The greatest inker ever would have been 85.
Dick Giordano was a huge part of Young Dan’s comic-book experience. Whether he was pencilling or inking, I loved his work: clean, sharp, bright. Great, great stuff.
I’m acutely aware that Giordano — who was born July 20, 1932, and died in 2010 at the age of 77 — had a lengthy career covering many facets of the industry, involving countless characters and titles.
But he will always be a Batman artist to me.
For this year’s 13 COVERS salute, I’ve selected Batman work featuring both pencils and inks over a variety of artists.
Who won’t you see? Neal Adams — Giordano’s greatest collaborator — because I featured their pairing last year. You can check out 13 Adams/Giordano covers, here. Also missing are some classic Giordano covers because I didn’t want to repeat myself from years past and there’s lots to choose from. (Check out a previous 13 COVERS salute, here.)
As always, feel free to add your own faves in the comments below or in whichever social-media thread you found this.
As Mr. Giordano would say,
Thank You and Good Afternoon.
Walt Simonson pencils
Ross Andru pencils
Rich Buckler pencils
Marshall Rogers pencils
Joe Kubert
Dick Dillin pencils. I’m throwing this in here because it’s my favorite JLA story ever.
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Cover images and credits from the sharp Grand Comics Database.
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July 21, 2017
Next to Neal Adams, Dick’s covers were the tops.
July 22, 2017
Thanks for this great compilation. My view of Giordano (and Adams) mirrors yours. Neal was asked in an interview a few years ago who was the best inker of his pencils. Neal characteristically said he, himself was the best inker of his own pencils; but he was wrong. His pencils were always shown to maximum positive effect when Giordano was the inker. Giordano liked to remind fans that he had pencilled far more pages than he inked over the years, so it’s good that you highlighted his pencil work, as well.
August 29, 2017
I met Dick Giordano over a series of meetings I held at DC comics back in 1988 as I was trying to secure permission for a student Batman project I was working on at the time.
He was the kindest, gentlest man with a genuine, heartfelt passion for The Batman character. I remember that he always wore a tiny Batman logo pin on the lapel of his suit.