Friday, April 5, 2013
R.I.P. Carmine Infantino
Sorry for the rushed post, Groove-ophiles, but when I heard the news that Carmine Infantino has passed away, I had to put something together--and fast. Anyway, when I think of Carmine, I think of him as a great pioneer of the Golden and Silver Ages, but mostly I think of him as DC's publisher. During most of the Groovy Age, Mr. Infantino kept DC as fresh as it could possibly be. He gave us lots of cool formats (the 100 Page Super-Specs, the tabloid-size comics, etc.). He introduced tons of cool creators and characters (including Deadman and Bat Lash, which he had a direct hand in co-creating). He brought lots of far-out artists from the Philippines (Nino and DeZuniga, baby!). Mainly, (and this was a love-hate thing, I know) he brought Jack Kirby to DC. Things change, so by the late 70s Infantino was back out on the street as a freelancer, doing lots of work for Warren's b&w mags, and more importantly, lots and lots of Marvel mags. Now, this part of Carmine's career is much maligned and highly debated. Carmine was not a "Marvel guy" by any means. He tried, though. He did super-heroes like the Defenders, Daredevil, Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel--you name it. But to me, Carmine didn't have to be a Marvel guy when he worked on Star Wars. Carmine and Star Wars were made for each other. Add awesome author Archie Goodwin and inkers like Bob Wiacek and Gene Day, and Infantino shone as brightly as a star from a galaxy far, far away. Check out just a few of his Star Wars splashes and see what I mean...
Hey Groovster
ReplyDeleteEven though when he was at Marvel, I really wasn't a fan of his boxy figures & flat faces.I LOVED his art as a boy/young teen at DC. On Batman & the Flash. He did alot for DC in those days. I was sad to hear of this talented man's passing. We lost too many great people yesterday & the last week. R.I.P. Carmine your work lives on for decades!
We lost a great one yesterday. To be honest, I didn't care for his Star Wars work (everyone seemed to have cheekbones up around their eyelids, and whenever someone ran, their legs were at perfect ninety-degree angles), but his work on the Flash was some of the best of the Silver Age.
ReplyDeleteRest in peace, Carmine.
His later work is more challenging to the reader and takes more work to appreciate when compared to the photorealistic/commercial art style that has been in vogue. I never thought photorealism
ReplyDeletesuited a fantasy medium like comic
books so I prefer Kirby and
Infantino and their experimentation.
By the time Carmine was drawing for Warren and Marvel and, later, DC, his pencils were less-detailed and more about geometric shapes and design. Having a sympathetic inker/finisher helped sometimes (Steve Leialoha, Klaus Janson, Alex Toth, Walt Simonson, Tom Palmer, Bob Wiacek, Dick Giordano, Dennis Jensen, among others). Studying this period of Carmine's work and, if strange anatomy doesn't bother you, Mike Sekowsky's late 60s - early 70s art, helped me to understand panel and page design and how subtle yet effective it can be. - Jeff Clem
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that comes to mind when I think of Carmine is the picture of him on the inside cover of Superman vs Spider-Man. I was 8 years old at the time and that crossover remains one of my favorite stories.
ReplyDeleteR.I.P. Carmine
Lets not forget the late and great Gene Day, whose inking was the best on Star Wars. He died very young and it was Gene's inks that made the book work. This is not to take away from Carmine, who was a great artist in his own right.
ReplyDeleteGroove:
ReplyDeleteAs a youngster, Little Me did not like Carmine Infantino's Bronze Age art. Still not a huge fan, but that later work has started to grow on me a bit. I agree that his stylized work was a surprisingly good fit for Star Wars. I was particularly impressed with the issues inked by Terry Austin (but, of course, I'm a huge fan of Austin's work from the that period).
Cheers,
Andrew
Comics Bronze Age editor
Super cool penciller - just real cool stuff - even Nova and Spider-Woman - and they let him get away with publishing all kinds of freaky stuff that tanked - five years of sticking it to the man - then, baby, then!
ReplyDeleteLoved his 60's DC work,especially fond of his BATMAN meets BLOCKBUSTER tales from that period.The sad passing of another comic legend.
ReplyDelete