Must Be Meskin

Sunday Meskin Measures.

In the late forties and early fifties Mort Meskin worked for Standard doing some of his career best work with Jerry Robinson. Because of that reason I also keep an eye out for any other Standard books from that period. He is already known to have done some work for Thriling Comics and Real Life Comics in the same period. Recently the Digital Comics Museum uploaded another free book from the collection of Jim Vandeboncoeur Jr., which as always included his handwritten notes (from when he worked out who id what with fellow comics historian James Ware). And indeed, in Thrilling Romances #5 he notes not one but three stories by Meksin. One is a half page filler, the other a two pager,also filler material. The third is more problematic. It is noted by Jim to be by Mort Meskin and Pierce Rice. At times the work of Pierce Rice looks like that of Meskin, probably mostly because of a similar approach to their drawing rather then a likeness in style. But here it looks like neither to me, apart from a couple of feint but obvious traces of Meskin's style on page 5. Which makes the rest of the story all the more infuriating. The shorst are pure Meskin heaven, though.