DAVE TAYLOR

Alex Toth. A hero in the comic book and animation world. If you don`t already know his work then shame on you! Alex sadly died (at his desk!) last year.

In 1989 I started working for Marvel UK on Zorro. I was contracted to do the last six books out of a twelve book series,doing pencils,inks and covers. I was half way through the job when my editor (who shall remain nameless for reasons to follow) phoned me and told me "...some bad news. I`m sorry to tell you that Marvel in New York have faxed over some covers that they want us to use. I can`t make out the name of the artist...it`s Alan Tote or something..." I sat back in my chair. "I`ll fax them over to you now. Sorry about this Dave but we`ll have to use them." When the long fax with the three images arrived I instantly recognised the penmanship and the usual stunning design. "It`s Alex Toth!" I said. "You know him?" came the reply. "He`s the guy that did the Zorro books years ago. He`s some kind of God!!" "So you don`t mind then?" Sheesh! It was my first pro job in comics and this "bad news" will never be forgotten. I believe that Alex had heard that Marvel were doing these books and had asked to be involved. He was told that an artist was already working on them (I hate to think what he thought of my work!). So to make amends they gave him the last three covers to do. I`m posting these to share with the world as the books were probably only seen by a handful of folk and I`m in a sharing mood tonight! My first job and Alex bloomin' Toth did my covers!!! I havn`t been the same since!

If anyone out there knows of the whereabouts of these covers I`d be delighted to hear.

(images copyright Marvel 2007)