Covering Meskin

Sunday Meskin Measures.

By 1954 Mort Meskin was on his way out at Prize. After his 'own' psychcoanalysis comic Strange World of your Dreams failed and Simon and Kirby's own company Mianline (where he had followed them) had gone under, he tried to get a foothold at DC, where he had to work a lot slicker than he did at Prize. This change in style is visible in his last two covers. gorgeous both. While creating a new identity for himself at DC he also did a couple of great stories for Harvey, but it was at DC that he spend his last few years as a comic book artist, before making the step to the much more lucrative and appreciative advertising world.

Next step for me if to see what I have shown from Meskin's crime work at Prize and see if I have some more of these books in my own collection rather than relying on The Digital Comic Book Archives. To start, here is one of the first I haven't done yet from Headline.

Page Laundering

Sunday Meskin Andru Measures.

Having come to Young Brides V3 No.1 (#19) I can't resist showing you a rare Prize story by Ross Andru and Martin Rosenthall (signing Thall). There is no Mort Meskin story in this, probably because it seems to have some leftover material from other books. The Andru story probably comes from some sort of leftover from one of the romance comics of Andru and Esposito's MikeRoss company. Martin Rosenthall worked as an inker for them and in one interview even said he co-financed them at the end. In the same issue is a story thst seems to be by Vic Donohue, so that could be a leftover from Simon and Kirby's Mainline, I guess. The scans are from the Digital Comics Museum, but this is one I provided them myself.

Be Vewwy Vewwy Siwent!

Sunday Meskin Measures.

Another darker story which seems to have been inked by George Roussos in Young Brides #18.

I like it when he was allowed a silent panel, like on the fourth page.

The Three Faces Of Mort

Sunday Meskin Measures.

What makes Young Brides such a desirable comic book for Mort Meskin collectors is that later in the run he drew so many cover for it, some of them the best he ever did. Here is the cover for #16, followed by two stories from #17. The first seems to be a clear (late) sample of George Roussos inking Meskin, or at least assisting him. Or maybe Meskin tried a lighter touch and Roussos was asked to beef it up. The second one has a couple of very weird faces that make me wonder if it isn't Meskin inking and repairing someone else's poor pencilling job. Anyway, neither have the solid slickness of the cover.

To The Moon, Honey

Sunday Meskin Measures.

For the first time in years I missed a week not because of illness but because I had a week off in Rome. In Young Brides Vol 2 no. 9 Meskin gives us some nice figure work. Hopefully it's worth the wait. I wish these scripts would have allowed for more texless panels, like on page 6.

Making Yourself Pretty

Sundat Meskin Measures.

Around this time Mort Meskin started showing his work to DC and (probably because of that) he began making his style a little bit slicker.

Female problems

Sunday Meskin Measures.

The stories in Young Brides were just a bit more tragic and just a bit more adult than those in the other two romance book. Although the art itself is not one of Mort Meskin's most imperessive jobs, the story is pretty heavy.