Dick Giordano
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Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano (July 20, 1932 - ) is a United States comic book artist and editor. He was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York.
Giordano is probably best-known as an inker, particularly over the pencils of Neal Adams, for an influential run in the late 1960s and early 1970s on Batman, and Green Lantern/Green Arrow for DC Comics, and the oversized special Superman vs. Muhammad Ali in 1978. Two years earlier, Giordano inked the landmark DC/Marvel Comics crossover, Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-man, over the pencils of Spider-man specialist, Ross Andru. He served as mentor or inspiration to an entire gerneration of inkers, including Terry Austin, Klaus Janson, Bob Layton, Steve Mitchell and Mike DeCarlo. As a penciller, besides numerous Batman strips, he drew Sons of the Tiger (three Martial Arts heroes featured in the comic book magazine The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, published by Curtis Magazines), and Wonder Woman.
He has been equally as influential as an editor, first making his mark at Charlton Comics in the mid 1960s with such characters as Blue Beetle, The Question and Captain Atom. In 1969 he was hired by DC's then-publisher Carmine Infantino. While none of his titles (such as Bat Lash and Deadman) was a commercial hit, they were critical successes, but by the early 1970s Giordano had left DC, helping to set up Adams' Continuity Studios (which produced comics and commercial art).
In the late 1970s Giordano was lured back to DC by its new publisher, Jenette Kahn. Initially the editor of the Batman titles, Giordano was named the company's new managing editor in 1981. With Kahn and Paul Levitz, Giordano was an integral part of the DC "new look" that spawned successful relaunches of its major characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, the Justice League, Teen Titans et al) as well as the Vertigo universe (under editor Karen Berger) and the influx of UK talent such as Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. Giordano also continued to ink, such as over George Perez's pencils on the 1986 crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths, and John Byrne's pencils on The Man of Steel and Action Comics.
Giordano went into semi-retirement in the early 1990s, although he does the occasional inking job, and in 2002 was part of the launch of Future Comics (with writer David Michelinie and artist Bob Layton).
He has received recognition in the industry for his work, including the Alley Award for Best Editor in 1969 and the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) for Green Lantern and other DC titles in 1970, again in 1973 for Justice League of America, and the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) in 1971 and 1974.
Since 2002 he has also drawn several episodes of The Phantom published in Europe and Australia. Today, he sits on the board of directors of the comic industry charity, A Commitment To Our Roots.
