HomeBrowse ShopArtistsMort Meskin Fire & Water: Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner and the Birth of Marvel Comics + From Shadow to Light: The Life & Art of Mort Meskin
In 1939, decades before it would become the powerhouse
behind such famous super-heroes as Spider-Man, The
X-Men, and Iron Man, Marvel Comics launched its comics
line with a four-color magazine starring a daring new antihero:
The Sub-Mariner.
As created and rendered by the great Bill Everett, the
Sub-Mariner was an angry half-breed (half-man, half sea-creature)
who loathed and fought against all mankind —
until he joined the Allied Forces to defeat the Nazis during
World War II. Seventy years later, Everett’s aquatic creation
remains one of the pinnacles of the Marvel super-hero
universe (as attested to by the character’s recent option for a
major motion picture).
The Sub-Mariner alone, and his status as the original Marvel
(anti-)hero, would have insured any cartoonist’s place in
comics history. But Everett was a master of many kinds
of comics: romance, crime, humor, and the often brutal
horror comics genre (before it was defanged by the Comics
Code Authority in the 1950s), for which he produced
work of such stylish and horrifi c beauty that he ranks with
the artists who kept the legendary EC comics line awash in
blood and guts.
Written by Blake Bell (the author of the best-selling critical
biography of Steve Ditko, Strange and Stranger) and
compiled with the aid and assistance of Everett’s family,
friends, and cartoonist peers, Fire and Water: Bill Everett,
the Sub-Mariner & the Birth of Marvel Comics is an intimate
biography of a troubled man; an eye-popping collection of
Everett’s comics, sketchbook drawings, and illustration art
(including spectacular samples from his greatest published
work as well as never-before-seen private drawings); and an
in-depth look at his involvement in the birth of the company
that would revolutionize pop culture forever: Marvel Comics!
Download an EXCLUSIVE 8-page PDF excerpt (2.1 MB).
From Shadow to Light: The Life & Art of Mort Meskin is a coffee table art
book, biography, and critique of one of the
20th century’s most influential and unjustly
neglected Golden Age comic book artists.
Mort Meskin’s comics career spanned almost
30 years, from the 1940s to the 1960s. His
drawing, chiaroscuro technique, and storytelling
are considered by connoisseurs of the
form to be among the most sophisticated of his
time — on a par with peers such as Joe Kubert
and Steve Ditko. His passion for his drawing was
equaled by his skill, and the consistently high
quality of his oeuvre in the disreputable comic
book format blurs the distinction between high
and low art. Yet he is known mostly among
hard-core aficionados today, eclipsed in the
history books by many of his peers, some
of whom he profoundly influenced. Among
Meskin’s fans and admirers are Jim Steranko,
Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino, and Jack Kirby.
From Shadow to Light: The Life and Art of
Mort Meskin finally gives this neglected artist
the recognition he’s due.
The first artist to draw Sheena of the Jungle,
Meskin worked in such diverse genres
as romance, crime, and Western comics.
Following World War II, he formed a studio
with Jerry Robinson. He later worked for Joe
Simon and Jack Kirby, and later still with Stan
lee at Atlas (Marvel). During the 1950s and
‘60s he helped DC Comics define their mystery
and science fiction lines. From Shadow to
Light compiles for the first time the best of
Meskin’s art from his comic book career, his
post-comics advertising career, and his fine
art — including many pages reproduced from
original art.
“Mort shifted gears/viewpoints/emphasis and methods throughout his career,
each on another switch back, sidestep or leap ahead which brought just one
more entertaining facet of his talent to the fore. Mort invented, questioned,
assessed, discarded, tested, reached out... more than ten other cartoonist of
his time — ever searching, finding, losing, winning... ah, but always learning.
His restlessness kept him facile... as he learnt, tested, and applied... so did we,
his observers and students.” — Alex Toth
“Mort Meskin was a consummate professional, dedicated to his work. A great
talent.” — Jack Kirby
“Like so many others, Mort is one of comics’ unsung heroes, but time often has
a way of resolving the situation.” — Jim Steranko
“The guy was terrific and had an influence, not only on me but on a hell of a
lot of other guys that were in the industry. Carmine Infantino. Alex Toth. All they
guys who came into the business at my time knew of Mort and knew of Mort’s
stuff and loved it.” — Joe Kubert
“Mort Meskin was a genius.” — Jerry Robinson and Carmine Infantino
Download an EXCLUSIVE 15-page PDF excerpt (5.5 MB).
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