One of the personal highlights of the WizardWorld convention for me (since I didn’t get picked to see Batman Begins two weeks early on an IMAX screen) was seeing legendary comics creator Carmine Infantino. Though I met him once before, when I bought his book – The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino -- at a WizardWorld convention two years ago, I loved hearing the man spin his tales of his entry into comics in the late Golden Age, his role in the birth and development of the silver Age, and his accomplishments as president and publisher of DC Comics in the 1970s.
His panel was at 11 am on Sunday, the last day of the convention. Accompanying him was J. David Spurlock, the co-author of his book, who helps prod his memories for the better anecdotes. He didn’t have a formal presentation, but immediately asked for questions to get him started on anecdotes, many (though not all) of which are recounted in the book. Though the audience was small, it was respectful and he received a applause several times throughout the presentation, which also contained numerous plugs for his book by both men.
He is currently involved in a legal action against DC Comics for his part in the creation of the Silver Age Flash and Batgirl (which he created specifically for the 60s Batman TV show after the success of Catwoman created a demand for more female characters in tight costumes). He couldn’t talk about the legal action, but he did talk about the characters themselves.
Here are some of his anecdotes (though this is a lot, it’s not all of the stories he told in a session that lasted just under an hour. For another report on the panel, click here):
- Some of his most famous covers are the result of the challenges he and editor Julius Schwartz threw at each other. Infantino would draw a cover and Schwartz would come up with the story to go with it. One time, Infantino thought he finally had Schwartz beat when he drew a cover with both the Golden Age and Silver Age Flashes running to save a man. Schwartz rose to challenge and created the concept of Earth-2, the birth of the multiverse.
- Jack Kirby was one of his inspirations and an early employer. He took a pay cut to work for Kirby, just so he could learn from him. It was Infantino who later lured Kirby to DC, where he created the Fourth World universe and characters (including Darkseid, one of the DCU’s enduring villains). Kirby also created Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth, after Infantino suggested a Planet of the Apes-type setting for a series.
- Bill Finger was the real genius behind Batman, after Bob Kane created the character, but he never got any credit, and died poor. He also spoke fondly of other creators he worked with, and who worked for him, including John Broome, Denny O’Neil, Nick Cardy, Jim Steranko, Arnold Drake, Alex Toth, and Joe Kubert. He is a fan of the art of Bill Sienkiwicz and Steve Rude.
- Infantino was asked to draw Batman to save it from cancellation, and helped usher in the “new look”. Sales picked up dramatically. It was one of Infantino’s covers that attracted the attention of TV producer William Dozier who was inspired to develop the Batman TV show, which further catapulted comic book sales for Batman.
- Not only did Infantino create the Barbara Gordon Batgirl in response to the request for more female characters, but he also created Poison Ivy during that time. He pointed out that he received no credit or payment for her use in the movie Batman & Robin (unlike Chuck Dixon, who received payment for the use of Bane, one of his creations, in the same movie. Of course, creator-participation agreements have changed quite a bit since the Silver Age).
- After Mario Puzo turned in his first draft of the Superman movie, it was so un-Superman-like, that Infantino, Puzo and the film producers locked themselves away for a long weekend and came up with the story that became the first two Superman movies.
- He was also a creative consultant on the Superfriends cartoon series.
- When asked if he was aware of the Birds of Prey comic series, which features Barbara Gordon in her current incarnation of Oracle, and Black canary, a character he co-created in the Golden Age, Infantino remarked that was once on the set of the short-lived TV series of that name and met the young actresses who played the characters. He said they very gracious and asked him about the roots of the characters they played. He said he wished he was a lot younger at the time.
- Infantino discovered Neal Adams, later to become famous for Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow. When he ran DC, Infantino designed every comic book cover. Including the ones that Adams drew, which Adams didn’t like. When Stan Lee hired Adams at Marvel and wasn’t happy with the covers, Lee called Infantino and asked him why Neal’s covers weren’t as good as his DC covers. “Because I designed them,” was Infantino’s reply. Adams soon returned to DC, balking less at Infantino’s influence.
- While most of his career was at DC Comics, he did spend a little time at Marvel, where he drew the first several issues of the Star Wars comic (written by Archie Goodwin, who Infantino thought was brilliant). Though Lucas was known as very controlling about the way his characters were handled, Infantino was never asked to change anything. He later found out that nobody asked him to make changes out of respect, but in fact his inker, Terry Austin, was requested to make all of the changes. Infantino hated working on the book, particularly disliking drawing the ships and robots.
- When he returned to the Flash in the early 80s to help improve sales and save it from cancellation, he did not enjoy the work. By that time, he was just a pencil for hire and had no editorial input, so it held no appeal. It should be noted that the series lasted about 50 issues longer than it would have otherwise.
- He has a nephew in animation (He said he worked at the Cartoon Network but also said he works on SpongeBob Squarepants, a Nickelodeon show). He advised his nephew not to get into comics, since it was a shrinking business.
- Another nephew is front-man in a band called Jim’s Big Ego, which has a song called “The Ballad of Barry Allen” on an album that has a cover drawn by Infantino.
- When asked about his opinion of comics today, he said he doesn’t really read them, but isn’t a fan of what he does see. While admitting that he is not the target audience, he commented on a recent DC storyline (Identity Crisis). “Raping and killing the Elongated Man’s wife? That’s not comics!” Note that Infantino co-created the Elongated Man and his wife, Sue Dibny.
A fantastic presentation. I highly recommend his book , not only for the great artwork, but also for his personal anecdotes like the ones above and many more. If he’s appearing at a convention, make a point of seeing him. If you’re a fan of comics and comics history, you’ll be glad you did.
