Hey everybody, it's me, Swain.
I'm pretty sure my first exposure to Alex Toth was during his Warren days. My father was a butcher for 35 years and worked for a grocery store chain in Chicago called Del Farms. I remember sitting in the isles at Del, on the floor, thumbing through Creepy and Eerie—and loving them. Maybe later, I picked up some Silver Age DC stuff by Alex.
One that I clearly recall is that Flash/Atom story from Action Comics where Flash gets tied down like Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels (...wow). After that, it was Hot Wheels, a 'war' story called Dirty Job and by the time I saw Death Flies the Haunted Sky, I was all in—my conversion was complete!
His animation work for TV shows like Johnny Quest, Space Ghost and Super Friends, I didn't pick up on until a little later. Bravo for Adventure, Torpedo 1936 and his collected Zorro stuff, I didn't read until way later.
In my teens, I bought The Black Hood published by Red Circle because of their distinctive covers and guess who did them? Alex Toth. He also wrote and drew a back-up story in those books featuring this noirish character called The Fox—and it was EXCELLENT!
Keep in mind, folks, at that point in the '80s, Alex must have been close to 60 years old. Still kicking ass like nobody's business! Quoting my friend, Mark Chiarello, Alex actually got better as he got older. He and Will Eisner both had some odd wiring in their DNAs that made them even more awesome as they aged (I know that's poor grammar, but it feels accurate). We should all hope for the same, by the way.
When I proposed doing this tribute to Toth, Dwight and I didn't have a clue what it would turn into. Almost nobody we approached said no. Right away, it went from let's chat with a few creators—to let's do a two-parter. Apparently, I wasn't the only rude little kid sitting on the floor in the market reading comics and such. Thank God.
The Roll Call for Part I of our celebration of the life and art of Alex Toth is as follows: Klaus Janson, John Paul Leon, John Hitchcock, Howard Chaykin, Tim Sale, Paul Pope and Rubén Procopio. All of these guys are either friends, fans or peers of Toth's—and in some cases, all three. Either way, they were great for agreeing to take part in this. We thank them.
Look for Part II of 'Bravo for Alex Toth' soon and we thank you all as well—for listening.
**Lots of people to acknowledge here, so grab a sandwich.
Mark Chiarello (O Captain), your greatness is only exceeded by your tiredness (ha)—many thanks, brother! TothFans.com for being such a great resource. Alex's son Eric for chatting with two art nerds he's never met before (Eric will be featured on Part II). Rubén Procopio for his candor, his help and his answering machine message—thank you, my talented friend. Paul Gravett of The Guardian (I shamelessly pillaged and personalized his brilliant Toth obit from June of 2006)—my apologies, but thank you, sir. Adrian Johnson for his enthusiasm and encouragement. And last, but most of all, my man Dwight, for supporting me on this 'vanity project'. Thanks, sibling!
Click here to download the show.
Thanks so much for this! Toth fan for life!!
Posted by: twitter.com/ShinMilkManX | October 01, 2009 at 10:31 AM
the best show so far. absolutely amazing. can't wait for 2. Its ridiculous to think that kirby has monthly magazines just of his work with lengthy articles, and toth is almost never even talked about. he was the best! thanks guys.
Posted by: nick | October 01, 2009 at 01:49 PM
Man, you guys, that's the second times I've teared up listening to your podcasts, I've heard of Alex Toth before and looked him up a bit, and will seek out more again, looking forward to part 2.
Keep em coming!
Posted by: elph | October 01, 2009 at 04:42 PM
Hey Guys - I just discovered your podcasts through this Toth tribute and I'm quickly making my way through your back catalog. Your enthusiasm for and knowledge of the material shine through in every interview. Contrary to many comic podcasts, you both appear to be schooled in classic illustration and really "get it."
I'm a novice comic creator myself and the art tips and basic life lessons of making a career of comics are an invaluable dialogue to listen to as I work. I admire your respect for the work and the people who produce it. Cheers to more Sidebar to come...
(Swain re: Thank you for the kind words, Michael, and good luck to you. We try our best to do well, but having awesome guests on the show helps out quite a bit---ha! Take care.)
Posted by: Michael Lapinski | October 05, 2009 at 08:24 AM
I've never had as good a sense of the man as this podcast on Alex Toth gives. Tremendous job on a tremendous artist. That's an understatement, actually.
Having just discovered your site, I am a bit overwhelmed by the wealth here in my catching up on it all. -Another understatement.
(D & S re: Thank you, kind sir. Alex Toth was, and is, truly a GIANT. That too is an understatement and we appreciate you enjoying and responding to our efforts.)
Posted by: zuma.livejournal.com | October 06, 2009 at 04:21 AM
After listening to this episode I subscribed to Sidebar through iTunes. Thank you for the outstanding work!
Posted by: Don Moore | December 13, 2009 at 02:24 PM