Meskin The Obscure, and The Hall of Fame

[sirspamdalot]

I'm sorry to see that Mort Meskin was refused induction into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame this year. I'm frankly surprised he isn't already listed in that pantheon. (Rudolph Dirks made it in? Dirks, who based his career on a watery imitation of Max & Moritz?) Though Meskin isn't as famous or beloved as many other cartoonists of his era, I do

Comments

[jbacardi]

It is a major disgrace that Meskin isn't in that Hall of Fame...and he's not the only one.

[sirspamdalot]

I suspect part of the trouble is that the judges don't have enough access to the best work of certain nominees. Meskin is only now getting his own collection; before that book's debut, interested fans had to hunt down his work in obscure and/or expensive anthologies. Probably the same has been true of other candidates.

[lostcosmonaut]

this and your piece on the awkwardness phase of Toth's experimentalism are two of my favourite bits of writing on comix in a long time. Gonna check those Meskin books out ASAP, thks

--mza.

[sirspamdalot]

Thanks MZA. I'll have new Toth post up to coincide with the next IDW book. Hopefully August.

[anonymous]

Joe Kubert was also heavily influenced by Meskin, and in the 1950s one can see many parallels in Kubert's and Ditko's work, though they diverged by the '60s. Steranko reprints a nice Meskin page in his HISTORY OF COMICS Vol. 1, if memory serves.

Best regards,

Alec Stevens
www.calvarycomics.com

[andrewfarago]

Appreciations like this and the publication of books featuring these artists are a big help in getting them the recognition they need to get into the Hall of Fame. Meskin probably stands a better chance of getting in as a judge's choice than by popular vote, especially (as people like Tom Spurgeon have pointed out to me) as the window of eligibility opens for Bronze Age creators. Walt Simonson, John Byrne, Terry Austin, Jim Starlin and Chris Claremont are likely to go in the second that they're eligible, then you've got Barry Windsor-Smith (if he's not in already--he may be...), Wendy Pini, Dave Sim, Michael Golden...and before long we'll be into the early 1980s with Art Adams and the Image guys. Building enough of a case for Meskin's inclusion to win the judges over is your best bet.