Legendary comic book artist and editor Carmine Infantino passed away yesterday, aged 87. Born in Brooklyn in 1925, Infantino began his career in the 1940s and would go on to become one of the most influential figures in the industry during the Silver Age, as well as enjoying an illustrious career spanning five decades.
Contributing to the redesign of The Flash for Showcase #4 in 1956, which ushered in the Silver Age of Comics, Infantino then helped develop the ‘New Look’ Batman in 1964 alongside DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz and writer John Broome, and subsequently co-created the character of Barbara Gordon / Batgirl, who made her debut in Detective Comics #359 in 1967.
Having turned down the opportunity to join Marvel in the late 1960s, Infantino was promoted to editorial director at DC, where he was instrumental in bringing in new talent such as Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, as well as convincing Marvel’s Jack Kirby to jump ship. He later became publisher of DC between 1971 and 1976 and also worked on the historic first DC / Marvel crossover Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century, which was published in 1976.
Following his departure from DC Comics, Infantino went on to work with Marvel as artist on the best-selling Star Wars series before returning to draw The Flash for DC from 1981 until 1985. After his retirement in the 1990s, he taught at the School of Visual Arts, and was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000.
