The first time I saw Carmine Infantino was at my first comic book convention back in 1970. Or so I assume. After all, he was one of the Guests of Honor there. But being for the first time in the presence of my tribe, I was in a daze, so much of that weekend is a muddled explosion of joy, and I don’t specifically remember meeting him.

The last time I saw him was forty years later at the funeral of Mark Hanerfeld, coincidentally the guy without whom I’d never have made it to that first convention. We chatted a bit, mostly about Mark.

I have no great anecdotes to share about the man who drew the first comic book of the Silver Age, and whose work both in that issue and for decades to come imprinted itself on my soul. I wish I did. And you can find the details of his life and plenty of examples of his talent elsewhere.

But I thought the least I could do to say thanks at a time like this was to share his biography as printed in the program book for that 1970 con which changed my life …

… as well as the back cover, which featured his artwork.

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