US comics publisher DC Comics has begun promoting DC Universe by Alex Toth: The Deluxe Edition, out next July, to the delight of fans of an incredible comic artist and storyteller.
Considered one of the most influential and important comic book artists of all time, many of today’s industry professionals are unhesitant in describing him simply the best there ever was, as this interview from Comic Book Artist reveals, few artists of his calibre contemplated and studied the art form as intensely and with such obvious love for the form. He was also one of the first true comics fans, back in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Here’s the listing for the upcoming hardcover book from Penguin Random House…
(The cover is taken from the Super Friends Limited Collectors’ Edition, and, we’re reliably told, is placeholder, especially since, when first published, DC decided to patch Toth’s Superman face with one by Curt Swan and George Klein).
DC UNIVERSE BY ALEX TOTH: THE DELUXE EDITION
A Master of Minimalism – Alex Toth’s DC Legacy in One Deluxe Volume
DC Universe by Alex Toth: Deluxe Edition celebrates the legendary artist’s groundbreaking work across decades of DC Comics. From noir-tinged mysteries and war stories to romance, horror, and superhero tales, this collection showcases Toth’s unmatched storytelling and design mastery. Featuring stories from Detective Comics, House of Mystery, The Witching Hour, Our Army at War, Adventure Comics, and more, this deluxe hardcover is a tribute to one of comics’ most influential visual stylists.
With over 30 stories spanning the 1940s to the 1990s – including rare pinups and gallery pieces – this is the definitive Toth collection for fans and historians alike.
The contents have yet to be announced for the hardcover collection but on X, comic creator Paul Fricke, host of the Alex Toth In Depth podcast noted the cover is but a stand-in. “It’ll be more than the 200 pages cited in that listing.
“Care is being taken with content choices, restoring art, and with design and colour presentation. Very good people are involved,” Paul, also creator of Blood Orange with writer Tim Avers, says. “I’ll share more details as I get them…”
Paul was among the fans of Toth’s work asked to weigh in with a list and other recommendations by someone working with DC directly on the project as a consultant.
Follow Paul on Instagram for the latest news he has.
Born 25th June 1928 in Manhattan, New York, Alex Toth – an official website here, from which this short biography is taken – spent a lifetime at his drawing table. He graduated from the High School of Industrial Arts, and defined his work by his perfectionistic ideals and master of form. His self imposed standard of telling a story with the fewest and most dramatic black and white lines guided everything he created.
In 1947 he was hired by DC comics to work on Green Lantern. Amongst his most highly acclaimed work was Zorro and Bravo for Adventure.
He moved to California in the late 1950’s where he met his wife, Christina Schaber (Toth) Hyde, whom he had four children with. They later divorced in 1968. He went on to marry Guyla (Avery) Toth who he lost to pancreatic cancer in 1985.
On 27th May 2006, aged just 77, he passed away in Burbank, California at his drawing table. He left behind four children, seven grandchilden, friends and fans across the world, a legacy and a body of work that is still revered and held as the golden standard for his genre.
“Although there have been quite a few collections of Toth’s work over the years (most of which I own!), his work at DC has been noticeably absent,” notes Randy Reynaldo, creator-writer-artist of the globetrotting action comic-book series, Rob Hanes Adventures, who was one of many creators who enjoyed correspondence with Toth while he was alive. “So this is way overdue.
“For anyone who doesn’t know Toth, he’s considered an ‘artist’s artist’ because he has been arguably more revered by his peers and colleagues while remaining little known in the mainstream. This is partly because the somewhat mercurial cartoonist never worked on or was associated with a single character or series long term. But he was greatly admired (and studied) for his art and storytelling, and the cinematic way he framed shots, while also displaying an incredible sense of design.
“Much of his career was also spent doing production and character design and storyboarding in tv animation – so if you’re familiar with the Super Friends, Jonny Quest and Space Ghost, you’ve been imprinted by his work.
“Toth… was a disciple of the cartoonists who influenced me, which included Roy Crane, Noel Sickles and Milton Caniff. Toth was among the next generation of cartoonists who came from that same school and refined (and, arguably, surpassed) that style. I discovered him a little later in my early 20s, but then picked up anything by him I could find. Since then, much of his work has been collected, the capstone perhaps being the huge three-volume coffee table books that comprehensively covered his life, and his career in comics and animation.
“Though some of his work at DC has been included in these other collections – partly because some of it was very admired and influential – his DC work otherwise has not been seen much since they were first published, often simply as backup filler stories! So this volume is very welcome.”
