There are certain creators that everyone knows and celebrates.

You’re probably familiar with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.   Maybe Bob Kane.

For some people the question “where were you when Jack Kirby died?” is as important as the death of Elvis.  When Chris Claremont passes away (hopefully some sunny Sunday far from here) no less than two generations of X-Men fans will raise their glasses in salute.  And when God finally decides we’ve all been hogging Smilin’ Stan Lee, fiction fans everywhere should openly weep.

But how many people out there won’t bat an eye when Carmine Infantino goes?  Or didn’t know who Gardner Fox was?  I was astounded by my ignorance when I read the eulogy of Julie Schwartz- a man whose name I knew but never truly learned.

This morning Dick Giordano passed on. And even if you don’t know who he is, you’ve probably seen some of his work or influence.  See he was famous, but not that kind of famous.

Among many other things, Dick was one of the creators of several Charlton Comics characters on which Watchmen was based.  Personally, I was more familiar with his work on Batman, but after reading his bio I thought to myself “how did I not know he did all this?”  I knew he was legend.  Better yet, I knew he was great.  But I didn’t know just how great until today.  His influence on comics was tremendous, but sadly many will never know it.  There’s no comic creator hall of fame to enshrine a man like this.  He’s just one of a thousand who helped shape the lives of geeks like us without us ever knowing it.

Last year I was living briefly in Orlando and had the chance to attend  Megacon.  My first stop was with modern legends like Mark Waid and George Perez and tomorrow’s legends like Ethan Van Sciver and later everyone in between.  I had pleasant conversations with greats like Stuart Immonen, Laura Martin and Chuck Dixon.  I met newer guys like Jim McCann, Darwyn Cook and Mike Perkins.  I passed on Claremont solely because of the line.   As the con was winding down, I still had one name on my list.  Dick Giordano.  As it so happened, I’d packed a handful of my oldest comics to take with me, and one was an issue of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman which Giordano had inked.  It wasn’t Batman, but still–  I swear I look everywhere for the man’s booth, but I couldn’t find it.  I was tired and eventually I gave up.

Seems kind of silly now, doesn’t it? I kind of wish I hadn’t given up so easily.

So I hold up my glass to a legend in passing.

If you decide to leave a comment, add a name or two of the creators you’ll miss someday.