[9] As an editor, he made his first mark in the industry, overseeing Charlton's revamping of its few existing superheroes and having his artists and writers create new such characters for what he called the company's "Action Hero" line.

[18] He had a brief run as penciler of the Wonder Woman series which included a two-issue story in issues #202–203 (October and December 1972) written by science-fiction author Samuel R.

[9] DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz observed in 2010 that "Giordano held the respect of talent as one of their own, and kept their affection with his reassuring calm and warmth.

He and television writer Alan Brennert crafted the story "To Kill a Legend" in Detective Comics #500 (March 1981).

[31][32] He was promoted to Vice-President/Executive Editor in 1984,[33] and with Kahn and Levitz, oversaw the relaunch of all of DC's major characters with the Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series in 1985.

[35] Giordano inked several major projects during this time such as George Pérez's pencils on Crisis on Infinite Earths and John Byrne's pencils on The Man of Steel and Action Comics,[5] though during this period he always employed assistants for inking backgrounds, filling in large black areas, and making final erasures.

[36] From 1983 to 1987,[37] Giordano wrote a monthly column published in DC titles called "Meanwhile..." which much like Marvel's "Bullpen Bulletins" featured news and information about the company and its creators.

[40] Beginning in 1987, Giordano was in the middle of an industry-wide debate about the comics industry, ratings systems, and creators' rights.

[3][41] Veteran writers Mike Friedrich, Steven Grant, and Roger Slifer all cited Giordano in particular for his hard-line stance on behalf of DC.

[5][48] He was one of the many artists who contributed to the Superman: The Wedding Album one-shot in 1996 wherein the title character married Lois Lane.

[49] In 2002, Giordano launched the short-lived Future Comics with writer David Michelinie and artist Bob Layton.

[53] In 2005, F+W Publications Inc. published the instructional art book Drawing Comics with Dick Giordano, which he wrote and illustrated.

[55] They had three children together; Lisa,[56] Dawn, and Richard Jr.[57] Marie's death, combined with Giordano's increasing hearing loss, hastened his decision to retire from DC.

[60] Giordano served as mentor or inspiration to a generation of inkers, including Terry Austin,[61] Mike DeCarlo,[62] and Bob Layton.

[65] He won the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) in 1970 (for Green Lantern),[66] 1971,[67] 1973 (for Justice League of America),[68] and 1974.