DC Universe by Alex Toth: The Deluxe Edition has an on sale date of 14th July 2026, announced as running to to over 200 pages, with a cover price of $49.99 | ISBN: 9781799508489
Head downthetubes for…
• Alex Toth: Official Site: alexandertoth.com
• Alex Toth In Depth podcast hosted by Paul Fricke
• Follow Paul on Instagram for the latest news he has | Linktree
• downthetubes: Creating Comics: Alex Toth’s advice to artists
As we reported earlier this year, Michael Oeming, artist of Powers, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress, Last of Us and Fortnite comics has found a pile of correspondences with the legendary Alex Toth – and is working them into a video for his Art of Michael Oeming YouTube Channel.
• downthetubes: That Time Alex Toth Almost Went to Hollywood
Alex Toth Books
• Genius, Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth (AmazonUK Affiliate Link, Paperback Edition)
by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell
This lavishly illustrated biography documents the life and art of one of the most significant comics and animation artists of all time. In comic books, Alex Toth was the foremost proponent of modern design and composition. Starting in 1950, his work influenced almost every one of his contemporaries and has continued to work its magic on the generations that followed. In animation, his 1960s model sheets for Hanna-Barbera are still passed around as swipe sources from animator to young animator in the 21st Century.
The updated paperback edition of this biography was compiled with complete access to the family archives and with the full cooperation of Toth’s children, this biography features many rare comics pages, photographs, and drawings. It also reproduces 20 complete stories, including a previously unknown and unfinished story from 1950, most printed from the original artwork.
• Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell
Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell continue their comprehensive review of the life and art of Alex Toth in Genius, Illustrated. Covering the years from the 1960s to Toth’s poignant death in 2006, this oversized book features artwork and complete stories from Toth’s latter-day work at Warren, DC Comics, Red Circle, Marvel, and his own creator-owned properties, plus samples of his animation work for Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears, and others, as well as sketchbook pages, doodles, advertising art, and other rarities provided through the cooperation of Toth’s family and his legion of fans.
Two of Toth’s best stories are reproduced complete from the original artwork: “Burma Skies” and “White Devil…Yellow Devil.”
• Genius, Animated: The Cartoon Art of Alex Toth (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell
The third book in this series concludes the in-depth look into the life and art of one of the most significant comics and animation artists of all time. This companion volume to the award-winning Genius, Isolated and Genius, Illustrated zooms in to focus on Toth’s groundbreaking contributions in the field of animation and features many rarely-seen or never-before-published pieces of art, much of it uncovered in the archives of Hanna-Barbera Studios.
Featuring presentation illustrations for unsold series, character designs and storyboards for old favourites such as Space Ghost, SHAZZAN, and Superfriends, and work taken from both the beginning (Space Angel) and end (Bionic 6) of Toth’s “Saturday kidvid” career, this oversized artbook features observations from animation professionals about his work, plus Alex’s own commentary on the cartoon shows that shaped a generation. Winner of the 2015 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Book, Genius, Animated is filled, cover-to-cover, with must-see material, making it essential reading for Toth-fans and animation enthusiasts alike.
Alex Toth Art for Sale…
Bit by bit, Alex Toth’s wonderful two part Black Canary strip published in Adventure Comics seems to be coming up for auction at Heritage Auctions – and here’s another page, from Adventure Comics #419, heading to auction next month. “This page features some breath-taking storytelling panels, with creative angles and amazing use of shadows,” enthuses artist David Roach. “If I was putting together DC’s upcoming Toth book I’d make sure I ran this story in black and white – shot from the originals – so we could luxuriate in his incredible work here.”
The published version, in colour, is horribly muddied, much of the detail in the final page lost.
Other Alex Toth pages coming to auction include a complete “Johnny Donald” story for Catholic Pictorial #1, published in 1947, drawn when he was just 19, and two superb pages for Hot Wheels #5, the artist’s love of cars and mastery of comic storytelling gloriously evident in the latter.
• Alex Toth art for sale at Heritage Auctions (this link updates depending on availability)
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, Books, Comic Art, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds, US Comics
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I published and conducted the last interview with Alex Toth in Jon FURY in Japan # 1, published in 2011. This was done at his request. Alex wanted to set the record straight about his dust-up with an editor at National Comics/DC in the mid-1950s. I find it rather odd that Randy and Fricke make no mention of this magazine. I invited storyboard artists Anson and Benton Jew to join me on the interview, as they wanted to meet Alex Toth. Little did we know that Alex Toth was to pass away not long after. You can purchase Jon FURY in Japan from Stuart Ng Books.
Thanks for the information, Paul. It looks like Jon Fury in Japan #1 is sold out at Stuart Ng Books – is it available digitally?