On the passing

The entertainment world lost two people recently.

Roger Ebert with his wife, Chaz Ebert.

The first came this afternoon, as it was reported that Roger Ebert, known as the man who had a critical eye on movies and was a spot light on cinema for decades, lost his battle with cancer.  He was 70 years old.

Ebert was a film critic, but he had a love of movies and indeed loved some of the cheesiest movies out there.  Because he saw them for what they should be; fun.  Not only was he a film critic, but also a prolific writer, having a column with the Chicago Sun-Times, writing his own biography, and what many might not know, he wrote a screen play for a Sex Pistols movie project which unfortunately never got off the ground.  In 2007, his fight with cancer lost him his voice, and he stopped appearing on television.

He was also a noted “raging liberal” by some.  The Pulitzer Prize winning film critic was known to have his opinions on many different topics, outside of the film industry.  Within the industry, he was critical of Hollywood for not producing films that the public wants to see.  He was a huge supporter of indie films.

The White House offered a eulogy this afternoon, and Prime Minister tweeted his condolences.  The Toronto International Film Festival gave a statement on Ebert’s passing, saying that Roger was like family.  He was there from the festival’s humble beginnings.

The second person who passed away recent was Carmine Infantino.

Infantino was integral to the American comic book industry, helping to create some of the most iconic characters known.  Many of whom still live on today.  He is responsible for the creation of Black Canary, Batgirl, Wally West (Kid Flash), Iris West, Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Gorilla Grodd, and Elongated Man, all for DC Comics.  His artwork was a well known style, and his work was best known for his run on The Flash in the mid 1980s.

He also worked for Marvel Comics and Warren Comics, working on titles that included Spiderwoman, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Vampirella.  Two of his comic covers, The Flash 123 and Showcase 4, remain two of the most iconic covers in comics.  As they ushered in the Silver Age of comics, and in the DC Universe, the multiverse with Earth 2.

In 2004, he sued DC for the rights to the aforementioned characters.

In the late 1960s, Infantino became an editor and was instrumental in hiring artists who would also later become editors.  He was responsible for hiring Denny O’Neill and Neal Adams, both of whom would help to reinvent Batman and create the team up of Green Lantern and Green Arrow, by creating the Hard Travelling Heroes stories.  Infantino also brought in Jack Kirby to DC Comics, who would go onto create his Fourth World universe, as well as The Demon, Kahmandi and others.

Carmine Infantino was 87.