Created by the Eisner Award-winning team of Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell who produced the ground-breaking Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles-Genius, Isolated is a lavishly illustrated book that includes the first biography of this giant figure. The book has been compiled with complete access to the family archives, and with the full cooperation of Toth''s children. To flesh out the complete story of his life and art, Mullaney and Canwell have spent more than two years conducting wide-ranging interviews with Toth''s peers, friends, and family members. This is the beginning of a comics biography everyone will be talking about for years to come. In addition to art and photographs from the family, Toth fans and friends throughout the world have loaned original artwork reproduced in the entire series. Included are many examples of Toth''s art, from twenty-one complete stories to rare pages, as well as-incredibly-a previously unknown, unfinished, and unpublished penciled story from the 1950s! The tome covers his earliest stories at DC in the 1940s, his defining work at Standard, his incomparable Zorro comics in the 1950s, and a special section collects-for the first time-the Jon Fury pages that Toth produced while in the army, a section that alone is worth the price of admission. Genius, Isolated details Toth''s life story and work through the early 1960s, when he began his sensational move into animated cartoons. The second book in the series, Genius, Illustrated, continues the story.
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More About the Author
Bruce Canwell is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, comics, on-line, and in books. He is currently associate editor and lead writer for IDW Publishing's Library of American Comics imprint, which has earned multiple Eisner and Harvey Award nominations since its first release in 2007 and won Eisners in 2008, 2010, and 2011. Bruce resides in the greater Boston area and is often at Fenway Park or TD Bank Garden during Red Sox and Celtics seasons. His home is filled with books, books, and more books -- and strangely enough, he wishes he had even more time to devote to reading.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By C. D. Case
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'd recommend this book for any comics fan or scholar. For a Toth fan, it is an absolute must. Toth, while something of an acquired taste, is unquestionably one of the greatest artists in comic history, and this book gives an in-depth look at his life and career. This is one of, if not the best, comic creator biographies I've read, and I've read a ton! The authors have successfully created a combination of prose and pictures, which meshes well. They've managed to satisfactorily combine the biographical info with reprints of pages and stories from the subjects early to middle career, including a ton of gorgeous original pages.
The narrative covers Toth's personal and professional life in an interesting, informative, and honest manner, much like the personality of the man himself, but without the tantrums. Revelations include interview text from his 3rd wife, who prior to this was silent on the subject of her ex, new details on marriage numbers one and two of the four Toth had, and greater anecdotal detail from Toth's peers at DC, Standard, Western, and Cambria than I have previously read in various magazines.
Reprinted stories include collector's gold standards from Toth's early career, including original pages with notations, edit marks, etc. There is also even a never before seen story from the late '50s, giving us a look at the master's pencils from his prime, which is a rare sight indeed.
This is volume 1 of a 3 volume series, which will cover Toth's animation work, and '60s-'90s work, which remained amazingly strong. While saying "I can't wait!" for the next 2 volumes is literally incorrect, I'm tempted to do so, because although I CAN wait, I sure don't want to!
The narrative covers Toth's personal and professional life in an interesting, informative, and honest manner, much like the personality of the man himself, but without the tantrums. Revelations include interview text from his 3rd wife, who prior to this was silent on the subject of her ex, new details on marriage numbers one and two of the four Toth had, and greater anecdotal detail from Toth's peers at DC, Standard, Western, and Cambria than I have previously read in various magazines.
Reprinted stories include collector's gold standards from Toth's early career, including original pages with notations, edit marks, etc. There is also even a never before seen story from the late '50s, giving us a look at the master's pencils from his prime, which is a rare sight indeed.
This is volume 1 of a 3 volume series, which will cover Toth's animation work, and '60s-'90s work, which remained amazingly strong. While saying "I can't wait!" for the next 2 volumes is literally incorrect, I'm tempted to do so, because although I CAN wait, I sure don't want to!
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Jesse Hamm
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is everything you'd want in a book about the first half of Alex Toth's remarkable career: giant, lunchtray-sized pages, pristine reproductions (often from originals), generous art samples (both the rare and the celebrated are well represented), thorough research (including much input from Toth's colleagues and family), and superb design (bold but tasteful, perfectly balancing content and whitespace; countless smart, attractive choices). I'd guess the art pages make up over half the book, along with relevant spot illos throughout; a fine balance of artwork and info. Even if you have all of the Toth books and reprints of the past three decades, there's plenty here to warrant buying this -- at least, if you're interested in Toth's pre-'60s career. (His later comics -- where his skills reached their apex -- will apparently be covered in the next volume.) Twitter has been abuzz with praise from comics pros since the day this book debuted, for good reason.
Some minor quibbles:
An index would have been helpful. It's tough to flip through a tome this size in search of a half-remembered reference to this person or that job without an index.
A timeline would also clarify things. The narrative necessarily jumps around a bit, following different threads, so a chronological list of key events would have helped readers keep it all straight. When and how many times did Toth move between California and New York? Etc.
The authors include many irrelevant details. They forgo a thorough list of Toth's influences, skipping undersung greats like Emil Gershwin, but about other influences they include details irrelevant to Toth's development. Do we need to know that Herbert Stoops's father was Presbyterian, or that Ludwig Hohlwein was born in Wiesbaden, or the names and nationalities of Keith Henderson's early studiomates? The life of writer Kim Aamodt is also covered in some detail, but we're never told which of his stories Toth illustrated -- useful info, given Toth's admiration for Aamodt's writing. And why so much about the men behind Cambria Studios? Etc.
