Comments on: It’s A Crime, Chapter 5, Making a Commitment

By: Harry

Harry — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:47:20 +0000

Since the source for the gap was GCD, it certainly may not truly exist. But if it is real then it is the best candidate for Meskin’s personal difficulties. I do not remember whether the it was just DC between the time between the Robinson & Meskin work for S&K and the solo Meskin. Even if it was I doubt very much that there would have been an inventory of Meskin work to cover any absence. Yes DC had a large inventory of S&K during the war but S&K had worked hard specifically to create material that could be published while they were in the service. I doubt that Mort would have created a backlog of work in anticipation of up-coming emotion problems. If, as you suggest, that Mort’s stay in the hospital was too short to leave a trace in the comic record, then barring factual data I do not see how any period could be favored as the one that the event occured.

By: Ger Apeldoorn

Ger Apeldoorn — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:15:12 +0000

Harry,

I would think the gap would have to be before his work with Robinson for S&K. I don’t think the hospitalization would have eben very long. When I read about his nerveous condition, I was surprised he was hospitalized at all. It didn’t sound like something they would take you to a hospital for these days. If the work in the GCD is for DC, you can assume it was produced a lot earlier. Look at how long they sat on some of Kirby’s stuff. Actually, I don’t know what the production time on these things was in the forties.

By: Harry

Harry — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:59:34 +0000

If Mort really was hospitalized, how long? Was it long enough to affect his production? Unfortunately my records for Mort are very spotty outside of the work he did for S&K. The last work he did with Robinson for S&K was July 1948 and the first he did solo was December 1949. But according to GCD Mort was consistantly doing work between those dates. The only gap they show are from October 1946 to June 1947, but I can narrow that because I know he did work in December 1946. My policy with GCD is trust but verify, so I am only making a suggestion that there might be a gap between December 1946 to June 1947 and that might be when Mort was hospitalized.

By: Ger Apeldoorn

Ger Apeldoorn — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:43:03 +0000

It’s been documented that Mort Meskin went into a hospital for some psychological help. His son’s state so at their site, but they don’t go into details. My guess it was some sort of nerveous breakdown, which makes the way Rober Khaniger treated him in the late fities extra reprehensible. Anyway, Robinson was forced to go mout on his own or may have taken the opportunity to do so. He started teaching at the New York School of Art, whe he did evening classes and trained a lot of upcoming talent over the next few years. When Meskin came back, he joins up with Robinson again, but they don’t resume their parnership. So my guiess is that Robinson helpen Meskin ‘get back on his feet’, but had his own career plans… which included the newspaper strip Jet Scott, which I will be showing this year on my blog. At the same time, Robinson had a good job in producing solo crime stories for Stan Lee. Maybe we should compare dates a bit more. Robinson did those crime stories from 1948 to 1950 or 1951. After that he did a few war stories, but not nearly as much. He kept on doing surprise stories for the horror books every once and again. In my opinion some of the best work of his career, by the way. So although he may have been involved in some of the work they signed together for Simon and Kirby, the plan may all along have been to get Mort Meskin to a point where he could do it solo.

By: Harry

Harry — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 10:13:45 +0000

Ger,

Certainly they could have divided the labor any way they wanted. But that is what I find perplexing. In these “joint” efforts the inking seems so clearly to have been done by Mort. So when I see the pencils looking like Mort’s as well, what was Robinson doing? Like I said in my post, in the end I do not believe Meskin was working directly for S&K at this time. So was Jerry just acting as Mort’s agent?

By: Ger Apeldoorn

Ger Apeldoorn — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 06:23:34 +0000

I certainly don’t see any sign of McCarty in the splash you saw here. The give-away usually is the long faces he used to give to his male characters. As fo Robinson and Meskin. I follow your arguments here, but I have to ad that my first though when I saw the scan was ‘I don’t see any sign of Robinson here’. Still, it has been said that Meskin and Robinson didn’t have a set way of doing things. Sometimes one pencilled, sometimes the other. Id these were produced at home rather than at the studio, they could have devised the labor any way they wanted and Mort Meskin wouldn’t have been ‘working for’ Joe Simon.