Carmine Infantino sues for Flash

COMIC BOOK SUIT

Copyright war for The Flash

BLOOMBERG NEWS

June 4, 2004

By 1956 The Flash, 26, was slowing down, when an editor at DC Comics commissioned Carmine Infantino to breathe some life into the speedy superhero, a lawsuit
filed in Manhattan federal court says.

Infantino, a 79-year-old New York illustrator, says he revived the declining character, originally created in 1940, and now he wants a federal judge to declare that he,
not DC parent Time Warner Inc., owns the rights to the fastest man alive.

Infantino says in his suit that he's also the creator of Batgirl, and he wants a court to acknowledge that too.

He filed the copyright claim yesterday against Time Warner, the world's largest media company, and DC Comics, where he was once president. Infantino is seeking
monetary damages and a ruling that he owns The Flash, Batgirl and other characters he says he created from 1943 to 1967.

The suit comes as media companies increasingly turn to comic book characters for films and other works. This month, Sony Corp. will release "Spider-Man 2," the
sequel to its $800-million blockbuster."Obviously the characters have much more commercial value these days," said Infantino's lawyer, Nicholas Perrella. "Look at
the Spider-Man movies." A spokesman for DC Comics didn't have an immediate comment.

Shares in Manhattan-based Time Warner fell 12 cents, to close at $17.05.

Infantino, who's won numerous awards for his illustrating, says his most famous character is the second incarnation of The Flash, whose real name is Barry Allen. He
says he developed the character while working as a freelance artist.

The Flash was recreated by Infantino in 1956, when Allen, a police scientist, was splashed with chemicals and struck by lightning, leaving him with super-human
speed, according to the Web site Comic Art & Graffix Gallery.

Infantino also takes credit for reviving the Batman comic in the 1960s, by giving the crime-fighter a new look and creating his fellow superhero, Batgirl. Infantino
subsequently joined DC Comics, becoming president in 1973, the suit says.

Perrella said Infantino gave DC Comics permission to use The Flash in comic books, not in other media.

Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.

Kind of odd, considering Infantino's history with DC (he was at one the president). And I doubt the Flash will ever enjoy the lucrativity of Spider-Man.

Rest In Peace, Carmine. Thanks for everything.

whoah what

STOP DYING COOL PEOPLE

Mark Evanier's obit last night was good -- a very respectful piece, accentuating the positives without ignoring the fact that he had major disagreements with the guy. "I don’t feel it’s appropriate to go into them at length at this time. Maybe later, maybe not."

Yeah, I missed this when I was off the grid last weekend. Major bummer. Era-ending, etc.

As an artist, I really came to like Carmine Infantino's artwork from his work on Star Wars in the late 70s.

yeah that shit had a big impact on me at the time - it's really quite odd. as with Gil Kane's later work, it has a signature style I would not connect with their earlier eras at all

I always liked Gil Kane too, he kept real busy in the late 70s into the 80s. I think John Byrne's style is kind of a mix of Gil Kane and Neal Adams, kind of splitting the difference.

my first exposure to Gil Kane was on some 80s stuff - the Atom, the Superman/new robo-Brainiac story, some others. it wasn't til much later that I found out about his Silver Age stuff. Same with Infantino. Infantino's Star Wars stuff was so distinct - felt like everything was flattened/smashed onto flat planes

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20051229112513/starwars/images/1/11/Mswc14cover.jpg

felt like everything was flattened/smashed onto flat planes

otm -- I was trying to figure out how to describe his later style, and this is it. My thought was it was like he drew everything 10% too tall for the normal comic page and they had to squash it in production.

Carmine Infantino was good at drawing technology on those Star Wars (although not as good as Chaykin on the adaption) - the ships, the guns and robots etc. That's what I dug about him when I was a kid. To me, that was what made an artist cool is whether their ships and stuff looked dynamite. By comparison my 9 year old head could not get around Steve Ditko when I got that first Micronauts annual after reading that title with Mike Golden artwork on the early issues, which had total bitchin' looking rockets and guns and stuff.

haha wait Ditko did some Micronauts? I totally missed that

Ditko did an issue of the regular title and I think both annuals.

Gil Kane did some Micronauts too.

speaking of late period Gil Kane

Looking up some comics - I'd kind of like to see what this pairing looks like. I'm thinking in my mind P.Craig Russell's 80s stuff like Elric and trying to imagine him inking Ditko.

ROM #65 -- Guest-starring everybody. Story by Bill Mantlo. Art by Steve Ditko and P. Craig Russell. The end is near. Nay, true-believer...the end is here. This is it...the Final Conflict. Rom is defeated and victory is within the grasp of the evil Dire Wraiths. However, one last thing stands in their way and total victory, the united governments of the Earth and oh yeah, all those pesky super-heroes Rom has spent the last 64 issues recruiting to his cause. Rom is joined by the Avengers, the West Coast Avengers, the X-Men, the Defenders, the Soviet Super-Soldiers and all of the heroes of the world in one last ultimate battle to rid the Earth of Wraithkind forever. It's all or nothing...there's no turning back now. The war and the fate of mankind is decided in this epic issue. 32 pages. Cover price $0.65.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mmxeh5pBRvU/UV4q-DP6dQI/AAAAAAAAyRA/62eN12UVbAY/s1600/Star_Wars_n36-01.jpg

sick

think gene day is doing a lot of the heavy lifting there

For sure.

As soon as I saw his name, my first thought was "is this the page that killed him?"

Gene Day was bad ass. The stuff he inked over Paul Gulacy and then eventually penciled himself on Master of Kung Fu was killer. You ever see some Aztec Ace in the quarter bin, they are worth picking up. His artwork on that is bitchin' and has Warren stalwart Nestor Redondo doing the inks. It's really cool stuff that would have looked awesome in black and white as much as color.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jc-qDTS7V9g/Tc2tDtgCAII/AAAAAAAAF-M/oXuitWDsErQ/s1600/AztecAce0303.jpg

Aztec Ace is a memorable 80s mainstream-indie for me. Totally intend to revisit it at some point.

Aztec Ace was by Dan Day, Gene's brother, and Nestor Redondo wasn't so much a 'Warren stalwart' as a '1970s DC stalwart' (on things like Tarzan and the the superb Rima):

http://www.comicsbulletin.com/main/sites/default/files/topten/images/120522/filipinoartists-redondo.jpg

My memory of Aztec Ace is that it was a real seventies hippy-dippy hangover, and unintentionally hilar in places