Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur

by Jim Amash, Eric Nolen-Weathington

Carmine Infantino is the artistic and publishing visionary whose mark on the comic book industry pushed conventional boundaries. As a penciler and cover artist, he was a major force in defining the Silver Age of comics, co-creating the modern Fla

Genres: Comics, History, Biography, Art

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2010

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not one of my favorite comic artists Infantino has done a ton of amazing work on many characters. Nice read. Recommended

[Robert Greenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Amash and Eric Nolen-Weathington condict an extended interview with Carmine infantino, covering everything from his early childhood through his retirement. The 2010 book is nice, but perhaps too nice as the interviewers avoid asking the tough questions regarding his tenure s DC Comics' top executive. Carmine's reminiscences about friends, colleagues, and editors make for good reading and there's some new information here. However, it left me wanting to know more. The art included here is an excellent representation of his work, and nicely shows his growth and evolution so he was one of the premier draftsmen of the 1950s and 1960s.

[Tim Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

We're back with another Twomorrows artist bio/interview. While there is occasionally some differences for the most part you know what you're getting with these books.

However, this one was a bit different...and a bit better than most of them. Why? Because Carmine Infantino...that's why. And in a way that's a bit surprising. Not because Infantino wasn't a great interview. Because he really was. But because I've read sooooo many interviews with him over the years that you'd think there couldn't possibly be anything new. But there were two things that set this one a step beyond the normal Twomorrows artist book. First, Carmine does not hold back. He tells exactly how he felt about everyone who he worked with and how he felt about the work he was doing. That's a bit rare as these things tend to be love-fests. Carmine is even willing to admit that he was largely phoning it in on most of his later work. He just didn't care any more and was drawing a check.

The second is that I actually learned something about art from this book. I'm not an art guy. I've never taken an art (theory) class in my life. I know what I like, but only vaguely why I like it. Infantino actually taught me a bit about art in this book. And a bit about inking. And in reading what he was saying and thinking about it, he really was doing far more innovative stuff on both his first run of The Flash and on Elongated Man than I'd ever really realized.

So while I usually recommend Twomorrows books...I highly recommend this one. It's a gem.

[Richard Guion · Rating 5 out of 5]

For any fan of comics history, this book is a goldmine. It traces Infantino’s career from his early days working in the Golden Age of comics (for people like Joe Simon and Jack Kirby) to his transformative Silver Age run to his years as DC Comics publisher. It is one long interview for over 160 pages, profusely illustrated with artwork, sketches, and photographs.

The Golden Age period from Infantino’s perspective is very interesting, especially his description of Jack Kirby producing pages at a level of quality that was unmatched by anyone. I was always curious about how Infantino’s style evolved from the Golden to the Silver Age period. Early in his career, artists like Milton Caniff obviously were a big influence and that was reflected in the Golden Age Flash stories. Infantino had a strong desire to be a better artist and he studied for a few years in the early 50s at the Art Students League with Professor William McNulty. This experience was a big influence on Infantino, teaching him about design, positive/negative space, and a love for Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. There was a period of experimentation for Infantino where he adjusted his style, which irritated editor Julius Schwartz to no end. Fortunately, by the time the Silver Age version of the Flash launched in Showcase #4, Infantino was more than ready.

How did Carmine Infantino go from being DC’s top artist to the editor in chief and publisher? This book will tell you, in Infantino’s own words. Can’t recommend this highly enough for all Infantino and DC Comics fans.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book-length interview with Infantino, interesting but not particularly revelatory. Infantino's views on storytelling and design are interesting, and he has a few intriguing anecdotes, but mostly he seems uninterested. And that's even before he starts to talk about how little he cared about his late-70s and 80s artistic output.

He seems pretty down on the whole industry since his ouster from the DC publisher job. He goes off on killing Barry Allen, and then goes off again about bringing him back! He's definitely not a fan of the modern superhero comic. Of course, he was never a big fan of the superhero, even during the Silver Age. He also never liked drawing Batman, though he goes on about the challenges of drawing The Flash and Batman and how he differentiated them and laid out pages. He clearly knows a hell of a lot about comic book art.

[Lee Wochner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a biography (wish that’d been made clear in advance) but instead is a book-length interview with Carmine Infantino. Slow going at first, as the 1940s and 1950s in comics are discussed at length with no context provided, the book blooms into something quite fascinating when the focus turns to Infantino’s evolution as an artist, and the design choices he started to implement, and then his career as cover editor and then publisher. The many pages and spot illustrations and photos add enormously to the final impression. If you love comics, this book is well worth your time. I learned a lot about composition and about a fascinating career in comics.

[Billy Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book about a first generation comic book artist who worked from the 1940's into the 1990's. My favorite part of the book was his discussion about his career at DC Comics, where he rose from artist to Art Director and eventually Publisher.

[Isaiah Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering how little there is available for people looking to read about the life of this great artist, this book is a fantastic read and resource. However, it is an interview and not a biography. Still, it is very informative, and very insightful, even if it is not very entertaining.