Alex Toth: 1928-2006
by Benjamin Chandler

Fear is such a common emotion that it almost goes unnoticed in adult life. It's a dull tremble in the pit of the gut that happens on the way to the boss's office, or when the doctor calls with test results, or when the DMV guy walks up after your car has gone through the emissions test. Or when you see a large spider crawling in the tub, or checking yourself for ticks after a hike, or when your son hands you a book about snakes and you can't even touch the photos (even though they're just ink on paper). But in many of these instances, fear is only temporary.

As a child, fear is so much more tangible and long-lasting. Frightening things cling and produce a feeling of uneasiness that persists for hours. Maybe even days. How many toy clowns had to be thrown out after "Poltergeist" and how many cackling Oz witches and melting "Raiders of the Lost Ark" Nazis would blink into the mind's eye right as one was going to sleep?

I recall being younger than school age and watching a space-based cartoon where a villain struck me as truly evil and I remember being chilled by the breezy jazz music that scored the show and the villain's dastardly plan. (I changed the channel.)

For years I wouldn't remember the name of the show, or even what it was about. But it had a look, and I recognized it when I saw a rerun of "Space Ghost" twenty-some years later. With seeing "Space Ghost" came re-seeing "The Herculoids" and significantly more delightful memories flooded back. Gone were the snipey villains over which I switched channels; now monsters strolled. For a boy who loved all things dinosaur/monster/creature, "The Herculoids" was a dream come true: a cat-faced dragon named Zok, the blobby, apricot-colored Gloop and Gleep, the Triceratops-caterpillar Tundro, and stony-ape Igoo. When I revisited "The Herculoids" (which, unlike "Space Ghost", I had never really forgotten) I was no longer riveted by the story. In fact, I just wanted to see the monsters, relish the design, and listen to the voice actors.

"The Herculoids" was created by Alex Toth, who passed away at his drawing desk last week. He was 77. Toth's style was simple, yet powerful. He was capable of stripping down everything to make his stories and characters clear. He strove for pacing and quality storytelling in his comics and storyboards. His character designs for animation are clear and strong—Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, and the dear Herculoids among them.

It's people like Toth who add a layer to our lives but normally go unnoticed. Thinking just on "The Herculoids", one could go beyond the work of Toth and celebrate the voice actors. For example, Gloop and Gleep, the pear-shaped amoebas with round, black eyes and the shadow of a mouth never spoke words, but gargled a noise that sounded like they were talking through a fan. The late voice actor Don Messick provided the pair's burbles. Messick's name is not widely known, but most people are familiar with the raspy voices of Astro from "The Jetsons," Scooby-doo, and Papa Smurf. Add to the list Jonny Quest's dad, Dr. Quest, Boo-Boo Bear, Ranger Smith, and Droopy (among many others) and you have a feel for how familiar Messick's voice is, even if his name is not.

As a child, I never would have known who Alex Toth or Don Messick was. But I knew the Herculoids. And my life has a little more joy because of it. It's artists like these two men who have filled the crannies of our minds. They have worked without celebrity to create something we can fall in love with.

And perhaps this is what we all should strive for: that beloved, but uncelebrated mark that touches another person's heart. Because in the end, a life without that mark is all we truly need fear.

Email Benjamin Chandler at blchandler at sbcglobal dot net

— graphic by Benjamin Chandler (blchandler at sbcglobal dot net)