Born May 24: Carmine Infantino

A celebrated comic book artist, editor and publishing executive, Carmine Infantino was born May 24, 1925. He was 81 years old when his name appeared on the backing paper for two self-adhesive postage stamps that featured his artwork: the 39¢ The Flash stamp (Scott 4084f) and the 39¢ Cover of The Flash No. 111 stamp (4084p).

Both stamps are part of the DC Comics Superheroes set of 20 issued July 20, 2006.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Infantino studied art in high school and was just 16 when he found employment creating comic book illustrations. He began working for DC Comics during the 1950s, and there he developed a modern-day counterpart to the golden age superhero from the 1940s, the Flash.

Infantino created a new red uniform with a lightning bolt insignia that has now been identified with the Flash, "the fastest man alive," for more than 60 years. He would also be involved in developing other popular heroes for DC, including Batgirl and Elongated Man.

He was one of the comic industry's most popular cover artists and became the publisher at DC in 1971. He would later do some work for rival comics publisher Marvel before returning to DC.

Infantino died at age 87 on April 4, 2013 — nearly six years after his name appeared on those two United States stamps depicting his comic art.