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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Batman #241 by Dennis O'Neil Legendary Batman writer, Denny O'Neil dies at age 81. Dennis J. "Denny" O'Neil has died at age 81. As confirmed by his family, the legendary comic book writer died at home of natural causes on the night of June 11. © Provided by GamesRadar (Image credit: DC) O’Neil was best known for his work on Batman, which included writing Batman, Detective Comics, and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, as well as editing DC’s Batman titles from 1986 to 2000. He, editor Julius Schwartz, and artist Neal Adams are credited for guiding the Dark Knight back to his darker roots after a period of campiness brought on by the success of the 1960s Batman TV series. During his time on Batman, he created/co-created Ra’s al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, Leslie Thompkins, Azrael, and Richard Dragon; he was also involved in the revitalization of the Joker and Two-Face as modern DC villains, and oversaw the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin. Alongside Adams, O’Neil also reinvigorated the characters of Green Arrow and Green Lantern by pairing them up as best friends and “hard- traveling heroes” who ventured the country righting wrongs while exploring complex issues of politics and social justice – one of the first comic book runs to do so in a nuanced way. Also at DC, he wrote the iconic Superman vs. Muhammad Ali one-shot, the Armageddon 2001 event, as well as memorable runs on Justice League and the Question. Gallery: Return to Svetlana Chmakova's Nightschool with YA Series, The Weirn Books (GamesRadar) O’Neil also enjoyed a fruitful stint at Marvel, writing Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Daredevil, and was involved in the creation of Madame Web, Hydro-Man, Obadiah Stane, Lady Deathstrike, and the concept for the Transformers - including naming Optimus Prime. During his time editing at Marvel, he was the one who hired then-newcomer Frank Miller to take over the Daredevil title. The writer also branched out to TV, writing episodes of Logan’s Run, Superboy, Batman: The Animated Series, and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. © Provided by GamesRadar (Image credit: Chris Klamer) In addition to writing and editing, O’Neil taught at Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts, was on the Hero Initiative’s Board of Directors, and wrote the instructional book The DC Guide to Writing Comics. Late in his career, O'Neil was recognized in a broad sense for his accomplishments. The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library honored him as the key speaker at its "Comic Books and Social Justice" weekend in December 2018, and the city of Phoenix, AZ proclaimed May 25, 2019 "Dennis O'Neil Day" in recognition of his impact both in the comic industry and to American society in general. Denny O’Neil, Writer Who Left His Mark on Batman, Dies at 81. In a long career with both DC and Marvel, Mr. O’Neil became best known for writing superhero comics that addressed social issues. By Richard Sandomir. Denny O’Neil, a leading comic-book writer who in the 1970s acquainted readers with Batman’s tougher, urban roots and injected social issues into the joint adventures of Green Lantern and Green Arrow, died on June 11 at his home in Nyack, N.Y. He was 81. His son, Lawrence, said the cause was cardiopulmonary arrest. Mr. O’Neil not only reinvigorated Batman and unified Green Lantern and Green Arrow; he also wrote comic books featuring Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Daredevil and the Question in a 35-year career that included two stints at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Jim Lee, DC’s chief creative officer and publisher, wrote on Twitter that Mr. O’Neil’s “focus on social issues pushed comics to wider respectability & acceptance as an art form,” adding, “Through his work & mentorship, he influenced generations of writers & artists.” In 1970, Mr. O’Neil and the artist Neal Adams created a series in which Green Lantern and Green Arrow traveled the United States in stories that took on issues like racism, drug addiction and the environment. In what has been called one of the most reprinted panels in comic-book history, an elderly black man confronts Green Lantern, in Green Lantern (Vol. 2, No. 76). “I been readin’ about you,” he says. “How you work for the blue skins … and how on a planet someplace you helped out the orange skins … and you done considerable for the purple skins ! Only there’s skins you never bothered with — the black skins . I want