08 September 2007

My Toth Dells collection

Here are some silver age comics done by Alex Toth for Dell publishing. I started collecting them a couple of years ago, when I discovered that clever thing called eBay. Although I love all the Toth's long career, this period of the late 50s is my favorite, likely because on 32 pages adventures his storytelling skills really stand out, and besides his brush and pen work here is just terrific! All of them are based on movies (like "Darby O'Gill", "The FBI story", "The time machine", "Clint and Mac", or tv shows (Sea hunt, 77 sunset strip...) and it's amazing how Alex (and the writers that worked with him) translated the characters and the plot on the paper.
The well known official website where you can find everything you may need to know about Alex Toth is Tothfans.com

9 comments:

benton jew said...

Had a bunch of these as a kid. Zorro, 77 Sunset Strip, The Lennon Sisters. This was a great time of growth for Toth, when he really began to stand above the rest.

Roberto Zaghi said...

I agree with you Benton, and it was a massive and fast production, maybe due to the low page rates they had at Dell. Anyway, when I ink my comics I often keep "The Danny Thomas show" or "The FBI story", or others like these on my desk, as a sort of psychological support:) Do you know the thick volumes of "Alex Toth reader"? Toth Dells are fantastic even in black and white!

Michael Cho said...

ooooh...the Dell Toths!!! I'm drooling looking at those books -- I luv em to bits!! Toth was almost always great, but you're right -- that period just stands out. For me, its because the stories were just fun, lighthearted faire. I especially love the adventure ones did for them, or the movie adaptations!

Roberto Zaghi said...

Eh eh! Yes really fun stuff sometimes, like that story of "The real Mc Coys" whit the hungry goat, or the nice-dull main character of "No time for sergeants" and many others. Nevertheless "The FBI story" is very dramatic, for instance. I also love the westerns, Zorro, Roy Rogers and Frontier Doctor are my best. What a bunch of masterpieces!
Anyway, we're speaking of the Legend, how could one be less than enthusiastic about his work?
Thanks for stopping by Michael, I like your things a lot!
-rz-

Anonymous said...

great collection. Thnx 4 posting. I love Toth's work. Found another gallery here: http://www.comicartville.com/tothgallery.htm

Roberto Zaghi said...

Thanks for passing by, Peter, and for linking comicartville, it has a huge Toth gallery with lots of original art scans!
Btw, congrats for your art.
-rz-

Sergio Ponchione said...

I paperback Toth by design, Black and White, One for the road, Adventures of Zorro e varie cartelle di fotocopie di suoi racconti scippati qua e là stanno sempre nella libreria a pochi cm da me. Mi danno sicurezza, tipo coperta di linus.
Saluts!

Les Toil said...

Good night! I had no idea Toth illustrated those Dell Comics! I wouldn't go near a Dell comic when I was a kid because the art seemed so sub par compared to the Marvel stuff I was obsessed with in the 60s. Little did I know within those covers was the art of master Alex. You've just sent me on a mission Roberto. :)

Roberto Zaghi said...

@ les toil: that's a sweet mission:)
Searching the "Page of the day" section of the official Alex Toth website you'll find nearly all of these stories scanned by fans, in low res quality.
It's a strange coincidence... I wasn't aware of the existance of Dell Comics until I discovered that Alex worked for them:) here in Italy those vintage comics are almost unobtainable.
Thanks for stopping by, and congrats for your GREAT art!