Toppi is a master technician. You can be technically proficient and still not blindly creative. He was 100% cartooning with a technical quality akin to architectural drafting. Your critique is spot on. I am also seeking to sketch and diagram to the extent that the familiarity of the form is so well depicted that the final product allows you to meander. The FUN he had not being bound to precise perspective translates so well.
I've recently discovered your channel and am so happy, I am always looking for particular graphic novels and your videos really are among the few on YT that inspire my searches! Can't wait for more!
So glad to have you on board and so happy that the books we are talking about are the kind you are looking for. These kinds of works definitely deserve more attention and more support!
Glad it helped. I saw it one night while spacing out staring at the trees in my back yard. I am reading a theoretical book right now that provides concepts and vocabulary that would have made it easier for me to describe what I was grasping at in this video. Definitely keep an eye out for that review. The book is amazing, Stick Figures: Drawing as Human Practice. -Carson
Great insights, Carson! I've been fascinated by Toppi and always enjoy when you do a video on his work. I think the cubism approach to composition is accurate. I also think of Klimt in connection to Toppi - the mix of 2d and 3d, the flat compositions of shapes and the design and texture combined with realistic rendering on the figures' faces, hands, etc. And very interesting about Toppi's possible color blindness. Sounds like you're onto something there too. And I'm with you on him leaning a lot on the text, and that doing so frees him up to be less clear and more experimental with the art. I think that kind of thing is always a trade-off in comics - you can lean more one way or the other as long as the end result is clear enough to the reader. For example, if the story itself is realistic, you can do stylized and expressionistic stuff in the art (City of Glass, "Prisoner on the Hell Planet," romance manga, etc.), while if you were doing a story in which supernatural things happen, you have to be more careful about realistically depicting what's happening - like, if a character in the story can literally breathe fire, then it's harder to draw them *figuratively* breathing fire, whereas the figurative panel would work more easily in a story where the reader recognizes immediately that the fire coming out of the character's mouth is meant figuratively and not literally. And so on. So while part of me wishes we got more moment by moment type storytelling from Toppi, I appreciate that he was able to retain clarity while being so unusual in the visuals by going more in the direction of children's picture books in terms of text plus big images, working with lots of text added to collages that are like old fashioned movie posters or whatever. So it seems like, whether he did this in these stages or not, Toppi would 1. design compositions based on flat shapes, 2. draw things with realistic or semi-realistic proportions and details (some proportions being exaggerated in a cartoony way for effect), and 3. render with wild, chaotic (or chaotic-seeming) lines for the sake of values and balance and maybe also just interesting texture. Would you agree with that? Such an incredible, unusual combination.
Thanks, Michael. I have to keep coming back to Toppi because he mystifies me. I am fine with Toppi's approach to writing. The only thing I really hate in comics is when the writing and the art express the exact same thing. All other combinations can work wonderfully and Toppi mastered his approach, for sure. I think the one thing that is missing from your 3. is that the wild line work also creates a sense of movement and pulse, the soft undulation of a breeze in the leaves. That creates a real sense of "I am there" in his work, which in a sense replaces the super accurate linear perspective and abused depth cues. It is the combination of Iconic/Cartoon-Brain perception with a really embedded "I am using things and navigating the world" kind of perception, and then instead of being bound by the "tracing a picture on a plane of glass" flat-screen approach to space that we get starting with the renaissance, Toppi instead relies on that Klimt'y, Cubist approach to treating the picture plane as a space for pleasing design. Super powerful combo.
Maybe I didn't understand well your explanation but it was obvious to me xD. I mean it wasn't a revelation. If I read the introductions of these books I can understand why you feel that they focus on composition mainly but in general his combination of realistic, iconic, astraction, cartoonish and symbolic elements is well known. As I told you in a previous video he started as an animator. The ingredients of the potion are known, but his magic remains unique. I never heard of him being color blind, so I don't know. I always thought that the color of the skin is symbolic. I believe that these introductions focus too much on his drawings but almost never on his stories and maybe this extends also in US comics/art school. Although, Toppi's stories are fables, myths, full of magical realism, oral told tales, folkloristic and for sure you can feel the love of the cultures, geography, places. The magic doesn't stop on the drawings honestly, also his text is reminescent of that kind of storytelling, which is still unique. Even here though some one says that he is more of an illustrator than a comic artist, but then even his balloon positioning drives the reader... these are comic book things, just ain't traditional. Back to colors: the color of the skin is aligned with the terrain because the man is seen as part of the place he lives in. I always had that feeling, which might be wrong. In addition, his stories may be full of irony but they are also always bitter and with a death aura, that's why he didn't use bright or vivid colors. Anyway, the colors of Sharaz-De's few stories in color are phenomenal for me; in that case they are kind of different from the rest. The glossy paper is just too bright for his colors, but the printing is really good.
