Legendary Batman comics writer Denny O’Neil dies at 81 of natural causes
The legendary comics writer and editor Dennis ‘Denny’ O’Neil died Thursday at 81.
O’Neil is best known for his work writing Batman comic books for DC, and he later took on an editing role for the caped crusaders tales from 1986–2000.
He also wrote for other iconic comic book heroes, this time for Marvel, including Spider-Man and Iron Man.
Comic scribe: Dennis O’Neil died Thursday at his home of natural causes, according to his family. He was an acclaimed comics writer and editor noted for his work on Batman for DC
O’Neil died at his home of natural causes, according to his family.
‘Denny was one of the earliest writers whose work and focus on social issues pushed comics to wider respectability & acceptance as an art form,’ DC CCO Jim Lee tweeted on Friday.
After his early career as a journalist, it was Stan Lee who hired O’Neil as a writer at Marvel Comics.
From there, he moved on to Marvel’s competitor DC, where he wrote a series featuring the Green Lantern and Green Arrow as they traversed the United States together and attended to important social issues of the 1970s.
He was also involved in naming Optimus Prime, the leader of the Transformers series.
Change of course: O’Neil was hired by Stan Lee at Marvel after a career as a journalist, though he moved to DC in the 1970s, when he brought Batman back to his darker roots
While at Marvel, he hired the writer and artist Frank Miller, who wrote and drew an acclaimed Daredevil series for Marvel.
O’Neil’s work on Batman in the ’70s turned down the garish colors of the 1960s television series and ushered in a darker era for the superhero, more in line with his comic origins.
Miller followed O’Neil from Marvel to DC, where he was inspired by his mentor’s take on Batman to create his iconic graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, an edgy and violent take on the masked superhero.
After his influential stint at DC, O’Neil returned to Marvel, where he worked on future Avengers staples Spider-Man and Iron Man.
Going dark: He departed from the candy-colored visuals of the ’60s Batman TV series, and his work inspired darker film adaptations from Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan; publicity still from The Dark Knight
True to life: He contributed to a well-regarded Iron Man arc at Marvel in which Tony Stark temporarily gives up his super suit as he battles alcoholism and other personal demons
He contributed to an Iron Man arc that saw Tony Stark temporarily give up his armor as he battled his addiction to alcohol and other personal problems.
He returned to DC a second time, this time as an editor for his protégée Miller’s series Batman: Year One, which was a major influence on Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.
In addition to his writing and editing at DC, O’Neil authored The DC Comics Guide To Writing Comics.
Though his greatest contributions were to comics, he wrote television episodes of G.I. Joe and Superboy, along with multiple novels, some written under the pseudonym Jim Dennis.
How to: In addition to writing and editing comics at DC, he authored The DC Comics Guide To Writing Comics