RIP Denny O'Neil

[The Laughing Fish]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gamesradar.com/amp/legendary-batman-writer-denny-oneil-dies-at-age-81/

Sad news. He was a very influential comic book writer who helped expand the Batman mythos, and formed a great creative partnership with Neal Adams.

RIP.

[thecolorsblend]

An incalculable loss. He contributed a great deal to Batman and I love his work on The Shadow.

He is already missed.

[The Joker]

A true giant in the comic book industry has left us. Denny O'Neil's impact, his co-creations and work on Batman, as well as other comics, is undoubtedly immeasurable. A icon of comic book storytelling. Decisions he made reverberate to this day.

R.I.P. Mr. O'Neil.

[thecolorsblend]

Something else. O'Neil did more than basically anybody to bring Superman into the Bronze Age. Clark's new wardrobe, new job at WGBS as a newscaster, slightly different supporting cast, more mature stories, removal of the Super-Pets, removal of Imaginary Stories, etc, O'Neil set all those things (and more) into motion for Superman. The Bronze Age Superman accepted the Silver Age as canon but didn't refer to it a whole lot.

The Bronze Age is what attracted interest from the Salkinds, they bought the rights to Superman for film and Superman- The Movie cemented Superman's status as THE superhero. If you read some Bronze Age Superman from 1970-1977, you can already detect a similar tone to STM. It's not hard to see where the Salkinds, Puzo, Mankeywhatsis and the rest got their inspiration.

And O'Neil laid the foundation for all those things. He's not primarily known as a "Superman guy". But considering how much he contributed to the character in comics and out, maybe he should be?

[Silver Nemesis]

Very sad news. Denny was perhaps the single most important writer in Batman's history (certainly amongst the top three), and he was definitely the most important editor. I also admired his work on the Superman and Daredevil comics. Apparently he wrote a couple of episodes of the old Superboy TV show too. He was a good raconteur and I always enjoyed watching videos of him speaking at conventions. 

Colors already covered his contribution to Superman's history, so I'll add a brief note about his work on Daredevil. As a writer he helped create Melvin Potter/Gladiator (technically Stan Lee created Gladiator, but O'Neil took over writing duties halfway through his debut issue), introduced Yuriko Oyama (who would later become Lady Deathstrike in the X-Men comics), and killed off Heather Glenn during the Love's Labours Lost storyline. As an editor he supervised much of Frank Miller's classic run in the eighties, including the Elektra Saga. His contribution to Daredevil's history is probably not as significant as his work on certain DC titles, but it's noteworthy nonetheless.

Superman, Batman and Daredevil are my favourite superheroes, and Denny wrote for all three. What a legend.

[The Joker]

Just a portion of Denny O'Neil's co-creations:

Azrael
Ra's Al Ghul
Talia Al Ghul
Lady Shiva
Leslie Tompkins
John Stewart Green Lantern
Bronze Tiger   
Maxie Zeus
Obidiah Stane / Iron Monger
Hydro-Man
Madame Web
Lady Deathstrike

and others. I also remember something about Denny being the guy who actually came up with the name "Optimus Prime" during his brief stint on writing the original story treatment for Marvel's Transformers comic book.