Carmine Infantino

As the genre of superhero comics has become increasingly event-driven over the last thirty years, the need to push each event as more important than the last has increased with it. Every new event promises, somehow with a straight face, that “nothing will ever be the same again.” There are, in fact, comics that actually affect everything that comes after them one way or another — Action Comics #1, Amazing Fantasy #15, Uncanny X-Men #132 — but they rarely come with much fanfare, or with empty and overreaching promises. One such comic debuted on this day in 1961: Flash vol 1 #123, “The Flash of Two Worlds.”

As much as I love Batman, and I think the record will show that I love Batman a whole heck of a lot, I haven't really been looking forward to sitting down and cracking open the new Batman: A Celebration of 75 Years hardcover. Last year's Superman anniversary hardcover was a disaster of revisionist history, 300 pages that would have you believe that one of the world's greatest superheroes did nothing for seven and a half decades but cry. With that in mind, I had no idea what DC Comics was going to do with Batman. If you'd asked me to bet on it, I would've put good money on a prediction that they'd craft a narrative that acknowledged Batman only as a scowling vigilante, consumed with vengeance and every bit as crazy as the villains he fought. But it turns out I didn't have to worry. The Batman hardcover is exactly what it says it is -- a celebration of Batman across different eras, with a roster of stories that highlights one of the character's true strengths: How well he works across different kinds of stories.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Eve

Movies: Henry Cavill "Gets all hot and modern" on EW's new Man of Steel cover, which I guess means hiding his eyebrows. Toys: Hot Toys' The Dark Knight Rises 1/6 scale "The Bat" vehicle is crazy big. Tech: Building your own Iron Man repulsor ray glove is totally doable with the aid of Advancer Technologies' (no, not Advanced Idea Mechanics) tutorial video...

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great images on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we've created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwor

Carmine Infantino, the legendary comic book creator who played an integral role in the American comic book business both as an artist and editor, passed away today. Regarded by many as one of the greatest pencillers the industry has ever known, he is perhaps most associated with his work in revitalizing the DC Comics character The Flash, a move that signaled a return of popularity for superheroes

In the house of Carmine Infantino, the notable Silver Age comics artist and DC Comics editor, there resides a very special and unique piece of original art: a drawing of Batman by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz where the Dark Knight lies supine on Snoopy's doghouse...