The Dell Comic Book (Four Color #1085) was published in March of  1960, and follows the Pal film closely. Art is by Alex Toth, a highly respected artist who began working in comics as a freelancer for Famous Funnies in 1945.

By 1947, Toth was working on "The Green Lantern." Later, he did lots of work for Dell (Western Publishing), including the Zorro comic book and many of Dell's movie adaptations. According to his biography in the excellent and highly recommended Comics Between The Panels, " 'At the age of 16 or 17, Toth was doing things far in advance of what we were doing,' Joe Kubert once said. Added Gil Kane, 'Alex Toth was, at 21 or 22, I think, the best artist in the entire business.'"

Toth worked at Dell from '56 to '60, then moved on to work at Hanna-Barbera's animation department, where he did character designs for Space Ghost and other TV shows. According to Between The Panels authors Duin and Richardson, some of Toth's finest work was done in the early 1960's for publisher James Warren.

Between The Panels reports that "...as Toth retreated toward isolation in the 1980's, it didn't sit well with former cartooning buddies like Irwin Hasen. 'He's a genius,' Hasen argued. 'We all realized that. A master of design, a master of simplicity. But he was a strange man. Toth is stuck in a time warp. He [currently still] lives in the 40's and 50's.' "

Toth was an excellent choice for Dell's movie adaptation of George Pal's "The Time Machine."

 

The "Classics Illustrated" Time Machine Comic #133 (art by Cameron) was originally issued in July of 1956. There were nine re-printings of the comic; a 'first edition' can be distinguished by the fact that the highest number on the re-order list is # 132... and there's an ad for the next Classics Illustrated Comic to be released - #134, Romeo and Juliet.

Read the "Classics Illustrated" comic book here! Following link by Sandra Petojevic, Master of Arts, October 29, 2006

One Time Machine scholar suggests that George Pal's movie draws on the Classics Illustrated visualization. Your initial reaction may be "no way!" But consider his comments:

 

 

"Take a good look at the portrayal of Weena in the Classics Illustrated adaptation of 1956 and try to ignore that Yvette Mimieux was chosen [in 1959] for her likeness to the Weena in that comic book! Even the hair style is similar

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"And note the similarity of some details in the Classics Illustrated to David Duncan's screenplay. For example, in the comic book, like in the movie, Weena does not die. Also, the comic book shows future times before the Traveler reaches 802,701 (most notable are the tethered dirigibles at the top of page 5, which [also] show up in the movie) and, in both cases, the end of the world is ignored. All these and other characteristics from the comic book show up in the movie."

 

 

 

"There are other design similarities which Pal appears to have borrowed from the Classics Illustrated adaptation. Among them are the color of the Morlocks - bluish, not beige-white like Wells describes them. 

 

 

 

 

"Also, take a look at the Palace of Green Porcelain (top of page 28). It's hard to ignore the uncanny design similarity with the dome building of the Eloi in the Pal film. Even the tower, which in the comic book is at the front, appears in the movie at the side of the building."

 

 

The "Classics Illustrated" Time Machine may have influenced not only the Pal movie, but subsequent comic adaptations as well. The basic design of the machine on the cover for the "Marvel Classics Comics" cover (left) looks... oddly familiar.

And the Marvel Morlock? If you ask me, he's related to the guys who inhabit Maurice Sendak's "In The Night Kitchen." (right)