Alex Toth — Wonder Woman Ties It Up
Commission, 1998
This fun little Alex Toth commission really shows off every side of his cartooning ability—draftsmanship, storytelling, humor, design sense, and of course that instantly recognizable lettering style that somehow always looked effortless.
Typically, it’s drawn on a simple 6×9 sketchpad sheet, folds and all—you can even see how Toth mailed it off to “Joel,” which only adds to the charm.
The gag is terrific: poor Frank Godwin (best known for Rusty Riley and some stunning adventure-strip work) has been literally hogtied by Wonder Woman and forced to help DC (then National Periodical Publications) out of a bind by drawing a few Wonder Woman stories in the 1940s.
I’ve always loved Toth’s Wonder Woman commissions because they never feel overly reverent. He understood the character visually, sure—but he also understood that comics are supposed to be fun.
Even fooling around on sketchpad paper, Toth still couldn’t help making great comics.
