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29-638: Barbara Kesel initially entered the comics industry as college student after writing a 10-page letter to editor Dick Giordano regarding the portrayal of female comic book characters and Giordano offered her a writing job. Her first published comics story (credited as "Barbara J. Randall") was "He with Secrets Fears the Sound...", a Batgirl backup feature, in Detective Comics #518 (Sept. 1982). After receiving her college degree in drama studies in 1983, she became an associate editor at DC Comics in 1984 and

58-750: A graphic novel adaptation of the novel Modesty Blaise released by DC Comics, with creator/writer Peter O'Donnell . He was one of the many artists who contributed to the Superman: The Wedding Album one-shot in 1996 wherein the title character married Lois Lane . In 2002, Giordano launched the short-lived Future Comics with writer David Michelinie and artist Bob Layton . Since 2002, Giordano had drawn several issues of The Phantom published in Europe and Australia . In 2004, Giordano and writer Roy Thomas completed an adaptation of Bram Stoker 's Dracula novel. They had begun

87-544: A generation of inkers, including Terry Austin , Mike DeCarlo , and Bob Layton . Shortly after Giordano's death in 2010, The Hero Initiative created "The Dick Giordano Humanitarian of the Year Award", which debuted at the 2010 Harvey Awards ceremony held at the Baltimore Comic-Con . The award recognizes one person in comics each year who demonstrates particular generosity and integrity in support of

116-438: A menacing mood to Batman's adventures that was augmented by Dick Giordano's dark, brooding inks." By 1971, frustrated by what he felt was a lack of editorial opportunities, Giordano had left DC to partner with fellow artist Neal Adams for their Continuity Associates studios, which served as an art packager for comic book publishers, including such companies as Giordano's former employer Charlton Comics, Marvel Comics , and

145-541: A monthly column published in DC titles called "Meanwhile..." which much like Marvel's " Bullpen Bulletins " featured news and information about the company and its creators. Unlike "Bullpen Bulletins," which was characterized by an ironic, over-hyped tone, Giordano's columns ". . . were written in a relatively sober, absolutely friendly voice, like a friend of your father's you particularly liked and didn't mind sitting down to listen to." Giordano closed each "Meanwhile..." column with

174-716: The Captain America / Citizen V Annual '98 . Kesel also returned to DC and wrote the Alpha Centurion Special (1996), several Superboy issues (1997), and the 'Girlfrenzy!'-oneshot Superman: Lois Lane as well as the Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl one-shot in 1998. She worked as both a writer and an editor at CrossGen from 2000 to 2004 where she scripted the series Meridian , The First , Sigil and Solus as well as issues of CrossGen Chronicles . In 2007, Tokopop released

203-771: The Human Target character as well as the martial arts feature " Sons of the Tiger " in Marvel's black-and-white comics magazine The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu . He was a frequent artist on Batman and Detective Comics and he and writer Denny O'Neil created the Batman supporting character Leslie Thompkins in the story "There Is No Hope in Crime Alley" in Detective Comics #457 (March 1976). Giordano inked

232-725: The horror comics series The Witching Hour in March 1969. and the Western series All-Star Western vol. 2 in September 1970. He continued to freelance for DC as a penciler and inker. As an artist, Giordano was best known as an inker . His inking was particularly associated with the pencils of Neal Adams , for their run in the early 1970s on the titles Batman and Green Lantern / Green Arrow . Comics historian Les Daniels observed that "The influential Adams style moved comics closer to illustration than cartooning, and he brought

261-660: The 1996 "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work" Harvey Award, for Hellboy : The Wolves of St. August . Received a Comic-Con International Inkpot Award on July 22, 2022, for "Achievement in Comic Arts". Dick Giordano Shazam Award Inkwell Awards Richard Joseph Giordano ( / dʒ ɔːr ˈ d ɑː n oʊ / ; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics ' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics . Dick Giordano, an only child,

