Two Toth tales to totally take your breath away (whew!) in honor of his 80th birthday today, and our first tremendous story is from the April 1953 issue of Adventures into Darkness #9---and not a reprint! Hurrah!
Put aside the depiction of Spain ( which seems a sort of banana republic with a mad dictator here ) , this is a GREAT and unusual story ; and another brilliant lesson from a master storyteller HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. TOTH ! Thanks for all your grat comic pages , and thanks to Karswell for sharing some of them with us ...
This one I really like. Yesterday's story had a streak of dark humor, but this is basically somber - the out-of-control general's dreadful infantile malice, his guests' silent horror, and his cold, lonely fate. I enjoyed the coloring - the overall dark tones do a great deal for the story.
"Look for the Standard Comics banner! Your guarantee of wholesome reading!" And this right under that blood-gushing splash! NICE.
This is a very cool story. When General Martinez showed up, I thought "Holy crap! Edward G. Robinson IS Gen. Martinez!" But then as the story went on I was thinking, "No, this should totally be made by Jose Mojica Marins, both directing and starring. It would RULE."
The layout/artwork has already been mentioned, but bears repeating--wonderful "stunned crowd" shot at the bottom of pg. 5, and of course those great "silent" panels on the last couple of pages, very evocative and chilling. And what's the deal with the "Oracle of Warning" character who has a black dot for a face? I was wondering whether that was something in the original artwork, or a fault in printing, or what? I kind of hope it was intentional--very weird and cool.
I have to question Don Jose's status as "greatest bullfighter," though--when asked how it feels to be out there with a mad bull, his reply is "I never gave it much thought." Whaaa? Seems to me that'd be something you'd have to cogitate at least a LITTLE. Maybe he'd just been lucky up to this point.
WOW. NOT MUCH ELSE TO ADD, THESE TOTH POSTS JUST GET BETTER AND BETTER EACH DAY. ITS FUNNY WHAT A DRAG AND DIFFERCE A RECOLORED REPRINT IS COMPARED TO AN ORIGINAL. LOOKING AT THE RECOLOR JOBS ON THE FIRST 2 STORIES YOU POSTED THIS WEEK SHOWS HOW LITTLE THE COLOR PROCESS HAS IMPROVED SINCE THE 50S.
Put aside the depiction of Spain ( which seems a sort of banana republic with a mad dictator here ) , this is a GREAT and unusual story ; and another brilliant lesson from a master storyteller
ReplyDeleteHAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. TOTH !
Thanks for all your grat comic pages , and thanks to Karswell for sharing some of them with us ...
This actually reminded me a lot of living in Spain. Scary story in a way different from any other on here.
ReplyDeleteThis one I really like. Yesterday's story had a streak of dark humor, but this is basically somber - the out-of-control general's dreadful infantile malice, his guests' silent horror, and his cold, lonely fate. I enjoyed the coloring - the overall dark tones do a great deal for the story.
ReplyDeleteThat final page is divine! One of the most eye-catching layouts I've seen on here. Great story too. Thanks for sharing this, Mr. K :)
ReplyDelete"Look for the Standard Comics banner! Your guarantee of wholesome reading!" And this right under that blood-gushing splash! NICE.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very cool story. When General Martinez showed up, I thought "Holy crap! Edward G. Robinson IS Gen. Martinez!" But then as the story went on I was thinking, "No, this should totally be made by Jose Mojica Marins, both directing and starring. It would RULE."
The layout/artwork has already been mentioned, but bears repeating--wonderful "stunned crowd" shot at the bottom of pg. 5, and of course those great "silent" panels on the last couple of pages, very evocative and chilling. And what's the deal with the "Oracle of Warning" character who has a black dot for a face? I was wondering whether that was something in the original artwork, or a fault in printing, or what? I kind of hope it was intentional--very weird and cool.
I have to question Don Jose's status as "greatest bullfighter," though--when asked how it feels to be out there with a mad bull, his reply is "I never gave it much thought." Whaaa? Seems to me that'd be something you'd have to cogitate at least a LITTLE. Maybe he'd just been lucky up to this point.
Wonderful stuff from the Book of Toth.
WOW. NOT MUCH ELSE TO ADD, THESE TOTH POSTS JUST GET BETTER AND BETTER EACH DAY. ITS FUNNY WHAT A DRAG AND DIFFERCE A RECOLORED REPRINT IS COMPARED TO AN ORIGINAL. LOOKING AT THE RECOLOR JOBS ON THE FIRST 2 STORIES YOU POSTED THIS WEEK SHOWS HOW LITTLE THE COLOR PROCESS HAS IMPROVED SINCE THE 50S.
ReplyDeleteAND HAPPY B-DAY TOTH!
Two more days of Toth to go, thanks again for all the great comments people.
ReplyDeleteI'm so busy on some other projects right now I barely have time to comment or chat. Tah!
cool and weird
ReplyDeleteI'm loving seeing all this early Toth art. He was one of favorite artists from Eerie and Creepy.
ReplyDeleteWow, this one is so deeply disturbing. Poor Don Jose, horribly mutilated, poor Isabella, given the nasty surprise of seeing him that way.
ReplyDeleteFor a moment, I thought "how is a man with no tongue speaking?" But of course it turned out to be a dream.