Hot Rods and Rare Toth

One of the cool things about artists like Alex Toth is that you can stumble across their work in what might seem the unlikeliest of places. About ten years ago my son-in-law gave me a small stack of motoring cartoon magazines, and in a couple of them there were some real gems. Here are two short stories not just drawn but also written by Alex Toth. The first is from CARtoons 26 (December 1965), and is a nice example of the growing influence of the Women's Movement:

The next is a three page short about the trials and tribulations of a corporate executive in the automobile industry, from Hot Rod Cartoons 6 (Sept 1965):

Hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I did.

True Nurse Stories: New Heroic Comics 44 - "Nurse Without Fear"

This is a short, two page, true life story of a heroic nurse, Esther McElveen, who gave her life making sure patients were safe after their sanatorium caught fire in South Carolina. The story, published in 1947, speaks for itself, but of additional note is that it is an early example of the work of none other than Alex Toth.

The book has an interesting painted cover, but Toth's interior artwork is the main attraction (there are two stories by him). Here's the nurse story:

The image of nurses presented by this short true story is that of the self-sacrificing angel. We see beautiful, feminine nurses dedicated to the care of their patients, with one who sacrificed her life for their sake.

Women Running From Houses on Comic Book Covers: Sinister House of Secret Love 3 - "Bride of the Falcon"

 

A short while back I was the recipient of a minor revelation - that the pictures on the covers of gothic romance novels almost invariably feature women running from houses. This gem of information has lurked in my consciousness since that day that I read Spectergirl's blog about gothic romances, aptly named Women Running From Houses. Now although there are not too many actual gothic romance comic books, it is nevertheless a recognized sub-genre, so I took a look to see if this same phenomenon held true for our beloved medium. Lo and behold, both of DC's gothic love titles (Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love and Sinister House of Secret Love) sport women running from houses on some but not all of their covers, although I failed to find similar conformity amongst the issues of Charlton's Haunted Love. I've chosen one example from each series to post, starting with this Alex Toth penciled treat, nicely inked by Frank Giacoia, from the March 1972 issue of Sinister House of Secret Love. Written by Golden Age artist Frank Robbins, it's 32 pages long, so I'm going to use small thumbnails.

This is a tale of a young woman looking for the love of her life. It's about Venice, a gondolier, the mysterious Isola Tranquillo, love letters and negligees, a castle, an insane facially disfigured dark-haired count with flashes of white above his ears, very long stone staircases, passionate embraces, house servants, a silent paralyzed woman apparently the count's mother, birds of prey, towers, the young woman's pet dog, medicine, completely inappropriate clothing for walking through dense woodland... but no, don't let me give it all away. Read this "Gothic mystery love story" for yourself. So as a "thank you" to Spectergirl for alerting me to this fascinating phenomenon, here's the story - enjoy!

 Note: scans courtesy of Flatterman.