In Appreciation Of | Alex Toth

Originally Posted 05/28/06 by Jeff Harris

There would be no Batman: The Animated Series, Toonami, nor Adult Swim without Alex Toth.

That's kind of a jarring statement to start this passage, but to further demonstrate the greatness of this artist that many people don't really know nor truly acknowledge, that's the proper way to present this commentary.

Then again, those that knew Mr. Toth knew that he never strived to reach the skyrocketing fame of his younger and older contemporaries in comics and in animation. He loved his craft, and it showed.

Almost every major Hanna-Barbera action and adventure series from 1965 until 1982 has had his imput on it from a visual and a creative perspective. Space Ghost. The Herculoids. Jonny Quest. The Galaxy Trio. The Herculoids. Mightor. Birdman. The Fantastic Four. Shazzan. Scooby-Doo. Sealab 2020. Clue Club. Superfriends. Mr. Toth created Space Ghost, though if you ever talked to him about it, he'd admit that it wasn't his favorite character. He designed nearly every facet of it, from the character designs to the story guidance.

He created Space Ghost, Jan and Jayce, Blip, and the myriad of villians they faced, including Zorak, Brak, and Moltar. Of course, more than 30 years after they were created, the characters were revamped by a group of creators who were huge fans of the franchise and, like Mr. Toth himself, realized the ridiculousness of it all. Instead of a space policeman, Space Ghost was transformed into a swarny, self-involved talk-show host (is there any other kind?) on Space Ghost Coast To Coast. This was the first series created by these mavericks, who named their production company after the mythical homebase of Space Ghost, Ghost Planet Industries. The producer of Space Ghost Coast To Coast, the formerly villianous Moltar, was recast as a watcher of worlds who seeked information from all points of the universe, thus creating the backstory to Ghost Planet's third major production, the action block Toonami, which reintroduced some of Mr. Toth's work to younger audiences in the first four years of the block.

These same younger viewers had no idea the kind of influence Mr. Toth's works had on modern cartoons. The creators of the DC Animated Universe that began with 1992's Batman: The Animated Series and ended with the final episode of Justice League Unlimited in 2006 were young enough to appreciate the original works of Mr. Toth, including Space Ghost and many of his outside works, including his works on the Marvel Superheroes and Superfriends as well as his comic-book works, most notably his Gold Key and Batman work. Most notably, the creators of the DCAU were inspired by the designs Mr. Toth created for Super Friends, which not only returned the popular DC Comics characters back to the small screen, but actually made them cool, something these same creators did with the same characters on Batman, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited.

Without Mr. Toth, I doubt that Adult Swim would even exist. Aside from Space Ghost Coast To Coast, three other shows inspired by productions he was involved in, The Brak Show, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, and Sealab 2021 were created as marquee shows for the young block. Sure, Mr. Toth himself didn't like the kind of juvenille humor those shows embodied, but the creators of those shows enjoyed the look of those shows and the attitude behind them, finding some sense of humor about the ridiculousness of them all that I'm sure Mr. Toth would have appreciated. Or not.

To the end, Mr. Toth was a consummate creator, still working, still drawing. He died at his drawing table on May 27, 2006. When I read that this afternoon, a lot of tears streamed down my face because the world lost a great artist and creator. Some of tears is of sadness. Most of it is tears of anger at a lot of folks. Anger at Cartoon Network for not even having the common decency to air many of the works he has done on the original network, instead, opening mocking those works that served as the foundation of the network as well as the glue that held the Toonami block tight in its infancy. Anger to the animation and comics media that have largely forgotten his works and talents with a few exceptions and even fewer artists. And anger that this very article may be the first time anybody has ever heard of his name. Though on that count, I don't think that Mr. Toth would be too upset about that one. He preferred to let his work speak for itself. And for generations, it has.

Thank you Mr. Toth.