For comics fans who grew up in the 60's, 70's, or 80's, this hurts.
Word has come over the wires of the passing of iconic writer-editor Dennis J. "Denny" O'Neil, who began his career at Charlton Comics in the late 60's, then began his first run at DC, where he joined forces with Neal Adams to create some legendary stories featuring Batman, Green Lantern, & Green Arrow, then brought his own creation, martial arts ace Richard Dragon, to comics after a series of paperbacks written under the pen name, Jim Dennis.
During his first tour at DC, O'Neil also was the principal writer for the company's 1st adaptation of the pulp/radio hero, The Shadow, working with artists Mike Kaluta and Frank Robbins for most of the run. Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter debuted around 1976, but didn't last very long. Dragon, as with other characters, has passed through many creative hands since.
While at Marvel, O'Neil wrote Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man, & Daredevil, the latter in between runs by another legend, Frank Miller, and also is credited with naming one of the most iconic Transformers characters of all time, Optimus Prime. O'Neil also served as an editor during Miller's 1st run on Daredevil.
In 1987, O'Neil returned to DC, and served as writer-editor for their adaptation of the former Charlton hero, The Question, with artist Denys Cowan.
At Charlton, O'Neil created the pen name Sergius O'Shaughnessy, which he would resurrect at DC to write a pair of fill-in issues of Super Friends during 1979. Insofar as I can gather, that might've been his final gig at DC during that 1st run.
I met Denny at the Book House at Stuyvesant Plaza more than 20 years ago, and wrote a short piece for the now-defunct Collectors' Network magazine.
Dennis O'Neil was 81. Rest in peace.
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