Journey Into Mystery v2 #11 "The Books That Were Alive" (Mort Meskin art)

Download Journey into Mystery v2 #11





Eventually the birthplace of one of Marvel's enduring superheroes, Journey into Mystery was initially one of the many horror comics crowding the newsstands in the early 1950s. Each issue was an anthology of weird tales and the early covers, many of them by Bill Everett, were rich with walking skeletons, walking corpses, and brutal monsters. In 1955, after the Comics Code Authority was set up, the covers and contents became much tamer. Among the artists contributing to Journey were, besides Everett, Joe Maneely, Russ Heath, Steve Ditko, Jerry Robinson, George Tuska, and Bernard Krigstein.

Things changed with #83 vol. 1 (August 1961), when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced Thor, but that is another story.

While it is not known who wrote this story's script, Mort Meskin illustrated it. Meskin, much admired by such contemporaries as Alex Toth, Joe Kubert, and Gil Kane, was an artist's artist and seriously under-appreciated by the average reader during his years in comic books. Destined never to draw a major superhero, Meskin entered the field in the 1930s. He was the co-creator of Sheena and the Vigilante and drew such characters as Johnny Quick, Golden Lad, Starman, Wildcat, and the Black Terror. He was also a frequent contributor to such Simon and Kirby ventures as Young Romance, Boys Ranch, and Black Magic. Over the years Meskin worked as well for MLJ, Lev Gleason, and the Prize Group, drawing everything from The Wizard to Tom Corbett.

Born in Brooklyn, Meskin attended both the Pratt Institute and the Art Students League. He was influenced by newspaper comics, particularly the work of Milton Caniff and Alex Raymond.



Credits

Script: Unknown
Pencils: Mort Meskin
Inks: Mort Meskin

Reprinted:

• from WORLD OF FANTASY (Marvel, 1956 series) #10 (February 1958).