We received sad news that Dennis “Denny” O’Neil passed away on Thursday, 11 June at age 81. Mr. O’Neil, along with legendary illustrator Neal Adams, was instrumental in revitalizing Batman, returning him to the darker roots that he had.
Born 3 May 1939 in St. Louis, Mr. O’Neil began his work with DC Comics in 1968, and was soon assigned to the Batman character. His work impacted us directly, as he and Mr. Adams created the character of Molly Post, who appeared in Batman #244-245 (1972) and Detective Comics #451 (1975); that character starred in our latest fan film, The Conquest of Batman (2018).
Beyond that, Messrs. O’Neil and Adams created the villain Ra’s Al Ghul, and Mr. O’Neil co-created Thalia Al Ghul with artist Bob Brown. He also helped Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns) with his comic book career as well.
We had hoped to meet Denny O’Neil last November at the Rhode Island Comic Con in Providence, but he had to cancel out. Health reasons were cited. Though the news may not be completely unexpected, it is very sad news indeed. RIP and Godspeed, Mr. O’Neil!!!