I totally agree with most of his color work. I don't enjoy it as much as his black and White stuff. My favorite colored comics work he did do was for some series called Uomo Avventura(Sp?) Where it was these great flats that were kind of psychedelic.
I believe that everyone would pick his b&w if he has to choose. Although did you check Toppi's tarots? The illustrations are all in color and the cards are amazing to me. The 3 volumes in Un'Uomo, un'Avventura collection are a good example of his use of colors and these are also some of his best comics, especially the third one, in my opinion.
@OdysseyMichele Yeah Swamp one was great. My favorite was the first, The Man From The Nile. I've reread that and all 3 so many times and I dont speak a lick of Italian lol.
@clubgrubbug The Tarot stuff was great but the color sections of Sharaz De wasn't really doing it for me. Though I do love his art books with the painted illustrations like Bab Ahlam and Scenes From The Bible.
But would it work or do you think it would be better than the originals? Toppi wasn't into traditional storytelling (he did but was bored) and both Tarzan and Conan were. Besides he would have to work without freedom and we already saw how it ended when Toppi got to the a few mainstream italian characters. The combination of the elements that Carson was talking about isn't working as it should or you wouldn't even get it (for sure you get the hatching at least). You can type Sergio Toppi Julia or Sergio Toppi Nick Rider to check how he approached the 2 characters. Sure, these pages are still looking cool, but that's not the usual Toppi. Besides he is more into Terry and the Pirate type of adventure, in fact he also did that kind of exotic adventure comics for kids (even in the 90's he did something in that direction).
Toppi is a master technician. You can be technically proficient and still not blindly creative. He was 100% cartooning with a technical quality akin to architectural drafting. Your critique is spot on. I am also seeking to sketch and diagram to the extent that the familiarity of the form is so well depicted that the final product allows you to meander. The FUN he had not being bound to precise perspective translates so well.
Fun is exactly right. You can tell each line was a joy for him. I definitely aspire to that sense of joy in rendering.
I've recently discovered your channel and am so happy, I am always looking for particular graphic novels and your videos really are among the few on YT that inspire my searches! Can't wait for more!
So glad to have you on board and so happy that the books we are talking about are the kind you are looking for. These kinds of works definitely deserve more attention and more support!
Just brought this last week. Amazing art!
Indeed. Bafflingly good.
i need to get more toppi
I need ALL the Toppi😅
A great analysis. This really explained what I unconsciously found interesting about his work
Glad it helped. I saw it one night while spacing out staring at the trees in my back yard.
I am reading a theoretical book right now that provides concepts and vocabulary that would have made it easier for me to describe what I was grasping at in this video. Definitely keep an eye out for that review. The book is amazing, Stick Figures: Drawing as Human Practice.
-Carson
I just love the "Mad magazine" kid at the end.
Excellent insights, thanks for sharing. Really inspiring!
My pleasure. Took me forever to get it.
Great insights, Carson! I've been fascinated by Toppi and always enjoy when you do a video on his work.
I think the cubism approach to composition is accurate. I also think of Klimt in connection to Toppi - the mix of 2d and 3d, the flat compositions of shapes and the design and texture combined with realistic rendering on the figures' faces, hands, etc.
And very interesting about Toppi's possible color blindness. Sounds like you're onto something there too.
And I'm with you on him leaning a lot on the text, and that doing so frees him up to be less clear and more experimental with the art. I think that kind of thing is always a trade-off in comics - you can lean more one way or the other as long as the end result is clear enough to the reader. For example, if the story itself is realistic, you can do stylized and expressionistic stuff in the art (City of Glass, "Prisoner on the Hell Planet," romance manga, etc.), while if you were doing a story in which supernatural things happen, you have to be more careful about realistically depicting what's happening - like, if a character in the story can literally breathe fire, then it's harder to draw them *figuratively* breathing fire, whereas the figurative panel would work more easily in a story where the reader recognizes immediately that the fire coming out of the character's mouth is meant figuratively and not literally. And so on. So while part of me wishes we got more moment by moment type storytelling from Toppi, I appreciate that he was able to retain clarity while being so unusual in the visuals by going more in the direction of children's picture books in terms of text plus big images, working with lots of text added to collages that are like old fashioned movie posters or whatever.
So it seems like, whether he did this in these stages or not, Toppi would 1. design compositions based on flat shapes, 2. draw things with realistic or semi-realistic proportions and details (some proportions being exaggerated in a cartoony way for effect), and 3. render with wild, chaotic (or chaotic-seeming) lines for the sake of values and balance and maybe also just interesting texture. Would you agree with that? Such an incredible, unusual combination.
