Alex Toth Passes

[ep1str0phy]

Perhaps someone else grew up with Space Ghost, Johnny Quest, Super Friends, etc.? This cat was the animation designer:

Alex Toth

-A guiding light of the 'serial image' and a master of a much maligned medium... he'll live on forever in the postmodern/pop culture zeitgeist (and childhood memories, no?).

[Jazzmoose]

Oh, man...one of my faves. His fifties stuff just knocks my socks off!! Call me crazy, but Krigstein had nothing on this guy.

[jazzbo]

R I P Alex.

[Don Brown]

One of the real giants. Sad news.

[Stefan Wood]

He did some wonderful work for EC in their final years as a comic book company -- his sense of composition, thick black lines were gorgeous. An excellent comic book artist.

[RDK]

Met Toth a few times over the years. I grew up a huge Space Ghost and Jonny Quest fan and told him so. Mentioned that my dog's name was Bandit, and Toth replied that he always hated that dog; never wanted him in the cartoon but H-B insisted. Regardless, still a huge comic book/animation talent. R.I.P.

[BruceH]

Oh, man...one of my faves. His fifties stuff just knocks my socks off!! Call me crazy, but Krigstein had nothing on this guy.

You're crazy! No, seriously, Toth was great. RIP

[sheldonm]

Perhaps someone else grew up with Space Ghost, Johnny Quest, Super Friends, etc.? This cat was the animation designer:

Alex Toth

-A guiding light of the 'serial image' and a master of a much maligned medium... he'll live on forever in the postmodern/pop culture zeitgeist (and childhood memories, no?).

....nope, just you!

Actually I loved Johnny Quest as a kid.......RIP~

[Quincy]

I bought the Jonny Quest dvd set from deepdiscount during a sale and am making my way through it. (Taking my time to savor them.) Hadn't seen many of the episodes in almost (gulp) 30 years. Yup, it's pretty darn enjoyable all these years later, though why Jonny wears that long sleeved black shirt in the jungle is beyond me. And he did Super Friends too eh?

R.I.P. Mr. Toth.

[ghost of miles]

Here's the NY Times obit:

Alex Toth, 77, Comic Book Artist and 'Space Ghost' Animator, Dies

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By DENNIS HEVESI

Published: June 6, 2006

Alex Toth, an influential comic book artist best known for his work on "Zorro" and for his animation on children's television shows like "Jonny Quest," died on May 27 at his home in Burbank, Calif. He was 77.

The cause was heart failure, said his son, Eric Toth, who said that his father was at his drawing board when he died.

Gary Groth, editor of The Comics Journal, said Mr. Toth was "among the greatest comic book artists ever," though he was not famous for any particular character.

"He was an artist's artist, just because of his mastery of the form," Mr. Groth said. His style was not particularly popular among general comic book readers, Mr. Groth said, "but every cartoonist who cared deeply about his craft learned something by looking at his work."

Alexander Toth was born in Manhattan on June 25, 1928, the son of a house painter. He graduated from the High School of Industrial Arts. While in high school, he was taken under the wing of Milton Caniff, the creator of "Terry and the Pirates."

In 1947, Mr. Toth was hired by Sheldon Mayer, an editor at DC Comics, to work on "Green Lantern" and "Dr. Mid-Nite." Over the next two decades, he developed a sparse style, employing sharp contrasts. He moved to California in the late 1950's.

Mr. Toth worked on "Hot Wheels" for DC Comics, and was acclaimed for his work on "Zorro." In the 1970's, he created the character Jesse Bravo, a daredevil pilot, for the comic book "Bravo for Adventure."

But as comic books moved toward greater violence, which Mr. Toth outspokenly deplored, he increasingly clashed with editors and publishers. By the late 60's, he had started working on storyboards for children's television, including "Space Ghost," "Jonny Quest" and "Super Friends."

"These are Saturday-morning kid shows," Mr. Groth said, "and because they were pretty antiseptic, he didn't have any moral problems with that."

Besides his son Eric, of Holland, Mich.; Mr. Toth is survived by another son, Damon Toth of Costa Mesa, Calif.; and two daughters, Dana Palmer of Mexico Beach, Fla., and Carrie Morash of Evanston, Wyo. His marriage to Christina Schraber Hyde ended in divorce in 1968.

Correction: June 8, 2006

An obituary on Tuesday about Alex Toth, a comic book artist and animator, omitted his second marriage, to Guyla Avery, who died in 1985.