I was already a fan of the Flash
when I bought my first comic starring the Scarlet Speedster. That was issue #336. This comic threw me right into the middle of
the “Trial of the Flash” storyline that encompassed the final two years of the Barry
Allen series. On the cover Flash worked
desperately to clear a pile of rocks within which lay a bloodied hand – his
dialogue revealing the tension visible in his eyes: “What good is all my speed -- when I
couldn’t save the one woman who could clear my name?” I had no idea what this all meant, but I knew
I had to find out. Written by longtime
Flash scribe Cary Bates, this comic was my introduction to the wonder that is
the art of Carmine Infantino – specifically the wonder of his rendering of the
Flash.
Infantino began working in comics at
its infancy, in the 1940s, and honed his style over decades – evolving into a
distinct artist admired by readers and professionals alike. His linework was very fluid, the figures
almost rubbery in the way they moved across a page, angled dramatically as they
fought or ran or toppled from rooftops. Infantino’s
characters were balletic and graceful in a way rarely portrayed by other
artists, and as he refined this style, he continued to stretch that, making his
figures flow in a smooth arc across the page.
The world within his comic panels felt like a distorted mirror universe. And, when he returned to the series in 1981,
with issue #296, his style was pitch-perfect for the Flash.
Carmine Infantino is, hands down, THE
Flash artist – earned on the fact, alone, that he worked on the Golden Age
Flash, designed the look of the “new” Silver Age Flash, and had two lengthy
runs that bookend that same Silver Age series.
His fluidity of line translated especially well to drawing the mad
dashes of superspeed Barry Allen utilized to defeat his foes and save the day. Angling the Flash to a ridiculous degree,
with wavy speedlines retreating from his speeding form, it was perfect. Is perfect.
To my mind, Infantino is the only comic artist who’s ever been able to
delineate superspeed convincingly on the page.
All else pale, even the work of my favorite superhero artist, George
Pérez, who had plenty of practice drawing superspeed with Kid Flash when he worked
on the New Teen Titans. Infantino, when it comes to drawing the Flash, is the
man.
I was already a Flash fan when I
picked up issue #336 of the series. But
the artwork of Carmine Infantino is what solidified the Flash as my all-time
favorite superhero.
-chris
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