Peace, not desist

On 5/22/10, a letter came from DC Comics. It was the first piece of mail I’d received from the company since Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman was published in 2008. The timing was curious because I’d just sold my manuscript on Bill Finger, uncredited co-creator and original writer of Batman.

At first, I thought it was bad news.

But it wasn’t about Boys of Steel or Bill Finger.

And it wasn’t bad. Rather, sad.

I was touched to learn it was an invitation to the memorial service for longtime DC artist/editor Dick Giordano, a man whose work I grew up loving but whom I never met.

I have not received out-of-the-blue feedback on Boys of Steel from anyone at DC, though I did hear kind comments from a couple of DC staffers whom I had approached about something unrelated. In retrospect, it would be borderline silly for me to expect an “official” reaction.

But now, with this invite, I feel like I’ve gotten one. And it was in part because of Dick Giordano's art that led to the book that led to the invite.

Thank you, DC. I was sorry to miss it, and to miss Mr. Giordano.