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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).
"Recent years have seen a growing interest in the early years of the comic-book industry, shining a light on
the pioneers of the art form. Few individuals are more deserving of this attention than Meskin, whose
abilities surpassed nearly all of his contemporaries. One of the few comics artists of the era who’d had
formal training (at the Pratt Institute), Meskin’s illustration skills, panel compositions, page designs, and
dramatic lighting displayed a sophistication that was largely wasted on the mundane superhero and genre
stories of the 1940s and ’50s. Although Meskin’s work is today known only to hard-core comics
aficionados, he was a major influence on artists who went on to far greater renown, including Joe Kubert,
who learned from inking Meskin’s pencil drawings as a teenager, and Steve Ditko. Brower, a former art
director at the New York Times, supplies revealing biographical information, insightful critical
assessments, and, most of all, page after page of Meskin’s brilliant work, much of it reproduced from the
rare original drawings."
— Gordon Flagg, Booklist
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