I meant to correct the assumption that this quote was from an editor at TCJ, but never got around to it:
[...] In visual terms, [Toth's] work is the equal of much of the work of the men and women who decorated the slicks.
But what he chose to illustrate remained banal, mundane and mediocre, which was much the result of his own personal choices. In all of his public (and private) statements [...] he dismissed any narrative that didn't in some way reflect the boyhood tales of adventure he'd grown up with as pretentious or nihilistic.
The great tragedy of this astonishing comics artist was simply that, for all his unique gifts, he couldn't recognize a good story if it came up and bit him on the ass. [...]
In the obituary that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Toth was reported as being disappointed in his career. He had every reason to be: In a career that spanned over six decades, he produced so much visual beauty supporting so much utter bullshit.
So let us accept the simple fact that Alex Toth was the [sic] ultimately responsible for his own fate. [...]
So we're left to imagine work that might have been, had Toth been able to see past his own prejudices and work with writers who might have been able to produce narrative [sic] that would have taken greater advantage of his prodigious skills in the service of something more interesting than Josie and the Pussycats.
-- p. 16, TCJ No. 277
That was from Howard Chaykin. My fault for not mentioning him to begin with.
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