It's strange that the identities of two of Toth's wives, and the dates of those marriages, remain a mystery. The book assures us that "dedicated research" was made in vain, but I can't help but think the L.A. or Santa Clara County recorders' offices would have SOMEthing on file. These ladies may still be around and full of interesting memories.
I was disappointed to see a combined 32 pages devoted to Zorro and 77 Sunset Strip. The former is readily available in previous reprints, and the latter is among Toth's least enthusiastic Dell offerings. And do we really need yet another entire reprint of The Crushed Gardenia?
But again, minor quibbles. This book deserves an award.
Some minor quibbles:
An index would have been helpful. It's tough to flip through a tome this size in search of a half-remembered reference to this person or that job without an index.
A timeline would also clarify things. The narrative necessarily jumps around a bit, following different threads, so a chronological list of key events would have helped readers keep it all straight. When and how many times did Toth move between California and New York? Etc.
The authors include many irrelevant details. They forgo a thorough list of Toth's influences, skipping undersung greats like Emil Gershwin, but about other influences they include details irrelevant to Toth's development. Do we need to know that Herbert Stoops's father was Presbyterian, or that Ludwig Hohlwein was born in Wiesbaden, or the names and nationalities of Keith Henderson's early studiomates? The life of writer Kim Aamodt is also covered in some detail, but we're never told which of his stories Toth illustrated -- useful info, given Toth's admiration for Aamodt's writing. And why so much about the men behind Cambria Studios? Etc.
It's strange that the identities of two of Toth's wives, and the dates of those marriages, remain a mystery. The book assures us that "dedicated research" was made in vain, but I can't help but think the L.A. or Santa Clara County recorders' offices would have SOMEthing on file. These ladies may still be around and full of interesting memories.
I was disappointed to see a combined 32 pages devoted to Zorro and 77 Sunset Strip. The former is readily available in previous reprints, and the latter is among Toth's least enthusiastic Dell offerings. And do we really need yet another entire reprint of The Crushed Gardenia?
But again, minor quibbles. This book deserves an award.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By W. DeWald
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a wonderful book--beautifully produced, thoroughly researched and smartly edited. Even a quick perusal of this volume (first of a planned three part collection, this one goes up to 1962) reveals why Toth was often called "the artist's artist"--and a quick reading also reveals shy he was called a number of less flattering names by editors, as the well-written biography makes it abundantly clear Toth's passion for his work often put him cross-wise with those he felt were not producing work up to his high standard.
Of particular interest in this volume are several examples of Toth's romance comics work which are truly a revelation. Never one to simply hack it out, Toth obviously threw himself into the genre, producing some mini-masterpieces.
This is not by any means simply a collection of stories by Toth. There are several complete stories included, but the editors wisely used this format judiciously and uses the space to give us a sample of many more Toth takes on characters and genres. (These appetizers have moved me to re-acquire Toth's Zorro work as well as add the upcoming volume collecting Toth's Standard Comics work to my wishlist.)
I eagerly await Volumes II and III!
Of particular interest in this volume are several examples of Toth's romance comics work which are truly a revelation. Never one to simply hack it out, Toth obviously threw himself into the genre, producing some mini-masterpieces.
This is not by any means simply a collection of stories by Toth. There are several complete stories included, but the editors wisely used this format judiciously and uses the space to give us a sample of many more Toth takes on characters and genres. (These appetizers have moved me to re-acquire Toth's Zorro work as well as add the upcoming volume collecting Toth's Standard Comics work to my wishlist.)
I eagerly await Volumes II and III!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genius? You Bet.
Of the numerous comic book and newspaper artist retrospectives I've read or own, this is probably my favorite. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Robert Blume
5.0 out of 5 stars
1st volume of an ambitious examination of a unique talent!
After I wrote a review on "Setting the Standard,comics by Alex Toth" that I ordered from Amazon.com, I now have something to say about "Genius Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jonhayashi1
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating
Anything with Toth in it is worth owning ... What a great book! This book is gorgeous. A balance of detail and design.
Published 3 months ago by Santos Sparky
5.0 out of 5 stars
A glimpse at genius
While there have been many book rightfully celebrating the comic art genius of Alex Toth this is the most lavish and generous to date. Read more
Published 19 months ago by J. Cassara
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hit or miss?
While I believe this book gives nice details about Alex Toth's family life and the unfinished Toth story handed over to IDW's Dean Mullany is fine. Read more
Published 24 months ago by The Dark Nebula
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love the first volume!
Will definitely pick up the other two! Looking forward to boxing them up in the slip case. ALEX was the best!
Published 24 months ago by Richard J. Goldschmidt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genius, Spotlighted!
Alex Toth is regarded as one of the finest comic book artists ever, but because he never really had a long run on a single title, he has remained just a name fans have heard of. Read more
Published on May 16, 2011 by A. KAPLAN
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Buy
For any fan of illustration, animation or comic art, this is a must buy. I've found IDW publications hit (the recent Jeffrey Jones retrospective) or miss (such as the poorly... Read more
Published on May 15, 2011 by reading guy
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