It's time for another Gallery update. This month we have included a new version of the Zorro drawing that was in the April Gallery. Toth added some shading to the new drawing so you can now compare the 'clean line' with the shaded version. Let us know what you think!
Another great group of pages annotated by Toth has been posted in the "Articles" section. This time, Toth annotates the classic "Kui" story published by Warren Publishing. Also a bonus page from 'Bravo for Adventure'.
The Gallery has been updated with nine new drawings. It contains new Toth Art provided by Dave Cook including a stunning new Batman drawing! You can find it under the April2002 section in the Gallery.
Update! - Just added a drawing to the Gallery April2002 update that will silence any skeptics who say Toth no longer has "has it"!
Dave Cook recently started a topic thread in the Forums about having Alex himself get involved here at 'Toth Fans'. Although it has not yet happened, during the discussions John Hitchcock mentioned that it would be a good idea to send Alex photocopies of pages for reference. Dave Cook responded back that he done this in the past and offered to scan these examples in to be posted here. Dave also mentioned that he made his commentary in the margins of the copies. Upon seeing the copies, it suddenly struck me that this is a great way to to see the vision of a Comic Book Auteur and Artist like Alex Toth. To me it captures the same feeling of immediacy and connection that DVD commentaries have. By looking at these pages, you can see the thought process and vision behind a page or story. And seeing Toth's destinctive lettering, I feel it really fits the "voice" and mirrors the format of the comic page.
Here is what Dave had to say about the pages; "...it was all just part of our friendly exchange -- I was blathering on about stuff I loved and Alex said, "send me examples so I'll know what you're talking about", so I sent him photocopies with my comments and the result is history."
So I hope I have piqued your interest You can find them under the heading "The Annotated Toth" under the Articles section of the site. Well folks what do you think? Do you want to see more? Register your interest at this Thread and let Alex know that we would love to see more like this.
The cult of the Auteur rules in the film world. With the advent and mass acceptance of the DVD format, directors commentary on films has become a commonplace occurrence. These commentaries can provide more than just background on a film, instead they can provide a deep look inside the filmmakers vision and thought process as well as give the history and story behind the film.
What does all this have to do with Alex Toth and comics? Well, we all have certainly seen and read untold pages of interviews with Comic Artists and the like. Within these articles and interviews, interviewers often refer to certain stories or panels as discussion points. However, this format does not quite give the same texture and immediacy as a director's commentary on a film. But that said, there is a possible format that does gain the same level of immediacy and mirrors the "voice" of the Comic Auteur in the same way as hearing the voice of the director during a particular scene. And what is it? Well I'm getting to that... [CONTINUE]
