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Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.93: Carmine Infantino

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5 years ago

August 2, 2021

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No.93: Carmine Infantino

Carmine Infantino was an illustrious figure in comicdom who rose from freelancer to publisher and back again, and was constantly in work for the better part of six decades. Words: Andrew Colman….

From the late 40s to the mid-50s, Infantino developed his style at various publishers such as Timely, Hillman and Prize, before moving to DC, which included working on the Golden Age Flash, Green Lantern and the JSA. Once at DC, Infantino was retained by the company in the pre-code period, working on other genres.

Infantino was key to the sea change in comics in the late 50s when he and writer Robert Kanigher were tasked by Editor Julius Schwartz to revamp National’s super-heroes for the space age. His work on designing and illustrating a new Flash (Barry Allen), who debuted in Showcase 4 in 1956, was pivotal – his fluid if slightly ersatz artwork was perfect for the era, and his ability to handle storytelling with science-fiction trappings redefined super-heroes and was a lodestar for what later became known as the Silver Age of comics. Infantino’s long association with the character was hugely innovative and featured all sorts of clever ticks, gimmicks and tropes, from his origin, modernised costume, pop art stylings (such as caption boxes with hands) and depiction of super-speed. With inker Murphy Anderson on board, his introduction of Earth 2 in issue 123 and Professor Zoom in issue 139 amongst many others are considered classics by fandom.

Infantino quickly climbed the ladder at DC in the 60s, from main cover artist to art director, before becoming publisher in 1971, where he revamped the company’s look and style with a raft of brilliant young writers, artists and editors. After leaving DC five years later he worked for Marvel, eventually returning to National to work on the Flash for another long stint. It’s impossible to summarise his considerable resume in a brief article, but his artistry at DC on the Flash, Elongated Man, Adam Strange, Batman and other characters throughout the ‘60s merit an automatic inclusion on this list.