echoing carmine's comment there. this has been a terrific conversation, and i want to thank all of you for being a part of it. i think a lot of folks who see this show will have learned a great deal about the comic book industry. there are a lot of people who have the sense that it is-- it is just about kids, and there are no mature themes, and there are no mature messages. for those who do have an interest in the history of comic books, i want to recommend an extraordinary book, the amazing world of carmine infantino, a terrific new book, contains a lot of your artwork. (infantino) buy them-- (paulson) what's that? (infantino) if they buy them, i don't have to worry about food stamps. all right, let's keep carmine-- [applause] well fed. thank you all for being here. our guests today: carmine infantino. wendy pini. joe quesada. thank you. [applause] i'm ken paulson. back next week with another conversation about free expression, the arts, and america. i hope you can join us then for speaking freely. captioning provid

our guests today include wendy pini of elfquest, joe quesada of marvel comics, and carmine infantino,he former publisher and president of d.c. comics. welcome to you all. (man) thank you. [applause] well, what a great lineup, and we've got folks with every possible perspective on comic books here. just by way of background, there is something called the comics code that is on comic books, most of the comic books i grew up reading-- many of which were illustrated by carmine-- had the comics code authority approval on it, which basically said this comic book has been sanitized for your protection. every comic book we read as kids was censored in some way for our own good so we would not grow up warped in any way, and all of this was inspired by a guy named dr. fredric wertham, who wrote a really influential book called seduction of the innocent in 1954, and he suggested, among other things, that comic books were a negative-- had a negative impact on kids,

well, the first job i got was an election for district leader where carmine de sapio was trying to make a comeback, and i defeated him by 21 votes. it projected me because it was david beating goliath and so forth. and from that point on, i was involved. and i had a marvelous time. there, it was great experience as a member of congress, but you can't get thing really done as a member of congress. it's more a talking job. things that should be done, but you're not an executive, you can't get 'em done. but as mayor you can. and it's the greatest job imaginable. greatest job imaginable. why? because people, with respect to the governor, the president, they don't see them as part of themselves, as an extension. the mayor is an extension of every citizen of is -- of the city. that's the way they see it. you belong to them. and i loved it. i absolutely loved it. and i think that whatever success i've had -- and i have had success, i'm very proud of what i've done and, obviously, some failures as well -- what made it possible, in my judgment because i'm an -- i'm not being mr. humble pie becau

her brother-in-law was carmine belino, who was a great accountant and who could figure out where thet and who profited and because of his help, my father was able to go after many people in organized crime. so that wasthat's the sadness of this week. there's been a lot of joy as well, our family has gotten together. caroline and ed did a wonderful job in celebrating president kennedy's administration and his extraordinary inaugural address. weir here with my aunt and god mother jean schmidt who, i have to say, brought peace to ireland. and of course it makes me remember her wonderful husband, steve smith, who is a great friend of all of ours. vickie is with us and has, as was said yesterday, helped so much, teddy, be the person he could be. thank you very much for that and for your family. there are lots of others brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, fi mention all of them, we'll be here forever. so i'm moving on. but it's good to be here with all my cousins and i think there are a few others as well. it's good to be back at the justice department. i often visited here with my b

her brother-in-law was carmine who was an accountant and could figure out where the money went and whocause of his help, my father was able to go after many people in organized crime. that's the sadness of this week. there's been a lot of joy as well which our family has gotten together. ed did a wonderful job of celebrating his inauguration. we're here with my aunt and god mother who i must say brought peace to ireland. [applause] of course, it makes me remember her wonderful husband, steat smith, -- steve smith, a great friends of all of ours. vicki is with us and was said yesterday, helped so much, teddy to be the person that he could be. thank you so much for that and for your family. [applause] there are lots of other brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews, and if i mentioned all of them, i will be here forever, so i'm moving on, but it's good to be here with the cousins and i think there are a few -- [inaudible] it's good to be back at the justice department. i often visited here with my brothers and sisters when i was young, and i was lucky and fortunate enough to work here

people in a foreign country are faced with a civil war, i would like for the first thought that came carmines, why don't we go to the united states? the united states is a world champion of peace. the united states resorts to conflict in extremely rare occasions, and tries to resolve disputes peacefully. i would like for people who want democracy and freedom to say, the united states has the best democratic electoral system on earth. it is not affected by how wealthy candidate is or how much special-interest money can be guarded it -- garnered into an expensive campaign, but anyone can be qualified to serve as president. i would like for the world to say the united states is a champion of environment. in the forefront of the move to prevent global warming, for instance. i would like to see the united states be the most generous nation on earth, sharing our wealth and resources with other people who are in need, like norway, sweden, denmark, or the netherlands. so, i am not criticizing my country, which i love. it is still the greatest nation in the world. but, the aspects of basic morality, b