Comics lost a giant with the passing this morning of Dick Giordano, a former Executive Editor at DC and an influential inker who helped shape the look of Bronze Age comics and usher in a new era of talent.
Giordano’s career included work at Charlton, Dc and Continuity Associates, the studio run by Neal Adams. As Adams’ inker on such much admired works as Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Giordano’s techniques influenced a generation of inkers, including Terry Austin, Bob Layton, Al Milgrom, Joe Rubinstein, and Bob Wiacek, essentially setting the tone for the entire Bronze Age of comics.
Giordano was equally important as an editor. At Charlton, he helped create and revamp their line of characters. That feat got him a job at DC. During his first stint there, from 1967-1970, he helped usher in a more modern era of comics storytelling with books such as Bat Lash and Manhunter, and helping to bring in the first wave of new talent to DC Comics since the Golden Age. After leaving to go to Continuity, he came back to DC in 1981 and continued at VP/Executive Editor from 1983 until 1993, where he oversaw such epochal events as the maturation of the Direct Market, limited rights for creators, the publication of Watchmen and Dark Knight and the establishment of the Vertigo line. While Giordano was not the originator of these changes, along with Jenette Kahn and Joe Orlando, he helped usher in the first truly modern era of comics.
He was much admired as a a line editor — one who supports and advises without heavy-handedness.
Giordano retired from DC in 1993, partly due to hearing loss that made working in an executive capacity difficult. However, he continued to draw and ink and was a familiar figure at conventions, and an important mentor and confidante for some of comics’ most important creators of the period. In recent years, he had suffered from leukemia and was hospitalized last week.
Bob Layton sent out the following message this morning:
Dear Friends & Colleagues,
It is my sorrowful duty to announce that legendary artist/editor/entrepreneur Dick Giordano passed away today.
Few could ever hope to match what he accomplished in his chosen profession, or to excel while maintaining great humor, compassion for his peers and an unwavering love for the art form.
His unique vision changed the comic industry forever and all of those who work in the business continue to share in the benefits of his sizable contributions.
I have been honored to call him a business partner, mentor and dear friend throughout the majority of my lifetime. We will not see his like again.
Regretfully,
Bob Layton
While tributes are pouring in, DC’s current management team released the following statement:
“Dick Giordano has left a lasting legacy as a comic book artist and as a DC Comics executive,” said Diane Nelson, President, DC Entertainment. “I join the industry in recognizing his tremendous contribution to DC Comics and send my sympathy to his family and friends.” “
When I was just trying to break into comics back in 1986, I received a lot of form rejection letters, including a very gracious one from Dick at DC Comics. On the DC letterhead, he took the time to pen an additional personal note which I still cherish today. “Looking good–keep working at it.” Those few words kept this often dejected young artist hanging in there as it took many many more submissions before I finally broke into comics,” said Jim Lee, Co-Publisher, DC Comics
“Thank you, Dick, for your words of encouragement, all the years of amazing art and editorial leadership at DC. And finally, for showing us artists how a great inker gets it done.”
“Dick Giordano was an inspiration for me when I first joined DC Comics,” said Dan DiDio, Co-Publisher, DC Comics. “He was an innovator and an industry leader as both a creator and a creative executive. He was truly one of the greats in the business.”
Marv Wolfman wrote
Dick Giordano passed away. For those of us who came into the industry between ‘67-70, Dick was more than the great inker people know him as. As an editor, he was an encouraging force who brought in new people and helped nurture them. He is 100% responsible for my existence in DC. On top of that he was simply a great guy. He’ll be missed.
There were very few people in comics that were as influential to people of my generation, for a number of reasons. But for me, it was because I saw him as a businessman and an artist in equal measure. That was an awakening for someone who had been raised to believe that the two were antithetical.
Personally, I didn’t know him well. We met at ProCon in the early 90’s, and I gave him copies of STARCHILD and waxed enthusiastic for half an hour about how I’d learned to ink with a brush because Dave Sim (who showed ME how) had learned from Joe Rubenstein who had learned it from Dick. He patted me on the shoulder, smiled, and said “That’s what it’s about, James. Learn what you can, and pass it on.”
Jeez, it’s insurmountable that you can’t pick up any DC comic and not think of Giordano’s delectable influence that nearly strives for excellence on almost book on the stands to this very day.
What an incredible legacy he leaves behind.
The big lug will certainly be missed.
~
Coat
We are losing some real artists this month. Alex Chilton, Robert Culp, now this. (sighs) Thank you for some great inks, Mr. Giordano. You will be missed, but never forgotten!