290-423: The adventure novel series Rogue Angel and the comic adaptation of the animated film Igor . In 2015, she wrote a Wonder Woman story for DC's digital series Sensation Comics , later published in print as Sensation Comics #13. When fellow comic book writer Kurt Busiek put together creative teams for the eight standalone, oversized issues of his Marvels Snapshots series, he hired Barbara Kesel to write

319-498: The characteristic words, "Thank you and good afternoon." The Vertigo imprint was launched in early 1993 built upon the success of several titles edited by Karen Berger including Swamp Thing , Hellblazer , Sandman , Doom Patrol , Animal Man , and Shade, the Changing Man . Giordano inked six issues of The Sandman in 1991–1993. Beginning in 1987, Giordano was in the middle of an industry-wide debate about

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348-490: The comics industry, ratings systems, and creators' rights . Veteran writers Mike Friedrich , Steven Grant , and Roger Slifer all cited Giordano in particular for his hard-line stance on behalf of DC. This debate led in part to the 1988 drafting of the Creator's Bill of Rights . Giordano left DC in 1993, and still did the occasional inking job, but later returned to freelancing full-time. In 1994 Giordano illustrated

377-619: The company's "Action Hero" line. Many of these artists included new talent Giordano brought on board, including Jim Aparo , Dennis O'Neil , and Steve Skeates . DC Comics vice president Irwin Donenfeld hired Giordano as an editor in April 1968, at the suggestion of Steve Ditko , with Giordano bringing over to DC some of the creators he had nurtured at Charlton. Giordano was given several titles such as Teen Titans , Aquaman and Young Love , but none of DC's major series. He launched

406-469: The death of his wife, Giordano split time between homes in Florida and Connecticut. In 1995, he moved to Palm Coast, Florida, where he continued to work full-time freelancing, until his death. Giordano had suffered from lymphoma and later from leukemia , secondary to the chemotherapy. He died on March 27, 2010, due to complications of treatment for leukemia. Giordano served as mentor or inspiration to

435-517: The first issue starring the 1980s Avengers which was published in 2021. Currently (in 2022), she's working for tech-startup Urus Entertainment, creating a forthcoming new twist on comics. Kesel is an outspoken opponent of sexism in the comic book industry. She is known for her strong female characters and created Grace , the ruler of the Golden City location in Comics' Greatest World . She

464-514: The first volume of Legends of the Dark Crystal , an OEL manga based on Jim Henson 's film The Dark Crystal , written by Kesel. Volume 2 was published in 2010. As of 2008, she was part of the packaging company "The Pack" with Lee Nordling, Brian Augustyn , Gordon Kent, and Dave Olbrich . The same year, Barbara Kesel began to work for IDW Publishing , writing a four-part Ghostwhisperer comic miniseries, another miniseries based on

493-554: The interior art and the cover. His last comics work was pencilling and editing Baron Five , published by Hound Comics. Giordano married the former Marie Trapani, sister of fellow comics artist Sal Trapani , on April 17, 1955. She died from complications of her second stomach cancer surgery in February 1993. They had three children together; Lisa, Dawn, and Richard Jr. Marie's death, combined with Giordano's increasing hearing loss, hastened his decision to retire from DC. Following

522-528: The large-format, first DC/Marvel intercompany crossover , Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (1976), over the pencils of Ross Andru . Giordano inked Adams on the one-shot Superman vs. Muhammad Ali in 1978. Throughout the late 1970s and the early 1980s, Ross Andru and Giordano were DC's primary cover artists, providing cover artwork for the Superman titles as well as covers for many of

551-539: The one-shot Big Apple Comix . Several comics artists began their careers at Continuity and many were mentored by Giordano during their time there. He had a brief run as penciler of the Wonder Woman series which included a two-issue story in issues #202–203 (October and December 1972) written by science-fiction author Samuel R. Delany . Giordano drew several backup stories in Action Comics featuring

