Bostonist Podcast: Comics Creator Carmine Infantino

Carmine Infantino
Boston Comic Con
Sunday, March 16th
10am-5pm
Back Bay Events Center, 180 Berkeley St. (Old John Hancock Building)
More information

Carmine Infantino holds a singular place in the history of comic books. He started working in the industry during the Depression and his career lasted until the 1980s. During that time, he apprenticed under Jack Kirby and Joe Simon (the creators of Captain America), reinvented the Flash and redesigned Batman and Robin in the early 1960s for DC Comics, and, by the late 1960s, ran that company.

While he was editorial director (and, eventually, publisher) of DC, Infantino standardized its business practices, giving artists bigger paychecks and more rights over their artwork. At the same time, he infused the company with talent, bringing writers and artists such as Dennis O'Neal, Dick Giordano, Neal Adams, Joe Orlando, Joe Kubert, and Jack Kirby to the company. Under Infantino, DC, which had trailed Marvel Comics in sales and creativity throughout much of the 1960s, emerged robust, its titles guideposts to a more modern comic book.

Infantino will be in Boston on Sunday, the guest of honor at the Boston Comic Con. Bostonist got a chance to talk with him last week.

Listen to the podcast:

Flash v. 1, no. 123, September 1961. Illustration by Carmine Infantino. The "Silver Age" Flash, Infantino's reinvention of the character, is on the left.