Black and White Wednesday: "Country Pie" by Jones, Infantino, and Wrightson
Here's an awesome assemblage of titanic talent, Groove-ophiles! "Country Pie" from Creepy #113 (September 1979) was written by Bruce Jones with art by Carmine Infantino and Bernie Wrightson! Wouldn't ya just love a slice?
Crazy amount of talent at Warren at that time ...and then Infantino jumps aboard... it's scary! Weezie Jones + Warren = in the top five best American mags ever...
Carmine Infantino gave 19 year old Berni Wrightson his first break into pro comics in 1968 after seeing his "Uncle Bill's Barrel" short story by giving him two issues of SHOWCASE with Nightmaster and a handful of short stories for DC's HOUSE OF MYSTERY. Carmine went from being editor and art director to publisher in a few short years, then the whole "DC Implosion" was blamed upon him (unfairly so) and he was expelled from his office. It had devastating repercussions and the man was never quite the same again. Jim Warren nobly offered Carmine his own office at Warren Publications as well as art assignments, and it was only fitting that Berni would ink "Country Pie" to return the favor to Mr. Infantino after he was dropped from DC----Carmine has stated that the plot of the 1978 "Superman" film was his, but as ex-publisher of DC his name was removed from the film credits, with only Mario Puzo remaining. He certainly got a raw deal, but Warren, Berni, and a few key others stood in his corner in this dark period, and he made it through.
You have to remember the lead time for DC books. These were Carmine's titles, and he took the blame for the implosion. Yes, it was '78, and DC was suddenly reduced to a dozen titles. The "Superman" film also premiered in '78, but filming began the year before, and Carmine's work on the script at that time as well.
I loved Infantino's Warren stories with their smorgasbord of inkers. I never knew who was going to be the next interesting pairing with him. But there were some doozies: Severin, Nino, Wrightson. I especially liked the few times he was teamed with Walt Simonson. What a combination that was.
Yes, Carmine helmed "the DC Explosion" of '74 - '76 and was ousted when money was rapidly being lost at the end of that time. The implosion occurred during Jenette's tenure, but the blame went to already-out Carmine 'cos those titles were his baby. Jenette was hired by Warner to be DC's publisher because of her smash success at DYNAMITE! magazine, a children's publication which was wildly successful in the mid to late '70s. It even had super-hero origin story reprints! And---get this---in a 1979 issue with Star Wars as the cover story, it anticipated Han Solo getting out of the carbonite deep freeze AND explained that Darth Vader looked all burned up beneath his costume because he and Obi-Wan Kenobi had a light saber fight in a volcanic area.....this was many, many years before Episode III!
Crazy amount of talent at Warren at that time ...and then Infantino jumps aboard... it's scary! Weezie Jones + Warren = in the top five best American mags ever...
ReplyDeleteCarmine Infantino gave 19 year old Berni Wrightson his first break into pro comics in 1968 after seeing his "Uncle Bill's Barrel" short story by giving him two issues of SHOWCASE with Nightmaster and a handful of short stories for DC's HOUSE OF MYSTERY. Carmine went from being editor and art director to publisher in a few short years, then the whole "DC Implosion" was blamed upon him (unfairly so) and he was expelled from his office. It had devastating repercussions and the man was never quite the same again. Jim Warren nobly offered Carmine his own office at Warren Publications as well as art assignments, and it was only fitting that Berni would ink "Country Pie" to return the favor to Mr. Infantino after he was dropped from DC----Carmine has stated that the plot of the 1978 "Superman" film was his, but as ex-publisher of DC his name was removed from the film credits, with only Mario Puzo remaining. He certainly got a raw deal, but Warren, Berni, and a few key others stood in his corner in this dark period, and he made it through.
ReplyDeleteChris A.
Infantino was long gone from DC by the time of the "Implosion," which occurred in 1978. The Implosion happened during Jenette Kahn's tenure.
ReplyDeleteYou have to remember the lead time for DC books. These were Carmine's titles, and he took the blame for the implosion. Yes, it was '78, and DC was suddenly reduced to a dozen titles. The "Superman" film also premiered in '78, but filming began the year before, and Carmine's work on the script at that time as well.
DeleteChris
I loved Infantino's Warren stories with their smorgasbord of inkers. I never knew who was going to be the next interesting pairing with him. But there were some doozies: Severin, Nino, Wrightson. I especially liked the few times he was teamed with Walt Simonson. What a combination that was.
ReplyDeleteYes, Carmine helmed "the DC Explosion" of '74 - '76 and was ousted when money was rapidly being lost at the end of that time. The implosion occurred during Jenette's tenure, but the blame went to already-out Carmine 'cos those titles were his baby. Jenette was hired by Warner to be DC's publisher because of her smash success at DYNAMITE! magazine, a children's publication which was wildly successful in the mid to late '70s. It even had super-hero origin story reprints! And---get this---in a 1979 issue with Star Wars as the cover story, it anticipated Han Solo getting out of the carbonite deep freeze AND explained that Darth Vader looked all burned up beneath his costume because he and Obi-Wan Kenobi had a light saber fight in a volcanic area.....this was many, many years before Episode III!
ReplyDeleteHa, I remember reading this story when it came out!
ReplyDelete