the strong Toth influence on David Aja. Would be cool to see some coverage of some Aja comics along with other more modern comic artists which I've seen little coverage of on the channel. Would be interesting to see you guys look at something like Promethea by Alan Moore and JH Williams III. More for the amazing art than the magic lesson by Moore (although that is great, too).
great stuff!!!
Dear DC,
This is what ya need to do. Hire these two to help build the best of Toth's DC work. The day you announced it, they drop a video telling people to order it. Then the week it comes out, you have other channels like Toth in Depth and Near Mint go through it. Doing this, you will see out of this book. I wish someone had this easy idea for me to make money.
Signed A Freaking TOTH FAN.
Can I say that the pages at 48:28 are WONDERFUL?
What’s the Toth 4th book you mentioned? Thx.
Treasures Retold: The Lost Art of Alex Toth.
The best!