When I was young, there was a great joy whenever the name Dick Giordano appeared in the credit box as penciler or inker. If his previous embellishments on Neal Adams hadn't been enough of a selling point, that solo artistic effort on There is No Hope in Crime Alley sealed the deal for this then 9 year old. I was a faithful fan forevermore.

Mr. Giordano made a tremendous impact not only in the industry as a creator and in management, but on the hearts and minds of the millions of kids that read the books he drew or edited. His legacy is not only the work that will be reprinted and enjoyed for years to come by new generations of readers (my children included), but the talent he mentored and the projects he championed.

It is somewhat ironic that in his efforts a quarter century ago to broaden the scope and loosen the binds that constrained the industry with such revolutionary projects he green-lighted as The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen that he succeed in the creation of a new set of shackles that plague us to this day. There could be no finer tribute to Mr. Giordano than if a new set of pioneers followed in his footsteps and sought out fertile fields of imagination that lie beyond the creative boundaries of the industry today.

Saddened to read this. Mr Giordano was a huge influence on the industry, in a number of capacities.

RIP

I was at the Post Office, mailing a parcel. The guy at the next counter, who knows who I am, asked the guy serving me who the comic book artist was that he knew. "Dick Giordano," he said, somewhat mangling the last name.

"Ah, yes," I said. "Sad that he died."

At which point the guy's face dropped. Apparently, he had not heard.