580-676: The other comics in the DC line at that time. In 1980, DC publisher Jenette Kahn brought Giordano back to DC. Initially the editor of the Batman titles, Giordano was named the company's new managing editor in 1981, and promoted to vice president/executive editor in 1983, a position he held until 1993. DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz observed in 2010 that "Giordano held the respect of talent as one of their own, and kept their affection with his reassuring calm and warmth." Giordano provided art for several anniversary issues of key DC titles. He and television writer Alan Brennert crafted

609-588: The overall comic book community. Giordano received recognition in the industry for his work, including the Alley Award for Best Editor in 1969. He won the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) in 1970 (for Green Lantern ), 1971, 1973 (for Justice League of America ), and 1974. He won the 1971 Goethe Award for "Favorite Pro Editor." Giordano received an Inkpot Award in 1981. In 2009 he

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638-507: The project in 1974 but the cancellation of many of Marvel's black and white magazines put it into limbo. The finished story was collected into a hardcover edition in 2005 and a colorized hardcover edition in 2010. In 2005, F+W Publications Inc. published the instructional art book Drawing Comics with Dick Giordano , which he wrote and illustrated. His last mainstream work appeared in Jonah Hex vol. 2, #51 (March 2010) for which he drew

667-478: The story "To Kill a Legend" in Detective Comics #500 (March 1981). Giordano was one of the artists on the double-sized Justice League of America #200 (March 1982) as well as Wonder Woman #300 (Feb. 1983). He was promoted to Vice-President/Executive Editor in 1984, and with Kahn and Levitz, oversaw the relaunch of all of DC's major characters with the Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series in 1985. This

696-677: Was born in New York City on July 20, 1932, in the borough of Manhattan to Josephine Labruzzi and Graziano "Jack" Giordano. He attended the School of Industrial Art . Beginning as a freelance artist at Charlton Comics in 1952, Giordano contributed artwork to dozens of the company's comics, including such Western titles as Annie Oakley , Billy the Kid , and Wyatt Earp , the war comic Fightin' Army , and scores of covers. Giordano's artwork from Charlton's Strange Suspense Stories

725-497: Was followed by Frank Miller 's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons ' Watchmen in 1986. Giordano inked several major projects during this time such as George Pérez 's pencils on Crisis on Infinite Earths and John Byrne 's pencils on The Man of Steel and Action Comics , though during this period he always employed assistants for inking backgrounds, filling in large black areas, and making final erasures. From 1983 to 1987, Giordano wrote

754-414: Was married to fellow comic book writer Karl Kesel but they have since divorced. Kesel has been nominated for the 1991 " Best Editor " Eisner Award for Badlands , Aliens : Genocide and Star Wars . In 1995, she was nominated for "Best Anthology" and "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Material" Harvey Awards for, respectively, Instant Piano and Hellboy: Seed of Destruction . She won

783-457: Was part of Team CGW , responsible for most of the design and creation of the setting and characters in the Golden City location. In the second half of the 1990s, she also wrote for Image Comics, scripting all seven issues of Savant Garde , the miniseries Shattered Image with fellow writer Kurt Busiek , and issues of Stormwatch and WildC.A.T.s . For Marvel Comics, Kesel wrote the limited series Ultragirl (1996–1997) and (with Karl Kesel)

812-529: Was promoted to editor the following year. In 1988, she wrote a Batgirl Special and then co-wrote, with her then-husband Karl Kesel , a Hawk and Dove miniseries, followed by an ongoing series that ran from 1989 until 1991. As a solo writer, Barbara Kesel scripted the licensed Dungeons & Dragons series Spelljammer in 1990–1991 and an adaptation of the D&;D novel trilogy Avatar in 1991. She became an editor at Dark Horse Comics in 1991 and later

841-513: Was used as inspiration for artist Roy Lichtenstein 's 1965/1966 Brushstroke series , including Brushstroke , Big Painting No. 6 , Little Big Painting and Yellow and Green Brushstrokes . By the mid-1960s a Charlton veteran, Giordano rose to executive editor, succeeding Pat Masulli , by 1965. As an editor, he made his first mark in the industry, overseeing Charlton's revamping of its few existing superheroes and having his artists and writers create new such characters for what he called

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