R.I.P. CARMINE INFANTINO

Another great artist has died.
Infantino was the regular Star Wars artist when I was growing up:

I also got a Marvel Team Up he drew. Steven Grant wrote this story featuring Spider-Woman and the Hulk:
 
Detective Chimp. No credits on this one, so I don’t know who wrote it. Possibly John Broome. Not sure when it was first published either, as I read it in the British Superboy Annual 1967:
Howard the Duck written by Steve Gerber:

Star Lord written by Chris Claremont. This was spookier than the regular Marvel comics. It appeared in the black and white magazine format aimed at older readers:

Infantino is famous for revamping The Flash. What a great character when you’re a kid. “The Fastest Man Alive!” I always loved the way his costume shot out of his ring and expanded. This character is very indicative of Infantino’s style, all those speed lines. This page from "Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt" written by Robert Kanigher:

He did Batman too in the 60s. No credits here either, probably written by Broome again:

I have to admit there was a bit of a lump in my throat at this news. My gran bought me his comics.

R.I.P. Carmine Infantino.

NEW DITKO HULK BOOK



There's a nice Marvel comic out now called "Incredible Hulk & The Human Torch: From the Marvel Vault". It's a first printing for a story pencilled by Steve Ditko in the 1980s to serve as a filler for when the regular arist on Marvel Team-Up missed a deadline. However it was never needed before that series came to an end in 1985.

So now it's out and has been re-scripted by Karl Kesel who also inked it - recently. He writes a suitably gushing and proud introduction wherein he tells of his excitement at drawing over Ditko. He also says he's very fond of the character Johnny Storm and misses him now that he's gone, so he must be dead currently in Marvel Comics. It's great to see Ditko's Hulk back in sequences like the first one shown here (click for larger version).

I found the computer colouring really strange over Ditko's work. The story looks like his 80s work apart from that. The new writing from Kesel too throws in modern references - such as the one shown here to Youtube.



A lovely wee comic for Ditko fans.

P.S. Bonus bemused chuckle: The numbering on Marvel comics has become rather convoluted. There's an ad in this mag for a comic called Iron Man 2.0 #7.1