Dennis ‘Denny’ O’Neil, the legendary comic writer and editor, turned 76 earlier this week.
Dennis O’Neil is most well known for his award-winning Batman titles, which he wrote and edited for years with artist Neal Adams. Adams, O’Neil and editor Julius Schwartz are credited with reviving the Batman series following the bright and goofy atmosphere of 1960s comics, and they laid the groundwork for the Batman we have today. Along with darkening his colour palette to make him more serious, and making him seem almost obsessed, they also introduced new and exciting villains like Ra’s al Ghul, who is still a strong character used in superhero media to this day (he currently appears on Arrow).
But O’Neil didn’t just work on Batman titles, he has the Shazam Award for multiple stories, such as for Best Continuing Feature for Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Best Individual Story for “No Evil Shall Escape My Sight” in Green Lantern #76 with Neal Adams, and Best Individual Story for “Snowbirds Don’t Fly” in Green Lantern #85, also with Neal Adams, to name a few.
Along with his award winning and critically acclaimed runs on Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow, he also worked on The Shadow, The Question and was a chief architect on the “Knightfall” series, which saw Bruce Wayne break his back and be replaced as Batman by Azrael, a character that was co-created by Dennis O’Neil.
Now he sits on the board of directors for The Hero Initiative, the first charity dedicated to helping comic book writers and creators with medical, health and quality of life assistance, and serves on its Disbursement Committee.
