In the past, we've discussed many, many creators. Among them are: Barry Windsor-Smith, Chris Claremont, the Filipino masters, Frank Robbins, John Buscema, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, Rich Buckler, Sal Buscema, and Steve Englehart. Toss out a few more for conversation today!
11 comments:
How about Carmine Infantino in the Bronze Age? Of course he'll always be remembered for his Silver Age contributions to DC's heroes, but his 70s art at Marvel is sort of an acquired taste. I've been reading lots of his Star Wars stories lately. I didn't like his depictions of Luke, Leia and the rest as a kid, but I like it okay today. Same goes for his work on Nova.
How do the rest of you feel about Infantino's Bronze Age art? Like it, hate it or are you indifferent to it?
J.A., I'd be like you in that I did not care for Infantino's Bronze Age work. What I have noticed, however, is that it really wasn't all that different from his Silver Age output. Having sought out a lot of his Silver Age DC work, some of my complaints of his later Marvel work -- the flat faces, odd "screeching to a halt" running poses, etc. -- are all there several years earlier. And I don't find those particularly off-putting.
But count me among those who weren't thrilled with the latter issues of Nova, and those occasional guest-penciler assignments in the Avengers.
Perhaps I should give his Marvel work another look.
Doug
I did not care for Infantino's Bronze Age work though, like Doug, I don' think it was too different from his Silver Age work.
Yep, I'm going with what seems to be the general consensus here: I was not a fan of Infantino's '70s work, especially at Marvel. I was a total Star Wars fanatic at the time, but I only rarely picked up the occasional issue of the comic because I just didn't like Infantino's art in it. The only exception, to a certain extent, is Spiderwoman, as his art seemed to work with the generally solid stories in that first roughly 20 issues of the series (although even there, I think the stories would have been better served by someone like Gene Colan).
Just so it doesn't seem like I'm bashing the poor guy's work, I will say that I like what I've seen of his work on Adam Strange and various SF stories from the early 1960s.
Here are all his Flash comics, from 1959 to 1985, to compare: http://readcomiconline.com/Comic/The-Flash-1959
Nice cover to issue 200, with inks by Murphy Anderson:
http://readcomiconline.com/Comic/The-Flash-1959/Issue-200?id=8711
He designed cool covers.
I find his earlier art from the early 1960s more pleasing for the clarity of the forms. The excited energy of his style is there, but it's balanced by the form. In the later art, the energy takes over and the forms suffer, seem hastily done. He can still pull out nice drawings sometimes, but think he lost something after about 1970. Maybe taking over as DC's editorial director and publisher around that time took away from his drawing.
I like the jaunty energy in his early 1940s art for Black Canary as well, seen in this article: http://behindthepanels.net/legendary-dc-comics-artist-and-editor-carmine-infantino-dies-at-87/
Interesting tidbits from the article: "During the 1960s, he would begin designing covers for the entire DC line. Turning down an offer from Marvel for the then unmatchable $22,000, DC ultimately promoted him to editorial director, and under his watch editor Dick Giordano, artist Neal Adams and writer Denny O’Neil were hired, changing the face of books such as Wonder Woman, Batman; Green Lantern and Green Arrow; and Superman. He consulted on plots for both Superman: The Movie and Superman II, and initiated the first inter-company crossover in Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (1976)."
I love Infantino's Silver Age art on Flash, Batman and Adam Strange but never cared for the later work at Marvel. A lot depends on who was inking his pencils. Even in the Sixties his art looked much better when inked by Anderson or Sid Greene than it did when Joe Giella was his inker or when he handled his own inks on Elongated Man. I think Infantino's post-Silver Age art reflects an over reliance on his stylized, stock faces and poses - Kirby's later work also reflects this. Perhaps as they grew older they were no longer as invested in their art or simply didn't have the energy required to produce page after page of comic book art.
Anonymous --
I agree with your last statement. A couple of days ago I read the 1988 graphic novel "Silver Surfer: Judgment Day" in preparation for a review. While I found John Buscema's art to be quite comfortable, the reason for that was an over-familiarity with some of his faces and poses.
Doug
Pretty much following the pack here. Didn't really warm to Infantino's Marvel work. However his DC Silver Age art is appealing to me , particularly on Flash and Batman. One of the earliest comics I ever bought off the racks, waaay back as a boy, was DC Special #1 (the all- Infantino issue). I remember being attracted by the cover (featuring Carmine at his table surrounded by an array of characters) and liking the stories. Also recall being disappointed that there was no Superman story (after all, he was on the cover)...
I was never big on Infantino in general, as I was never a Flash fan; Infantino's best stuff for me was probably on Adam Strange, especially with Anderson.
As for his Bronze Age stuff, I agree with Edo...his work on Spider Woman was my favourite of the stuff he did at Marvel.(Though I also agree Colan would've been good on Spider Woman. Personally, I always wished Marie Severin had done interiors on SW instead of just covers...I thought her style fit the character really well. Can you imagine if SW hadn't been cancelled and we'd gotten Ann Nocenti/Marie Severin as a team? Ah, if only...)
Mike Wilson
I'm late chiming in, but I have to say that like everyone else here I did not care for Infantino's work at Marvel in the 70's. Every time he took over as artist on a book, I'd end up dropping it. (Nova is a great example). I truly hated his stuff when I was kid (and honestly, I still do). I don't understand how he kept getting work. Must have been a "who you know" kind of thing.
I'm a fan of all eras of Infantino. His design sense never waned and the energy level is always high. I find the experience of reading his Batman stuff and his Star Wars to be very similar. Dennis Jensen is my favorite of his 80s Flash inkers. Murphy Anderson-level.
Post a Comment