With so many crappy artists out there wreaking havoc on the comic book industry, it blows massive chunks to wake up to the news that DC Comics icon Dick Giordano has died at the age of 77. For those who don't know Giordano he was a major force behind the rejuvenation of DC Comics in the 70s and I'd lay bets he's one of the major reasons DC was able to start matching Marvel Comics as far as content and art were concerned. Giordano wasn't a glory hound, nor was he basking in the spotlight of DC's return but if not for him the return either would not have happened or not at all to such a degree.
You have to understand Giordano's inking ability brought a certain depth and realism to the pencils happening in the 70s, a realism that raised the bar as to what could be done. Outside of his incredible art Giordano would help to bring the Charlton Comics characters over to DC (he had worked there previous) and without those characters there would have been no Watchman. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons based their Watchmen on the Charlton Comics characters and if the work done by Giordano, Adams, Denis O'Neil, and the ilk hadn't been done in the 70s, a book like Watchman could never have come out.
Giordano was also the man behind some of the greatest titles ever to hit the streets. Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Superman Vs Muhammad Ali, Superman Vs Spider-Man (the first Marvel/DC crossover), Crisis On Infinite Earths, and the inks during John Byrne's classic Superman run. Outside of that he also helped to make Aquaman (one of my favorites) less hokey as well as bringing his talents to books like Wonder Woman and JLA. None of the art that made the 70s & 80s era of comics books so magical would have worked as well without Dick Giordano, that's simply fact.
Personally I idolized the man because he was part of the team that brought Batman back from the brink. See I'm a Batman guy, before any other heroes ever entered my life I was hooked on the Dark Knight. I bought my first issue in 1977 and I've been hooked ever since. Even during the days when money or room kept me from collecting I would always stop by the comic shop (or drug store in the early days) to make sure I was on top of what was up with Batman. As I got older and began looking into the history of the character I became sickened at what Batman went through during the Silver Age. The art was lame, the stories corny and slowly all the darkness of the Dark Knight was ebbed away, culminating in that goddamn motherfucking shtiheap TV series.
Then along comes Neal Adams (Art), Denny O'Niel (writer) and Dick Giordano (Inks) to save Batman. They understood what Bob Kane (creator of Batman) had intended with the original run. A lone, twisted, dark and sinister creature of the night, a weirdo with a thirst for revenge. That team brought out the detective side of Batman, the dark side and the violent side. They also helped breathe new life into Batman's rouges gallery, a gallery that is still unparalleled today. If not for these men I would never have gotten into Batman, a title that helped me through some really bad spots in my life as well as providing me with at least one hero who wouldn't let me down.
So Mr. Giordano I wish you all the best in the next world and I hope you know just how much you have done to enrich all of our lives, especially mine.
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