Dick Giordano 77 of Palm Coast FL a comic book artist and former executive at DC Comics who helped revive aging comic book characters and reimagine them for new audiences died on Sat. March 27 2010 after a long illness at the FL Hospital Ormond Beach FL. Mass will be celebrated on Wed. April 7th at 11:00 AM at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church Palm Coast with visitation be held on Tuesday April 6th between the hours of 2-4 and 6-8 PM at Lohman Funeral Home 220 Palm Coast Parkway SW Palm Coast (386) 449-1100. Richard Joseph Giordano was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to Graziano and Josephine Giordano on July 20 1932. Dick Giordano worked in the comic book industry for more than 40 years. As an editor at DC he oversaw projects that signaled a new level of maturity in the medium including "The Dark Knight Returns " about the twilight years of Batman and "Watchmen" about heroes in a world on the brink of nuclear war. During his tenure DC Comics also introduced its first graphic novel collections a format that has grown increasingly poplar and profitable. As a teenager Dick Giordano attended the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan later called the High School of Art and Design. One of his first jobs was in 1952 at Charlton Comics where he began as a freelance artist illustrated many covers and worked his way up to editor-in-chief. At Charlton he helped come up with a line of actions heroes including Blue Beetle The Question and The Peacemaker that would later be purchased by DC Comics and become the basis for the heroes in Watchmen which was adapted into a feature film last year. In 1967 Dick Giordano moved to DC Comics where he worked as an artist and an editor. Dick left the company in 1971 and co-founded with the artist Neal Adams Continuity Graphics Associates which handled commercial artwork and supplied illustrations to comic book publishers. He returned to DC Comics in 1980 and eventually became vice president/executive editor a title he retained until 1993. During that period he worked with artist George Perez and John Byrne on respectively "Crisis on Infinite Earths" an epic story conceived to simplify the accumulated histories of the DC heroes and on "The Man of Steel " which restarted the Superman myth for a new generation of fans. As editor Dick Giordano uniformly credited writers and artist on the covers the first such policy by a major comic book publisher. Dick Giordano retired from DC Comics in June 1993 a few months after Marie his wife of 38 years past away. He is survived by his daughters Lisa Giordano-Thomas and Dawn Arrington both of Palm Coast Fla.; his son Richard Jr. of Stratford Conn. and two grandchildren Michael and Marissa McDermott. Friends may send condolences to www.LohmanFuneralHomes.com. Arrangements are under the careful supervision of Lohman Funeral Home Palm Coast.