The work and thought process of Alex Toth is discussed as well as newspaper comics we had never seen or didn’t bother reading when they were being published. Don talks about the incredible work of Matt Howarth while Al stays silent until Howard Chaykin is brought up.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Emitt Rhodes
Alter Ego 63 Remembering Alex Toth.
Two Brothers starts this episode off, which leads into The Umbrella Academy, The Airtight Garage and Where The Wild Things Are. The second half covers the 1966 version of the MLJ superheroes The Mighty Crusaders and other lighthearted comic books. We enjoyed recording the second half so much that we did it twice.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Disperse • Jakub Zytecki
Two Brothers By Gabriel Bá And Fabio Moon.
Here Is Their Word Balloon Interview.
The core four are joined again by Dallas’ daughter and begin the discussion by trying to think of great single issue and standalone stories. Rook and Don gush over Alex + Ada, specifically volume 2, Al reviews “Bravo for Adventure” by the legendary Alex Toth, and Don reviews “The Sculptor” by the near-legendary Scott McCloud.
The gang starts randomly bashing variant covers in mainstream comics and Al finishes everything out saying goodbye to Herschell Gordon Lewis.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Ed Woltil
Even though Al starts off with a certain question, the conversation turns to following creators or following the characters, Mad paperbacks, Jeffrey Catherine Jones documentary and pullapalooza finish it out.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Replacements
Although Al Hasn’t Read The Current State Of Captain America,
He Talks About What He Has Heard.
Free Comic Book Day, The Autumnlands, Archie Comics Digest, the missing element of fun and color or no color are the topics of this on the road show. Enjoy!
It starts off with a discussion on the first issue of Kamandi, then moves on to Devil Dinosaur and other works and the men who inked Jack Kirby. Progression of artists, Alex Toth, Starman, The Mercenary Sea and The Twilight Children finish it out.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Prix
Kamandi The Last Boy On Earth! By Jack Kirby And Mike Royer.
Here Is Some Information On It’s Forerunner, Kamandi Of The Caves.
Al dedicates the episode to Vic Diaz, then joins Don in an episode long Pullapallooza. Joe Kubert’s Tarzan is discussed, along with his drawing and layout style. Al schools Don on Jay Scott Pike, and starts a discussion about Gray Morrow.
The Man-Thing, King Size Marvel books by Jim Starlin and Action Comics 413 carry on the middle part of the episode, then finish out with Tom Sutton, Dick Giordano, Burne Hogarth, Russ Manning and Barry Smith.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: hitomi • Elliott Smith
Tarzan 223 By Joe Kubert.
Al is joined by Don with nothing to say, so it starts off with a book that was just picked up. That leads into the Ant-Man movie, then goes into the many guises of Hank Pym, and some of the black super-heroes of the seventies. Then they go into Pulapalooza again.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Icewater
Captain Britain And The Mighty Defenders.
Al Ewing, Alan Davis And Mark Farmer.
Al starts the discussion off with what he calls “The Kirby Factor,” and seeing things through different eyes as you get older. Don brings up comic book publisher’s house styles and artist’s comfort zones, and continues to talk about a few books he read and brings the show well past the one hour mark.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Superdrag
Neal Adams Was A High Water Mark.
After a month long hiatus, and minus the younger half, Al and Don get together and show how off topic they can get, and yet still talk about comic books. Enjoy!
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Robyn Hitchcock
Greetings From Hiatusville…
Join Don, Al, Dallas, Rook, Hashbrowns and Des as they discuss their favorite comic book pages..
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Terez Montcalm
Al | Cover To The Adventures Of Bob Hope By Bob Oksner.
Written By Arnold Drake, Who Is One Of Al’s Favorite Writers.
Don finally finishes Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s epic Fantastic Four run. Al talks about Archie Comics and the endless supply of six page stories from Frank Doyle, forgotten animated cartoons of the sixties, Red Circle horror, and more.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Shoes
Fantastic Four By Jack Kirby, Stan Lee And Joe Sinnott.
