Dick Giordano Passes Away At Age 77

It was a sad day for the comics industry on Saturday when news came out that DC Legend Dick Giordano had passed away. There are almost too many links talking about his passing but here are a few. In particular, the Newsarama 'Remembering' link and the Comic Mix "Mentor' are incredible to read as an all-star list of influential creators talk about how much Giordano meant to their careers.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dick-girodano-1932-2010-100327.html

http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2010/03/27/diane-nelson-jim-lee-and-dan-didio-on-dick-giordano/

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/remembering-dick-gordano-100327.html

http://www.comicmix.com/news/2010/03/27/dick-giordano-mentor/

There are also a lot of comic blogs out there offering memories and condolences.

As for me, I can remember being in my tween/early teen years and making that leap from casual comic reader to comic collector and fan. Those days were marked by keeping the books in better condition, buying titles monthly to follow long-term stories, and starting to actually look at the credit boxes to see which writers and artists work I enjoyed consistently.

It amazed me back then just how many times I saw Giordano's name on either the cover or inside as the inker or as the editor of a DC book I was reading. I was stunned by how much work he produced. He was everywhere.


His list of accomplishments on Comic Book DB is massive: http://www.comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=319 In that list are covers for the first Superman books I began to collect in earnest - the early 80s Superman, Superman Family, and Action Comics stuff. That was the Giordano I knew. I learned of his work with Neal Adams on Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow later on.

Heck, he even inked a bunch of Supergirl issues too, including Daring New Adventures #1 as seen above.

As my collecting grew into high school, when going to the comic store became a Friday afternoon tradition, I also began reading his Meanwhile... columns, my first glimpse into some of the creative process in comics. I always dreamed of writing one of those 'Guest Meanwhile ...' pieces but never got around to doing it.

But it was in his administrative role that DC exploded in the late 80s with Crisis on Infinite Earths, Swamp Thing, Dark Knight Returns, and Watchmen. And those were heady days for me as fanboy.



This being a Supergirl blog, I'd be remiss if I didn't also say that he apparently lobbied for Supergirl's death and inked Supergirl's final pages in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. So there are parts of his career that maybe, as a fan, I disagree with.


But he also pencilled and inked the famous 'Kara' story in 1989's Christmas with the Super-Heroes.

This is considered a pretty special story to Supergirl fans and I'd like to believe it was Giordano's recognition of ... and apology to ... her fanbase.

The bottom line is another legend of the industry has passed. In reviewing just the covers I have in my collection from him, I am floored by the impact he had on me back in my earliest days of collecting ... back when I spun a rack in the local convenience store and bought the comic with the best cover. It was those covers that got me hooked onto DC Comics. In that respect, he could be considered one of the most influential artists for me.

God speed Mr. Giordano. And thanks for the comics.