Carmine Infantino

[Silver Nemesis]

I'm sure most of you heard that legendary comic artist Carmine Infantino passed away last week. I thought now would be an appropriate time to highlight a few of his key contributions to the medium.

For one thing he illustrated Showcase #4 (October 1956), the comic that introduced the Barry Allen Flash and which is now regarded by comic historians as denoting the beginning of the Silver Age. He also drew 'Flash of Two Worlds!' (The Flash #123, September 1961), the classic comic that first distinguished the Golden and Silver Age stories as taking place on two different Earths; essentially introducing the concept of the DC multiverse.

His art broke the trend for blocky stylised figures in favour of leaner and more anatomically realistic character designs. Following his success working on The Flash, Infantino then applied his skills to the floundering Batman comics. Amongst his accomplishments during this period was the co-creation of the Barbara Gordon Batgirl.

Infantino was one of several key talents responsible for rejuvenating DC's superhero properties during the Silver Age. If it wasn't for that gifted generation of writers and artists, many of those heroes might not have lasted beyond the Silver Age. But luckily for us they did. The fact that Batman and the Flash are still appearing in comics in 2013 is evidence that their legacy lives on.

[Silver Nemesis]

Here's a musical tribute to the Silver Age Flash: 'The Ballad of Barry Allen' by Jim's Big Ego. One of the band members is Jim Infantino, Carmine's nephew. Carmine himself drew the cover art for their album They're Everywhere (2003), as displayed in the background of this vid.