Thanks, Michael. I have to keep coming back to Toppi because he mystifies me.
I am fine with Toppi's approach to writing. The only thing I really hate in comics is when the writing and the art express the exact same thing. All other combinations can work wonderfully and Toppi mastered his approach, for sure.
I think the one thing that is missing from your 3. is that the wild line work also creates a sense of movement and pulse, the soft undulation of a breeze in the leaves. That creates a real sense of "I am there" in his work, which in a sense replaces the super accurate linear perspective and abused depth cues. It is the combination of Iconic/Cartoon-Brain perception with a really embedded "I am using things and navigating the world" kind of perception, and then instead of being bound by the "tracing a picture on a plane of glass" flat-screen approach to space that we get starting with the renaissance, Toppi instead relies on that Klimt'y, Cubist approach to treating the picture plane as a space for pleasing design.
Super powerful combo.
Super interesting insights dude, This stuff is seriously cool 😍
Thanks! I have been trying to crack his code forever.
I have this it's beautiful. Trying to grab as many of these as possible
All of the magnetic books are awesome. Hopefully they collect everything he did.
Maestro Toppi
The maestro of maestros!
Maybe I didn't understand well your explanation but it was obvious to me xD. I mean it wasn't a revelation. If I read the introductions of these books I can understand why you feel that they focus on composition mainly but in general his combination of realistic, iconic, astraction, cartoonish and symbolic elements is well known. As I told you in a previous video he started as an animator. The ingredients of the potion are known, but his magic remains unique.
I never heard of him being color blind, so I don't know. I always thought that the color of the skin is symbolic. I believe that these introductions focus too much on his drawings but almost never on his stories and maybe this extends also in US comics/art school. Although, Toppi's stories are fables, myths, full of magical realism, oral told tales, folkloristic and for sure you can feel the love of the cultures, geography, places. The magic doesn't stop on the drawings honestly, also his text is reminescent of that kind of storytelling, which is still unique. Even here though some one says that he is more of an illustrator than a comic artist, but then even his balloon positioning drives the reader... these are comic book things, just ain't traditional.
Back to colors: the color of the skin is aligned with the terrain because the man is seen as part of the place he lives in. I always had that feeling, which might be wrong.
In addition, his stories may be full of irony but they are also always bitter and with a death aura, that's why he didn't use bright or vivid colors.
Anyway, the colors of Sharaz-De's few stories in color are phenomenal for me; in that case they are kind of different from the rest.
The glossy paper is just too bright for his colors, but the printing is really good.
Maybe I am just slow, but I get it now.
I guess the real revelation, for me, was his ability to create a sense of 'thereness' with all those elements.
I totally agree with most of his color work. I don't enjoy it as much as his black and White stuff. My favorite colored comics work he did do was for some series called Uomo Avventura(Sp?) Where it was these great flats that were kind of psychedelic.
I believe that everyone would pick his b&w if he has to choose. Although did you check Toppi's tarots? The illustrations are all in color and the cards are amazing to me.
The 3 volumes in Un'Uomo, un'Avventura collection are a good example of his use of colors and these are also some of his best comics, especially the third one, in my opinion.
His line work is so psychedelic, but the colors are often too grounded. Those Tarot pieces, and the Sharaz De stuff is better because it is stranger.
@OdysseyMichele Yeah Swamp one was great. My favorite was the first, The Man From The Nile. I've reread that and all 3 so many times and I dont speak a lick of Italian lol.
@clubgrubbug The Tarot stuff was great but the color sections of Sharaz De wasn't really doing it for me. Though I do love his art books with the painted illustrations like Bab Ahlam and Scenes From The Bible.
@@johnhunt6555 it was with these 3 volumes that Toppi became Toppi. Well, basically with the first.
If he was American and of a certain generation he would have excelled at doing Tarzan or Conan or any period history adventure newspaper strip.
Oh, yeah, that would have been amazing!
But would it work or do you think it would be better than the originals? Toppi wasn't into traditional storytelling (he did but was bored) and both Tarzan and Conan were. Besides he would have to work without freedom and we already saw how it ended when Toppi got to the a few mainstream italian characters. The combination of the elements that Carson was talking about isn't working as it should or you wouldn't even get it (for sure you get the hatching at least). You can type Sergio Toppi Julia or Sergio Toppi Nick Rider to check how he approached the 2 characters. Sure, these pages are still looking cool, but that's not the usual Toppi.
Besides he is more into Terry and the Pirate type of adventure, in fact he also did that kind of exotic adventure comics for kids (even in the 90's he did something in that direction).
His work has to be grounded in reality, so YES Conan, Tarzan, Warlord as depicted by Toppi would so much sense.
@@OdysseyMichele It is a fun thought experiment.