Mort Meskin
Encyclopedia
Morton "Mort" Meskin was a prolific American
comic book
artist
best-known for his work in the 1940s Golden Age of comic books
, well into the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age.
, New York
to parents Max and Rose Meskin. He was a childhood fan of pulp magazine
s, especially The Shadow
, and his interests led him to become the art editor of his high school
newspaper
, and later to attend the Art Students League of New York
and Brooklyn's Pratt Institute
, from which he graduated in 1938.
, one of the most prominent "packagers" who supplied complete comic books to publishers testing the waters of the emerging medium. There he did pencils for Fiction House
's "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
" in Jumbo Comics. In late 1939, he also worked for the packager Harry "A" Chesler, producing material for the MLJ/Archie Comics
characters as Ty-Gor son of Tiger, The Press Guardian, Bob Phantom, Mr. Satan, The Shield
, Wizard, and Dick Storm Between 1939 and 1942.
In 1941, Meskin started at National Comics
, drawing stories for the characters Vigilante
, Wildcat
, Starman and Johnny Quick
. He told comics historian and artist Jim Steranko
that during this period his art style was heavily influenced by film
: "Citizen Kane
(1941) influenced us a great deal, all of us. We were very excited about it and spent quite a bit of time discussing it, employing its elements in our work. There was a contest as to who saw it the most times".
During his time at National
, Meskin also did work for Marvel Comics
, Gleason
and Nedor Comics
, Spark
, and other publishers. At Nedor he worked on the Black Terror
as well as on the Fighting Yank
together with Jerry Robinson
. From 1944–1946, he and Robinson formed a studio which produced material for the short-lived publisher Spark Publications
.
In 1949 Meskin left National and joined the Simon & Kirby, studio where he worked on a variety of titles such as Boys' Ranch
and Prize Comics
.
He returned to National in 1956, where he created the feature "Mark Merlin" and also worked on a large number of war, science fiction
and horror
titles.
In 1965, Meskin left the comics world and became a commercial illustrator and storyboard artist in the advertising
industry, working at BBD&O until his retirement in 1982. For the next 13 years he worked as a volunteer at St. Josephs Nursing Home in Yonkers.
: "Meskin was fabulous, I couldn't believe the ease with which he drew: strong compositions, loose pencils, yet complete; detail without clutter. I loved his stuff".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
best-known for his work in the 1940s Golden Age of comic books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
, well into the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age.
Early life
Mort Meskin was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to parents Max and Rose Meskin. He was a childhood fan of pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
s, especially The Shadow
The Shadow
The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
, and his interests led him to become the art editor of his high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, and later to attend the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
and Brooklyn's Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
, from which he graduated in 1938.
Comics work
After finishing school, Meskin went to work for Eisner & IgerEisner & Iger
Eisner & Iger was a comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books...
, one of the most prominent "packagers" who supplied complete comic books to publishers testing the waters of the emerging medium. There he did pencils for Fiction House
Fiction House
Fiction House is an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. Its comics division was best known for its pinup-style good girl art, as epitomized by the company's most popular character, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.-History:-Jumbo and Jack...
's "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle is a fictional, American comic book jungle girl heroine, published originally by Fiction House. The female counterpart to Tarzan, Sheena had two things in common with Edgar Rice Burrough's Jungle Lord: Both possessed the ability to communicate with wild animals and were...
" in Jumbo Comics. In late 1939, he also worked for the packager Harry "A" Chesler, producing material for the MLJ/Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
characters as Ty-Gor son of Tiger, The Press Guardian, Bob Phantom, Mr. Satan, The Shield
The Shield (Archie)
The Shield is the name of several fictional patriotic superheroes created by MLJ . The Shield has the distinction of being one of the first superheroes with a costume based upon the United States flag, appearing fourteen months before Captain America.The name was used by MLJ/Archie for 3 characters...
, Wizard, and Dick Storm Between 1939 and 1942.
In 1941, Meskin started at National Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, drawing stories for the characters Vigilante
Vigilante (comics)
Vigilante is the name used by several fictional characters appearing in DC Comics. The original character was one of the first DC Comics characters adapted for live-action film, beating Superman by one year.-Greg Saunders:...
, Wildcat
Wildcat (comics)
Wildcat is the name of several fictional characters, all DC Comics superheroes. The first and most famous of these is Ted Grant, a long-time member of the Justice Society of America...
, Starman and Johnny Quick
Johnny Quick
Johnny Quick is the name of two DC Comics characters, each with the power of superhuman speed. The first was a superhero who appeared mostly in More Fun Comics during the Golden Age...
. He told comics historian and artist Jim Steranko
Jim Steranko
James F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator....
that during this period his art style was heavily influenced by film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
: "Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
(1941) influenced us a great deal, all of us. We were very excited about it and spent quite a bit of time discussing it, employing its elements in our work. There was a contest as to who saw it the most times".
During his time at National
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, Meskin also did work for Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, Gleason
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
and Nedor Comics
Nedor Comics
Nedor Publishing was a comic book imprint of publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines under a variety of company names that he also used for the comics...
, Spark
Spark Publications
Spark Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the mid-1940s, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Most of their comics was produced by a studio run by Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin. Other creators who worked for Spark included Joseph Greene and Mac Raboy...
, and other publishers. At Nedor he worked on the Black Terror
Black Terror
The Black Terror is a fictional comic book superhero who originally appeared in Exciting Comics #9, published by Nedor Comics in January 1941. Some Black Terror stories were written by Patricia Highsmith before she became an acclaimed novelist...
as well as on the Fighting Yank
Fighting Yank
-Publication history:The initial comic-book character called Fighting Yank first appeared in Nedor Comics' Startling Comics #10 , during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. He was created by writer Richard E. Hughes and artist Jon L. Blummer...
together with Jerry Robinson
Jerry Robinson
Jerry Robinson is an American comic book artist best known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s.He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.-Career:...
. From 1944–1946, he and Robinson formed a studio which produced material for the short-lived publisher Spark Publications
Spark Publications
Spark Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the mid-1940s, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Most of their comics was produced by a studio run by Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin. Other creators who worked for Spark included Joseph Greene and Mac Raboy...
.
In 1949 Meskin left National and joined the Simon & Kirby, studio where he worked on a variety of titles such as Boys' Ranch
Boys' Ranch
Boys' Ranch was a six-issue American comic book series created by the veteran writer-artist team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for Harvey Comics in 1950...
and Prize Comics
Crestwood Publications
Crestwood Publications, also known as Feature Publications, was a magazine publisher that also published comic books from the 1940s through the 1960s. Its title Prize Comics contained what is considered the first ongoing horror comic-book feature, Dick Briefer's "Frankenstein"...
.
He returned to National in 1956, where he created the feature "Mark Merlin" and also worked on a large number of war, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
titles.
In 1965, Meskin left the comics world and became a commercial illustrator and storyboard artist in the advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
industry, working at BBD&O until his retirement in 1982. For the next 13 years he worked as a volunteer at St. Josephs Nursing Home in Yonkers.
Quotes
Steve DitkoSteve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
: "Meskin was fabulous, I couldn't believe the ease with which he drew: strong compositions, loose pencils, yet complete; detail without clutter. I loved his stuff".
External links
- The Art and Life of Mort Meskin
- Mort Meskin at Lambiek.net
- Comics.org listing for Mort Meskin
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Black Terror
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Mark Merlin
- [The Life and Art of Mort Meskin/http://www.mortmeskin.net/]