RETRO REVIEW: Bravo For Adventure

IDW Publishing; $34.99

Bravo for Adventure has been called “Alex Toth’s magnum opus,” but that phrase may do a minor disservice both to Toth and the work itself. The phrase “magnum opus” often carries with it expectations of seriousness, and it is that seriousness that Bravo for Adventure diligently swerves to avoid at every turn. To be sure, with Toth it seems that everything the artist did, down to his scribbles, is worth studying, so we can’t take anything away from “serious” in that sense.

And it’s not that there aren’t serious consequences to some of the actions in the adventures. Rather it’s Toth’s approach to the material that is much more akin to an Errol Flynn swashbuckling movie of the 1930s or Raiders of the Lost Ark than the darker, more contemplative stories to which Bravo was a reaction.

It would seem that the deep contemplation in this story all took place around Toth’s drawing board rather than in the story itself.

Just about everything that made Toth great is on display here, from inventive (but readily discernable) panel layout to the pacing, from his use of shadow to his ability to distill the influences of Milton Caniff, Noel Sickles, and others into something simultaneously new and timeless. If you like action-adventure or just great comic book storytelling, this is a must read volume.

Bravo for Adventure is a perfect companion (including in size and format) to The Library of American Comics’ Alex Toth: Genius three-volume set, and a great chance to see that genius at work.

– J.C. Vaughn