Comic Book Plus Forum
Comic And Book Related => Comic Talk => Topic started by: BlackCat on April 12, 2018, 07:56:22 PM
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While browsing the web this evening, I came across what I take to be a particularly torrid cover by Jack Kirby to issue 13 of Girls' Romances. So far as I could tell, the cover is not credited to him, but to my eyes the style is unmistakeable. However, the inking is clearly neither by him nor by Joe Simon. The year of publication was 1952. If you have any further information, views or opinions on the matter, then please let me know what they are.
Here is a link to the cover in question: http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/girls-romances/13-1.jpg
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Grand Comics Database says it's by Alex Toth, and that it was taken from the splash page of a story in the book. I'm inclined to agree with that, the use of heavy areas of black is very much Toth's style. The face of the woman on the far left edge of the book also looks very much like a typical Toth background character to me.
Added to that, I don't believe Kirby was doing any work for DC at that point in time. What, in particular, makes it look like Kirby to you?
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The style of the figures in the foreground looks very Kirbyesque to me - especially the man's head (including the shading) plus his shirt and the slightly elongated and muscular left arm, which is gripping the girl around the waist. The overall composition of the image, especially the dynamism and flow of the foreground figures, also struck me straight away as being 'Jack Kirby'. The inking is by another hand, and quite possibly Alex Toth's hand. It is certainly both heavy and stylised enough to mask Kirby's input, especially in the detailing. What makes the image interesting to me is that it is an unusually torrid one for Jack Kirby at this period. And that may be one of the reasons why his input is masked by the inking and the page is attributed solely to another artist. I also know that Toth and Kirby were friends. I believe I am right in saying that it was Alex Toth who later recommended Mike Royer to Kirby as being a young inker with potential.
I think it is quite possible that the composition is essentially by Kirby, then inked and fleshed out by Alex Toth, and subsequently attributed to Toth alone.
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I have to agree with Black Cat for this one. The composition and the energy are identifiably Kirby's but the inking is definitely not.
Look at image one here for a comparison.
http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/yr22-copy.jpg.
My gut feeling is that someone other than Toth was also involved, because you would expect his work to look better than this.
For what goes down in my memory as a serious abomination and insult to Alex Toth, take a look at Uncanny X-men 12.
https://www.amazon.com/Uncanny-X-Men-1963-2011-Stan-Lee-ebook/dp/B00ZMDK5FU.
At that time any artist wanting to work for 'The House of Ideas' had to work over Kirby's Roughs, and Toth was given this one. So what did they do? Gave it to Vince Coletta to Ink! Toth's work completely disappeared. As far as I know, the only work he did for Marvel at that time. I wonder why?
Cheers!
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I agree with you that Alex Toth is a first rate comic book artist with a first rate style of his own. And that is to say the least.
Interestingly, I recently bought a copy of DC's 'Young Love' from 1977 which contains the final part of what was obviously an ongoing story called '20 Miles to Heartbreak'. It's drawn by Toth and inked by Colletta. I haven't read it yet, but it looks okay in a very stripped-down, Colletta-ish sort of way, but my feeling is that it would have looked like a far fuller work of graphic art if Toth had inked it himself.