Later career
Infantino later drew for a number of titles for Warren Publishing and Marvel, including the latter's Star Wars,[31] Spider-Woman,[32] and Nova. His brief collaboration with Jim Shooter saw the introduction of Paladin in Daredevil #150 (Jan. 1978).[33] During Infantino's tenure on the Star Wars series, it was one of the industry's top selling titles.[34] In 1981, he returned to DC Comics and co-created a revival of the "Dial H for Hero" feature with writer Marv Wolfman in a special insert in Legion of Super-Heroes #272 (February 1981).[35] He and writer Cary Bates crafted a Batman backup story for Detective Comics #500 (March 1981).[36][37] Infantino returned to The Flash title with issue #296 (April 1981) and drew the series until its cancellation with issue #350 (October 1985). He drew The Flash #300 (Aug. 1981), which was in the Dollar Comics format,[38] and was one of the artists on the double-sized Justice League of America #200 (March 1982), his chapter featuring the Flash and Elongated Man, characters he had co-created.[39]
He was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series in 1986.[40] Other projects in the 1980s included penciling The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl,[41] a Red Tornado miniseries, and a comic book tie-in to the television series V. In 1990, he followed Marshall Rogers as artist of the Batman newspaper comic strip and drew the strip until its cancellation the following year.[42] During the 1990s Infantino also taught at the School of Visual Arts before retiring.[43] Despite his retirement, Infantino made appearances at comic conventions in the early 21st century.[44]
In 2004, he sued DC for rights to characters he alleged he had created while he was a freelancer for the company. These included several Flash characters including Wally West, Iris West, Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master, and Gorilla Grodd, as well as Elongated Man and Batgirl.[45] The lawsuit was dismissed in September of that same year.[46]
One of his final stories for the company appeared in DC Comics Presents: Batman #1 (Sept. 2004), a tribute to Julius Schwartz.[47]
Artist Nick Cardy commented on the popular but apocryphal anecdote, told by Julius Schwartz, about Infantino firing Cardy over not following a cover layout, only to rehire him moments later when Schwartz praised the errant cover art: "[A]t one of the conventions ... I said, 'You know, Carmine, Julie Schwartz wrote something in [his autobiography] that I don't remember at all and it doesn't sound like you at all'. And I told him the incident ... and he said, 'That's crazy. You know I always loved your work. Gee, you were one of the best artists in the business. The guy's crazy'. So I said, 'Okay, come on'. We went over to Julie Schwartz's table and we told him what our problem was. And Carmine and I said, 'We don't remember the incident'. So Julie said, 'Well, it's a good story, anyway'. [laughs] And that was it. He let it go at that. [laughs] He just made it up.[48]"
Infantino wrote or contributed to two books about his life and career: The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino (Vanguard Productions, ISBN 1-887591-12-5), and Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur (Tomorrows Publishing, ISBN 1-60549-025-3).