A note to everyone reading this: when you see folks of Dick’s age at cons, go say “thank you” to them when you see them. You never know when they’ll be gone. People are flocking to SDCC to see “Tron” and “Chuck” panels. Me, I want to meet Neal Adams and Jerry Robinson and just shake their hands.
Thank you for everything you did and for all the inspiration!
Mr. Giordano was one of the first artists whose style I could recognize when I was a young kid first getting into the world of comics. Since I was a DC devotee in those early years in the 1970s and ’80s, his name often graced the cover art of the comics I loved.
He also represented for me one of the first real voices for the industry through his “Meanwhile” column.
It’s a testament to his love for the medium and abilities to excel within it that he remained an active contributor to it into his twilight years.
Such sad news. Giordano was one of the most iconic inkers the medium has ever known, as well as being a heckuva good artist and an innovative editor. (didn’t he bring Ditko from Charlton over to DC?)
Especially with all of the changes at DC of late, as identifiable as hew was and is with that publisher, it just really feels like the end of an era.
Rest in peace, Dick… your work lives forever at the heart of each true artist.
I was lucky enough to work at DC during Dick’s tenure as Executive Editorial Director. He was encouraging and supportive when I stepped into my role as an editor, and equally supportive when I decided to go freelance as a writer. I will miss his great, generous heart.
Dick was so much more than a great artist. He was a willing teacher who never failed to encourage with positive and enlightening direction.
I have fond memories of impromptu workshops held on convention floors where Dick would command an audience of aspiring artists and writers with industry stories, always emphasizing hard work and perseverance.
He was a great friend to us at Comico. Always free with his guidance and support, he made as big an impact on our decisions as publishers as he did at DC where he personally defined the iconic images of their greatest characters.
Thank you, Dick, for lessons never forgotten.
Even twenty-five years later, I still enjoy reading his “Meanwhile…” columns in old DC Comics.
I was somewhat surprised to see his work in Sandman, and tickled to find him in the pages of the Weekly World News (illustrating a story about a naked superhero titled “The Flesh”)!
Truely heartbreaking.
Dick was encouraging and generous with his time, always remembering a name and a face.
The shoes don’t get any bigger or more impossible to fill.
I’ve never met him but clearly his influence spans my childhood and has shaped my view of comics — even today through the nuances seen in other artists. Just like James Owen I was also at Pro/Con in the 1990s but I was so wet behind the ears that I never tried to approach such established giants who walked the rooms. I now wish I made the opportunity.
Sad. Glad I got to meet him years ago. I’ve loved his art for years.
The poor guy won’t get much chance to rest once Jerry and the others get ahold of him in the afterlife. They will have dozens of projects with an eternity to work on them. But here at the home planet we are missing one great person, artist and editor.
damn. he’s been alive as long as I’ve loved comics, to this moment. I know his name and influence on the hobby.
R.I.P. Mr. Giordano and condolances to his loved ones.
When I first came to read comics as an adult in the early 80s, Dick Giordano was the head guy at DC. I think that’s why to this day I’m a DC guy.
As a young teen in the mid- 80’s, his willingness to take DC in unimagined directions led me from becoming a full-time Marvel zombie to eventually me becoming a much more of a DC fan.
His Meanwhile columns still read well, warm and chock full of inside info that you could only get from those columns in those days.
A true giant.
This is God’s Willing. But indeed the Comics industry lost a Giant today. Thank you Dick Giordano for all the happy moments you gave us throughout the past years. We will never forget you.
Wow. This is sad news. Dick Giordano was one of the best comic and illustrative talents in media. I was glad to have known him. As well as his success in the mainstream, he was such a big influence for the early times in the formation of the independents. He was very positive towards everyone and all the projects we had, inside DC and and at the various alterative publishers of the day.
I mentioned elsewhere that Dick was what my dad said the older Italians had a term for. He was a “Christmas Eve” person. His talent, energy and enthusiasm was boundless. It was like a holiday to be associated with him. This was so encouraging. Especially now, when we all must marshall our talents, as other media encroach on comics proper; Dick’s attitude is one must all take to heart, and use it to enrich our own work. And we’ve got a lot of work to do.
This industry has lost so many talents in the past couple of years. It just makes you want to stop clowning around reach out to the friends you still might be lucky enough to have.
Thank You Mr. Giordano.
I’ll remember Dick for caring enough about the future of the business to sit in the cramped, stuffy, terrarium of a portfolio room in the old Ramada Chicago cons to review art samples for hours on end while he was running DC editorial. Can you imagine such a thing?
