Born on this day in 1932: comics penciller/inker and editor Dick Giordano! He's drawn Sarge Steel, Strange Suspense Stories (his artwork there stolen and reappropriated by Roy Lichenstein), Action Comics (Atom, Human Target, Green Arrow), Batman, The Brave and the Bold, Love Romances, Modesty Blaise, Elongated Man in The Flash and Detective Comics, Doctor Strange, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Lois Lane (Rose and Thorn), and much more, including inking such prestigious books as Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, Wonder Woman, Thor, Atari Force, John Byrne's Man of Steel, Neil gaiman's Sandman, Batman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Bloodshot, and Crisis on Infinite Earths! And the proverbial multitude of others! And his own instructional book Draw Comics with Dick Giordano! (Amazon ad) He co-founded Continuity Associates with Neal Adams! He co-created Leslie Thompkins and Talia al Ghul! What hasn't this guy done?
house ads from DC Comics cover-dated December 1970 (top) and November 1971 (bottom)
Here's a couple brief bios to quickly study up on the life and work of Dick Giordano (at least up through 1980):
from (top) Limited Collectors' Edition #C-51 [Batman] (DC, August 1977), text by Cary Burkett,
(bottom) The Superman Family #203 (DC, September 1980), text by Mike W. Barr
From his stint as editor (especially of the Batman titles) to managing editor, then promoted to vice president/executive editor from 1983-1993, Giordano has served as a modern "face" of DC Comics (even during the Jenette Kahn years), presently a relatively more modest public persona than that of Marvel's Stan Lee, but still a friendly and calm one, especially in his monthly "Meanwhile..." columns.
from DC Comics cover-dated April 1968 (top) and November 1985 (bottom)
Dick Giordano appearances in comics? Well, of course! here's Dick portrayed as a bandit of the Olllllllllld West in the first El Diablo story, which also featured caricatures of Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, Gil Kane and Phil Seuling.
from "The Devil Has Two Faces!" in All-Star Western (1970 series) #2 (DC, October 1970), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils and inks by Gray Morrow, letters by Ray Holloway (?)
Dick (and Julius Schwartz) are one of the many victims of the theft of time by Chronos! Yeah, we kinda need that, you leave that alone, dude.
from Wonder Woman (1942 series) #220 (DC, October 1975), script by Martin Pasko, pencils and inks by Dick Giordano, additional pencils and inks by Neal Adams and Terry Austin, letters by Milt Snapinn
Here he is with the creative staff of DC's biggest early-'80s success story, The New Teen Titans. That's Dick coming in the door at the left there (no, he does not have a monkey on his shoulder), with (from L-R) Marv Wolfman, Romeo Tanghal, George Pérez, and Len Wein with the teddy bear. I'm not certain who the figure on the extreme right is, but if you know, drop me a hint in the comments!
from "A Titanic Tale of Titans' Tomfoolery!" in The New Teen Titans (1980 series) #20 (DC, June 1982), script by Marv Wolfman, breakdowns by George Pérez, finishes by Romeo Tanghal, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza
Though associated in the comics-fandom mind with Charlton and then DC, Dick did freelance at various times for Marvel Comics (witness via Wikipedia). Here's a truly oddball photographic appearance in a fumetti from the first issue of Marvel's MAD imitation, Crazy:. Elsewhere in the story characters are played by photographs of Marvel personnel Neal Adams, Gayle Landers, Mary McPherran, Tony Isabella, and Alex Simmons.
from "The Great American Dream" in Crazy Magazine #1 (Marvel, October 1973), script by Marv Wolfman, layouts by Marie Severin, photographs by Michele Wolfman
"King" Jack Kirby encounters Giordano:
from Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics (Ten Speed, July 2020), script and art by Tom Scioli
Yeah, of course Dick Giordano was ringside at the earth-shattering prize fight between Muhammad Ali and some other guy. Why, weren't you? (And can you find Giordano in the crowd?)
cover of All-New Collectors' Edition #C-56 (DC, March 1978), layout by Joe Kubert, pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Neal Adams (?) and/or Cory Adams (?), logo design by John Workman
(Click top picture to GOAT-size)
So beloved was Dick Giordano that when he died in 2010, he got two DC Comics obituaries: one each in DC and Vertigo Comics.
from (top) DC Comics cover-dated June 2010,
(bottom) DC/Vertigo Comics cover-dated July 2010
A very happy birthday to you, Dick Giordano!
from (left) 1975 Mighty Marvel Convention Program Book (Marvel, 1975), photography by Michele Wolfman,
(right) Savage Sword of Conan #21 (Marvel, August 1977), photograph by Nick Arroyo
He also appeared on at least one cover (#14), and perhaps in some issues, of _Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew_, in his Earth-C persona of Duck G. Ordano.
ReplyDelete@Matthew E: Wow, thanks, I did not know that! When I update this post I'll include that! You are hereby awarded a prestigious gold-foil covered chocolate No-Bull Prize for your contribution!
ReplyDeleteI have a use for that!
ReplyDeleteI think it's Milt Snapinn, not Ben Oda, lettering in that Wonder Woman panel. Also, in the hover-text for your last image(s), you probably didn't mean to render the years of enjoyment we got from his comics in Roman numerals. 8^)
ReplyDeleteI didn't meet Dick until 2000, when he was launching Future Comics with Bob Layton, but the behind-the-scenes looks he provided in his Meanwhile... columns meant a lot to me and I was glad I got to tell him so.
I think you're right on the letterer verification, Blam! The Oda credit was even followed with a ? on Comics.org.
ReplyDeleteFixed Dick's Roman Numeral! Thanks.
Yeah, I need to start indexing there again, especially since I've been told I have a good eye for lettering.
ReplyDelete@Blam!: As i take so much info from Comics.org, I appreciate it (and I've seen your corrections in some places after you've pointed them out to me here!)
ReplyDeleteThanks, as always. Your comments are a delight to read.
Aw, shucks…
ReplyDeleteI realized when I started adding in alt-text riffs to images as I updated posts on my blog just how much effort it could take. You post multiple times daily, with lots of pics — and putting all that content together is a Herculean feat itself.
My GCD indexing fell off in large part because my Internet connection went to crap again, which is also partly why my blogging fell off, along with finally joining Facebook (then effectively abandoning it because my Internet connection went to crap; you might see a trend).
I dropped you some E-mail recently, by the way, and since I can’t be sure it made it through I figgered I would mention it here.
So glad you’re back spreading the gospel of comics being fun!