I adore the work of Dick Dillin. To some I suspect his placement on this list will be a bit of a surprise since Dillin is hardly one of those artists who gets a nod or even often a remembrance when the Silver and Bronze Ages of comics are spoken about. But Dillin's tenure on The Justice League of America is my all-time favorite run by any artist on any title ever, and for the very simple reason of both quality and duration. I admire good art, but I admire maybe even more quality art delivered on time. The Justice League had been drawn for all its Silver Age existence by Mike Sekowsky and when he sought other challenges finding a talent to fill those relentless shoes might have been difficult if a handy choice wasn't just around the corner in the pages of Blackhawk. With the Blackhawk book ending Dick Dillin was in perfect position to assume the helm of the best superhero team book in the history of the genre. Along with writers like Gardner Fox, Denny O'Neil, Mike Friedrich, Len Wein, Gerry Conway, Steve Englehart and others Dillin took the team into orbit and kept them there for over a decade. Inked by Sid Green, Joe Giella, Dick Giordano, and for many years Frank McLaughlin (Judomaster's creator) Dillin delivered precise storytelling filled with scores of characters and he did it month in and month out. Dillin drew other comics, good ones such as World's Finest but his JLofA is his legacy in my opinion. I still remember where I was when I read of the passing of Dillin, standing in a grocery check-out line, comics in hand. George Perez stepped in but he went away sooner than we expected and others filled the void, but really no one could in those days. The series ended, one of many victims of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a crisis which grew out of the pages of the JLofA series itself. The League returned in due course, but without Dick Dillin it never felt quite the same, never quite as special.
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I'm afraid to say that Dillin was an artist I also took for granted at the time as well, but in saying that JLA was my favourite comic as a kid, issues 95 to 103 in particular were big favourites of mine with so many characters being drawn expertly by Dillin. Maybe not an artist that would be in my top 20 but I appreciate his talent,
ReplyDeleteWe are pretty close it seems to being identical in our likes on the JLA. When Len Wein took the reins for a year or so with Dillin and Giordano it was fantastic.
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Dillin, particularly inked by McLaughlin, was definitive. He doesn't get nearly enough credit.
ReplyDeleteAt the time I'd have preferred Giordano,but when I couldn't get him I was more than happy to see McLaughlin. He's not forgotten here for sure.
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Dick Dillin is master of laying out groups en masse in a page. His stuff should appreciated as heavily in terms of group books as Sal Buscema, John Buscema, Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, John Byrne, Dave Cockrum, Mike Sekowsky and Jerry Ordway!
ReplyDeleteHe was given impossible tasks, so many characters, so little space and he did it. Not always ideal, but always clear and always on time.
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I always mistook Dick Dillin's work for Irv Novick's, and vice versa. Maybe it was because most of the time it was Frank Mclaughlin who inked them both. Nevertheless, I admire the work of all three of them.
ReplyDeleteI admire those three myself, muchly.
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Dick Dillin’s Art is what finally led me to comics completely. I hung in for most of his JLA stint, and his time with World’s Finest was equal in quality. I was crushed to read of his passing, but was so glad that they were able to get Perez. The two of them were the ultimate team book artists.....they drew every character almost definitively.
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