Great man. Taught us all both through his work on the page and his behavior as a human being.
the industry is now a darker and sadder place as a giant has now gone to the comic shop in the sky. as Dick leaves a legacy and proved howw a comic editor should be . plus he also knew to let the writers and artists do their thing for they knew what they were doing. truley a sad day for the comic world.
Dick Giordano was one of the nicest people you could ever meet. The field is full of talented souls, but it has few true gents – Dick was both.
I wrote about Dick for today’s column:
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/back20100329.shtml
Tony Isabella
I still remember the letter column intros he wrote for his first issues of Strange Adventures, Aquaman, Blackhawk, and the like, introducing himself to the fans. It was the first time I had seen something like that in a DC Comic — the acknowledgement that a change had happened behind the scenes — and looking back on it today, it was an unmistakeable harbinger of even greater change for the entire comics industry.
I was also at those Pro/Cons in the ’90s, and had the foresight to shake his hand and thank Dick for his countless contributions to the field we both loved. Today, all I can say is: Thanks for everything, Dick…and good afternoon.
He was an incredible talent, and responsible for scores of my favorite comics, but as far as I know, he didn’t work on either Bat Lash or Manhunter.
He will definitely be missed. Rest in peace, Mr. Giordano, and thank you so much for all the entertainment you brought me over the decades.
The first comic (and second, third and fourth) I ever bought, I purchased because I was blown away by the art on the cover. I was about 8 years old and the cover was so striking, so beautiful, I had to know what the story was all about and so I bought it, without ever having read a comic in my life.
It was an issue of the Flash featuring a cover by Dick Giordano, issue #275 featuring the Death of (Iris)! So enamored was I by the art, I began a 20 year quest to find the original art, which I now own and treasure more than words can say.
So my love of comics began with Dick Giordano; buying comics whose covers just grabbed me, made me curious about the story inside.
All of them were by Dick Giordano on DC Comics covers he worked on in 1978-1979.
And it was his steering of the DC ship that prompted me to buy every DC Comic published during his tenure until the day he retired. He valued readers and it showed in his leadership, a particular way of producing comics that allowed me to ‘Buy With Confidence’, something I haven’t been able to do also since the day he retired.
His work brought joy to so many people over the years, it’s no wonder its been raining so hard for the last few days. It’s sad and the world seems a whole lot poorer without him.
Laurie Sutton… I remember the quality writing and editing you did at DC during those days!
Vince Argondezzi… WoW! I remember your comic Next Man very well — and your work on Infinity Inc!
Tony Isabella (!): One of my favorites! I just reread your Black Lightening run a few months ago and Isabella’s run on Hawkman (beginning with Shadow War) is the greatest stories about the character ever!
Dick Giordano just brings out the best.
I met and worked with Dick Giordano, who wrote the book Draw Comics with Dick Giordano for IMPACT a few years ago. Though I didn’t know him in his younger DC days, I enjoyed spending time with him at the San Diego Comic Con, and I know that he will be greatly missed by many.
Coincidentally I picked up the TwoMorrows book the other day as I was going on a long journey and needed something I thought I might enjoy. Mike Eury’s “Changing Comics, One Day at a Time” put such joy in my heart remembering those simpler times in my life where comics meant so much. Mr Giordano (and Michael) I thank you for that joy. RIP Dick and condolences to all whom he touched
There are a few things I know from my 50 years of comic book reading and 35 years in the business:
In the 1960s, the comic books edited by Dick Giordano at Charlton and DC were some of the hippest and best books on the market. He was also one of the best artists in the business, penciler or inker, or both.
As an employee of DC Comics, I always knew I could count on Dick to be a great creative sounding board and a fair and impartial boss.
As an editor, I knew I could always call on Dick to do a fast and beautiful job.
As a writer, I knew my words were going to receive breathtaking treatment when he was assigned to draw it.
As a fan, I knew Dick was a fount of anecdotes, a man who had witnessed a vast majority of comics history helping make that history and loved to talk about it sitting around conventions or over an ice cold Rob Roy and a good meal.
But most of all, I knew Dick Giordano as a friend, and it’s in that role that I’ll miss him the most.
Good afternoon, Dick…
He will be missed. We all grew up and remeber with the fascinations – of DC comics
in the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s.
Always looking for the pencilled artworks by Neal Adams and inkworks by Dick Giordano.
It was the good unique era of comic books to read.
His contributions to the industry is greatly appreciated. We miss you Dick. Thank you for
that special memory when we were growing up.