Old legends and edgy newcomers combine forces at comic book convention

By Sarah Lolley
Courtesy of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

At a time when video games were wiping out comic books, "Batman" saved the day. The movie series provided a much-needed boost to the industry, and went on to inspire movies like "Spawn," "Blade," "X-Men," "The Avengers" and "Ghost World."

With the release of "Spiderman" next week, there will almost certainly be another boom in comic book sales. On the crest of that wave comes the annual Pittsburgh Comicon, which celebrates the comic book world.

The honorary guest speaker is Carmine Infantino, who started his comic book career during the Depression working on legendary character the Flash. Infantino, who hasn't made a public appearance in many years, is celebrating the release of "The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino," an autobiography that features the covers that made him famous at DC Comics, where he worked as cover editor, editorial director and publisher.

Infantino, 76, retired nearly a decade ago to teach at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Although Infantino is passionate about his career, he admits he became an illustrator because he needed a job.

"I wanted to be an architect more than anything else," he says. "Some of that came out in my drawings. When I did science-fiction work, the buildings, I really went crazy with the buildings. I created all kinds of buildings. If you ever see any of the old stuff you'll see the wild and crazy things I used to draw. People were really taken aback by them."

During the Silver Age of comic books in the 1950s, Infantino's work on Flash made him successful and ultimately led him to bigger things.

"In the '60s he was doing Flash and some other characters," says David Spurlock, Infantino's current publisher. "He got a call from the desk, 'The publisher wants to see you immediately.' He went to the publisher and the publisher said, 'The sales on Batman are terrible. I am going to turn Batman over to you. If you can't move the sales up in six months there will be no more Batman.' In six months the sales came up enough to save the series. Then they started the television show."

Along with illustrator Julius Schwartz, Infantino gave the Caped Crusader's Batmobile a new look and the TV series got a new female character, Batgirl. In the past decade, the release of Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" changed the persona of Batman once again, making him a more fragile middle-aged character. The first of three books was received with disdain in the comic book industry, but Infantino was not upset.

" 'Dark Knight' was excellent," he says. "They just came out with another. Apparently, this is not my judgment, but the kids in school are not as happy with this one."

By 1971, DC Comics made Infantino president. He orchestrated the crossover series with Marvel, which made "Superman vs. Spiderman." Also during that time the "Superman" movie was in the making, and he had approval of the script and worked with the director on rewriting the first two movies.

His work later caught the eye of a young artist and visionary, George Lucas. He was asked to work on a science-fiction newspaper series called "Star Wars." "I drew about 25 issues," Infantino says. "The characters were very tough to draw, very intricate characters, the ship and R2D2 was very tough to draw. Once you get the hang of it, it wasn't much of a problem."

After working on Spiderwoman and a few others, Infantino retired in the '80s. "I stopped altogether," he explains. "It's not bad because you reach a point when you have nothing more to say. Rather than be redundant, I just said, 'That's enough.' "

A recent appearance on the New York TV show "The First Amendment Club," where the topic was censorship, reminded Infantino of how much the industry has changed. Infantino says during the Silver Age, a time of severe scrutiny, "I think it worked out well because we created some very interesting things. So it did help us at that point in time. Comics, I think, are changing not for the better right now. They're getting kind of raunchy. And the sex ... we didn't do that at all. I don't think you need those things to make a comic book. But I guess they feel they do. But then again I am not in the business anymore."

After a 60-year career of comic book writing, he decided to teach and travel. His favorite country is Italy and he still loves to listen to Elvis Presley. But in the end he comes home to New York, a city that continues to keeps his juices flowing.

As far as comics, he believes there is still an unforeseen terrain to be explored. "I think comics have got to evolve into something else. Just what, I don't know. Many years ago there was a thing called pulp magazines. Pulp magazines evolved into pocket books. They had to change into something else. And I do believe comics have to evolve, and to what and how I don't know, since I am not being paid to think about it I refuse to think about it. Someone will come along and change it."

The power of 'Shi'

At the other end of the comic book spectrum, young artists have started their own independent companies to publish their material. Bill Tucci is one such artist who couldn't get an illustrating job in 1994 so he funded his own comic book, "Shi." Since then, he has founded Crusade Entertainment and sold more than 4 million comic books, grossing $24 million.

"I didn't even read comic books when I was growing up," says Tucci. "I wanted to tell a story and I went to college for illustration."

After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology he became an Army paratrooper. He then landed a job designing baby clothes for Macy's. But what he really wanted to do was draw women.

He found his calling in the character Shi, a Japanese warrior woman. Tucci's love for history inspired the reality-based series, although he admits he's never been to Japan. Where most comic books were based on fantasy or science fiction, Tucci sought an alternative audience captivated by the art and politics of Japan. Anime was already popular in art circles. Tucci's perspective gave a Western twist to an Eastern story.

As for the root of his inspiration he quotes Walt Disney who said, "Before you can do great things with the unreal you have to first know the real." His fascination with an Eastern society, which is misogynistic, was the perfect juxtaposition for a character who is a strong fearless woman with amazing skill. Therefore he decided to call her Shi, the Japanese word for death that is pronounced "she."

"My character is not a superhero," he explains. "She's pretty much an ordinary person thrust into an extraordinary situation ... [The comic book series] has certain facets of Japanese society, mainly the warrior monks of medieval Japan if it carried on today. She's primarily drafted into a war that started hundreds of years before she was born."

The story is currently being made into a movie, although Tucci is not allowed to reveal any details until the production house announces it first. However, Tucci has written and directed his own movie based on an entirely different topic. "Some Trouble of a SeRRious Nature," a comedy about hillbillies who try to fly a plane on the day World War II ends, will be released in the fall. Tucci will be viewing clippings and a documentary on the film this weekend at the Comicon.

He got into the movie business because he says, "It's easy to pitch something as a comic. If you can sell 50,000 books I can sell it as a movie. They have the whole movie in front of them." Tucci has also discovered a lot of people working to develop films in studios were comic book readers. "They want to see their favorite characters on the screen. Young Hollywood is pushing the idea."

But when Sept. 11 called so many people out of their offices to lend a hand, Tucci decided to create a comic book about the stories that evolved from the rubble. "Shi Through the Ashes" has sold 16,000 copies, with proceeds going to The Uniform Firefighters, Widows, and Orphan Fund.

"A lot of my friends who were firefighters and police, it's told through their eyes," he says of the book's origins. "I went down to Ground Zero. The bravery of these people, they didn't even care about their own lives. It's the best and worst of this country in one day. It was the hardest book I ever had to do. People should really hear they are the real heroes and they are just everyday people."

Since his career began, Tucci has also enjoyed success with the Atomik Angels and the war comic series "Undaunted." Although he has never been nominated for a Harvey Award, given out in Pittsburgh, he has been nominated for an Eisner Award at the San Diego convention. This upcoming season he plans on introducing a new character, Victoria Cross, based upon the story of a British spy during the 1930s. He revels in his past success and hopes for the future despite any belief the comic industry is dying. "I am the luckiest guy in the world."

Sarah Lolley is a free-lance writer.

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