Skip to main content

Some history about artist Alex Toth

image with title text

So recently I decided I was going to try and learn something about each item in my toy collection and the artwork behind it. Kind of like my own impromptu art history class.

Then I'm going to sell it so I can start collecting more! :)

Moltar


One of the first things I put up for sale was this Space Ghost Coast to Coast Moltar Action Figure from back in 2000. By the way, I learned a valuable lesson when shipping this item to the person who bought it. Never let the people at the post office touch your collectibles!

The Space Ghost Coast to Coast show actually used the original artwork from the Hanna Barbera Space Ghost cartoon from the 1960s. Those characters were designed by Alex Toth. I knew his name but didn't really know anything else about him.

drawing image
Here is a sketch I did of Moltar on my phone.

So I decided for my first art history lesson I would do a little bit of research on Alex Toth.
he died at his drawing table on May 27, 2006, from a heart attack.

Alex Toth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Toth

Image
Alex Toth

Toth's work began in the comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Toth's work was resurrected in the late-night, adult-themed spin-offs on Cartoon Network: Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Sealab 2021 and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.

I knew these were Hanna Barbera cartoons but not that he had created all of them originally.

Toth got a job as art director for the Space Angel animated science fiction show.



This led to his being hired by Hanna-Barbera, where he created the character Space Ghost for the animated series.

He continued to do comics as well over the years. His final work for DC was the cover for Batman Black and White #4 (Sept. 1996). And he died at his drawing table on May 27, 2006, from a heart attack. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean.

How he died seems kinda badass to me. It's just so poetic sounding.

Comic Page Image

Comic page image

tothfans.com - The Official Alex Toth Website

http://www.tothfans.com/

He did not simply "draw cartoons". Toth instead imbued a real vitality into his figures. Each figure he drew is entirely natural and unique. The "character" in each face look like the people around you. No figure looks "posed" it captures some elusive essence of real life.

picture of envelope with artwork

Toth set an extremely high standard. He was always honing, revising and refining his craft. He never got complacent. He never seemed self-satisfied. He drove himself to continuously adapt and improve. He seemed to be in search of something elusive and perhaps even existential in his art.

drawings image

Was it simplicity? Was it clarity? Was it perfection?
Whatever it was and is, is pure Alex Toth and uniquely human.

There's a book called "Setting The Standard" published by Fantagraphics that includes a collection of his works and sketches that loks pretty cool. I'm thinking about adding that to my bookshelf.

Book image
Setting the Standard: Alex Toth - on Amazon

Listen To The Podcast

Popular

To Do: Multitasking My Business, Music, and Comics

Sometimes balancing my multiple projects can often feel like an overwhelming task. I sit and think out loud about the tasks I need to juggle this week from my vintage reselling business, my band, and my webcomic series. In this video vlog, I begin the week by prioritizing tasks and setting goals. I'm going to mark them as I go along. ✅ = Done ⏲ = Still waiting Vintage reselling business - The Pop Culture Roadshow With a vintage reselling business to run, the first order of business is to pack orders from weekend sales on platforms like eBay and Mercari.  As I pack these items I need to record a 'What Sold' video for my Pop Culture roadshow YouTube channel , turning the task into video content. ✅ Pack orders ✅ List new items I got from estate sales (See my latest eBay store listings here ) ⛔ Create a new "What sold" video for my YouTube page (Recorded not edited - Laptop upgrade issues) Band - Lorenzo's Music I've also got a new song out this month so I nee...

Artwork for the original Candy Land game by Milton Bradley from 1955.

I have a vintage Candy Land game from 1955 by Milton Bradley and I was about to sell it so I thought I would add it to my personal art history course concept I've been doing . I'm going to try and see if I can find out how this game was created, designed and why? Here is what I found out about this game https://candy-land.fandom.com/wiki/Candy_Land_Wiki Candy Land is a board game about children exploring a world made out of candy and other sweets that originally came out in 1949. In every version of the game, there are a group of children that go through Candy Land. In the earliest versions of the game, it was a realistically drawn boy and girl. Drawing of the Candy Land kids I did on my phone ☝ https://board-games-galore.fandom.com/wiki/Candy_Land The game was designed in 1948 by Eleanor Abbott , while she was recovering from polio in San Diego, California. It's rumored that Eleanor also did the original artwork but I didn't find anything that...

Art Inspiration: Digging on old Scooby-Doo cartoon background artwork

Can we all just take a second to appreciate the background art of the 1969 Scooby-Doo cartoons ?  Easily the most inspirational artwork from my childhood right here.  I think this scene from the cartoon is what inspired my recent nostalgia for the Money Island computer game I wrote about in my webcomic . Who did these background paintings? I wrote a post about the artist Walter Peregoy who did the background artwork for the series over on my pop-culture roadshow blog . Some of the things I learned about the artist He had a modernist 50s style Designed the 101 dalmatians cartoon look Was an artist for one of the Liquid Television cartoons on MTV Go here to see more... Read more about the artist and their  artwork  on my pop-culture blog.  Go here to see more background artwork

To Do: Juggling Music, Comics, and Reselling A Week in My Creative Life

I delve into the tasks I need to do this week for my different online businesses. As an online musician, reselling business owner, and webcomic artist, I have a full list of things I need to do each week.