by John | May 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
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How Fast is Fast?
Dick Giordano started his comics career at the Iger Studios and was such a fast inker that some of the other artists asked him to slow down.
The Iger artists were paid by the hour when they took work home. By turning out pages so quickly, Dick made it look too easy.
Later, though, when Dick started working at Charlton Comics the staff artists were paid by the page. So the faster they drew, the more they made.
Dick was “dazzled by the speed of the more seasoned staff artists.” One artist could pencil eight pages a day. Dick could “only” manage two — which was still darned fast!*
“I’m kind of fast. Anybody from my generation…is usually a little faster than the people who’ve come up recently because…the only way you could get a decent salary in the ‘50s and ‘60s was to do a lot of pages…
“You had to learn to cut through the unimportant stuff, to make only the important lines show up so you could do a few more pages.” —Dick Giordano in an interview by John Lustig, 2001
*Info in the first four paragraphs is summarized from Michael Eury’s Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a Time
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read “Widow Miss Muffet” and other Last Kiss comics in German click here.
↓ TranscriptPANEL 1, SCENE: Mitzi Muffet is standing next to a hospital gurney looking shocked. On the gurney is a body covered by a sheet. Standing on the other side of the gurney is a nurse.
NURSE: ...too late! He's colder than an Eskimo's outhouse!
MUFFET: This is awful! (Sob!) He didn't even get a chance to buy me any jewelry!
PANEL 2, SCENE: Cut to Mitzi sitting on a bed. In the background is an old man in a wheelchair.
CAPTION: "I dated a lot of men that week! At least, I think they were men!"
OLD MAN: This is just a disguise! Don't tell anyone, but...I'm really Britney Spears!
by John | May 23, 2010 | Uncategorized
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“I met Dick [Giordano] for the first time when I was 15. I was convinced I was ready to work for him at Charlton. Needless to say, he threw me out of his office — not unkindly, but firmly — leaving me with a single remark. To paraphrase, ‘Your work is too timid — be brave.’
“Dick has no memory of this meeting, and hey, why should he? But a day doesn’t go by that, as I sit at my drawing table, I don’t recall that remark and try a little harder to be a little braver.
“Like an awful lot of my peers, I owe Dick Giordano a huge debt — both for the professional advice and direction he gave freely and with love — but more importantly, for the example he set…The guy’s a prince for God’s sake.”
–Howard Chaykin, January 2003
from Michael Eury’s Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a Time
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read “Widow Miss Muffet” and other Last Kiss comics in German click here.
↓ TranscriptPANEL 1, SCENE: Mitzi Muffet is standing next to the hospital bed of her now-dead husband. She's deliriously happy and is putting on a Mickey Mouse hat as the priest/minister stands with his back to us as the foot of the bed.
PRIEST/MINISTER: Then I pronounce you corpse and wife!
MUFFET: Fantasy land here I come!
PANEL 2, SCENE: Cut to a scene of Mitzi waking up from her dream--looking at her nearby laptop as she gets out of bed.
CAPTION: "It was a wonderful dream! And, when I checked my computer the next morning, I knew it was coming true!"
MUFFET: Oooh! I've got a date tonight! Gosh, only 12 hours to get ready! I hope I'm not going to be...
by John | May 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
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We’re taking a break in the “Widow” storyline for a Last Kiss Sunday comic–also drawn by Dick Giordano. We’ll be back to “Widow” tomorrow. In the meantime, below are some more of Dick’s Charlton romance covers–just ’cause they’re cool. (Click on covers to see larger images.)
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read “Widow Miss Muffet” and other Last Kiss comics in German click here.
by John | May 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
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I’m busy packing for this weekend’s Spokane Comicon so I’ll go light on the text and give you a visual treat instead. Dick’s superhero work is well known to fans, but here’s something you don’t see every day. These scans are from some romance covers that Dick loaned to me years ago. Click on the covers to see larger versions.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read “Widow Miss Muffet” and other Last Kiss comics in German click here.
↓ TranscriptPANEL 1 - SCENE: Mitzi Muffet is dressed as a bride and is leaning close to an old man in a hospital bed.
OLD MAN: I...Gasp! Urk!
MUFFET: Come on, Honey! Don't Mumble! Say it!
PANEL 2 - SCENE: Old man gasps out his last breath. Muffet is overjoyed.
MAN: I...Doooo! Glugg!
MUFFET: Yippidee doo-dah! Weddd bliss at last!
LIFE SUPPORT MONITOR: SKE-E-E-E SKE-E-E-E
by John | May 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
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In terms of sheer volume, Dick Giordano’s work nearly gives me a heart attack. An index of all his work takes up nearly nine pages.* In little tiny type. And that’s just through early 2003.
And his art? Gorgeous — both when he was penciling and (as so often happened) when he was inking other artists.
But his impact as an editor and innovator is even more impressive. During his tenure, Charlton launched its line of “action heroes.” Those heroes—Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, The Question, Sarge Steel, etc. — are about the only thing most people remember about Charlton.
Years later at DC comics, Giordano played a key role in the development of The Watchmen (which Alan Moore loosely based on Charlton’s action heroes.)
Dick was also at the helm when Frank Miller broke ground with The Dark Knight Returns. And Crisis on Infinite Earths? That was Dick’s idea.
For much of the 1980’s Dick was the voice of DC. His “Meanwhile…” columns ran in all DC comics—giving readers behind-scenes scoops and always ending with a soothing, “Thank you and Good afternoon…”
“My syntax was poor, but that’s how I talk,” said Giordano. “I sound like Yogi Berra.”*
*from Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a Time
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? To read this comic in German click here.
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Cut to hospital room. An old man is lying in bed, hooked up to life support. Mitzi is there dressed as a bride. A priest is reading out loud from a Bible. There's a nurse in the background.
CAPTION: That night I dreamt about my upcoming romance...and the beautiful wedding that was sure to come!"
PRIEST: ...forever, until death do you part?
OLD MAN/PATIENT: I...I...D-D-D...
LIFE SUPPORT MACHINE: BLIP! BLIP!