Al, Dallas and Don get together on this supersized episode to discuss comic artists who not only had fantastic drawing abilities, but were masters of graphic design as well.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Samaria
Alex Toth.
Seminal Works. Creepy Presents Alex Toth, Genius Isolated, Genius Illustrated, Genius Animated, Setting the Standard: Comics by Alex Toth 1952-1954 And Zorro.
Special guest Joust joins Al and Don to discuss The Marvel Super Heroes Animated Cartoon From 1966, The current Hawkeye comic, Joe Simon, Harvey Comics Thriller Line, Alex Toth, Gene Colan, Frank Robbins, George Perez, Dave Cockrum and Steve Rude.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Jules and the Polar Bears
The Marvel Super Heroes Animated Cartoon From 1966.
We start off with a discussion of influences, mention the difference between creation and contribution, and artists who work with a sketchy line style. Old Daredevil comics, the New Wonder Woman of the early seventies, Dial H For Hero and finish off with the Fantastic Four as always.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Ruby Sting
Conan By Gary Gianni.
Barbarian Lord by Matt Smith, Barbarian comics of the seventies, Alex Toth and a couple other titles.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Bouncing Souls
Walking Dead is mentioned which quickly turns to creator owned comics and the black and white explosion of the eighties. A comparison of Alex Toth and Jaime Hernandez occurs, as well as a short discussion of nineties comics, titles about villains, newspaper strips and finding comics off the rack.
And of course, more Fantastic Four talk. Whoo hoo!
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Wilco
The Walking Dead All Out War Storyline.
By Robert Kirkman And Charlie Adlard.
“Will comic book movies wear thin? Do we have any genius artists working in the field today?” Al asks both of these questions, and the entire episode is spent discussing it.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: PARADA
Dallas Can’t Stop Watching Man Of Steel.
Al and Don start out discussing forgotten titles that have seemingly gone into oblivion,
and later talk about a band that never made the shuffle to obscurity. Kind of strange that neither one cared for The Eagles, but they seem to know the material quite well anyway.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Flamin Groovies
Al and Don start off discussing Fatima by Gilbert Hernandez, then go on to discuss his work outside of Love And Rockets. Rock albums and comics from 1972 were brought up, as well as artists who’s later work were not as strong. Plus Alex Toth’s How A TV Cartoon Is Created.
Musical Spotlight: Flamin’ Groovies
Once again, the whole gang is present, and thanks to Al we discuss letterers and the art of typography. What’s better.. digital fonts or traditional lettering?
We reminisce about some of the old school lettering masters such as John Workman, Moebius, and Tom Orzechowski. Don finds a way to slide in a Carl Barks comment,
and Dallas gushes about Dave Sim’s typographical masterpiece, Cerebus.
We then discuss “event fatigue” in the DC and Marvel universe, and Rook tastefully bags on DC’s New 52 concept. We talk about how boring the superhero “status quo” can be,
and how refreshing books like Spider-Man’s Brand New Day and Morrison’s New X-Men can be. There’s some creator-owned rights talk, and Don brings up symphonic music
to hammer home his point on artistic “innovators” and “cultivators”.
Oh, and Rook sticks up for Aquaman.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: The Brilliant Green
Not Only Could No One Draw Or Design Like Alex Toth,
No One Could Letter Like He Could As Well.
Yet, We Missed Talking About It On This Episode.
Al and Dallas struggle to get a word in edgewise as Don goes on and on and on about his Top Ten Favorite Artists.
MUSICAL SPOTLIGHT: Don’s Brother, Larry Moore, of course.
10. Steve Rude.Some people say that Don is the glue that holds this show together. If that’s the case, then this episode is a hot mess. It’s Dallas and Al this time around, and we continue our multi-episode discussion on our favorite artists. We discuss the giants of the comic book industry, Neil Adams (duh!), Paul Smith, Al Williamson, John Buscema, Winsor McCay, Steve Rude, and Will Eisner.
