Out of the Shadows

The first-ever collection by a golden age master.

Out of the Shadows collects the best of Golden Age comics artist Mort Meskin’s comic book stories from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s.

Edited by Meskin biographer Steven Brower, Out of the Shadows continues Fantagraphics’ mission to publish the greatest work by Golden Age comic book artists. For decades Meskin’s comics were relegated to the yellowing newsprint pages of collectors. Now finally Mort Meskin steps “out of the shadows” in the first book dedicated solely to reprinting his best comics stories.

Out of the Shadows features work in every genre Meskin worked in: superhero (Back Terror and Fighting Yankee), adventure (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle), kid gangs (“Kid Crusaders”), romance (“My Destiny”), crime (Justice Traps the Guilty), Westerns (Prize Comics Western), science fiction (Tom Corbett, Space Cadet), and horror (Frankenstein). The variety of genres shows the breadth and versatility of Meskin’s craft, from the noirish chiaroscuro of his crime work to the chiseled, gritty realism of his Westerns.

Both in tandem with his partner Jerry Robinson and frequent collaborator George Roussos, and solo, Meskin set a new high bar for comics in the first three decades of the medium, and this book will be a revelation to both the casual graphic novel reader and the ardent fan.