to know … how come ?! Answer me that , Mr. Green Lantern !” Without an excuse, Green Lantern says, “I … can’t.” That was a big moment, according to Abraham Riesman, author of a coming biography of Stan Lee, Marvel’s patriarch. When he examined the issue for the Vulture website in 2018, Mr. Reisman wrote, “No one had played with the dynamite sticks of black dissatisfaction and white guilt like this in the genre before.” He called the scene “the moment superheroes got woke.” Batman was another story. Mr. O’Neil and Mr. Adams (as well as other artists) rescued the Caped Crusader in the 1970s from the campy humor of the ’60s television series, which had infused DC’s storytelling. They recast Batman in the darker image his creators forged in 1939. “As with Superman, there’s a tragedy at the center of his character,” Mr. O’Neil told the website Flickering Myth last year. “He is human, and that’s what attracted me as a writer.” Using the social activist Dorothy Day as a model, Mr. O’Neil developed Leslie Thompkins as a confidante to Batman. Twice he got rid of Robin. He developed villains like Ra’s al Ghul and his daughter, Talia (who became the mother of Batman’s son); revived another, Two-Face; and turned the Joker from a clownish prankster into a homicidal psychopath. “He had been watered down, and it works if he is a maniac and is totally unpredictable,” Mr. O’Neil told 13th Dimension, a comics website, referring to the Joker. “It does not work if he … steals groceries !” Batman’s resurrection as the Dark Knight influenced the two Batman films directed by Tim Burton (“Batman,” in 1989, and “Batman Returns,” in 1992) and the three by Christopher Nolan (starting with “Batman Begins,” in 2005). “You can argue that the way Denny defined Batman drove all media incarnations,” Paul Levitz, a former DC president and publisher, said in an interview. “We lured Christopher Nolan onto the project by presenting him with ‘The Man Who Falls’” — a comic book written by Mr. O’Neil — “which had an unrevealed piece of Batman’s origin: Bruce Wayne falling into a cave full of bats as a kid.” Mr. O’Neil was a mentor to Frank Miller, the writer and illustrator who further propelled the Batman franchise in the 1980s with his “Dark Knight Returns” series. At the time, Mr. O’Neil was a DC editor. Dennis Joseph O’Neil was born on May 3, 1939, in St. Louis. His father, Joseph, owned a grocery store; his mother, Ruth (Noonan) O’Neil, was a homemaker. As a child Denny was a fan of comic books, movies and radio shows like “The Adventures of Superman” and “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy.” But comic books had faded in his life by the time he graduated, in 1961, from Saint Louis University, where he studied English literature, creative writing and philosophy. He went on to serve in the Navy and was aboard the aircraft carrier Champlain during the United States’ naval blockade of the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. After his discharge, Mr. O’Neil was hired as a reporter for The Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau, Mo., where he wrote two articles about comic books for the children’s page. They came to the attention of Roy Thomas, a high school English teacher who edited a comic-book fanzine. In their first meeting, Mr. Thomas opened the world of comics culture to Mr. O’Neil, who was fascinated. When Mr. Thomas took a job at Marvel soon after they met, he urged Mr. O’Neil to take the company’s writer’s test. “The test was four copies of The Fantastic Four by Jack Kirby,” Mr. O’Neil told the podcast “Epic Marvel” in 2017, referring to the Marvel artist who collaborated with Stan Lee on the creation of the Fantastic Four, Thor, the Incredible Hulk and other characters. “And my task, should I accept it, was to add words to the pictures. Well, OK, who wouldn’t do that?” Mr. O’Neil passed the test and joined Marvel in Manhattan at its Madison Avenue offices in September 1965. But he was forced out after six months by Mr. Lee, although he continued to write for the company for a while as a freelancer. “Stan had been only marginally happy with what Denny had written on a couple of superhero stories,” Mr. Thomas wrote in an email. “And then one day he called me into his office and told me that he just didn’t think Denny had his mind on the job.” To make ends meet, Mr. O’Neil wrote a book on presidential elections and worked at Charlton Comics before moving to DC in 1968. He remained for 12 years. By then, his reputation secure, he was welcomed back to Marvel by Mr. Lee. As a writer and editor, Mr. O’Neil oversaw Mr.

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