A birthday tribute! — More than any other characters, the late, great Carmine Infantino — born May 24, 1925 — defined the look of Batman and the Flash in the Silver Age. Last year on his birthday, we took 13 Infantino Batman covers and ranked them. (Click here.) It was a predictably foolhardy yet fun exercise and at the time I raised the idea of doing the same for The Flash this year. And here we are! So let’s get right to it. Here are CARMINE INFANTINO’s 13 GREATEST FLASH COVERS — RANKED. The vast majority are from the Silver Age but I’ve also included a couple from his Bronze Age return… — 13. The Flash #126. The Flash was tortured in more colorful ways than any other hero. This is a prime example of Infantino’s Silver Age wackiness. — 12. The Flash #110. How to convey superspeed in different ways? Infantino shows you how with his imaginative, dizzying line work. — 11. The Flash #305. Things darkened for the Flash in the Bronze Age and this image plays with Barry Allen’s kinship with Jay Garrick in a cosmically horrible way. — 10. The Flash #323. Infantino’s best Bronze Age Flash cover. Hands down. Superb. — 9. The Flash #169. Did you say floating heads? Did you? FLOATING HEADS! — 8. The Flash #115. A classic example of epic Silver Age insanity. — 7. The Flash #135. Kid Flash’s second costume was one of the greatest designs in comics history and should never have been changed. Pretty stupid way he got it though. — 6. The Flash #153. Virtually every hero has an opposite-number villain – and the Flash’s is the best. This Reverse-Flash cover tops all others. — 5. The Flash #163. Marvel may have been cooler, but DC had the best meta covers of the Silver Age. You absolutely cannot help but want to know what’s going on inside this issue – the hallmark of a great cover. — 4. The Flash #133. The apex of Silver Age silliness. Not even Jimmy Olsen could compete with this. — 3. Showcase #4. Barry Allen’s debut marked the start of the Silver Age — and this is probably the second-most homaged Flash cover ever. FLASH FACT: It was actually designed by writer Robert Kanigher. — 2. The Flash #174....
A birthday salute! — UPDATED 5/24/19: Hey, it’s Carmine Infantino’s birthday again! I posted this a year ago but I’m re-presenting it because it now has a companion piece — CARMINE INFANTINO’s 13 GREATEST FLASH COVERS — RANKED, which you can find by clicking here. Groovy! — Dan — Carmine Infantino, who was born May 24, 1925, was one of the most important and influential personalities in comics history. He’s also one of Batman’s greatest artists, and this year I’ve decided to go out on a limb for our annual birthday celebration with a full-on ranking of his 13 best Batcovers. I don’t typically do this with our 13 COVERS salutes, mainly because it’s an inherently flawed premise. Art is subjective. My list may look a lot like yours — or it may not look at all like yours. No matter, it’s a fun exercise, and hell, I just decided to throw caution to the wind. Maybe next year I’ll do the same with The Flash. (UPDATED: Yep, I did it. Click here). Are there great covers missing? Most definitely. I can think of five right off the, er, bat. So feel free to add your own! Nevertheless, here we go with CARMINE INFANTINO’s 13 Greatest BATMAN Covers — RANKED: — 13. Batman #188. The campiest Batman cover ever, it’s laugh-out-loud funny and merits a mention on that point alone. — 12. Batman #194. Some think this is a Will Eisner rip-off and it kind of is. But it’s an especially well-done and memorable Will Eisner ripoff — among the best-known covers of the Silver Age. I remember tracking it down as a kid, thinking it was a particularly sought-after, important issue on the strength of the cover alone. That bright red background really helps. — 11. Batman #183. So damn funny and self-referential. A Camp Era high point. — 10. Batman #184. A text-heavy entry that nonetheless forces the reader to demand more. Love the “Not Even THEY Know!” kicker. — 9. Detective #360. Boy, Infantino really liked putting Batman and Robin through their paces, didn’t he? This one begs the reader to “BUY ME!” to find out what’s going on — the most important aspect of any cover. BONUS: A classic Infantino “mini-hand” sighting! — 8. Batman #175. I first saw this image in the ’70s when it was used for a goofy caption gag in one...
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